Just bought the 10” Misen for fun
I got a 14” de Buyer as a gift. Holy crap this thing is heavy. I’m going to need to start working out if I want to use it.
I thought the point of carbon steel was to save weight? Which has had me wondering about thermal capacity.
Carbon steel is less brittle so pans can be made thinner. For the same diameter, they are lighter, heat up more quickly, and are more responsive than cast iron. They have a high enough heat capacity to do well at searing and browning, although they retain less heat than cast iron pans. That’s the trade-off. They still tend to be heavy because they are made to have some of the advantages of cast iron in a lighter, more responsive pan. Imagine how much a 14" cast iron pan would weigh.
Carbon steel is actually a little denser than cast iron. If the pans were equally thick (and same dimensions), the carbon steel pan would be heavier.
-Al
What Al said. Focus on can be made thinner and lighter. So they can make a thinner pan which is lighter and responds faster to heat changes. They can also choose to make a thick pan which weighs the same as cast iron and holds more heat – though, as Al says, that pan will still be somewhat thinner than a cast iron pan of the same weight. It will also be less brittle and have some other properties that differ from cast iron.
I’ve been very satisfied with my Matfer Bourgeat and in addition to being less expensive the 12-in is about a pound lighter than the de Buyer. Seems like excellent quality and I’ve got no complaints.
Recently picked this up–I’ll have to get the name
Love my blueironskillet 12”
Paul, if that’s your stovetop, we have the same one. Don’t really like ours - mainly due to the pop up ventilation. The top works fine and I do like the sealed top for easy clean up when I mess something up.
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I enter their buying lottery every month I remember to and have yet to get the chance to buy.
You must have a 13". They don’t make a 12".
Yeah 13”. They had a sale 5 months ago where you could log in and buy; they were sold out in 5-10 min. It looks like the sale is usually March-April.
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I have 2 from De Buyer: the largest size Mineral B Fry Pan and the Omelette pan. I just got them a couple of months ago. I like them so far. I did have to season them each several times to get a good coating, and also clean off some sticky residue in between seasonings before I got the hang of the process.
As far as functionality, they are great. They’re quite non-stick, and I don’t have to worry about what my family is ingesting as whatever non-stick coating is popular at the time slowly leaches into our food (they all do).
My only complaint about De Buyer is the handles are not comfortable. They’re surprisingly uncomfortable considering how heavy the big fry pan is and the reputation of De Buyer. The big pan is a 2-hander, and there’s no way I could flip anything in it without utensils. That’s fine, but a better handle design would be nice, and maybe a small handle on the other side of the pan.
My novice tips from someone who is still learning as I go:
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If you can use stainless instead of the carbon steel, do it. Some things really do not require a non-stick surface. Onions caramelize better on stainless anyway, for example, and they can leave a sticky residue on the carbon steel that’s difficult to remove.
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If/when you do get a sticky residue that’s difficult to remove, a lot of coarse salt with a little oil works wonders. I get the pan hot enough to evaporate water instantly but not hot enough to smoke the oil. Put in salt and oil, rub with washcloth or paper towels. Then clean, dry, re-season, good to go.
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If there’s pesky residue or odor that doesn’t quite warrant the above treatment, a little natural soap will not remove the seasoning, despite what so many people say. I don’t put soap directly on the pan, but a little in a sponge with water in the pan is fine.
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Fish odor: after cleaning with hot water and brush, getting the dry pan very hot on the stove gets rid of this. There’s no need to use oil, vinegar, water, or do any of the more involved processes people suggest. Just heat does the trick. Then you might as well do a quick re-season since the pan is already hot.
If anyone has additions, I’m all ears. Totally new to carbon steel. I wish I had discovered it long ago. I will never buy non-stick again.
What size De Buyer Mineral B did you get? I have the 28cm (11"), and 32cm (12.5"). The former doesn’t have a second handle, the latter does. I agree that you need two hands to toss things in the larger skillet, and the angle of the handles are pretty steep, making them a bit uncomfortable and difficult to maneuver in ovens depending on where your racking is.
I love the pans though (I have the roasting pan and madeleine pans also). I doubt I’ll ever have to replace them, but if I were looking for more, I’d look at the new(er) line Mineral B Pro, as the handles appear to be a little more ergonomical and rounded - plus they are uncoated stainless steel, so they could handle higher heat in the oven.
It’s the 12.5". I see some that do have a second handle. It’s not important enough for me to replace the pan, but if I had used one before, I would have tracked down a 2-handle version. Mineral B Pro looks nice, but I don’t really need to put mine in the oven. Anything where I go from stovetop to oven is fine with stainless. I am sure with some meats the carbon steel would be preferable. Hopefully these things will last forever and I won’t need to think about what to replace them with. If so, I’ll deal with the uncomfortable handles. The functionality really is great, almost as non-stick as Teflon without any questionable coating.
I have the 13” also. Expensive, but excellent skillet. For some reason, I was picked in the lottery the first month I entered (about one year ago).
Lucky
Have had Mauviel carbon steel pans for about 6 years, ever since we switched to induction. Love them.
It’s pretty much the only pan I use when searing steaks inside. Also works perfectly for naan.