Equipment Review: Best Carbon-Steel Skillets (Can This One Pan Do It All?) & Our Testing Winner
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN people link it as a solid explainer and review of carbon steel pans, and for seasoning guidance.
What it is
America's Test Kitchen tests eight carbon-steel skillets to find the best one, asking whether a single pan can replace stainless, cast iron and nonstick. It names a winner and covers how the pans perform.
Recommended by 4 HN commenters across 4 different months, 2015 to 2023.
What Hacker News said
Recommends maskull · 2015-08 · on “The Teflon Toxin”
America's Test Kitchen had a nice roundup review of these the other day: [this video] They also have some tips for seasoning them.
Recommends KozmoNau7 · 2019-09 · on “Smoke point of cooking oils”
I've tried the flaxseed method, and while the seasoning looked good, it was very fragile. The best method I've found over more than a decade of cooking on cast iron and carbon steel is this one, recommended by Matfer-Bourgeat (who make the best pans IMO) and America's Test Kitchen (at 2:00): [this video]
Recommends iamacyborg · 2021-01 · on “Chemistry of Cast-Iron Seasoning (2010)”
I'm a simple man, I see a post linking to a J. Kenji Lopez-Alt article, I upvote. Another good method is outlined in this America's Test Kitchen video [this video] If you have a friend who runs a Chinese restaurant, you could always try this, too [LINK] I do this regularly and always clean my pan with soap after use.
Recommends jointpdf · 2023-04 · on “Compostable fast-food packaging can emit volatile PFAS”
Carbon steel is much better than cast iron! It takes some time to build up a nonstick coating (seasoning), but once you do fried eggs will glide around like they’re on ice. I have a Mauviel that I love, but the Matfer Bourgeat is better for eggs because it doesn’t have the steel rivets on the inside of the pan. Both are made in France and cost like $70. This is a solid explainer on carbon steel pans: [this video]