You don't have to use copper, but you have to understand what's good about it to pick a cheaper subsititute.. . The main virtue of copper is that heat spreads through it quickly, so that the heat hitting the food is evenly distributed. It also means the pan cools quickly and responds quickly to changes in the size of the gas flame under it. . . When heat isn't distributed evenly, hot spots develop in the pan, and that's how food can burn in one place in the pan while cooking just fine in other parts of the pan. This is more of a problem when you are making some sort of sugar or caramel and you don't want it to burn. Also it's important for the sauces in French cuisine.. . Aluminum distributes heat almost as well as copper and it's a lot cheaper. Because it reacts with some foods, you often see it sandwiched between two layers of stainless steel, with the whole thing then shaped into a pan, with this sandwich structure going UP THE SIDES OF THE PAN. That's important because it keeps the botom of the pan from getting too hot. This structure means that one of the layers has been 'clad' in the others. Cuisinart Multi-clad is cheaper than All-Clad but offers similar construction, I believe. Kitchen aid has a "5-ply" line like this. Farberware does not make one anymore. They only make the pans where you can see that a thick disk has been fused to the bottom, so that the multilayer effect DOES NOT GO UP THE SIDES OF THE PAN.. . You also see solid aluminum pans that have been anodized---something has been done to the surface of the aluminum to keep it from reacting to food. Anodized aluminum are brands like Calphalon and Circulon.. . Target and smartbargains.com often have great deals on cookware once you know what to look for.