Ditched all non-stick and have exclusively stainless steel cookware now. Interested in carbon steel. Are premium brands worth it or is it all the same? Any brand recs?
I think they’re all very similar, and prices aren’t so high that you should worry about it. Find something with a handle and weight you like. Mom is elderly and we found that IKEA made a carbon steel pan that was a great fit for her. Sorry to say I don’t think they make it anymore.
I got a great carbon steel wok from this shop in NYC Chinatown that specializes in it.
Love my carbon steel wok from https://wokshop.com/ I’d be interested in more carbon steel cookware too
I got the 25cm and the 27cm from Darto International last year and absolutely love them. I did a lot of research before picking which brand to buy and ended up going with Darto because of the thicker steel and unibody design (no rivets or different handle material).
They are heavier than non stick but I’m not using any kind of tossing technique so it’s not really an issue.
My only (kind of) regret is that my two sizes aren’t different enough. I like the 27 but I sometimes which I had gone with the 25 and 30 instead.
No rivets. No regrets. Sold.
I will warn you that the wax coating they use for shipping is pretty tough to get off. I recommend super hot water and steel wool or a metal scrubbie.
But it doesn’t take much to build a seasoning on them. I just cooked oily foods the first couple times and try to do a light oiling after drying them. It holds pretty well and even when I’ve stripped them accidentally, it comes back within 1-2 uses. Hope you enjoy!
Noice!
We went with the updated recommendation of Mauviel from ATK.
https://www.americastestkitchen.com/equipment_reviews/2705-the-best-carbon-steel-skillets
I have this one. I will say that their instructions for seasoning the pan really suck.
My instinct was to treat it like my cast iron, but since this was my first carbon steel pan (other than my wok which works differently), I decided to follow their process exactly.
If i remember right, it came coated in beeswax, which you have to melt off. It then tells you to basically have a pool of oil in it while you put it in a really hot oven. It just ended up with a really splotchy season. I’m hoping it smooths out over time, but it’s been a couple years at this point.
I keep debating stripping it off entirely and starting over like i would for cast iron, but that’s a whole undertaking.
A bit of a tangent, but for nonstick applications with stainless steel, you can add oil or butter, get it to smelting temperature, and then lightly wash it out (deglaze basically) and then add more oil or butter and cook at regular temperatures.
I use this method to make omelets and it’s nearly as nonstick as using a Teflon pan.
So you heat them up, oil it, dump oil, hit with a bit of water, then oil again?
That sounds about right. You start on higher heat, that opens up the pan’s “pores”, it absorbs the oil or butter in those “pores”. Then you hit it with some water and briefly wash the pan out so you don’t have to have burnt butter or smelted oil in there (it may not be necessary for oil that doesn’t taste nasty after smelling, so things other than olive oil and butter). Then you add another smaller coating for flavor, and lower the temp and cook like you would on Teflon.
On my induction hot plate, I start it at 5.0, put a largish pad of butter in, wait for it to brown a bit. Hit it with water and wash the butter out. Then turn the hot plate to 4.0 and put a smaller pad of butter in.
I just fried an egg like this today for my burger (bigger story I don’t usually eat crap like this) and it was nearly like Teflon. I could flip the egg without a spatula if I wanted.
They’re all about the same, just look at the thickness of the pans when deciding which one to buy. A thinner (~2mm) one will be a lot more reactive to temperature changes whereas a (3mm+) pan will be a much better tool for searing. The differences aren’t drastic enough that you need more than one unless you enjoy collecting. Premium brands aren’t necessarily going to perform better than cheaper ones, but I don’t think this necessarily means that they aren’t worth it. These pans should last more than a lifetime (my oldest has been going strong for a decade now), so if you’d like to treat yourself and have the means to do so, I say go for it. Things to pay attention to when comparing brands would be the cooking surface diameter, slope on the side walls, handle design, and whether or not the pan is riveted for easier cleaning.
The two relatively popular exceptions to the rule of all carbon steel being about the same would be Strata and Misen’s Carbon Nonstick. Both are tri-ply pans with an aluminum mid layer, so they should be significantly lighter and more reactive than pans of similar thickness. Misen’s take comes with a treatment on the steel that supposedly makes it less prone to sticking and unreactive to acidic foods. I’ve never tried the Strata, and I’ve not had Misen’s pan long enough to speak to the longevity of the treatment, but I can say that it was definitely less sticky than untreated carbon steel pans out the box (though with proper preheating it’s not a huge deal). Acidic foods do still strip seasoning off of the pans, but the treated base layer doesn’t rust so you don’t have to be paranoid about cleaning (though I would say not to be paranoid no matter what pan you get). If you or someone that you know may struggle to handle heavier pans, both of these options are great.
I have a Darto No. 25 that feels like it could survive a nuclear bomb.
It’s really heavy, but of course it maintains temperature really well, so it’s great for searing, and being a breakfast griddle.
Some brands have very thin steel: My first carbon steel was a “BK” that has a very thin layer, and therefore heats unevenly on my electric coil burners. I wouldn’t recommend those.
I do like the semi-nonstick seasoning when it’s built up over time, and that is a big advantage over stainless steel.
But of course, stainless steel has its advantages too: Much less fussiness and maintenance to keep them from rusting, worrying about acidic foods, washing and drying immediately after use to prevent rusting, etc.
I have a MadeIn. It’s a really nice depth and the handle is great, it’s thinner than most, so it’s light, but it can be difficult to get even heating.
I also have a couple Matfers; they’re a lot heavier and the handle heats up more, but they’re fantastic for cooking. And they were inexpensive.
No experience with other brands.
I have a couple of DeBuyer pans, they’re nice and not overly expensive.
I’ve got a pretty piece from Smithey Ironworks that i absolutely love; it has a rounded handle, not a flat one, so it doesn’t dig into my palms while handling it.
Edit: I got this beauty: https://smithey.com/collections/carbon-steel/products/carbon-steel-farmhouse-skillet
Wow, that is one beautiful pan
I’m quite happy with my Matfer Bourgeat carbon steel frying pan. It was the America’s Test Kitchen recommendation.
We have a Mafter 10" that works great. The handle is kind of primitive feeling but one gets used to it. It totally replaced the 10" stainless All Clad pan which is now lingering in the basement.
Why did you replace the stainless All Clad?
I got tired of cleaning it. Most of the time the seasoned carbon steel just needs a wipe.
I have a pair of volrath 12" that are used all the time, a de buyer crepe pan that does everything it needs to do (crepes) and a yosukata wok that gets more use than I expected. All are great. Some brands use really thin metal, which can warp with high heat and that’s less pleasant.
What type of stove do you have/use for the yosukata wok?
Induction, ge cafe chs950p, the medium sized burner does a better job than the large one (better magnetic coupling, so more power in general)
The wok is an induction ready one, so it has a flatter bottom, but I’ve never cooked with a rounded wok, so I don’t know what I’m missing and prefer to keep it that way.
I can tell you after watching a lot of tests on YouTube that Made In carbon steel, one of the more expensive ones, is absolutely worthless.
Awww but YouTube is where they advertise… How could this be?!
Because they have to cover up all the bad reviews.
Heh makes sense
Good call. Teflon is shit. Ceramics are worse. Ceramics on aluminum is the bloody worst.
