Wisconsin native Sara Dahmen blissfully recalls childhood excursions to attend Rendezvous. The annual historical reenactments brought the state’s Fur Trade era back to life, with 18th- and 19th-century settlers, traders, and Native Americans gathering to exchange furs and goods.
“I remember seeing these girls and boys, a little bit older than me, in full pioneer, Laura Ingalls Wilder clothes,” she said. “They’d be washing their hair in the river, and I was like, ‘This is where I live! Why can’t I go back in history and live in this time?’”
In her own way, she’s achieved that longing for time travel.
Today, Dahmen is the only known female coppersmith building copper cookware in the United States, bringing back a nearly lost American tradition. From her home in rural Wisconsin, she handcrafts tin-lined copper cookware inspired by pioneer-era designs, using all American-sourced materials. History serves as her inspiration and is etched into each piece of metal she works.
Looking to the Past
Before Dahmen became a coppersmith, she was a novelist. A childhood dream of becoming an archaeologist gave way to a successful career as a wedding planner, but her deep fascination with Midwest Americana led her to writing.Dahmen’s “Flats Junction” series of novels is set in the Dakotas of the 1800s and told primarily from a female perspective. In her extensive research of 19th-century pioneer womanhood, Dahmen, an enthusiastic home cook, was instantly drawn to the historical cookware her characters would be using.
“What did American pioneers have on wagon trails? What did they have in their homes after traveling across the country?” she wondered. “Because it was very specific to us: Our cookware had come over with the first colonists, but then it evolved very differently because we were traveling in a way that people from Europe were not.”
The deeper Dahmen delved, the more questions arose. The natural ores to produce copper were in abundance, but how was the cookware made? Who made it? How would a pan be fixed?
Perhaps it was the zeal of Dahmen’s inner young archaeologist that guided her to what would be a transformational experience: an apprenticeship with master tinsmith Bob Bartelme—who lived just 15 minutes away.
The Master and the Apprentice
“It was an accident,” Dahmen said with a chuckle. “I didn’t walk into Bob’s shop and go, ‘I can’t wait to be your apprentice.’ I was there as a one-off. And then he said, ‘Well, you should come back and make a Revolutionary War cup.’ So I did. And then he said, ‘Why don’t you come back and make something out of copper, since that’s what you want to learn?’” So, she did. And she kept coming back.Two to three times a week, often with her children in tow, Dahmen would be in Bartelme’s shop, learning the ins and outs of traditional copper cookware.
The master and apprentice relationship eventually blossomed into a friendship. Dahmen laughed, recalling that during Rendezvous events they attended together, Bartelme was often mistaken for her father. He never bothered to correct the mistake.
“It really, truly was the modern version of Johnny Tremain’s apprenticeship,” Dahmen said. “And it was truly the only way [I] could learn this skill. There are old books out there on how to become a sheet metal worker, but unless you’re already a sheet metal worker by trade, those books are Greek. They make no sense. It took me four years of working with Bob for those books to make sense.”
During those long hours of learning, Dahmen’s love for her newfound trade blossomed. An ambitious idea began to take shape in her mind. She and Bartelme were making cookware in the same style as the characters in her novels, primarily for historical reenactors. But Dahmen wanted to go further: an all-American cookware line for modern home cooks.
bar spoon. (Courtesy of Sara Dahmen)
Putting the Pieces Together
On the surface, the idea was simple. She would manufacture her own pieces, sourcing all the materials from American fabricators. That was easier said than done.After the Revolutionary War, domestic cookware manufacturing boomed. American inventions revolutionized the industry, making iron and copper cookware more affordable and therefore more abundant. Such was the norm until the 20th century.
Then, after World War II, modern American kitchens were flooded with cheaper stainless steel, aluminum, and non-stick-sprayed options. Now, any copper in the American kitchen is likely either imported from Europe or a family heirloom. The old trade had all but vanished.
“There were a lot of ‘no’s’ and ‘we can’t help you’s,’” Dahmen said of her myriad calls to metal manufacturers around the country. It was up to Dahmen to gather all of the pieces and put them together herself.
With persistence, she eventually found what she needed. A family foundry in Lodi, California, would make her ductile iron handles. Another foundry in Houston, Texas, would smelt and sheet her copper. A company in Ames, Iowa, would provide the tin. A small business in Dayton, Ohio, would spin the metal. A mom-and-pop operation in Markesan, Wisconsin, would make the rivets. In 2015, House Copper was born.
Despite the extra difficulty, keeping all of the manufacturing in America was of the highest importance to Dahmen.
Built To Last
Dahmen’s designs for her cookware take direct cues from the past. “I don’t make anything that I didn’t see in a historic archive,” she said. Her cookware tends to follow the taller and wider shapes of pieces from the pioneer days—kettles and pots were made this way so they could be stacked for easier transport.Once she’s settled on a design, the process of fabrication and assembly can take upwards of several months. For a copper pot, for instance, her fabricators build out the match plates for the body and handles, pour the iron, smelt the copper, roll the sheets, and spin the metal. Blank bodies arrive at Dahmen’s workshop for final assembly and tinning.
Using a combination of old and modern equipment, Dahmen smooths, sands, and drills the ductile iron handles, then rivets them onto the blank body. She moves the pot over a fire, melts down some tin directly inside, and uses a piece of insulation to wipe on the new tin lining. The finished pot is then washed, buffed, and polished.
“You’re getting something truly handmade—it’s a transparent product,” Dahmen said.
Copper is highly conductive and responsive to heat—even more so than cast iron—meaning her copper cookware “heats fast and cooks fast, and all on a lower temperature, too,” Dahmen said. The tin bonds molecularly to the copper, creating a naturally non-stick lining that carries heat just as quickly. In terms of conductivity, she noted, “tin-lined copper is 25 times more efficient than stainless steel pots.”
Dahmen also takes custom requests, and she specializes in the restoration and re-tinning of historic pieces. Recent projects include an 1800s drinking horn, a massive 1700s copper pot, and a (formerly) battered old saucepan.
This aspect of her business speaks to the durability of copper products. Dahmen says her cookware will stand up to anything from a campfire to her children’s demands for mac ’n’ cheese—and, with proper care, to the test of time.
There’s an element of old-fashioned sustainability at play here, too. While the coating of a non-stick pan will eventually wear out and kill the pan, tin-lined copper cookware can be relined and used indefinitely.
Meet the Maker: Sara Dahmen
Age: 39Lives in: Port Washington, Wis.
Most prized cookware: I have a piece of 1700s cookware from England that’s 100 percent handmade. I’ve restored it so I can cook in it, and the shape is so elegant and something I wish I could make again, so I keep it also as inspiration.
Best advice ever received: Always think bigger than you already do. There’s an old Polish saying, “Jakos to bedzie,” which officially translates to something like, “Things will work out in the end,” but the cultural connotation means to reach for the impossible, take risks without thinking to be afraid first, and work hard to build anything you dream, even though there will be obstacles.
Best advice for other entrepreneurs: Say yes to trying as many new things and meeting as many new people as you can, always. Never stop asking yourself, “Why not?”
Fact Sheet: House Copper & Cookware
Founded: 2015Based in: Port Washington, Wis.
Specializes in: Building and restoring traditional tin-lined copper cookware
Best-sellers: 12-inch House Copper Skillet ($525), Copper Bowl ($300), Copper Baking Sheets (from $165)
Annual production: 300 to 400 pieces
Oldest piece of equipment: A mid-1700s blacksmith-made swedge
Oldest piece restored: A 1600s-era hearth coffee pot
Most intensive project: A copper apple butter kettle with an iron tripod that took 3 weeks to build
Shop at: HouseCopper.com
Copper Cookware Care
Caring for tin-lined copper cookware is “not too precious,” says Sara Dahmen. The guidelines are similar to those for cast iron cookware—“the one difference is you don’t have to season it!” Here, she shares her tips for keeping your pieces in top shape.“Always use wood or silicone utensils when cooking. Have food or liquid in the cookware before turning on the heat. Don’t broil (unless it’s full of food!).”
“Never put copper cookware—no matter the lining—in the dishwasher. Clean with warm water, non-abrasive dish soap, and a soft cloth after cooking. If food is sticking, add water and a drop of dish soap and heat to simmer, and the food should begin to lift out. Dry with a soft cloth.”
“For a quick shine-up, use ketchup! Pour a generous amount on the pot and rub it all over the copper. Leave on so the oxalic acid in the ketchup (from the tomatoes) eats at the oxidation of the copper, then wash off with warm soapy water. This works if the oxidation—the ’tarnished' look—isn’t too dark. For truly dark, near black copper, mechanical means, such as a buffing wheel, are needed.
“To keep copper shiny, do regular cleaning after use. Polishing once a week would be sufficient if you use the copper daily.”
