MatferBourgeat Black Carbon Steel Paella Pan, 15 3/4"

I bought this to use like a huge griddle/skillet. It is a very heavy piece of thick carbon steel - very basic, which is why I like it. Beautiful in its simplicity. 15 3/4" wide - it's massive!

Bought this pan for my husband with a Garcima gas burner and stand. I chose this one because it was given the highest rating by Cooks Illustrated (the smaller version, actually) - they are the Consumers Reports for the cooking world. I've never made Paella before, and it was AMAZING. The pan is super heavy and browned everything beautifully. I will say that it too a significant amount of elbow grease to get the factory sealant off before the first use. I mean SCRUBBING with a brillo pad for about 2 hours. But I followed the directions for seasoning and it worked fantastically well. You have to saute oil, salt (a lot!) and potato skins for 15 minutes, then repeat. Nothing happened with the first batch, but in the last 5 minutes of the second batch, the pan started to brown and developed a beautiful patina. I bought the biggest size available, and it made amazing Paella for 12. There were no leftovers.

This gigantic beast has quickly become a favorite. It’s super heavy duty, has great heat distribution, and gives you plenty of space so you’re never suffering from overcrowding in the pan. It’s not pretty with sparkling handles but it comes ready for your most outrageous creative ideas. Get one. You won’t regret it.

I really like this pan. It’s a fairly heavy gauge of steel without being too heavy and it seasons really well if you ignore the instructions that come with it. Instructions called for cooking up some potato peels and such and I saw too many complaints about that not working. Instead, I seasoned it like I season other carbon steel pans - wash it really clean, dry it well, warm it just at tad and smear high-temperature oil on all surfaces. Don’t goop on this oil, keep it fairly thin. Then, put in a 400°F oven for a full hour. Let cool and evaluate. I did the above steps twice and and really satisfied with the finish.The pan is clearly made in France. It’s a really nice design, love the shape and the handles and how they are supposed to be welded. What I didn’t love was the tool marks, dings on the rim, extra metal flash around the weld spots of the handles, and the fact that the product sticker left a residue that just would not wash off. Just a shocking lack of quality control on the little stuff. The easy stuff. The cure for ALL of these defects was sandpaper. Sanded away the dings and the flash with 80 grit. Progressed through a number of finger grits to make the sanding marks go away. Sanded off the sticker goo. Then washed one last time and seasoned.Have used it a number of times. It has stayed fairly flat after heating on a gas range and on an induction range but not perfectly. The bottom of the the pan is a bit proud on the outside surface, but to an amount that is way thinner than the material of the pan. So I think I will eventually fix that with, yes : sandpaper.Don’t fear the effort of seasoning. This is a great pan when you take care of it.

Paella has some regional variations, but every Spanish paella has one thing in common: the bottom layer is a slightly crispy rice. Two things are important to achieve this delectable layer: technique (not stirring after the mixture fully combined) and the right equipment (a ‘proper’ paella pan)I avoid specialty kitchen equipment that has only a single function. I make paella a few times a year so I couldn’t justify owning a pan that I’d use infrequently. I use this pan almost daily for pan frying and sheet pan recipes. And, not only is it perfect for paella, it’s great for roasting vegetables, meat, and fish. The pan has a slightly textured bottom that keeps food from becoming saturated with oil, which creates that nice, crispy shell. The pan is heavy and distributes the heat so there are no hot spots so no burned food.The pan comes two sizes: a big one that holds enough to feed a professional football team, and a smaller one for those of us who cook for a family and an occasional group of friends. Everything is a matter of trade-offs; choose the size that best fits your needs.

Large pan; seasoning instructions are included for stove top seasoning, but I also seasoned it in the oven. Very easy to clean after using it. Most of the info I read said this particular pan size (17 3/4") was appropriate for about 8 people. I fed 7 and had about half a pan of paella left after all were finished, so plan on leftovers if you use that ratio...very sturdy and well-built pan.

I have returned this item, but only because of its massive size, in exchange for a somewhat smaller pan. I have several Matfer Bourgeat pans, and although they require some work to season initially and require some care along the way -- and, to be honest, end up as some the ugliest pans in my kitchen -- they are also among the most useful and functional. far better than cast iron and extremely versatile. After my Le Creuset braiser, my Matfer Bourgeat skillet is my most used pan, and always sits on my stove.

Out of the box, the 14 inch paella pan wobbled on a flat cooktop. Heated it slowly and it warped even more! I saw this mentioned in other reviews and hoped it was not true. It is.Such a bummer because I have their 12 inch fry pan and it has never wobbled.Complaints about slight blemishes and rust are just silly though. Carbon steel pans are supposed to be seasoned until entirely black and must be dried and oiled after every use to prevent rust. Clearly some buyers are unfamiliar with this.

This paella pan is perfect - it is very heavy, and made of durable steel. Yes, you do have to season it and then rinse it, dry it and oil it lightly before storing it. Anyone used to cast iron pans knows the drill, and it's actually very easy to do - this pan seasoned perfectly on the first attempt.It is a great pan for a medium sized paella, with nice sloping sides and heavy duty handles.Perfect.

I purchased this pan after watching a food program, which recommended it for making paella. It's a bit of work to season the pan but worth the effort. The depth of the pan allowed me to make a large serving of paella (enough to feed 8 people) and I could finish it in the oven. I highly recommend it.

Gave this as a gift to my son for Christmas after it was recommended to me by a friend. He made his first paella in it New Year's Eve and loved it. It is a great size and the food cooked so evenly. I would recommend this to any household as an important addition to their kitchen.

Not sure what we are doing wrong but we seasoned this as per instructions with potato skins almost 5 times and it's still getting rusty and not at all non-stick yet.needless to say, paella was not socarat but will have burnt parts at the bottom. it was not all completely burnt only because we were mindful with the heat.Very disappointed.

heavy and quality built