Best Carbon Steel frying pan brand to make eggs in?

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foodnoobie

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Since i got rid of all my teflon coated pans, i'm looking for a pan to make eggs in. I live by myself so i only make 2 eggs at most at a time. Sometimes just 1 egg.
I heard Carbon Steel is the best type of pans for this since it stays seasoned. But what brand can you recommend? And what size?
I saw Mauviel scored high in some reviews and they have an 8 inch and a 4.7 inch pan.

Or do you recommend Cast Iron for eggs? Some people online recommend Japanese Cast Iron for eggs. Although i don't know what brand.

Ps: I always make my eggs with as little butter as possible, to reduce excess calories. Can i cook eggs on a carbon steel/cast iron with minimal butter or does it need to be a lot to prevent sticking?
If it needs a lot, perhaps going for the smaller 4.7 inch pan is better and then simply cook an egg twice? Not sure if 8 inch is too big.
 
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jcsiii said:
I'm a little partial to the Made In brand Carbon Pans.
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I wonder if they're better. They are more expensive. They look great! One online website test said In Made came out as the best non stick surface. But then another website test said the exact opposite. Difficult decision.
 
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Personally, I have purchased a few eBay used "Made in France" pans, cheap, that work great. I did purchase a mauviel that has worked great. My no-name ones for one and two eggs work great and my eggs just slide around (sometimes with a little prodding from my spatula.
 
Check reviews, but I think it is the de buyer that has some kind of coating on the handle that can turn to goo if used in the oven at high temp. I could be confused, could be mauviel, but one or the other.
 
Until a few years ago basically no one in the mainstream US market had really heard of carbon steel pans... but on the tail of the resurgence of cast iron suddenly carbon steel got 'noticed' and poof suddenly all the manufacturers start selling carbon steel pans, often with high pricing.

My advice... just go for the original.. De Buyer Carbonne Plus in whatever size you want. It's basically the same as the Mineral B series, sans bovine excrement. It's basically what a lot of the restaurants around here have been using for decades.
A lot of the other brands are a lot more expensive for very little difference in performance. Some might actually be worse due to being thinner. But in all other regards, a 3mm carbon steel pan will perform very similar to any other 3mm carbon steel pan.
Made-In just doesn't make sense when you're in Europe; the price goes up too much.

However I would keep in mind that it's not going to give you the same experience as a regular non-stick pan. You're not really going to be cooking with less fat than you would in a stainless steel pan. You should also question whether this is really a goal worth pursueing in the first place; you're losing out on significant flavor and frying performance, without really making any real gains in the quality of your nutrition.

If you really wanted to splurge I'd consider Darto simply because they have that one-piece design going for them (no rivets).

Cast iron isn't going to perform drastically different than carbon steel, though some of them are thicker which gives them more thermal capacity. For frying eggs you're not going to notice a difference.

For what it's worth, frying eggs also goes perfectly fine in a stainless steel pan.
 
Jovidah said:
My advice... just go for the original.. De Buyer Carbonne Plus in whatever size you want. It's basically the same as the Mineral B series, sans bovine excrement. It's basically what a lot of the restaurants around here have been using for decades.
A lot of the other brands are a lot more expensive for very little difference in performance. Some might actually be worse due to being thinner. But in all other regards, a 3mm carbon steel pan will perform very similar to any other 3mm carbon steel pan.
Made-In just doesn't make sense when you're in Europe; the price goes up too much.

However I would keep in mind that it's not going to give you the same experience as a regular non-stick pan. You're not really going to be cooking with less fat than you would in a stainless steel pan. You should also question whether this is really a goal worth pursueing in the first place; you're losing out on significant flavor and frying performance, without really making any real gains in the quality of your nutrition.
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Thanks for the awesome advice. I did read that Debuyer had a thicker bottom than Maulvier and that it was better, while being in the same price range. I think i will go with this brand.
Right now i only have a bigger stainless steel pan which is too big for 1-2 eggs. I want to use the least amount of butter since it's excess calories i don't need. So a smaller pan has less surface, which therefore needs less butter.
I tried poaching eggs in my stainless steel sauce pan, however my tap water contains PFAS chemicals unfortunately. And it's a bit expensive to fill an entire sauce pan with bottled water each time i want to cook 2 eggs. So that's why i'm looking into a small frying pan. Your advice is always excellent and i really appreciate it!
shopshopshop said:
I like Matfer just because I prefer the metal handles to the De Buyer weird material ones, but they're both great
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I saw a youtube video where someone compared Matfer and Debuyer. And both came out equally on the test scores. Except Matfer doesn't have the riveted handles, so it's a lot easier to clean. I'm contemplating between Debuyer and Matfer now, except that i don't know if either have a european website which will allow for cheaper shipping. Nor if there will be a black friday sale. I'll have to email the companies. Thanks!
 
foodnoobie said:
Thanks for the awesome advice. I did read that Debuyer had a thicker bottom than Maulvier and that it was better, while being in the same price range. I think i will go with this brand.
Right now i only have a bigger stainless steel pan which is too big for 1-2 eggs. I want to use the least amount of butter since it's excess calories i don't need. So a smaller pan has less surface, which therefore needs less butter.
I tried poaching eggs in my stainless steel sauce pan, however my tap water contains PFAS chemicals unfortunately. And it's a bit expensive to fill an entire sauce pan with bottled water each time i want to cook 2 eggs. So that's why i'm looking into a small frying pan. Your advice is always excellent and i really appreciate it!

I saw a youtube video where someone compared Matfer and Debuyer. And both came out equally on the test scores. Except Matfer doesn't have the riveted handles, so it's a lot easier to clean. I'm contemplating between Debuyer and Matfer now, except that i don't know if either have a european website which will allow for cheaper shipping. Nor if there will be a black friday sale. I'll have to email the companies. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Putting more butter in the pan doesn't mean you eat all of it. And in general it's just not what you should really worry about (calory counting and cutting fat isn't necessarily all that effective for weight loss).
Frying an egg in a bigger pan really isn't that problematic IMO. Just try it; you might be surprised. Just make sure there's at least some fat, and give it some time for the egg to release naturally (it will stick at first, then come loose after a while).

I haven't seen the Matfers here, but I haven't really gone out of my way very far to look for them; already had the De Buyers before I heard of them. But I wouldn't be surprised if they came from the same factory...
Main advantage of the De Buyer is they're widely available for little money. At the wholesalers (Makro/Sligro/Hanos) they're on sale quite often.
 
The one I linked in your other thread about this topic is an eggcellent choice. We use it every day for fried eggs, omelettes, and scrambles.
 
So you're not swearing off fried eggs and going poached only? ;)

With a gas stove, I agree to just buy what you like. I would prefer a slightly thicker pan vs thinner but they will all work for the task.
 
I tried an Alex Pole pan and then quickly bought all the other sizes.
Trick to no sticking is preheating the pan enough.

They work great, are handmade, pretty reasonable, and work great.

Otherwise Minerale B, solid and reliable but don’t have the same charm and with a choice I prefer the Alex pole

IMG_8066.jpeg


Smallest great for a solo egg, mid does 2 and largest does 4 eggs
 
I'm really happy with my DeBuyer omelet pan (on the left of the photo). It's a little thicker than the crepe pan (right). Although I use the crepe pan a lot for single fried eggs.

Mine are both wildly nonstick and the eggs just slide around. I'm a big fan of carbon pans.
20231111_064749.jpg
 
foodnoobie said:
I wonder if they're better. They are more expensive. They look great! One online website test said In Made came out as the best non stick surface. But then another website test said the exact opposite. Difficult decision.
Click to expand...
They come pre-seasoned and the stainless handles are better than the traditional styles IMO. Haven't had any issues in both a restaurant environment and at home with these.
 
Fwiw, I really like crispy fried eggs but I don’t want to consume a ton of oil. So often I’ll fry it on one side in a fair amount of oil till it’s nice and crispy, basting the top with the oil, and then transfer onto a paper towel and blot off the extra oil. Usually using a Lodge cast iron.
 
Frankly a well-seasoned Lodge small skillet is really a great egg pan. 8" or 10" whatever floats your boat. But just be prepared to season it yourself a few more times over factory. Once they get a proper layer though, it's minimal stick. Far better than stainless but you're still going to need a little oil or butter, same as carbon.
 
Joyner said:
Check reviews, but I think it is the de buyer that has some kind of coating on the handle that can turn to goo if used in the oven at high temp. I could be confused, could be mauviel, but one or the other.
Click to expand...
it doenst turn to goo, but it does look awful. I can confirm this, first hand.
 
foodnoobie said:
Thanks for the awesome advice. I did read that Debuyer had a thicker bottom than Maulvier and that it was better, while being in the same price range. I think i will go with this brand.
Right now i only have a bigger stainless steel pan which is too big for 1-2 eggs. I want to use the least amount of butter since it's excess calories i don't need. So a smaller pan has less surface, which therefore needs less butter.
I tried poaching eggs in my stainless steel sauce pan, however my tap water contains PFAS chemicals unfortunately. And it's a bit expensive to fill an entire sauce pan with bottled water each time i want to cook 2 eggs. So that's why i'm looking into a small frying pan. Your advice is always excellent and i really appreciate it!

I saw a youtube video where someone compared Matfer and Debuyer. And both came out equally on the test scores. Except Matfer doesn't have the riveted handles, so it's a lot easier to clean. I'm contemplating between Debuyer and Matfer now, except that i don't know if either have a european website which will allow for cheaper shipping. Nor if there will be a black friday sale. I'll have to email the companies. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Best price for de Buyer is on knivesandtools. Check them out. Shipping is cheap and if you go over 100€ it is free. I find them good as I got the Acier Carbone. Use grape seed or avocado oil for seasoning and after use let the pan cook a bit before washing to prevent warping…
 
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