Matfer Bourgeat Black Carbon Steel Frying Pan, 8 1/2"

The pan itself is fantastic. Took seasoning like a champion, and is more nonstick than my tramontina teflon skillet. no joke.but before i continue to sing it's praises... and i will... let's mention the one down side. this is a heavy skillet. no two ways around it, it is lighter than cast iron in the same size, but if you're moving from cast iron to carbon steel because you can't lift your cast iron anymore, it may serve to keep looking at aluminum or teflon. this pan is a bulldog, great little pan, always faithful, but he's got shoulders and a head that will absolutely scare your neighbors.now, the praises... i started my pan with a rigorous hot water and detergent scrub, all over, and paper towel dried, then whilst the pan was drying on a warm stove, i cranked my oven up to 500F. once the pan was dry, i gave him a full body massage in flax oil. the entire length of the handle, the inside and outside of the pan, all of it. flipped upside down and inserted in the oven, and gave him one hour in the heat. i pulled the pan, set him aside for a bit too cool, then rubbed him down again in flax oil with an oily rag i keep for my cast iron. once he was shiny all over like a golden god, back into the furnace. after the second hour at 500F, the heat went off and the pan sat until the next morning when i seasoned as per the instructions, using oil, salt, and potato skins. the pan was, at this point, a deep auburn all over, and the potato skins fried right up. but instead of taking those to black, i just fried them until the skins were crispy and brown, then removed the salt, oil, and skins from the pan. i wiped out of the pan, and it was slick and easy, nothing stuck at all. i then sauteed one whole onion in butter. having two peeled potatoes left, i had chunked those and soaked them in lemon water to keep them from graying, so faced with a dilemma, I answered by using a fork to separate the skins from the salt, then placed some of the oiled salt back in the pan, with the sauteed onions, topped it with the chunked russets, and added pepper, then slid the whole pan into a 375 degree oven for an hour. once the potatoes were done, i sprinkled the crispy skins over the steamy soft potatoes, and preserved the salt to be used yet again. (of note, i was using a large grain himalayan pink salt, as i was out of kosher salt). the next morning, the 3rd day this pan was in my house, i fried three eggs in it, just to see where we were at. i got that "egg on an air hockey table" effect that you see on TV, and finished the three perfect sunny side up eggs with the last of the crispy potato skins from the previous day. the pan hasn't left my stovetop yet. if you can get past the weight, these pans are flat out incredible. cut the teflon cord!one final note... i love the pan, and i got it just under 50 bucks on amazon, but after some research, i've seen them as low as 30 bucks from some restaurant supply stores. do your research kids, just because it's a value at 50 doesn't mean you should have to pay that if you don't have to! price shop!

Seasoning this pan is key and somewhat labor intensive. This is true of all cast iron and steel frying pans no matter what "magic" marketing claims. Before I followed the manufacturer's seasoning instructions I first boiled water in this pan and then scrubbed it several times with plastic scouring pads. Then repeated the boiling and scouring routine several times. Getting the manufacturer's coating off is necessary and takes a fair amount of elbow grease.Then I heated the pan over medium heat on my electric range, added about 2 tablespons of avocado oil (because of its high smoke point) and used a handful of paper towels to move the oil all of the inside of the pan. Poured the oil out, then repeated that process a couple of times.Finally, I fried some potatoes per the manufacturer's instructions except I added about two heaping tablespoons of kosher salt for the abrasive qualities. lastly I wiped the pan clean with paper towels.After all that the pan was ready to use.The first time I cooked with it I fried a couple of eggs in a little bit of lard. They came out nicely and all I did to clean up was wipe the pan out with paper towels, then heat about a teaspoon of lard over medium low heat and wipe the pan out with paper towel again. No sticking at all on the eggs.The second time I made a fritatta, which is basically a thin omelet. There was the tiniest bit of sticking that released easily with a steel spatula and then stayed un-stuck for the rest of the cokking. Cleanup was once again just a matter of wiping the pan withy paper towels and then heating about a teaspoon of lard that was then wiped up with more clean paper towels.This sounds complicated and difficult, but it really isn't. I have a small 6" cast iron frying pan I've had for 40 years that I use only for omelets that took me many uses before it reached the level of smooth seasoning I already have with this steel frying pan.Now a word on non-stick. If you are looking for the kind of non-stick you see demonstrated on TV for each "new miracle" non-stick pan, one that absolutely nothing sticks to, even with no oil or butter used, then it simply doesn't exist.If you want the kind of non-stick that well seasoned cast iron is famous and treasured for, then passed down across generations you can get it just as well with this steel pan even more quickly. A steel pan like this is already smooth and doesn't require the longer wear in period that the rougher surfaced cast iron does.This pan is lighter than the equivalent sized cast iron, but that doesn't mean it's as light as stainless or aluminum. It's a substantial piece of cooking equipment that with seasoning and care is likely to also become an heirloom.Update:I just bought the 8-5/8" version of this pan and it was delivered a couple of hours ago. Took about 30 minutes with a 3M pad and Dawn to remove the coating. A little easier this time around as it's a smaller pan than the first one. Did the oil, salt and potato peel seasoning per the instructions then let it cool down.For its first job I cooked a 2-egg diced ham and cheese omelet to see how this new pan compared to my 40-year old 6" cast iron omelet pan that has never been used for anything but omelets. Used one pat of butter, as usual, for lubrication and browning. At a little higher than medium heat this steel pan performed at least as well as the cast iron pan. Even on this first outing there was no sticking and the omelet browned nicely. The pan wiped clean with a paper towel just like it should. Then I wiped it down with about 1/2 tsp of avocado oil and it's ready for the next omelet or whatever.For all the people who have complained about these pans warping I can only guess that you heated the empty pan over high heat. NEVER do that to ANY pan. Any pan will warp if you do that no matter how much or little you pay for them. You're supposed to be cooking - not blacksmithing at a forge. Start on a lower heat and take the time to let the pan heat up evenly. Once the food is in the pan if you think it needs more heat then raise it some. About the only time I can think of where I use high heat is boiling a full pot of water. Even steaks don't need full on high heat.

This was something my husband wanted for Christmas last year, although I've sort of taken it over... (In my defense I do most of the cooking) It has become our go-to pan for everything from frying eggs and sausages to meats, vegetables stir fries, etc. It's an amazing pan! Once seasoned properly (and it does take time to season it properly) it's a machine - nothing sticks - everything is perfectly cooked, it's a brilliant pan! The only thing I don't use it for is the high acidity dishes. So easy to clean up, but don't let it sit in water and dry it immediately because it will rust. Once you start cooking with this pan, you will be hard pressed to grab any other in your kitchen. If you have someone who cooks this is the pan for them. Plus, America's Test Kitchen recommends it as their pick. It is a little heavy but that not an issue for us.Some facts: pan heats quickly, holds heat but if you pull from burner, it cools fast so food won't burn. Heat is distributed evenly, uses less oil to cook food, it's well made and oven safe.Note: had an issue with the original pan we ordered. It was not fault of company but during delivery packaging was opened and pan was starting to rust, and had a ding. Contacted company and they immediately sent a replacement. Outstanding customer service!!!