4 ms·

Carbon steel pans also are much smoother… and at 20% of the price of the Stargazers.

dunham 5y ago
At the other end of the spectrum, my carbon steel skillet is a little pricey, but it's pretty and made by a guy with a hammer. https://bluskilletironware.com/shop/7-fry-pan-cgk32-sjals-2nhb6-zl73y-68grf
WillPostForFood 5y ago
Do you recommend a particular brand?
- gorgoiler 5y ago
  If you cook for a hobby there are plenty of great products in this thread but they aren’t commodity pans. If you cook en masse / for a family then you’ve figured out that a stack of pans is a commodity worth having. I went with de Buyer carbon steel pans: https://www.debuyer.com/en/454-steel-cooking https://www.debuyer.com/en/454-steel-cooking Their Black Iron pans are the thinnest and work best on gas. The Mineral B pans are thicker and won’t warp as much on induction, where you really need to be flat bottomed no matter how hot the stove. The “beeswax” thing feels like bullshit but who cares. Carbon steel is everything you want from a cast iron pan but without worrying that it will crack, much better heat distribution, and a fraction of the mass.
  - ComputerGuru 5y ago
    The heat distribution is really only better if you give it time to warm up evenly. They get hot quickly, so many people assume they’re ready to use but they won’t have yet heated evenly (except on induction, but that would apply for cast iron as well). Cast iron takes way longer to heat up, so it too can achieve similar heat distribution - just in four times as long. Thanks for sharing that link. Their prices seem very reasonable for family cooking! Also, continuer sans accepter on the cookie pop up made my day.
- Lio 5y ago
  I’m a big fan of Samuel Groves carbon steel skillets. Absolute workhorses. Carbon steel’s lighter than cast iron and usually polished when new. Once seasoned it’s seasoned there’s no problem cooking eggs or the like. It’s just a little bit easier to live with which is why they’re so widely used by professionals.
  - BizarroLand 5y ago
    Do you season carbon steel the same way you season cast iron?
    - ComputerGuru 5y ago
      Yes. They also don’t come lightly preseasoned for $reasons that have to do with aesthetics and cost, so you need to season them “from scratch” like people used to do with cast iron once upon a time. (All the cast iron pans sold today come with a “starter” seasoning because of how porous cast iron is - otherwise your butter would stick until you got a seasoning going.)
    - Lio 5y ago
      Yes pretty much. They come coated with flax oil which you have to remove with hot soapy water. Once that’s done it’s a case of heating up some oil and allowing it to cool. Some people will do that by putting them in an oven but I just do it on the hob. It’s really easy and after the first coat I've not had any thing stick. I just wipe the pans out after use an apply a little more oil each time. Over time the seasoning builds up and the pan gradually turns black. I’ve found them to be really easy to live with.

At the other end of the spectrum, my carbon steel skillet is a little pricey, but it's pretty and made by a guy with a hammer. https://bluskilletironware.com/shop/7-fry-pan-cgk32-sjals-2nhb6-zl73y-68grf

WillPostForFood 5y ago

Do you recommend a particular brand?

gorgoiler 5y ago
If you cook for a hobby there are plenty of great products in this thread but they aren’t commodity pans. If you cook en masse / for a family then you’ve figured out that a stack of pans is a commodity worth having. I went with de Buyer carbon steel pans: https://www.debuyer.com/en/454-steel-cooking https://www.debuyer.com/en/454-steel-cooking Their Black Iron pans are the thinnest and work best on gas. The Mineral B pans are thicker and won’t warp as much on induction, where you really need to be flat bottomed no matter how hot the stove. The “beeswax” thing feels like bullshit but who cares. Carbon steel is everything you want from a cast iron pan but without worrying that it will crack, much better heat distribution, and a fraction of the mass.
- ComputerGuru 5y ago
  The heat distribution is really only better if you give it time to warm up evenly. They get hot quickly, so many people assume they’re ready to use but they won’t have yet heated evenly (except on induction, but that would apply for cast iron as well). Cast iron takes way longer to heat up, so it too can achieve similar heat distribution - just in four times as long. Thanks for sharing that link. Their prices seem very reasonable for family cooking! Also, continuer sans accepter on the cookie pop up made my day.
Lio 5y ago
I’m a big fan of Samuel Groves carbon steel skillets. Absolute workhorses. Carbon steel’s lighter than cast iron and usually polished when new. Once seasoned it’s seasoned there’s no problem cooking eggs or the like. It’s just a little bit easier to live with which is why they’re so widely used by professionals.
- BizarroLand 5y ago
  Do you season carbon steel the same way you season cast iron?
  - ComputerGuru 5y ago
    Yes. They also don’t come lightly preseasoned for $reasons that have to do with aesthetics and cost, so you need to season them “from scratch” like people used to do with cast iron once upon a time. (All the cast iron pans sold today come with a “starter” seasoning because of how porous cast iron is - otherwise your butter would stick until you got a seasoning going.)
  - Lio 5y ago
    Yes pretty much. They come coated with flax oil which you have to remove with hot soapy water. Once that’s done it’s a case of heating up some oil and allowing it to cool. Some people will do that by putting them in an oven but I just do it on the hob. It’s really easy and after the first coat I've not had any thing stick. I just wipe the pans out after use an apply a little more oil each time. Over time the seasoning builds up and the pan gradually turns black. I’ve found them to be really easy to live with.