All Clad vs De Buyer

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Mingooch

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I am guessing this has been asked before, but I didn't see a thread in a quick scan. The wifey wants to buy me some new pans etc. The question is All Clad(stainless) or De Buyer(Mineral B). Please feel free to chime in if you have had experience with both.
Thank you,
 
We have a mix of De Buyer, All-Clad ss and Sur La Table ss skillets. The All-Clad has the most issues with sticking, although technique/ procedure helps to minimize the sticking. Both the De Buyer and All-Clad seem to be on par as far as heating up and holding heat, although that may depend a bit on the flame patters on your burners if you have a gas range/ cooktop. The All-Clad is a bit easier to care for, obviously, which may be a good selling point depending on your/ your wife's cleaning-up habits; it is also a bit lighter. Our De Buyer experience is limited to skillets and a crepe pan, so I cannot compare other pot/ pan shapes (we have mostly old Calphalon aluminum, newer All-Clad ss and Le Creuset enameled cast iron pots). I would look into building a set of All-Clad and supplementing with some De Buyer and Le Cruiset/ Staub.
 
Wife is good at cleaning and caring for stuff in general. She is slowly learning knives, but she too cooks and loves to cook. So I am sure both of us will get good use out of her gift to me, LOL.
 
I wouldn't get carbon pans as everyday pans, and I say that as somebody who owns, loves, and constantly uses, several carbon steel pans. The first time you try to make a vinegar based pan sauce and the seasoning flakes off into it, you'll understand why. :) Regarding All-Clad, I would go with their MC2 line, unless you are cooking on induction. They are thicker, and perform just a little bit better. If MC2 is out of the question, I would get the All-Clad stainless. I use mine a lot, and their warranty has been no questions, in my experience (I just got an 11 inch French pan replaced, due to warping, and they made it easy).

I have a lot of pans. I have All-Clad stainless, All-Clad Master Chef (the old, original, 6mm stuff, with cast steel handles and mirrored interiors, which is freaking amazing), All-Clad MC2 (the current line), Viking, Sur La Table triply, Viking, De Buyer, Paderno, tons of bare cast iron, old and new, a bunch of 2 and 2.5mm tinned copper, Mauviel stainless lined, enameled cast iron, and the three pans I grab the most are a 12 inch Vollrath, a Viking Professional 3.5 qt saucier (which doesn't seem to be made anymore), and a DeBuyer 10 inch Mineral B. I love having a wide variety of pans, in many materials shapes and sizes, butif I had it all over again, and needed to keep thing homogenous, I'd buy Vollrath wear-ever trivent, as my main pans, and then get a carbon steel pan or two to go with it. The Vollrath's just rule, and are cheap. Mine is starting to go out of flat, but I use gas, so it doesn't matter much. I might go bang it back to flat out on the driveway, or something.
 
Except for specialty items (like pressure cookers,) I've phased out all of my clad cookwear in favor of carbon steel, cast iron (bare and enameled) and tin-lined copper. Stainless has the benefit of being dishwasher safe, standing up to aggressive utensils and looking shiny, but it's seriously lacking in the performance department. It's certainly unsurpassed for someone who needs or wants low-maintenance cookwear that does everything but excels at nothing. If your particular situation lends itself to caring for carbon steel, I highly recommend it. It's what I reach for most often and my de Buyer pans are even edging out my ancient cast iron skillets. If I were you, I'd buy the three sizes currently on sale at West Elm for about $75 for the set:
http://www.westelm.com/products/mrk-we-market-carbon-steel-de-buyer-frying-pan-8-d713/
They're from the Carbone Plus line which are identical to the Mineral B pans minus the beeswax coating and the silicon decoration in the handle. That should leave you plenty in your budget to pick up an All-Clad pot or two for cooking acidic foods if you really want to try one, but there are better options for All-Clad money (Mauviel and Falk copper, Le Creuset and Staub enameled cast iron, etc).
 
damn, those De Buyers at West Elm are cheap! Are we sure they are the 2.5-3mm steel, and not the thinner stuff?
 
damn, those De Buyers at West Elm are cheap! Are we sure they are the 2.5-3mm steel, and not the thinner stuff?

Yes. I own them all, along with some of De Buyer's other, thinner lines. The weights listed for the West Elm (Carbone Plus) pans match exactly to the weights listed for the Mineral and Mineral B pans. The Carbone Plus line is a more utilitarian line marketed towards restaurants and culinary professionals, while the Mineral line has a lot of "green" marketing (higher recycled/recyclable content) and slicker packaging targeting home cooks, but the relevant specs are identical. If there's still doubt, I suppose I could take some measurements at the pan edges.
 
Oh, I believe you. I already had a 12" Paderno, but I bought the 12" from WE. Not having to take the beeswax off is a plus, in my book. I just couldn't pass that up. If I didn't already have a 10" Mineral B and a 10" Paderno, I would have bought that, too.

At these prices, Mingooch, buy the pans from West Elm, and then buy this for the times that carbon isn't appropriate.
 
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Do the larger pans sit flatter than the smaller carbon ones? I have a glass top range and it was just to much effort to hold the small carbon skillet down to get even heating. I only have the 8 inch model DB blue steel.
 
Do the larger pans sit flatter than the smaller carbon ones? I have a glass top range and it was just to much effort to hold the small carbon skillet down to get even heating. I only have the 8 inch model DB blue steel.

all of my carbon pans, by Paderno and De Buyer, are perfectly flat. I don't own any of the small pans, though.

the nordic ware 10 and 12 inch lids should fit these perfectly, FYI.
 
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I wouldn't get carbon pans as everyday pans, and I say that as somebody who owns, loves, and constantly uses, several carbon steel pans. The first time you try to make a vinegar based pan sauce and the seasoning flakes off into it, you'll understand why. :) Regarding All-Clad, I would go with their MC2 line, unless you are cooking on induction. They are thicker, and perform just a little bit better. If MC2 is out of the question, I would get the All-Clad stainless. I use mine a lot, and their warranty has been no questions, in my experience (I just got an 11 inch French pan replaced, due to warping, and they made it easy).

I have a lot of pans. I have All-Clad stainless, All-Clad Master Chef (the old, original, 6mm stuff, with cast steel handles and mirrored interiors, which is freaking amazing), All-Clad MC2 (the current line), Viking, Sur La Table triply, Viking, De Buyer, Paderno, tons of bare cast iron, old and new, a bunch of 2 and 2.5mm tinned copper, Mauviel stainless lined, enameled cast iron, and the three pans I grab the most are a 12 inch Vollrath, a Viking Professional 3.5 qt saucier (which doesn't seem to be made anymore), and a DeBuyer 10 inch Mineral B. I love having a wide variety of pans, in many materials shapes and sizes, butif I had it all over again, and needed to keep thing homogenous, I'd buy Vollrath wear-ever trivent, as my main pans, and then get a carbon steel pan or two to go with it. The Vollrath's just rule, and are cheap. Mine is starting to go out of flat, but I use gas, so it doesn't matter much. I might go bang it back to flat out on the driveway, or something.

The Vollrath trivent look interesting. Do you use the 8 gauge or 10 gauge?
 
The main thing I don't like about All Clad is the handles. Not only are they uncomfortable but they seem to be poorly thought out. They are thinner near the pot/pan and tapper out. Handles IMO should be thicker near the pot/pan to have something to hold on to when you need to choke up on a heavy/full pan or pot. I have gotten rid of my All Clad and replaced them with Demeyere Atlantis/ProLine. These are far better IMO. They have a mix of full clad and disc bottoms, depending on the piece and it's purpose. If the Demeyere is out of your budget then I would look at Vollarth Tribute line (this is the tri-ply line that competes with All Clad)

Do yourself a favor and go to a SLT and handled the All Clad before buying them. They also carry Demeyere lines to compare them to.
 
all of my carbon pans, by Paderno and De Buyer, are perfectly flat. I don't own any of the small pans, though.

the nordic ware 10 and 12 inch lids should fit these perfectly, FYI.

Sorry, what I meant to say was the handle lifts the opposite side up making the pan sit funny. Ill give the bigger ones a try at the store.
 
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Ohh, there's a sweet looking steel handled version that's 6 gauge, too.


All the 12 inch are 8 gauge (and mine is 8 gauge, I've measured it), AFAIK, but it varies depending on the size of the pan. Vollrath makes a lot of stuff, and I've seen pans at my local restaurant suppliers that I've never been able to find on the website. I have the chrome plated handle variant. I prefer All-Clad handles, but the Vollrath handles are nice.
 
The main thing I don't like about All Clad is the handles. Not only are they uncomfortable but they seem to be poorly thought out. They are thinner near the pot/pan and tapper out. Handles IMO should be thicker near the pot/pan to have something to hold on to when you need to choke up on a heavy/full pan or pot. I have gotten rid of my All Clad and replaced them with Demeyere Atlantis/ProLine. These are far better IMO. They have a mix of full clad and disc bottoms, depending on the piece and it's purpose. If the Demeyere is out of your budget then I would look at Vollarth Tribute line (this is the tri-ply line that competes with All Clad)

Do yourself a favor and go to a SLT and handled the All Clad before buying them. They also carry Demeyere lines to compare them to.

The handles are the very best part, in my opinion. They are polarizing, for sure. I only own All-Clad fry pans and small sauce pans, so I don't worry about choking up on them, and the handles make very very nimble flipping and sautéing, if grasped underhand. The Viking Professional is made by Demeyere, and has the same performance as Demeyere 7-layer. The performance is identical to All-Clad, in my opinion. I'd replace all of my non-carbon steel with 2.5mm+ tinned copper, if I could, but All-Clad is very good cookware. If it weren't, I wouldn't own and use as much as I do. I do wish they still mirror polished the interiors, though. The vintage thick Master Chef is better than almost anything made, and very similar to copper, in performance, and the vintage All-Clad Master Chef has far better fit and finish than current Mauviel (and mirrored interiors!). I wish they still made that stuff.
 
I prefer All-Clad handles

And to think I use to look up to your opinions (jk). This just goes to show it's all subjective. This is why I also suggested that he go to a store and have both his wife and himself try all these out before buying anything.
 
And to think I use to look up to your opinions (jk). This just goes to show it's all subjective. This is why I also suggested that he go to a store and have both his wife and himself try all these out before buying anything.

The All-Clad handles are definitely love/hate. There have been many, many flamewars on chow hound, over the issue. Going and handling the stuff is a great idea, for sure.
 
Sorry, what I meant to say was the handle lifts the opposite side up making the pan sit funny. Ill give the bigger ones a try at the store.

You can also try bending the handle up, which might help the center of gravity. I don't like the flat handle profile that Paderno puts on their 10 and 12" world cuisine pans, so I always bend them up. The larger De Buyer have handles that are at a good angle, but the smaller pans I've seen in stores seem to have pretty flat handles.
 
Sorry, what I meant to say was the handle lifts the opposite side up making the pan sit funny. Ill give the bigger ones a try at the store.

This is a problem for some of the smaller pans in the thinner gauge lines (La Lyonnaise, Force Blue), but for the thicker lines, even the 8" pan is heavy enough to balance out the long handle. These pans are almost as heavy as cast iron.
 
I have a range of pans but these days I'm only using two brands: old all-clad master chefs and the debuyer minerale-B are my favorites. All clad for saucing, deep frying, and anytime a pot is needed, and debuyer for proteins. The debuyer crepe pan is great too, and I use it quite a lot for various things. A well seasoned debuyer makes a great egg pan too.

Occasionally I'll break out the VERY old tinned copper pans, but trying to minimize use on these

Bottom line is, what are you in need of most, and what will you use them for?
 
This is a problem for some of the smaller pans in the thinner gauge lines (La Lyonnaise, Force Blue), but for the thicker lines, even the 8" pan is heavy enough to balance out the long handle. These pans are almost as heavy as cast iron.


Yes, but I wouldn't even think of getting my de Buyer pans from the fire to the tap without letting them cool somewhat first. I'm happy to err on the side of caution.
 
Except for specialty items (like pressure cookers,) I've phased out all of my clad cookwear in favor of carbon steel, cast iron (bare and enameled) and tin-lined copper. Stainless has the benefit of being dishwasher safe, standing up to aggressive utensils and looking shiny, but it's seriously lacking in the performance department. It's certainly unsurpassed for someone who needs or wants low-maintenance cookwear that does everything but excels at nothing. If your particular situation lends itself to caring for carbon steel, I highly recommend it. It's what I reach for most often and my de Buyer pans are even edging out my ancient cast iron skillets. If I were you, I'd buy the three sizes currently on sale at West Elm for about $75 for the set:
http://www.westelm.com/products/mrk-we-market-carbon-steel-de-buyer-frying-pan-8-d713/
They're from the Carbone Plus line which are identical to the Mineral B pans minus the beeswax coating and the silicon decoration in the handle. That should leave you plenty in your budget to pick up an All-Clad pot or two for cooking acidic foods if you really want to try one, but there are better options for All-Clad money (Mauviel and Falk copper, Le Creuset and Staub enameled cast iron, etc).

Awesome deal. Just purchased two 12". I have a high btu camp type stove I use in conjunction with my grill in the summer months, and these will be perfect.

Thanks for the heads up!
 
Thank you all for the input. I ended up getting the 10 & 12 in de buyer from west elm and the 11 and 13 in all clad. Can't wait to break them in. Still might have to try that Vollrath.
 
I just ordered a 12" debuyer, thanks for the tip! Not to derail the thread, but do you guys season with flaxseed oil first and in between uses?
 
The cheapest place to get De Buyer pans I've found is Capital City Restaurant supply (wholesale pricing). I've not bought pans from them myself, and I've checked their models numbers against De Buyers and it seems they sell the heavier gauge pans.
http://www.capitalcityrestaurantsup...399,L,Eurodib USA > Professional Cookware,MX1

I have three sizes of De Buyer steel pans with cast iron handles, and these will got to the grave with me. The cast handles makes such a big difference, but unfortunately, De Buyer discontinued them a couple of years ago. I use mine for nearly everything, but as ER said above the seasoning can come off. I'm not fussy about maintaining a perfect seasoning. I steam and make sauces in my regularly, and give them a good scrubbing. The best trick I've found is to pre-heat the pan with a good bit of oil, and then pour and scrape out the hot oil and cook with fresh oil. Makes a HUGE difference in performance and sticking.

I 2nd what ER said about not having steel pans for everyday use - unless your experienced with them. I hardly ever use my SS pans, but they all have their place.
 
I'm also in the market to upgrade some of my pans (knife & stone budget is frozen) - primarily sauce pans in three sizes and a large saute pan. I'm looking at all options that I can find, and I'm so on the fence... The main ones I'm considering are Viking, Mauviel M'Cook SS - looking at both the SS handles and cast handles, and Cuisinart Multi-Clad Pro. Not a fan of All-Clad - don't like their handles, and their sauce pots have straight sides with no lip which makes pouring a disaster.

I have a Viking 11" fry pan, and LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I've found I like their handles (next to cast iron handles), sizes and shapes, construction and quality the best. However Viking has discontinued their cookware and small appliances, and there's limited stock around at only a couple places. No idea what warranty is like now. But the prices are good right now...

I just got in Mauviel M'Cook SS 3.6q sauce pan w/ SS handle, and I'm not as impressed with it as I had hoped. The handle is odd - it's light in weight and small in size over all. It's thicker towards the body of the pan, but has a weird taper towards the end. I think I'd prefer the cast iron handles. A big downer is the lids are super sloppy fitting - they over hang the edge of the pot a lot and have a recess that sits on the inside of the pot that has lot of slop.

I've ordered a Cuisinart MultiClad Pro 4q sauce pot just to check out. Cheap made-in-China stuff, but it's full three layer, decent looking handles (I've seen two different handle versions in their literature, and I'm not sure which one I'm getting), pouring lip, "tight Fitting" lids, a really good range of types and sizes. I like they offer steamer and double boiler inserts with a single handle, not a double loop handle. Can't stand double loop and helper handles (except stock pots). Worth taking a look at - especially for the price. I don't have high expectations but I may be pleasantly surprised.

I also have a 12" ScanPan CTX - my good chef friend highly recommended these to me, and I find them kinda... Meh... the over quality is good, and the non-stick coating is one of the best there is. But I don't like the pan shape at all - the sides are low and vertical, and I don't like the handles - they are almost level to the top of the pan, and are shaped like an elongated football. While they are fairly comfy to grasp, when you pull a pan put of a hot over with a towel, the handle can twist in the towel and spill everything out onto the floor. Very precarious.

Demeyere looks very nice, but not seeing the sizes/types/details that I'm looking for.

DeBuyer Affinity also looks appealing, much better price point than other high-end brands. I don't like the shape of the fry pans/skillet as much as Viking. I'm primarily looking for sauce pans, but their largest offering at 3.5q is smaller than I really want which is 4-4.5q. They also don't offer a straight sided saute pan in a 5q range with a straight handle, only double loop handles.
 
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