Matfer Bourgeat 062001 Black Steel Round Frying Pan, 8 5/8-Inch, Gray

Product Information

Place the pan over the heat level recommended by the manufacturer, and heat until the oil just begins to smoke. Remove the pan from the heat and, using tongs to protect your hand, use a clean paper towel or dishtowel to wipe any oil around the pan so that it's no longer visible. Let the pan cool completely.

Carbon steel is an alloy made of about 1 percent carbon and 99 percent iron. It contains slightly less carbon than a regular cast iron pan, which allows it to be relatively thinner and lightweight yet maintaining all the qualities of cast iron. It also translates to carbon steel being less brittle than cast iron. This pan, although lighter than a cast iron pan of the same size, weighs nearly five pounds. De Buyers were the first to discover the protective features of beeswax. Today, it is used to protect the pans from oxidation during storage and transportation. But the long tradition offers a lot more than beeswax. Shape and cooking area: The shape of the pan will affect the cooking. A gentle slope to the sides makes it easier to shake and toss foods, and it keeps the pan open so that liquids will reduce easily. But sloped sides can eat into the flat cooking surface at the bottom of the pan. We've noted when pan on this list had a cooking surface that felt smaller, but some is up to personal preference and the kinds of foods you cook most. To season a carbon steel pan, you will want to first remove any protective coating—many pans come with a layer of beeswax to protect the surface in transit. DeBuyer recommends using hot water and a soft cloth to rub away as much of the beeswax as possible. Dry the surface, then coat it in a thin layer of oil or fat, then place the pan in the oven at 300 degrees for an hour. Alternately, you can heat the oiled pan over medium heat on the stovetop until the oil starts to bead. Remove from the stovetop and wipe away any excess oil with a paper towel. If your pan has arrived seasoned, you can skip this process, but you'll want to re-season your pan every now and again.

What we didn’t love about the Merten & Storck Carbon-Steel Pan

It’s simple– if you want the absolute best, you don’t have to scroll anymore – simply go and buythe De Buyer. Do not put carbon steel in the dishwasher. The cycle (especially if you use today's grease-fighting detergents) will likely strip away the seasoning, and it may keep the pan wet long enough for rust to develop on the exposed material. Wash and dry the pan. Many unseasoned carbon steel skillets will come sealed in a beeswax coating that prevents the pan from rusting in transit. Use hot water, a gentle dish soap and a sponge or gentle dishcloth to wash the pan until the waxy coating is removed. Dry the pan thoroughly. Carbon steel skillets, a mainstay in many restaurant kitchens, are now growing in popularity with home cooks. And with good reason: They're durable and versatile. They work with basically all cooktops, including induction; most are oven safe, and some are even designed for open-flame cooking, like on the grill or over a campfire.

Stainless steel cookware contains more of the alloy chromium, and the reason that matters for you is that it protects stainless steel from corrosion. Carbon steel has less chromium, so it can rust and needs to be seasoned . But the two materials are similar in that they are lightweight and responsive to heat. Again, this matters to you because responsiveness lets you control the pan when you want to drop a boil to a simmer or to avoid burning something you're searing.The wide base of the pan allowed the spatula to enter easily. While we feel the handle is a little long, we like its triple-riveted design and hanging hole for storage. Finally, according to the manufacturer's instructions, acidic ingredients, abrasive cleaners, and even salt (when not on food or diluted with water) can damage the pan’s surface. It came out of our tests unscathed, which bodes well for it holding up under normal use and with proper care. VARIETY OF USES: Brings top-notch heat distribution and temperature control, preserving the vitamins and nutrients in your foods, making it excellent for searing meats and fish, stir-frying and caramelizing vegetables, a wide variety of other dishes and techniques. Deal Alert! Several of our favorite carbon steel pans are on sale right now, including the Joyce Chen 14-Inch Carbon Steel Wok and the already budget-friendly Lodge 12-Inch Seasoned Carbon Steel Skillet. I’ve used a lot of skillets over my near-decade of working in food media as a writer, recipe developer, recipe tester, food stylist and culinary producer for Food52, Bon Appétit and Epicurious, Taste, the Strategist and NYT Cooking, among others. As I’ve moved around in the industry, I’ve found that there’s often a discrepancy in skillets that are marketed to—and therefore preferred by—home cooks versus those who cook for a living. Many home cooks I spoke with while performing this testing weren’t aware of the existence of carbon steel skillets.

There are many different ways to test a carbon steel pan. During our testing, we looked at the above criteria as well as performed 3 key tests:For everyone who has been looking for promising and high-quality pans, you cannot go wrong with De Buyer because they have used top-notch material. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that De Buyer pans are absolute. They are creating a competitive edge by outlining the protective properties of beeswax as they are using it for protecting the pans (the protection is promised from oxidation) during transportation and storage. One other thing we noted is that it is oven limited—because of the epoxy coating on the handle, you can only use this pan in the oven for a maximum of 20 minutes at 400 degrees. For those who want a truly ovenproof version, the de Buyer Mineral B Pro is equipped with a cast stainless steel handle so it can handle longer stints in the oven. Is your kitchen even a kitchen if it doesn’t have the right pots and pans? For this reason, choosing the pans and pots can be pretty hard, but brands like Matfer Bourgeat Vs. De Buyer are here to fill up your kitchen. As the oldest and longest-running cast iron manufacturer in the U.S., Lodge has built a solid reputation on its extensive line of affordable, cast iron cookware. Lodge also has a small collection of carbon steel pieces, including a skillet and paella pan that can be used both inside on a stovetop and outdoors on a grill or campfire. Like the brand’s cast iron skillets and grills, the carbon steel pieces are all manufactured in the USA. In contrast, cast iron cookware contains a little more carbon than carbon steel (2% to 3%, compared with carbon steel's 1%), and this matters because it makes cast iron more brittle, meaning it must be cast (poured into a mold, hence the name), giving it a rougher texture. The relative flexibility of carbon steel allows it to be stamped (pressed into shape from a single sheet), which gives it a smoother surface.