Hi. This is a review of a carbon steel frying pan from DARTO I bought a few months ago. There are other reviews of this pan online, so I will keep this short—just thought I’d share b/c it pops up from time to time that people here are in the market for such a pan, and these seem to be a little less known. This is my first carbon steel pan. I have plenty of cast iron, but weirdly, nothing in the 10-inch range, so this was also an attempt to see if it could fill that gap. They’ve got a lot of sizes, but this is their n. 25 which is shy of 10 inches, but close enough.
The company is from Argentina and I bought it directly from them online. No issues whatsoever. They seem to have sales/specials pretty frequently, and mine came with free shipping and no tax. It arrived quickly via DHL, well packaged, and with a thick layer of oil/protectant. First thing I noticed: It’s awfully small !!
Just kidding. They also sent me a free keychain mini pan. (Cute, but not practical)
My first thought: this is a heavy pan. I hadn’t looked at the weight before buying, so it was a bit of a surprise—but it’s a good fill in for cast iron—and that’s a plus for me, maybe not for someone else. It’s 1827g with 3.5mm thick walls (listed as 3mm, but mine is definitely thicker) 38mm deep inside, and has a fairly perpendicular, not super sloped sides, so has a wide surface area compared to some other CS pans I’ve seen. I scrubbed off the protective coating and heated the entire thing over my gas burner until the color changed. Seasoned it with a couple thin coats of oil in the oven. Looked beautiful.
Fried some eggs with it. Practically non-stick. And it stayed that way until I cooked some artichokes. No one ever told me artichokes must have a lot of acid or something in them, because it wrecked the look of the pan, and may have stripped off some of the seasoning. Not really sure, but I re-seasoned it. Doesn’t look quite as pristine, but works just as well, which is fine because I don’t like to baby my equipment anyway, and I love the look of a lived-in pan too. I’ve cooked a lot of stuff in there at this point: steaks, veggies, small roasts, and I have no complaints. It is all business but still comfy, with a seamless, non-riveted, pretty long handle that stays fairly cool unless it goes in the oven. Seems super durable. Bonus: you could also use it to effectively clunk the head of a burglar as in old cartoons on TV.
Anyway, that’s it. Love the pan (the last picture is how it looks today). I’d consider it if you’re looking for a carbon steel pan, especially if you want a thicker/heavier option.
The company is from Argentina and I bought it directly from them online. No issues whatsoever. They seem to have sales/specials pretty frequently, and mine came with free shipping and no tax. It arrived quickly via DHL, well packaged, and with a thick layer of oil/protectant. First thing I noticed: It’s awfully small !!
Just kidding. They also sent me a free keychain mini pan. (Cute, but not practical)
My first thought: this is a heavy pan. I hadn’t looked at the weight before buying, so it was a bit of a surprise—but it’s a good fill in for cast iron—and that’s a plus for me, maybe not for someone else. It’s 1827g with 3.5mm thick walls (listed as 3mm, but mine is definitely thicker) 38mm deep inside, and has a fairly perpendicular, not super sloped sides, so has a wide surface area compared to some other CS pans I’ve seen. I scrubbed off the protective coating and heated the entire thing over my gas burner until the color changed. Seasoned it with a couple thin coats of oil in the oven. Looked beautiful.
Fried some eggs with it. Practically non-stick. And it stayed that way until I cooked some artichokes. No one ever told me artichokes must have a lot of acid or something in them, because it wrecked the look of the pan, and may have stripped off some of the seasoning. Not really sure, but I re-seasoned it. Doesn’t look quite as pristine, but works just as well, which is fine because I don’t like to baby my equipment anyway, and I love the look of a lived-in pan too. I’ve cooked a lot of stuff in there at this point: steaks, veggies, small roasts, and I have no complaints. It is all business but still comfy, with a seamless, non-riveted, pretty long handle that stays fairly cool unless it goes in the oven. Seems super durable. Bonus: you could also use it to effectively clunk the head of a burglar as in old cartoons on TV.
Anyway, that’s it. Love the pan (the last picture is how it looks today). I’d consider it if you’re looking for a carbon steel pan, especially if you want a thicker/heavier option.
