High end frying pan recommendation

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A couple of things on my 9.5 De Buyer Mineral Pro carbon steel pan is I have included here a picture of me measuring the pan thickness. I believe it is 3 mm even though it is a 24 cm pan.

I had some carbon build up on my new pan and I saw a video using coarse salt to scrub it off using a paper towel. I tried it and it seemed to work. I heated the pan first. Here is a picture after getting the carbon off. My pan is very smooth on the bottom now.
 

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Perhaps we should start a low-end cookware thread where all the commodity carbon steel people can talk to each other.
 
I think I posted in the wrong thread. We should move it to the9.5 De Buyer Mineral Pro carbon steel pan. Can we move it.
 
In all seriousness, some people like to pretend that there's high end cast iron -- mostly companies who want you to buy a 12" skillet for $200 when you can get a better one for $25. Or collectors who want to justify the fact that they spent way too much money and time to obtain their precious Griswold or whatever. All these people harp on the same feature that I've found to be totally irrelevant to nonstick performance: a polished interior. Many of these same companies like to tout the "lighter weight" of their cast iron pans, as if that's anything other than a drawback. "This pan won't sear as good as yours will, but my buddy took a belt sander to it for 5 minutes, so it's got to be worth $180 more, right?!" I will take cheap cast iron over fake high end version every time. It's not like the pans exemplify artistry or craftsmanship, unlike, say, forged carbon steel pans like Blu Skillet. Those pans aren't going to cook any better than cheap carbon pans, but at least you know what you're paying for (labor, aesthetics, and a small amount of hype).

And to respond to HumbleHomeCook's barb above, I only discussed Lodge in order to point out that high end cast iron is mostly a marketing gimmick that doesn't deliver any sort of practical cooking advantage. And I'm not sure what your second quotation from me was supposed to illustrate, as I was answering coxhaus's question about the comparative merits of D5, D7, and Carbon Core.
 
i have my old norwegian jøtul no 19. its 3-4 kilos. i regard this one as my high end pan. because its beefy and indestructible.
then my newer swedish skeppshult is a bit lighter and its a bit worse finished. but these pans are like 100€ and its extremely coarse textured. the jøtul is at least somewhat smooth.

a few years ago i bought my dad a cast iron pan from "ica maxi" for like 17€, fairly smooth, medium weight, solid construction. i felt it was kinda high end to be honest. and it will last for like 7 lifes.
 
"High end"—besides "high quality/performance"—often equates to "rare" and/or "expensive". I very much doubt that a Finex skillet performs much better than a Lodge one. (The Finex costs about 6-7 times as much.)

But the Finex is an awful lot prettier.

No different from kitchen knives, really. Beyond some point, the extra dollars aren't for extra performance.
 
I fudging loooooooove The Restaurant Store. I plot out my lottery backyard there. Roller grill, cotton candy machine, reach in cooler, sandwich station, etc.
 
I’ve cooked fried eggs in modern lodge CI and gotten good release, it’s all about “learning” your pan/cookware and technique. Here is the mini 3.5” lodge with the 12cm (I had to flip the egg in the lodge since it had too much volume and didn’t cook as much on top)
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there is a law of diminishing returns, beyond that to me prices get just silly and things end up being expensive just because being expensive comes with a whiff of exclusivity. Matches made of gold inlaid with diamonds just to show you can afford them.
I like to be on the cutting edge of performance, which usually means expensive but not near borderline ridiculous (that I reserve for odd bits and bobs)
 
Got the 40cm De Buyer and I was really impressed... it's a SERIOUS pan! That was until the 200,000 btu propane burner I ordered was delivered, kind of dwarfed the 40cm. So naturally I ordered the big kahuna 50cm. It came tonight and it's a perfect fit. Can't wait to season it and put it to use... from pancakes to paella, it will most likely replace the cast iron I've been using. I'm keeping the 40cm too, fits good on the induction burner.

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Michi said:
No different from kitchen knives, really. Beyond some point, the extra dollars aren't for extra performance.
Click to expand...
This collector dilemma (i.e. "There is literally no way another knife could benefit me in any way; now what?") seems to be most often solved by moving the goalposts, re-re-redefining "performance" until it just means "Unless two knives are literally indistinguishable in every way, I want both". As soon as "performance" stops meaning "does the job measurably better, as an unbiased third party would define the word 'better' ", ... well, there's a superficially suitable emoji for this, but I'm not sure if it has the right connotation. So I'll just smile. :)
 
coxhaus said:
So how thick is the steel on these pans? Where in the US are they made?
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Did you think they'd be lying and the pans were actually made somewhere else? :)

Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Unless they have more than one factory.

One review on Google Maps is advice from a truck driver to other truck drivers on how to make their Vollrath pick-ups as easy and efficient as possible. Apparently the forklift operators there are willing to make that little extra effort to help keep your load organized.

Other reviews say don't buy the non-stick Vollrath pans sold at the fairground - they soon stick, and the warranty doesn't cover the nonstickiness. Consider yourself warned. :)
 
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I seasoned my new De Buyer carbon steel pans per the best YouTube videos yesterday and set out today to take one on it’s virgin journey of a new meal... paella! The cooking performance (with the big propane burner) was exceptional. The chicken thighs did not stick to the pan at all and after the dish was done (with some developed soccarat), it cleaned up easily in a hot pan with plain water and a stiff Tampico brush. I am now a big believer in carbon steel. Can’t wait to try them out again.


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aboynamedsuita said:
I’ve cooked fried eggs in modern lodge CI and gotten good release, it’s all about “learning” your pan/cookware and technique. Here is the mini 3.5” lodge with the 12cm (I had to flip the egg in the lodge since it had too much volume and didn’t cook as much on top)
View attachment 115949
View attachment 115950
Click to expand...

I like small carbon pans for eggs. I have an old 7-inch carbon pan which I can fry 1 egg or 2 eggs and it is very non-stick. The egg will slide around in the pan as you cook it. It is a real old pan probably 40 years or older that was my mom's pan.
 
BazookaJoe said:
I seasoned my new De Buyer carbon steel pans per the best YouTube videos yesterday and set out today to take one on it’s virgin journey of a new meal... paella! The cooking performance (with the big propane burner) was exceptional. The chicken thighs did not stick to the pan at all and after the dish was done (with some developed soccarat), it cleaned up easily in a hot pan with plain water and a stiff Tampico brush. I am now a big believer in carbon steel. Can’t wait to try them out again. View attachment 116239View attachment 116240
Click to expand...

Did you season it in the oven or over the propane?

The seasoning looks real good to me, better than my carbon pans.
 
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DavidPF said:
Did you think they'd be lying and the pans were actually made somewhere else? :)

Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Unless they have more than one factory.

One review on Google Maps is advice from a truck driver to other truck drivers on how to make their Vollrath pick-ups as easy and efficient as possible. Apparently the forklift operators there are willing to make that little extra effort to help keep your load organized.

Other reviews say don't buy the non-stick Vollrath pans sold at the fairground - they soon stick, and the warranty doesn't cover the nonstickiness. Consider yourself warned. :)
Click to expand...

No, I didn't think they were lying. I just could not figure it out on the computer. I don't care about warranty. I just want a good pan.

I threw away a Le Creuset 9-inch pan. We had it about 15 years and my wife used it a lot. We wore a spot through on the enamel probably using metal accessories. And now my wife has come around to the 7-inch carbon pan. She never would use it when we had the Le Creuset pan. But she likes it now.
 
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coxhaus said:
Did you season it in the oven or over the propane?

The seasoning looks real good to me, better than my carbon pans.
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Both. First you heat it on the propane, very high heat. The steel changes to blue color, then back to a dull silver. When cool, heat in the oven at 200F, then very lightly oiled (canola), wiped virtually dry. Back into the oven at 500F for 2 hours. Shut off the oven and let the pan cool in there for another 2 hours.
 
Website only says 'Made in USA', but the company is hq'ed in WI
FWIW, I've been going to this particular LA,CA based supply store for 30+/- years asn as long as I can remember they've stocked Vollrath products.
I can't specifically speak to thickness, but the 12 1/2" was a beast. And side by side with the Lodge carbon steel pan (10" I think) the Vollrath is considerably thicker. [Lodge is known to be thinner than the major brands, not problematic thinner, but home use thinner, IMHO)

coxhaus said:
So how thick is the steel on these pans? Where in the US are they made?
Click to expand...
 
Guys, what do you think about the Anolon Nouvelle Copper Stainless Steel range? I guess it is not example of the "high end", but may be somebody has experience?
Pls, share.
 
valdim said:
Guys, what do you think about the Anolon Nouvelle Copper Stainless Steel range? I guess it is not example of the "high end", but may be somebody has experience?
Pls, share.
Click to expand...
Having no handson experience but from the looks of hte market materials the thin copper layer is just there to make you think you're buying copper performance... in essence it's still a bog standard aluminium sandwich bottom pan with a tiny bit of copper thrown in to make it look better than it is.
 
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