The Carbon -teel Pans That Replaced All My Nonstick Cookware

When the coating of my last nonstick pan began to peel away, I knew it was time for a change. I’d initially picked up a set of nonstick pans for omelets and soft scrambles, but before long the skillet unintentionally became my daily pan. Its performance wasn’t better than my clad stainless set or collection of cast iron, but its simple aluminum base heated up quickly, and its nonstick coating made it easy to clean. For someone who works from home and doesn’t own a microwave, that nonstick pan was my leftovers’ best friend. I loved how quickly I could reheat rice without it welding itself to the cooking surface. I didn’t love, however, how reliant I’d become on potentially toxic cookware. It was time to transition to carbon steel.

I’d been carbon steel curious for a few years but wasn’t sure exactly where to start. Fully seasoned carbon steel is lauded for its nonstick properties as well as its searing ability, but it is also prone to corrosion and rust if not cared for properly. In BA’s testing of well over a dozen carbon-steel pans, skillets from de Buyer came out on top. A good carbon-steel pan, much like a cast-iron pan, can come cheap, but de Buyer produces both inexpensive and pricier versions. The Blue Carbon pan from de Buyer, a relative bargain, has great reviews for its low maintenance, but Bon Appétit food director Chris Morocco has been a longtime fan of the higher performance Mineral B series.

As I went on this carbon steel journey I wanted to see if it was actually worth spending a bit more, so I tested these two top pans side by side.

First impressions

After unboxing both pans, it was clear that there were some key differences. The Blue Carbon pan is lighter and has a wider cooking surface, while the Mineral B pan was almost as heavy as cast iron and came with an epoxy-coated handle (this would prove to be an issue later). Both pans come unseasoned, but there’s one major difference—the Blue Carbon pan gets a heat-treatment, which prevents corrosion and rust, while the Mineral B pan comes with a beeswax coating for rust resistance during shipping. I found that the seasoning on the Blue Carbon pan didn’t require as much upkeep as the Mineral B.

When it comes to seasoning, de Buyer has detailed instructions, and the brand doesn’t recommend oven seasoning for the Mineral B because of its handle. The epoxy handle is only oven-safe up to 400ºF, and even then, the company only recommends you leave it in the oven for 10 minutes. However, after both pans went through two initial rounds of seasoning, the difference was stark.

An egg cracked into some simmering butter in the Mineral B slid around comically the way they do in those late-night nonstick infomercials—not even a hint of sticking. The fried egg in the Blue Carbon pan stuck in some spots, though with a little work I still got it to release from the pan with a nice bit of browning along the bottom.

Performance after long term use

That performance advantage shrank quickly after a few regular uses. Just like cast iron, carbon steel builds layers of seasoning every time you cook. Unlike new nonstick pans, carbon steel requires a small amount of butter or oil when cooking, and as those fats heat up, they polymerize to the pan’s surface, improving nonstick performance over time. Within a week, eggs were sliding in my Blue Carbon pan just as easily as they were in the Mineral B. There was another advantage as well: as a lighter, thinner pan, the Blue Carbon model heated quickly, ready to sear and sauté in just two minutes.

What are the downsides to carbon steel?

There are a few issues with carbon-steel cookware. Just like cast iron, long simmers and braises with acidic ingredients can eat away at the seasoning, so you should stay away from carbon steel for tomato sauces or any recipe that requires deglazing with wine. And while cleaning carbon steel isn’t an insurmountable chore, keeping it up does require some attention. If you scrub too hard you can remove some seasoning, if you don’t dry it completely the water could trigger some rust or corrosion.