Customer Reviews

Mauviel Copper Fish Poacher, 19-5/8 by 5-1/8-Inches

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I was asked to review a poaching pan for a senior officer of the AmaZoo. I have used only five, one of which was diamond shaped for turbot and the like, so I write from limited experience. I can begin with size. If you want to do whole fish poaching, use this double burner design, especially in the smaller sizes. In the large sizes, the prices of copper and non copper strangely converge. Unfortunately, for home use copper is several times the price of other metals. But it is precisely the smaller sizes that beg for copper. When your fish is thicker in the middle than at either end, yet still too long for your stove's burner, how do you get a low even temperature with a gentle flow of poaching broth? You use two burners. The copper does wonders to keep smaller volumes of stock at low even temperatures better than any other metal, especially up the sides.

The idea is not so much too cook your fish as to warm it into a receptive state for your highly flavored stock, while contributing its own fluids to the mixture. The mistake is too high a temperature. The faster you cook the fish, the less the effect of the stock. The thinner the fish, the lower the temperature. And start with cool room temperature fish, not straight out of the refrigerator. The internal temperature should be 120 degrees, maybe 125, and 130 tops. So if your broth covers the fish by an inch, 130-145 degrees is good for a thin fish. Use a thermometer for both the broth and the internal probing. A thick fish will take 160 degree broth to get to 125 internally at a leisurely pace. Do not exceed 180 even for big ones or the broth police will pull you over for illegal handling of bouillon. This copper poacher will give you the best control to achieve these results. Of course, you never use this poacher to make your stock unless you strain all the solids out before cooling down to accept the fish.