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These pans require a light touch with the heat, but yield great results. cooker cutting
Before stepping out on my own as a chef, the last job I took as a line cook humbled me. I’d worked with cheap aluminum sauté pans in many kitchens, but this brand-new restaurant had a stack of "French" sauté pans, now known as carbon steel. We recommended a carbon steel pan in our very first issue, published in 1978, for a reason: Carbon steel evenly transfers heat and has excellent nonstick properties when properly seasoned, like a cast iron pan. But, it differs from cast iron and aluminum in how fast it transfers heat.
Carbon steel heats and cools much faster than aluminum and cast iron. I learned this by repeatedly scorching skin-on chicken breast recipes in carbon steel with the stove on high heat. (It follows that during this time, I also learned the burner can go somewhere between off and full blast.) But, by showing some restraint with your temperature control, you’ll find that carbon steel pans are great for searing, rendering, sautéing, and even deep frying. We brought 10 of the best carbon steel pans to our test kitchen to see how they compare. Here’s what we found.
The Matfer Bourgeat’s design makes it easy to use while evenly conducting heat with no
It may require additional seasoning to maintain its nonstick surface.
The Matfer Bourgeat stood out in our tests for its even heat conduction, easy-to-use design, and easy cleaning. The angled handle was easy to grip, and the gently curved sides and balanced weight made tossing, turning, and sliding food out a breeze. It produced evenly cooked eggs with jammy yolks, crispy-skinned chicken, and a cookie with a crisp outside and chewy inside. Each food we tested cooked without sticking and without hot or cool spots. To clean it, we only needed to wipe the pan with a paper towel, rinse it under hot water, and dry it on a burner.
The handle measured about 8.5 inches and sloped down to a welded joint where it met the pan. The welded joint minimizes spots where food and grease can accumulate. The sides curve gently, making flipping easier, and a handy hole in the handle lets you hang it to store it.
Diameter: 10 inches | Weight: 59 ounces | Maximum Temperature: 752°F | Pre-Seasoned: No | Dishwasher-Safe: No
The Misen pan performs well at lower heat settings and has a silicone grip that allows you to grip the handle when hot.
The pan conducted heat a bit too well and scorched our chicken thighs. Keep that in mind when setting your cooking temperature.
This pan has a modern design, with an angled handle that made carrying and maneuvering the pan easy. The handle also has a silicone grip that allowed us to grip it when the pan was hot. The sides curve nicely to the bottom, making flipping and sliding food out of the pan simple.
In our egg test, the Misen showed no hot or cool spots, made nicely runny yolks, and the eggs slid out easily with no sticking or residue left behind. It also did well in the cookie test, making a crisp cookie with a soft interior and no sticking. It didn’t fare as well in the chicken test, as the pan ran hot and scorched the chicken thighs after about three minutes. So, medium-low heat might be in order for this pan. Even though the chicken scorched, no food stuck to the pan. We cleaned it with soap and water, and it lost a small amount of seasoning in the process, so expect the pan to require some periodic maintenance.
Diameter: 10.9 inches | Weight: 51 ounces | Maximum Temperature: 500°F | Pre-Seasoned: Yes | Dishwasher-Safe: No
This roomy pan has a comfortable handle and excellent heat transfer.
One of the pros is also a con. The thinner construction transfers heat evenly but quickly, and you’ll need to work at lower temperatures with this pan to avoid scorching or overcooking.
The M’Steel Black Carbon pan was thinner than some of the others we tested, ranging from 2 to 2.5 millimeters thick. Because of this, it transfers heat quickly, and the manufacturer makes a point to draw attention to the fact that you can and should cook over a lower heat than you normally would with other pans. It’s a well-balanced, roomy pan with a comfortable handle that stayed cool during our stovetop tests.
Our egg test plan called for working over medium-low heat, and the pan did crisp the edges of our eggs during testing but otherwise showed no signs of hot or cool spots. It rendered and seared the chicken thighs very well over medium heat, with no scorching or sticking, but the pan’s heat transfer efficiency left us with a crisp-edged cookie that was still gooey and underdone in the center. Cleaning was a simple task, requiring just a bit of hot water and thorough drying.
Diameter: 11 inches | Weight: 64 ounces | Maximum Temperature: 680°F | Pre-Seasoned: No | Dishwasher-Safe: No
This is an affordable pan with good nonstick abilities right out of the box.
It ran hot at a medium setting on the burner, scorching the food sooner than expected.
The Merten & Storck pan was roomy enough to fry two eggs separately and had a comfortable handle that made it easy to move around the kitchen. Its slightly curved sides made turning food and sliding it out of the pan easy, and we had no sticking issues in any of our tests.
Eggs and a cookie both cooked fine in this pan: the eggs released easily with no signs of uneven cooking and the cookie was crisp at the edges and moist in the center. In what seems to be a more common issue than expected, the pan ran hot over medium heat and scorched the chicken thighs after about five minutes. Cleaning was much like the other pans; simply wiping it out and rinsing it under hot water did the job.
Diameter: 10 inches | Weight: 42 ounces | Maximum Temperature: 600°F | Pre-Seasoned: Yes | Dishwasher-Safe: No
The Smithey Farmhouse skillet is handmade to last and offers a bit more subdued heat transfer than some other pans.
The cost is an obvious barrier to entry for many people.
The Smithey Farmhouse Skillet is handmade and of heirloom quality. The elongated handle had a palm carve-out for easy gripping, and although heavy at 5 pounds, it felt well-balanced and easy to work with. The Smithey comes pre-seasoned, and we relied on the original factory seasoning in our tests, but it should actually become more nonstick over time, according to the manufacturer.
As it was, the Smithey cooked chicken and eggs perfectly, but each required a little nudge from a spatula to unstick from the pan’s bottom. It’s thicker than some of the pans that quickly transferred heat, and it suffered from a reverse problem. The cookie didn’t finish baking after 24 minutes, so about half of it wouldn’t release from the pan. It cleaned as easily as other pans we tested, using just a little soapy water to finish the job.
Diameter: 12 inches | Weight: 90 ounces | Maximum Temperature: 1,000°F | Pre-Seasoned: Yes | Dishwasher-Safe: No
What makes the best carbon steel pan? We found that the heat conduction and even heat distribution of the Matfer Bourgeat 10-inch Black Carbon Steel Fry Pan led it to ace all of our tests, from eggs to cookies.
We cleaned each pan per the manufacturer’s instructions at the end of each step. At the end of testing, we looked at the pricing and weighed each pan’s performance compared to its price.
Keep in mind that your stovetop or induction burner isn’t heating the food in the pan — it heats the pan, which then heats the food. Think of a cast iron pan as a semi-trailer truck. It takes longer to get moving from a stoplight (putting it on a burner), but when it gets up to speed, it’s a powerful machine. Thicker than carbon steel, cast iron takes longer to heat but builds a deeper pool of heat for the food to draw from. Once hot, it takes longer to cool down. A carbon steel pan, on the other hand, typically only measures a few millimeters thick, so it responds to temperature changes from the burner much quicker.
A pre-seasoned pan is ready to go right out of the box. Non-pre-seasoned pans frequently ship with a layer of beeswax spread across the pan to prevent rust during shipping and storage. You’ll need to remove the layer of beeswax (typically with a sponge and hot water) before you can season the pan, which we strongly suggest to get the best performance from your carbon steel pan.
For many people, pan seasoning, and the process of doing so, comes down to personal preference. If it matters to you, an unseasoned pan is the right choice. The seasoning layer in pre-seasoned pans is sometimes less than durable, and some chipping might occur in transit, so you aren’t guaranteed to have a perfectly nonstick pan straight out of the box or for the seasoning to last beyond a few uses.
The pans we reviewed ranged in diameter from 10 to 12 inches. Pans on the smaller end of that spectrum were a little crowded to cook two eggs. That said, they fit two chicken thighs with no issues. This explanation is a roundabout way of saying that a 10-inch pan is suitable for cooking for one or two people or perhaps preparing sides for a few more. Larger sizes accommodate larger numbers but also add weight. Most of the pans we reviewed are in the 2.5- to 3-pound range, reaching up to 5 pounds. Consider the weight for hanging, storage, or if you have strength issues, as these aren’t as heavy as cast iron, but they are heavier than many stainless steel or other nonstick pans.
The sides of a carbon steel pan should be gently curved or sloped, making a wide cone shape. This design accomplishes two things. First, it makes it easier to turn food over when cooking and gives a good angle to “toss” things in the pan while sautéing. Second, it makes it easier to slide food out of the pan onto a plate, tray, or cooling rack.
Depth is important for a couple of reasons. Wide, sloping, or curved sides increase depth, which minimizes splatter. A deeper pan also allows you to add more food in the case of sautéing. And if you’ll use the pan for pan or deep frying, you’ll need to constrain more oil than you would when sautéing or searing, so depth factors in here, too.
Handles are another important consideration. A handle should feel comfortable when holding it in your hand. A handle should also make it easy to hold the pan in place when stirring or turning food. It should also be constructed at an angle to the pan that makes it easy to toss the pan when sautéing.
Steel is a compound of iron and carbon. So, technically, all steel is carbon steel. But “carbon steel” refers to steel with a higher percentage of carbon than “mild steel” or stainless steel, the latter containing chromium, which resists rust stains. The higher concentration of carbon in carbon steel facilitates quick, even heating, much like cast iron, but in a lighter form.
Carbon steel pans are excellent for cooking eggs, frying, sautéing, searing, baking, and rendering. Because they are typically thinner than cast iron pans, they’re more immediately responsive to temperature changes from your burner. You’re not directly heating the food with your burner when you cook in a pan. You’re heating the pan, creating a pool of heat that gets transferred to the food. Because of their thinner construction, carbon steel pans don’t build a deep pool of heat and get hotter or cooler faster than cast iron.
The dishwasher can ruin carbon steel cookware. Always consult the manufacturer’s cleaning instructions, but because carbon steel pans are seasoned, some special care is necessary to keep them at their nonstick best. Typically, wiping the pan out with a paper towel and then rinsing with hot water is the basic process. You can use a mild dish soap, but to maintain the nonstick surface seasoning provides, don’t scrub the pan. It’s often best to dry the pan over a stovetop burner on low heat and then apply a light oil coating to prevent rust while storing the pan.
They can be. A carbon steel pan requires seasoning, just like cast iron. The pan itself doesn’t become nonstick, but the layer of seasoning, polymerized cooking oil, is the nonstick surface. To maintain the nonstick qualities, it's best to avoid using metal cooking utensils, which can chip your seasoning layer and create sticking points on the pan’s surface.
To season a carbon steel pan, you must polymerize a layer of cooking oil to the pan’s surface. Lightly coat the pan with a high smoke point vegetable oil, like grape seed. Heat the pan over a burner for five to ten minutes until the oil stops smoking. Cool the pan and repeat the process two or three times to create a good layer of seasoning. The seasoning requires maintenance, and you’ll need to re-season the pan periodically, which varies on how frequently you use the pan and what type of utensils you use.
Vollrath French Style 11-Inch Carbon Steel Fry Pan ($39 at WebRestaurantStore.com)
The Volrath pan is thin, about 1.5 millimeters (16 gauge), and heat passes through very quickly. Because of that, hot spots caused our eggs to develop crispy edges, and the chicken scorched very quickly.
De Buyer Mineral B Pro 11-Inch Fry Pan ($99 at Amazon)
The Mineral B pan was a thicker-gauge, heavy pan (just shy of 5 pounds) that produced beautiful eggs and chicken thighs. It didn’t conduct heat well in the oven, however, producing a raw cookie after 24 minutes.
OXO Obsidian Pre-Seasoned 10-inch Carbon Steel Frying Pan ($50 at Amazon)
The Obsidian’s cooking surface seems to have had a convex hot spot in the center, leading to crispy-edged, slightly under-done eggs. The cookie, while crisp, was somewhat undercooked in the center, as well.
Unfortunately, not every pan was a winner. But the lowest score in our testing was four points out of a possible five, so the competition was stiff. Surprisingly, the two lowest-scoring pans came from manufacturers that have historically performed well in our tests: Made In and Lodge.
Despite lowering the heat beyond the setting we used for other pans, the Made In 10-inch Seasoned Carbon Steel Frying Pan got too hot in our egg test, burning the edges before the eggs could set. It did better with the chicken thigh test, but the skin had burnt spots. The Lodge Pre-Seasoned 10-inch Carbon Steel Skillet exhibited similar egg results but aced the chicken test. With that kind of heat transfer, the Made In pan baked an under-done cookie that stuck when we turned it out on the plate.
cookware made in usa Both pans exemplified the need for a gentle hand with stovetop temperatures when working with carbon steel pans, and, again, they ended up just about one point each from a perfect score. So this isn’t to say they’re bad pans; they just didn’t perform as well as the others we tested.