De Buyer Carbon Steel Pans

[BBQ Engineer]

I was in need of a new skillet, and I have been looking at the Carbon Steel pans for a while...I remembered Gracoman mentioned that he had some and loved them. It just so happened that the brand I was looking at was the same one that he had! LINK

So a quick PM and he really enlightened me on these pans and reaffirmed my decision. I'll paste his PM into this thread is he agrees...it was very informative and complete. Also thought these were a pretty good price

So I have an 11 inch skillet on the way. If you haven't seen these, take a look at how they are manufactured. It looks to be pretty darned durable, and smooth as glass. They are different than Cast Iron, but must be seasoned...I've had good luck with my cast iron stuff lately, so I think I am ready for the switch from coated non stick pans to the real deal carbon steel pans. These will also work awesome with my Induction Range (which is OMG powerful).
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[Fishawn]

Looks like a great new toy Dana

[SMOKE FREAK]

If I had the $$$ I would be looking into these for sure...

[BYBBQ]

Nice pan
Yep, they are good for cooking and season up just like a cast iron pan.
They have been the staple of commercial kitchens for ages. Vollrath(made in the USA) and Lodge have made them for commercial use for many years. Most commercial kitchen supply companies carry them. Just in the last few years with the cooking craze becoming so popular that they are starting to show up in more places for home cooking.

[Richtee]

Nice pan... I bought a monster fryer a couple years ago in carbon. Just a cheaper Resto Depot brand. It’s not even completely seasoned yet, but I do enjoy using it when I need 18” of pan.

[BBQ Engineer]

I asked Gracoman about his carbon steel pans and he sent me the following PM...reprinted here with his permission. Also, I'm not short...so the steeper handle angle that he mentions won't be a problem for me! I did look at the Matfer Borgeat pans which is also mentioned...they have the handle spot welded to the skillet, but as someone with extensive manufacturing experience I am just not a fan of spot welded connections...the thing that they hold out as a benefit I see as a negative. I'd also like to thank Gracoman for taking the time to respond to my question in such a well considered and complete way.

Hi Dana,

I own 8", 10", 12" and 14" deBuyer mineral skillets as well as the 9 1/2" and 12 1/2" saute pans. I wouldn't have bought so many but they came as a set from a restaurant supply house that was going out of business and I believe they were in the neighborhood of $225.00? Do I still love them? Absolutely. My 12", my workhorse, never leaves the stove top. I have never used the 10" skillet or the 9" saute pan. The 14" is one honking big skillet that is rarely used but its nice to have when needed.

The Mineral line also ships coated. I believe the only difference between the Minerals and the Mineral B's are the beeswax coating. The Mineral's may also be also be manufactured from recycled materials but I don't remember for sure. I'm surprised you found a site that still sells the Minerals and the pricing there is not bad.

There are a couple of things about the deBuyer line that sets them apart from other carbon steel pans that you should know. deBuyer produces a much nicer finished product than other manufacturers of carbon steel. The addition of an epoxy coated handle is a nice touch but the trade off is one cannot put them in a very hot oven for a long period of time. The handle is also set at a steeper angle than other brand pans which may or may not be an issue for short people. The better fit and finish is a function of European homeowner retail which is is their target market. Because of this, consider deBuyer the high end of the carbon steel market. This market has always been large in Europe but is relatively unknown in the US outside of the restaurant industry. The restaurant industry does not use deBuyer pans. Bells and whistles add no value there.

As far as cooking is concerned, carbon steel is carbon steel. Matfer manufactures a high quality bourgeat line of pans that are less expensive and will work just as well. They just aren't as pretty and the handle is welded on as opposed to the classic rivets. Matfer likes to use this as a marketing ploy but rivets do not collect gunk like they seem to think. Matfer has a slightly larger cooking surface than deBuyer due to the slope design. Keep in mind all carbon steel will turn black with seasoning so they will never look good hanging in your kitchen.

Lodge also makes a line of carbon steel pans that many people love but the cooking surface is not as smooth as other brands.

General carbon steel stuff:

When seasoned and used correctly eggs will slide around in these. Pancakes will not stick.

They are heavy. Not as heavy as cast iron but don't think they are lightweight pans because they are not.

These pans act exactly like cast iron but seasoning is a little different. The seasoning is relatively easy but is best done on an outside burner because of the amount of smoke that is generated when properly done. If you repeat the process several times it will be awesome right away. The seasoning will be easily removed by melted cheese and deglazing with wine as well as by long acidic sauce cooks. Just re season.

Carbon steel loves high heat and the crust you will get on pan seared meats is superior to cast iron because the cooking surface is so smooth.

Pick up one of those mail chain cast iron scrubbers if you don't already own one. You won't need to use it every time but it will be occasionally be necessary.

The deBuyer saute pans (also called something like country pans) have very high sides which keeps high heat sear splatter to a minimum. This is more helpful than you might think so get a splatter screen if you don't already own one for the skillets. The saute pan(s) are deep enough to make excellent deep fryers.

I use my 8' skillet for omelets, and omelets alone. I was told to keep a dedicated omelet pan by somebody somewhere and it seems to work well for that. I've been eyeballing the crepe pan but haven't pulled the trigger on it.

So, carbon steel pans are used a lot here at casa gracoman. So much so that I have no reason to still own cast iron skillets but I just can't seem to make myself give them away. I still use my All Clad 5 ply stainless steel for acidic stuff. And I still use my non stick pan(s) for no added fat cooking which I do quite a bit of.

All of that said, the only real advice I have for you is to buy 1 skillet and play with it a bit before committing to any more. These pans are not maintenance free and you may not care for the used look of them.

[HawgHeaven]

Good read Dana, and thanks gracoman for sharing!

Been looking at them meself, especially after buying the carbon steel wok. I see more kitchen cabinet space needed in me future...

[gracoman]

Here's a photo I've posted here before of a Japanese Bento breakfast that I like to use as an example of both the cooking and non stick qualities of carbon steel.
This is a Japanese omelette (thinner and usually layered but not in this application) cooked in my 8" de Buyer carbon steel pan after its initial seasoning. It fell out of the pan.

Yeah, yeah, the bear. Don't look at the bear. Look at the omelette. it is perfect. I wish I could take credit for this but is was the pan.

[BBQ Engineer]

So I wanted to let you know of my experience with a carbon steel pan...

I got the pan and this is how it came.




It was the "B" version of the mineral pans...coated in bees wax.




It is heavy...almost as heavy as a 10" cast iron pan




I have used it every day...it has never left the stove top. It is smooth as glass and makes slide out of the pan eggs every morning. My induction range LOVES this pan. In fact the instructions say don't use power boost...the two could not be mated better.



The outside has turned black with seasoning as well.


The bottom line...Love this pan. I'll be getting other sizes as well. This 10.5 is a good workhorse size and I use it for everything. This is a solid, heavy pan that will outlast me. I don't know why I didn't know about these before now. If your pans are work tools and you don't need a show piece, this is an awesome thing. If you are OCD and want a mirror finish on your pan, then this probably isn't going to work for you.

[SMOKE FREAK]

Aww geez Dana...I been wanting these pans for a while now...Just not a good time for buying...Reckon I'll have to get buy with me cast iron for now...

Thanks for the post...Great info...

[Fishawn]

Great review!

[BYBBQ]

Great review!

^^^ X2 ^^^

Looks like a great workhorse

[PitRow]

Great review

[zombini]

Good enough review that I decided to buy a carbon steel pan for myself. I ended up buying the Matfer Bourgeat 11 7/8 inch from Amazon for $34.60. That was on Thursday and today I see it selling for $49.99. The DeBuyer was 50 something then and now its selling for $79.99.

[Slanted88]

well...i just ordered the 14"er...Louie said...as the Cat Daddy BBQ Engineer...said...throttle forward!