High-End Carbon Steel Pan Recommendations?

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bearhippo

bearhippo

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Title.

I'm aware that carbon steel pans don't cost that much to make (and subsequently shouldn't be that expensive) but I've really been pining for a piece that's "buy one and done" level of special.

Specifically, I have been considering smiths/workshops on the level of Blu Skillet Ironware, 3 Nail Ironware, Athena Skillets, Northwest Skillet Company, Heart and Spade Forge, and Cole Aurichio (seems to be relatively unknown but does a beautiful hand-hammered, albeit very expensive, wok) opposed to Darto, De Buyer, etc.

Does anyone have any other recommendations that I can check out and/or reviews of pans from the above?

It seems that presses are used a lot to create these pans (cutting down on labor but also to have a smoother surface, which seems to be more desirable with a carbon steel pan versus a more textured surface on a wok) and so I'm uncertain as to what I should really look for. In other words, my preference is towards a pan that is made with minimal machinery but perhaps it is best to use a press so that the cooking surface is smoother in comparison?
 
I'll chime in. For the record...I do own cast iron and carbon steel from Blue Skillet, Smithey Ironware, Brooklyn Furnace, Darto, DeBuyer, Mauviel, Made In, and even Lodge. I have a host of carbon steel woks from many makers, including 2 well loved woks from the Cen Brothers in China, and a large collection of cast iron skillets from Griswold and Wagner. Now that I have divulged my cookware fetish..I'll tell you my EDC users and personal preferences. My daily drivers? A Smithey Ironware carbon steel "Farmhouse Skillet", the whole range of Darto skillets, including their Paella pan, and the Made In carbon steel frying pans. The MadeIn carbon steel wok has replaced my Cen Brothers wok as my EDC wok as well. YES, you can pay a lot for boutique makers, but I am a daily driver kind of cook and knife user. I own a wide variety, but what I use every day is what works best for me. The Smithey is good stuff, albeit pricey. The MadeIn is not cheap, but the fit and finish of it is just hands above the other carbon steel makers like DeBuyer. Finally, the Darto stuff is built like the proverbial brick outhouse. All of the brands I have mentioned so far are easy to season, and become relatively "non stick" quite easily. It's what I use...Every. Day. I use them on a Bluster gas range, and I am an avid home cook. My other EDC cookware is mostly Falk copper stuff, and a mix of All Clad. My opinion only, but I am certainly open to openly discuss what works and what doesn't work.
 
It was intersting to have a look at these makers. I've been using a few duBuyers for the past decade and have been happy with them, so don't see myself hunting for handmade stuff soon, though can certainly appreciate the craftsmanship.

What stands out to me is handle shapes from all these makers. Almost all of the handle shapes seem to sacrifice ergonomics for aesthetics. (For example, the shackle on the 3-nail handle looks great, but also means that the end of the handle is not functional to hold.)
I'd look long and hard at the handle shape before buying.

I usually hold pans from the end not the side of the handle--so the end sits in the palm. The old-style all-clad handles work really well for me (but people that hold the handle from the side tend to hate the style of handle). Some of the pans you linked have ends that won't sit well in the hand.
 
Carbon steel pans all perform more or less the same assuming that they're the same thickness. Of course, there are other things to consider such as pan shape, handle comfort, and overall aesthetics. But little things like variations in the surface finish smoothness don't substantially influence nonstickiness or whatever.
If you're made out of money, it's hard to deny the appeal of beautiful artisanal carbon pans. The Blu Skillets in particular speak to me. But taking everything into consideration, I ended up with a set of Dartos. And my favorite that gets used the most is the big paella pan. It's just a big hot slab of searing power. Great for cooking a lot of something, or making nachos, or frying chicken, or searing a huge roast before cooking it in the oven. A blank canvas. I also love my No. 27, which was until recently their largest saute pan. It's perfect for two chicken breasts or large pieces of fish. I sometimes make cornbread in my No. 25.
What in particular are you looking to cook with a carbon steel pan? That might be a deciding factor as to which size and shape to get. Size and shape are probably the most important factors if you're just looking to buy a single piece.
All of Darto's pans are constructed of a single rivetless piece, not unlike the Aus Ion pans (which are more expensive). Mine are the first version, so I can't speak to the new ones. The old ones came jet black from the factory and the saute pans had very flared edges. This meant that the usable cooking space in the bottom of the pan is smaller than it could be. The revised pans have straighter walls and more usable cooking surface area. They also need to be seasoned (and sometimes scrubbed) and aren't jet black from the factory. But they all have a small company "artisanal" vibe that you don't get from De Buyer or Matfer or whatever.
 
I only have owned Lodge and Smithey….
Smithey makes a wonderful carbon steel product with an incredibly smooth cooking surface…. Lodge is rough….
I can highly recommend the Smithey
 
I wish I had waited a year to get my CS pans. I have three Matfers that I'm happy with, but if Darto had had all the sizes they do now, that would be my go to. I agree with @btbyrd, so my criteria was as few parts as possible. Welds over rivets for me, so the one piece construction makes my heart grow three sizes. Maybe I will still do it someday. I have two little ones at home; a set for each once I'm gone.
 
I bought one from Alex Pole and then ended up getting all the sizes, really nice pans, hand spun, thick gauge, stainless handles, take seasoning very well, once seasoned nothing sticks.
Only other frying pan I’ve kept is a stainless lined mauviel m250 for anything acidic
 
I am mainly using copper stainless lined pans right now. I did use my debuyer pan to cook taco meat tonight. I have a few of my mom's carbon steel pans that I like. They are small pans but thicker than my newer larger pans I bought. I wished they made thicker carbon steel pans like they made in the early 70s.

My family was over and I needed a copper pan bigger than my 10.5 inch and smaller than my 16 inch copper pan. I may need a copper pan in between those sizes but it needs to be thicker copper than my 10.5-inch. I am happy with my mauviel m200 for my 10.5-inch pan but bigger and I think it needs to be thicker copper. My old 16-inch copper lined pan is like twice as thick as my 10.5 inch copper pan.
 
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I asked my wife for a BluSkillet Gratin when I retire. she said, "you're so far away from retirement". dang it.

I think the added cool factor of bringing a roasted chicken to the table in a beautiful bespoke pan would be nice, but I dont think it would warrant a fancy pan in my life. by the time retire, I'll probably be over cooking gear.

maybe my wife will buy me a Omega moon watch instead. hahahah..
 
wabi said:
You're going to love it. Seasons up easily. It's become my daily driver.
Click to expand...
so they said it comes seasoned, and also shipped it with a tin of their seasoning "wax". I used it tonight to cook 2 ribeyes, few tablespoons of vegetable oil in the pan, and theres 2 distinct regions of the pan that seem like they were stripped of their seasoning by having the steaks cooked on them. Like the parts of the the pan that experienced Maillard reaction were totally stripped of seasoning. The rest of the pan is bronze and those 2 spots are silver.
Im not new to carbon steel or cast iron and plan to build up a nice seasoning, but I was surprised to the see factory seasoning stripped the first time I cooked on it. Otherwise very happy with it, got super hot, great heat distribution, and doesn't hurt that it's beautiful.
 
Several years ago I bought my father a fry pan from Newquist Forge. It is a beautiful piece. The pan came seasoned and ready to cook. The pan lives on the stove top because it’s used almost daily and also looks amazing just sitting there.
Newquist seems to be a small, family run business. Their products are not cheap. Worth a look in my opinion.
 
I used to own the Made In Blue Carbon Steel Wok, and I occasionally use their Blue Carbon Skillet at work as well. The surface of the wok just could not maintain seasoning - it was impossible to build up over time, and even when I had a thin layer of seasoning everything stuck to its surface. And when I mean stuck I mean really sticky, like welded to the surface. I tried everything as well: the Made In seasoning wax, different oils, baking it in, heating a thin layer past the smoke point, etc... I have read plenty of reviews of the Blue Carbon pans where users experienced the same issue, so I would avoid these (FWIW, I believe the Made In stainless steel pans are fantastic). This was several years ago and now it appears they offer pre-seasoned pans for an extra fee, but not sure how these perform.

I subsequently purchased the Misen Carbon Steel 12 in for about $80 and had great results, unfortunately they discontinued the pan and began a Kickstarter for a seasoned version.

I wouldn't spend more than $100 unless you want a work of art, or you found a pan with your ideal specs for thickness, weight, shape, and size. If I had to purchase one today, I would go with a Matfer because the handle is welded to the pan without any hard to clean rivets.
 
Racheski said:
I used to own the Made In Blue Carbon Steel Wok, and I occasionally use their Blue Carbon Skillet at work as well. The surface of the wok just could not maintain seasoning - it was impossible to build up over time, and even when I had a thin layer of seasoning everything stuck to its surface. And when I mean stuck I mean really sticky, like welded to the surface. I tried everything as well: the Made In seasoning wax, different oils, baking it in, heating a thin layer past the smoke point, etc... I have read plenty of reviews of the Blue Carbon pans where users experienced the same issue, so I would avoid these (FWIW, I believe the Made In stainless steel pans are fantastic). This was several years ago and now it appears they offer pre-seasoned pans for an extra fee, but not sure how these perform.

I subsequently purchased the Misen Carbon Steel 12 in for about $80 and had great results, unfortunately they discontinued the pan and began a Kickstarter for a seasoned version.

I wouldn't spend more than $100 unless you want a work of art, or you found a pan with your ideal specs for thickness, weight, shape, and size. If I had to purchase one today, I would go with a Matfer because the handle is welded to the pan without any hard to clean rivets.
Click to expand...
I thought it was just me. My made in 12” frying pan gets carbon build up from stuff sticking that doesn’t come off without removing the seasoning and it’s just a pita to maintain. I have a $30 carbon steel wok from tj maxx that is way better.
 
I take note of your experience with the Made In wok and carbon steel pans. My experience is exactly the opposite. I found they were the easiest to season, and became the most non stick the quickest as all of my other carbon steel pans. I use them pretty much daily. I live in Hawaii, my wife is Japanese, so we stir fry a lot. I am using a Blue Star gas range, and the cooking temperatures are all over the chart..from gentle sauté to red hot smokin searing and stir fries.
 
bearhippo said:
Title.

I'm aware that carbon steel pans don't cost that much to make (and subsequently shouldn't be that expensive) but I've really been pining for a piece that's "buy one and done" level of special.

Specifically, I have been considering smiths/workshops on the level of Blu Skillet Ironware, 3 Nail Ironware, Athena Skillets, Northwest Skillet Company, Heart and Spade Forge, and Cole Aurichio (seems to be relatively unknown but does a beautiful hand-hammered, albeit very expensive, wok) opposed to Darto, De Buyer, etc.

Does anyone have any other recommendations that I can check out and/or reviews of pans from the above?

It seems that presses are used a lot to create these pans (cutting down on labor but also to have a smoother surface, which seems to be more desirable with a carbon steel pan versus a more textured surface on a wok) and so I'm uncertain as to what I should really look for. In other words, my preference is towards a pan that is made with minimal machinery but perhaps it is best to use a press so that the cooking surface is smoother in comparison?
Click to expand...

Off point but interesting …

I too am a buy once type of guy. Oddly, I was in IKEA buying a bookcase for my daughter’s apartment.

I looked at their carbon steel. It was impressive for the price.

I ended up “blowing” $29 on a nice chefs pan. … and an additional $7 for a lid.

Not too big. Just what I was looking for to fit those little “cooking for two” jobs.

I also have a Loge CS - very disappointed in it. Everyone I have ever seen in a store is bowed
 
Racheski said:
I used to own the Made In Blue Carbon Steel Wok, and I occasionally use their Blue Carbon Skillet at work as well. The surface of the wok just could not maintain seasoning - it was impossible to build up over time, and even when I had a thin layer of seasoning everything stuck to its surface. And when I mean stuck I mean really sticky, like welded to the surface. I tried everything as well: the Made In seasoning wax, different oils, baking it in, heating a thin layer past the smoke point, etc... I have read plenty of reviews of the Blue Carbon pans where users experienced the same issue, so I would avoid these (FWIW, I believe the Made In stainless steel pans are fantastic). This was several years ago and now it appears they offer pre-seasoned pans for an extra fee, but not sure how these perform.

I subsequently purchased the Misen Carbon Steel 12 in for about $80 and had great results, unfortunately they discontinued the pan and began a Kickstarter for a seasoned version.

I wouldn't spend more than $100 unless you want a work of art, or you found a pan with your ideal specs for thickness, weight, shape, and size. If I had to purchase one today, I would go with a Matfer because the handle is welded to the pan without any hard to clean rivets.
Click to expand...
Glad I didn’t end up purchasing it when I was shopping for a wok.
 
BillHanna said:
I wish I had waited a year to get my CS pans. I have three Matfers that I'm happy with, but if Darto had had all the sizes they do now, that would be my go to. I agree with @btbyrd, so my criteria was as few parts as possible. Welds over rivets for me, so the one piece construction makes my heart grow three sizes. Maybe I will still do it someday. I have two little ones at home; a set for each once I'm gone.
Click to expand...
I'm in the same boat. I have a good arsenal of de Buyers, largely because it's what's available here and cheap, and I'm perfectly satisfied with them... but I really like that rivetless design on the Darto pans. Not that the rivets are a dealbreaker; no matter how much I beat them up they're still rocksolid, and it's only slightly more annoying to clean... but the Darto setup is just more elegant.
That 35 cm Paella is also calling to me; seems like the ultimate oven pan for me.
 
Tangentially though, made-ins sauciers however are really damn good.
 
tcmx3 said:
Made In had a sale so out of morbid curiosity I bought a 12".

Bad way to save money, as I was unimpressed enough by it that I now have a De Buyer pro in the mail.

Eventually I will find a carbon steel pan that works for me. The Made In aint it.
Click to expand...

They brag about customer satisfaction … They should be willing to take it back.

- I have a big azz Lodge CS that jist sucks too.
 
Jeff said:
They brag about customer satisfaction … They should be willing to take it back.

- I have a big azz Lodge CS that jist sucks too.
Click to expand...

Maybe, but I don't return stuff because I don't like it. The pan is reasonable, there's nothing wrong with it and it is well made for the price I paid for it, so I don't see how a return would be justified.

I don't feel ripped off it's fine. Just fine.
 
Question on the Darto Paella 35cm: is the bottom dead flat, and if so, does it stay that way after putting it through the paces over time?
I have a similar 32cm De Buyer carbone plus with loop handles, works well, but it did develop a *slight* convex curve to the bottom after repeated high heat cycling which is an irritation. Also, not dogging Debuyer, none of my other smaller/regular pans ever did this, all remained dead flat on the bottoms and are daily drivers that perform very well.
 
phoosty said:
Question on the Darto Paella 35cm: is the bottom dead flat, and if so, does it stay that way after putting it through the paces over time?
I have a similar 32cm De Buyer carbone plus with loop handles, works well, but it did develop a *slight* convex curve to the bottom after repeated high heat cycling which is an irritation. Also, not dogging Debuyer, none of my other smaller/regular pans ever did this, all remained dead flat on the bottoms and are daily drivers that perform very well.
Click to expand...

My 35cm Darto Paella lives on my stove top and gets used for basically 80% of my stove top cooking. My (also very nice) Smithey cast iron and Mauviel carbon steel pans go unused. It is still very flat. You could also try their new 30cm 4mm thick saute pan. Only other 4mm pan they make currently.

Just noticed this on their website as well, not sure which direction your DeBuyer pan warped:
 

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JohnnyChance said:
Just noticed this on their website as well, not sure which direction your DeBuyer pan warped:
Click to expand...
It's high in the center, similar to the screenshot above, but it's high enough that liquids/fats will accumulate around the edges of the pan a bit, rather than evenly spread. the Darto ad specifically states that liquids will not accumulate on the sides (thus, good).
 
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