What we’d leave: Because the handle is riveted but not also welded, that means there’s a possibility the handle could come loose over time (we haven’t observed this yet though). The sides of the pan meet the base at a bit of a harsher angle, which makes it better for people looking to use utensils to maneuver food within rather than with flipping alone. Again, it all depends on the experience you’re looking for.
A new-and-improved (but slightly unorthodox) alternative: The Strata pan
Pros:
- Lightweight
- Consistent even heating
Cons:
- Building up seasoning takes a bit of work
- Total Diameter: 10.75″
- Cooking Surface Diameter: 8.0″
- Pan Height: 1.8″
- Total Height (including handle): 4.3″
- Total Thickness: 0.11″ (2.8 mm)
- Handle Length: 8.0″
- Weight: 2.4 lbs
We recently tested a contemporary riff on this very old type of cookware and were pleasantly surprised with the results and performance. If you’re expecting the classic tool beloved by chefs, this isn’t it, but it’s an excellent version of a carbon-steel pan that we think is especially well-suited for most home cooks.
What we loved: The unique thing about the Strata pan is that it is a clad carbon-steel pan, meaning that instead of being made entirely of carbon steel, it consists of several layers of metal, each serving a specific functional purpose. The bottom layer is stainless steel, which is rust-proof and an exceptionally even distributor of heat. The middle layer is aluminum, which heats up and cools down fast, making for a more responsive core. The top layer is carbon steel, which develops a slick nonstick seasoning that gets better with each use, and imparts an excellent sear that is adored by chefs.
This cladding helps make up for carbon steel’s shortcomings. Solid carbon steel conducts heat poorly and inconsistently, meaning even high quality pans will have some variation across the surface in how they heat. (We speak highly about the thermal distribution on the pans above, but keep in mind that we are judging them relative to other carbon steel pans.) The Strata pan is demonstrably better at this due both the aluminum and stainless cladding, delivering thermal consistency you’d expect from a high quality stainless-steel pan like All-Clad. Also, since the exterior and handle of a fully carbon-steel pan also don’t build up seasoning in the same way, they are more likely to rust while sitting on the shelf—another reason why we like the stainless steel exterior of this pan. Also, because of the cladding, the Strata pan weighs less than a full carbon-steel pan of the same size.
In our tests, this pan performed phenomenally, and got stamps of approval from both Chris and Shilpa Uskokovic in the test kitchen.
What we’d leave: The hardest part about owning a carbon-steel pan is building up the seasoning at first, you really should use it regularly and often from the beginning to prevent it from developing rust spots, which can happen if you don’t dry the pan off carefully in the beginning. Yes you can just scrub it off, but it’s annoying if you are new to using these pans. However, don’t fuss too much about seasoning, the best advice is simply: keep cooking.
You can read our full review of the pan for more on how it performed.
How we chose the best carbon steel pans
We tested each pan by cooking several batches of skin-on chicken thighs and fried eggs, judging heat distribution by looking at how evenly items cooked on different parts of the pans. For the skillets that did not come pre-seasoned, we went through the process of seasoning them ourselves with an initial layer of grapeseed oil before we got to cooking.
What we looked for in carbon steel pans
We appreciated pans that came pre-seasoned, but didn’t rule out unseasoned pans entirely, as many professional, high-quality carbon steel pans come this way. For those that did come pre-seasoned, we took note of the quality of that seasoning based on how it performed out of the box. We also observed how well seasoning builds on a pan after several rounds of cooking.
Heat distribution and retention
We looked for pans that had consistent heat distribution across the cooking surface with no noticeable hot or cold spots. We also took note of the thickness of the pans—too thin and the pan is prone to scorching, too thick and the pan will take longer to respond to heat changes and weigh more.
The shape and form factor of the pan is more subjective. Some people prefer a wider cooking surface so you can fit more food in the pan without crowding, while others prefer wide, shallow-angled sides at the expense of a smaller cooking surface so that food is easier to flip and maneuver with a single hand. Ultimately we think it’s a matter of consumer choice and what sort of experience an individual wants out of their pan. But for pans designed to have relatively small cooking surfaces you can always go a size up to make them a little more comfortable to use—a 12” De Buyer, for example, instead of a 10” one.
Maneuverability and comfort were the most important factors for us to compare in terms of how these pans measured up design-wise. The overall weight factored in as well, but wasn’t a be-all-end-all guideline, as handle design and shape can change how heavy a pan actually feels in the hand.
Other carbon steel pans we liked
Smithey Farmhouse Skillet
Smithey’s entry into the world of carbon steel is, without question, one of the most ornate pieces of cookware you can buy in the category. It works well too. Once seasoned, we got slick results from the cooking surface, and if you want a statement piece to hang from a pot rack, this would be it. However, we don’t think carbon steel pans should be expensive and this one costs $300, so we can’t make it one of our top picks.
Misen Carbon Steel 10-inch pan
This is a fantastic pan that we would recommend. It has a great pre-seasoned surface and a silicone handle, and its weight is nicely balanced between the handle and the pan. But, it’s slightly thicker than a traditional carbon steel pan and is more akin to a stainless-steel skillet in handling, which is why, for these purposes, we prefer the De Buyer or the Oxo. With repeated use the seasoning improved quickly, capable of executing the coveted “egg slide.”
Matfer Bourgeat Black Carbon Steel Fry Pan
This is a carbon steel pan preferred by many French chefs, and can be found in the bustling kitchens of countless Michelin star restaurants. The brand is 200 years old, and is sort of the old guard when it comes to carbon steel cookware. It’s a heavier pan (3 lbs 14oz) and is pretty barebones, with a welded handle and an unseasoned cooking surface. It is designed to get the job done in high volume kitchens that don’t have time for niceties.
De Buyer Mineral B Fry Pan
The basic Mineral B pan from the maker of our top pick comes with a welded-on handle with a heat-resistant epoxy finish that makes it easier to grasp and easier to clean because it doesn’t have rivets poking out. The problem is that the finish can melt above 400°, making stovetop to oven cooking (something we find ourselves doing a lot with carbon-steel pans) to be a bit of a problem. De Buyer recommends keeping oven time to 10 minutes even at 400°. The Mineral B Pro, which we’ll test in an upcoming update to this piece, comes with an oven-safe stainless-steel handle
Mauviel M’Steel Black Carbon Steel 11-Inch Pan
This is another classic professional chef’s workhorse similar to the De Buyer Mineral B, though slightly heavier. It also has a protective coating that took us over 10 minutes of scrubbing to remove. It’s a nice pan, just be prepared for a project when it comes out of the box.
Merten & Storck Carbon Steel 10-inch Skillet with Stainless-Steel Handle
The Merten & Storck pan aced our egg test. From first use, testers noted that “a fried egg slid right off with the ease of Teflon.”
This skillet has moderately sloped sides and a generous cooking space, making it easy to sear a batch of chicken thighs or a large steak without too much cramping. The stainless-steel handle is easy to maneuver and stays relatively cool. It’s also one of the lightest pans we’ve tested, yet still manages to retain heat well. There is a slightly more inexpensive version with a simpler carbon-steel handle, but it gets a lot hotter than the stainless, so we’d say the extra dollars are worth the additional comfort the stainless-steel handle provides.
While this pan is one of our faves it seems that it tends to go in and out of stock pretty regularly.
Carbon steel pans we don’t recommend
This pan is thick and heavy, which makes the sort of nimble, quick maneuvering that a carbon steel sauté pan is known for quite challenging. The pan heated up quickly, but inconsistently, with noticeable cold spots around the edges of the cooking surface. The seasoning was sticky at first, but improved over a week of use.
While Lodge cast-iron pans have a great reputation, we unfortunately noticed some issues with the carbon steel skillet. We found the initial seasoning lacking in quality, with observable chips right out of the box. The pan had a rougher surface compared to traditional carbon steel pans, which contributed to its sticking problems.
One of the most affordable carbon steel pans, we found the Vollrath to be a bit too thin. It had a tendency to burn food, which also frequently stuck. The handle got particularly hot early on into cooking.
If you see “blue” in the name of a carbon steel pan, that means it comes pre-seasoned, so you don’t have to go through as much of a process, adding layers of seasoning yourself. This pan was middling in terms of performance. It was a bit sticky out of the box, and heat distribution was a little uneven across the cooking surface.
This pan comes with a really excellent pre-seasoned nonstick surface, and is both lightweight and affordable as well. However, we also had an issue with this pan being a bit too thin, as it totally scorched our chicken thighs five minutes into cooking.
This pan has an almost wok-like shape with wide, rounded walls. We appreciated the stainless steel handle, but reviews were mixed on the particular curve of the handle. Morocco, in particular, felt it was too severe.
How to season a carbon-steel pan
You will find online that people can get quite opinionated about the proper way to season a pan. Sure, some people insist on certain oils, a specific number of seasoning rounds, and so on, but it all comes down to this: You have to heat a thin layer of oil on the surface of the pan to create a layer of polymerization that protects the pan from corrosion and creates a nonstick cooking surface.
With a new pan, it’s a good idea to wash it with soap and water and give it a nice scrub to remove any protective factory layer of oil or beeswax that is typically added to protect it during shipping. Once that’s done, you can season the pan in the same way you’d season a cast-iron pan. Crank the oven up to 500°, coat the entire pan in a thin layer of oil (I like seasoning with Crisco), and then wipe off as much as you can with a paper towel—you only need a thin layer of oil. If you use too much, the seasoning might flake off. You’ll know you have the right amount if you can just barely see the oil’s sheen across the full surface of the pan. Place it in the oven for an hour. Turn off the oven and allow the pan to completely cool down inside. This last step is important because if you take it out early you may have a tacky feeling pan.
To maintain the seasoning, you can do a shorter version of the process on the stove top, by wiping the interior with a thin layer of oil and heating until the pan smokes, (remember, less is more with the oil). You’ll know you have it when your carbon-steel pan boasts a lustrous black patina.
Additional testing by Melissa Knific, Julia Heffelfinger, and Allison Robicelli