The Best Carbon Steel Skillets for Restaurant Quality Cooking at Home



Adam discusses the best carbon steel skillets, a favorite in restaurant kitchens.

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42 Comments

  1. I jumped on the carbon steel bandwagon recently by trying the 'Made In' which runs a lot of ads on YouTube. It is a nice pan, but I found out I could a Matfer that is thicker (better heat distribution/ retention) for less money from my favorite restaurant supple store. Plus as mentioned in this video, I preferred the lower handle on the Matfer. Don't get me wrong, the Made In is just fine and I could easily keep, but I just like the Matfer's more. I have to give kudos to Made In, they give full money back no questions asked and they donate the used pans to Habitat for Humanity. That's classy in my book.

  2. I do not understand the focus on weight when it comes to carbon steel and cast iron cookware. If you want performance you need pans that are made with sufficiently thick steel. There really is no way around it. There are pans out there that are nice and light but too thin and they tend to warp when high heat is applied, or worse, they will develop a concave bow. This is why you see some pans with a discernible convex bottom to try and mitigate this warping, usually with not very good results. When I shop for a carbon steel fry pan I look for thickness of the steel, then the overall shape and size, and finally, the angle and length of the handle. I want to make sure that I can fit it in the oven when finishing meats and fish. Personally, I like de Buyer pans and have a large collection in different sizes and shapes.

  3. The way she's standing there acting all surprised and amazed is so weird when you consider this is obviously scripted and she knew everything before hand. A weird observation I know but it's relentlessly cringe inducing for me.

  4. Have you reviewed stainless steel skillets? These are very expensive pans, but I feel they may offer the best all around cooking solution. They need to include copper and/or aluminum layers to distribute heat. Any review?

  5. I purchased the Matfer because of this recommendation but it warped on my glass top. It's still too heavy for me. I have yet to use it for a Dutch Baby Pancake, which is why I purchased it. I have had to re-season twice. If the Dutch Baby sticks, I will probably replace this with something lighter and use just for searing meat.

  6. I truly have had no issues with my cheap, thin, Winco carbon steel pan. More likely to warp? Probably. Preheat it on low instead of on high and don't shock it with water and I don't think it matters. And the fact that it weighs 3.5 lbs instead of 5 is a BIG difference for your hands.

  7. Unfortunately I found the winning pan to be far to heavy. It weighs nearly 5 pounds EMPTY. I could not manipulate the pan to shake or flip the contents. I typically refer to ATK for their recommendations for kitchen equipment, tools and gadgets. This time I am hugely disappointed this pan is not for me.😔

  8. "found that these tall handles, the ones that were set at a steep angle or that were too long, felt more awkward to them than a shorter handle at a lower angle"
    So steel being one of the more ductile metals, with a little leverage, you can adjust the angle to suit. I have done that on several carbon steel pans. Adjusting the length would require an angle grinder.

  9. Cost should not be considered in ranking the quality of the pan. This review left us wondering if the super expensive pan would have taken top spot if it hadn't been super expensive. We watch this channel because we want a blind, impartial, scientific examination of the equipment. That is your value to the audience.

    It would be fantastic if you found cheaper equipment that outperformed expensive stuff. We have no idea if that's the case here.

  10. This is one review they got VERY VERY wrong I bought the Matfer based on their recommendation and it was mediocre to terrible in so many ways. Thought maybe carbon steel is just not for me then at some point later I was in a kitchen store and they had a Debuyer carbon steel pan. The quality just from holding it was clearly so much nicer. Still unsure I bought the smallest one well i can report I now have a small medium and large and I use them everyday. They are great great pans. Never felt that way about Matfer.

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