Modern stainless steel pans with clad bottoms can be as good as copper pans. McGee developed a simple technique to test the heat distribution where he fits a piece of paper to the bottom of the pan, placing the pan over a burner and carefully watching how the paper browns. Thick aluminum, clad bottom stainless, and copper all worked equally well.
There are differences that relate to the techniques used in cooking. A thin copper pan is great for melting butter or chocolate straight on the burner. Modern air-gap wall stainless steel pans hold the heat better and work better for simmering or boiling. Copper is harder to upkeep.
Pans will develop hot spots, even copper which is the better conductor. Until we get graphite added to the cladding or some other exotic material to distribute the heat, thickness will matter the most for even heat distribution.
I have read several consumer tests and reviews of pans and they fail to note that thermal conductivity and thickness can both be used in practice to balance the temperature distribution and heat flux in a pan.
I would consider the professional equivalent of the electric carving knife to be the meat slicer, i.e. the rotating blade device most often seen behind the deli counter.
At home, to break down a roast bird, take the meat off of a lamb-leg, etc., a good manual knife is most likely the proper tool.
If, on the other hand, I have a large ham (cooked or cold), or some other chunk of boneless meat that I want to slice more-or-less uniformly, then I will break out my electric knife. For the home user, it is a fairly practical device, not taking up too much space, etc.
But its uniformity and speed cannot compare to the slicer. As to a professional kitchen, you may or may not find one there. Certainly in deli-type restaurants you would have them. In a more traditional restaurant they are not as concerned with quick production of sliced meat, so any slicing is probably done by hand.
Best Answer
Carbon steel is more malleable and less brittle than stainless steel. This means that it is easier to hone on a knife steel, to maintain an extremely sharp edge.
Some folks feel that the benefit of that sharp edge–for example, in easily slicing tomatoes, and other very fast prep tasks–is worth the compromise of more persnickety maintenance.