As far as taste, not really. As far as performance, quite a bit. The copper pot is so much easier for me to control the heat. I have a gas stove and can put it on low and it works great to let the temp rise slowly when cooking the curds, say like taking them from 90F to 145F (or something like that) over 45 minutes. Then its real easy for me to maintain whatever temp. I never had that much control with my stainless pot with a heavy bottom. And when i was doing it in the sink with hot water, i was forever going up and down with hot or cold water. So, yeah, from that stand point, it has made a big difference. I am considering having the inside of the pot tinned and have found a guy near by in New Orleans that does that kind of thing and the price is very reasonable but i dont know that it is needed. I use it so often that it dosent get much chance to build up any oxidation and I allays wipe it out real good with vinegar and rinse before using just because it seems like a good thing to do. Bottom line - I love the heat control!