I bought carbon steel pans from you a few years ago, and I'm so happy with them!! I didn't realize how much carbon build up I had on the sides of my pan until I watched this video, so thanks for pointing it out. I have now cleaned them really well and they look so beautiful!!!
I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for putting all these videos out there. I had been wanting to get into cast iron for years but always hesitated because someone in the house goes into anaphylaxis with soy so I was worried about anything preseasoned. Then I heard about carbon steel a couple months ago and started watching a ton of videos, mostly yours and Uncle Scott along with American Test Kitchen. You guys gave me the confidence to start my journey getting rid of all my worn out nonstick ceramic cookware and start replacing them with things that'll truly last. Your videos in particular have been instrumental to me having such a smooth (pun not intended but wish it was) start with my Matfer, even quickly overcoming a few early hiccups (may have lit a paper towel on fire trying to do stove top seasoning before just going with your oven method moving forward). Again, thank you for these.
Thanks for taking the time to send such a great note! So happy to hear that you have successfully transitioned! It takes some effort, and there are always some mistakes!, but good on you for doing the work.
I've been cooking on cast iron for years and I've learned to not over complicated seasoning , take your pan and use it for everything ! If food sticks to it in the beginning just soak and chain mail it off , after seasoning is built up don't be afraid to use soap and water on it and every few years toss them in the camp fire and let everything burn off and start all over again.
Excellent info on what to look for and work for in a pan seasoning. It's very easy to get the impression that what we are looking for in a seasoning is a uniform dark black surface. Especially when used to cast iron cookware.
Well what are we looking for ? Lodge comes pre seasoned and has an uniform black surface, I just build on top of it. Now ya saying no uniform black surface ,so confusing . So many videos on YT and most all say something different .
@@rainerrain9689 I don't think anyone is saying that a thick black seasoning is bad. What I was learning here, is that a decent non stick surface doesn't always need to be that thick. Since last year, my pan has definitely built up a thicker seasoning, and I think that's good. And bear in mind people have different preferences. Probably because they cook different food with different techniques. So while I might recommend something I like, it's not likely to be the only viable option. One example is that I have cast iron pans with super thick seasoning. It's a work horse that puts up with a lot of abuse. My carbon steel pans have a lighter seasoning that doesn't hold up to as much, such as simmering a sauce. They are still very useful, but I avoid making pan sauces in them. I did a couple tests to see how strong my seasoning layer was, and stripped it off just simmering a sauce.
I thought I knew everything about cast iron. I had a smooth pan that I fry a lot of vegetables. After several sessions I wondered why my coating was rough and not shinny. Turned out to be carbon and lots of it. Had to spend some time taking it off and start from scratch. Now I know better. I'm using a fine chainmail to clean it after every session. Thanks!
Can you make a video about cast aluminum, I have a couple of nice thick old pans, I heard that it’s can be seasoned. Is it safe? I can’t find anything new cast aluminum without coating. So glad I find your channel, keep going!
Hey great video! Thanks for this it was very interesting. I have a question; is carbon build-up unhealthy to consume? Or is the purpose of cleaning it off mainly to retain the nonstick seasoning & polished finish to protect the pan?
Hi, the health effects are questionable. Hard to say how much you'd ingest. The purpose of polishing is to keep a smooth surface which is more nonstick
hi, my pan is in great condition but after some build up I hit it with chain mill and barkeepers. its scratches up but it works great; however, there are these "oil" build ups that appear after cooking only with butter... how do you prevent that? I don't wanted to use soap too often and I don't want to chain mill my pans anymore. Im not a fan of all the scratching and fear that I shouldn't use chain mill on my stainless and carbon pains
Do you find the oven method works better or worse im wondering, say with a very light coat of avacado oil then wipe down. Im having a very hard time getting my Vollrath (cheaper brand) carbon steel pan seasoned. Ive done it twice in the oven above the smoke point for 45 mins. And i cant even imagine frying an egg in it, regular food sticks like home fries and other veggies. And anytime i build up a seasoning it comes off with a veryy light washing. No scrubbing with a rough side of sponge…im afraid maybe that brand is just not good and i ended up hurting myself by trying to save, and now i have a useless pan, instead of just spending double the money in the first place. Please help loll ive followed your videos and care instructions before and still no luck! Thanks.
Hi! question. A lot of seasoning videos out there show that a well-seasoned carbon steel pans eventually turns black, which is what happened with most of mine, and they are very nonstick. However, should i be using chainmail to take off the layer of black?
Hi, it all depends. Black is carbon staining/buildup. What you do not want is carbon build up so run your fingers along the pans surface. If you have any texture use your chain mail to scour it down.
Carbon build up can be a carcinogen. Carbon build up is essentially burnt grime while seasoning is supposed to be a polymerized oil. if you clean your pans properly, you should not have any build up.
I have a question for you! Before I purchased my first carbon steel pan I had three different types of oil in my house; Evoo, Coconut and Avocado, which I used the most of. Neither of these were suitable to season my pan with. I had to buy Canola oil to season with. Now, does that mean I also have to use Canola oil to cook with in it, or can I go back to my Avocado oil to cook with? Just wandering.
Great info as always, Jed! Once seasoned with beeswax/oil, do you need to remove the wax before cooking, or can you just cook your next meal with oil as usual? Forgive me if I've asked this before in a previous post, I just forgot. Thanks!
Hi Geoff, all good! Glad you like this one. It's logical that you would want to remove the wax, however, it incorporates as part of the seasoning and even though it smells great, it doesn't take like anything. Do you have some wax?
in my experience the Stargazer doesn't hold seasoning well. It flakes or rubs off when scrubbing. I'm not sure if it is the metal or the metal finish but it does not behave the same way other cast iron does. The pan doesn't blacken, it keeps the bronze color unless you burn on a thick layer of carbon. The Field is exactly what I'd expect from traditional cast iron.
@@Cook-Culture Haha, yeah, I've started over multiple times with different oils. I've had it almost 3 years. I'm not new to cast iron or carbon steel and I have lots of of other pans for comparison. Stargazer is the outlier. Because of this and the handle ergonomics, I tell my friends to go with Field if they want to spend money or just stick with lodge if all you care about is cooking performance.
hello have a nice day .i ve a 24 cm debuyer pro.in this days have a problem about my pan..i nuked my pan with vinegar and reseasoned again.the colour is golden and yellowish. in my pan no sticking when sliding egg but the problem after put egg in plate some black stain in the egg.i don't know why.can u explain.thanks .
I had read that I could/should bake the pan at 400F/205C for an hour. That good? An over cooking? How does baking vs stove top work? Any advice on shipping to US? I was going to get a pair of scrubbies. But $30, well I will wait until I go to visit Vancouver or Victoria - both of which are due for a revisit.
If every steel pan becomes carbonized and flakes of carbon are coming of the pan ( and into your food) how healthy is a carbon pan compared to ceramic/teflon pans ?
That's why then need to be cleaned. And the issue is not so much health, as there is no way to understand the comparison to what you ask. They point is that you can maintain iron pans forever, in stark contrast to coated pans that last months to a few years.
@@DavGilmPF there is a cost of maintenance but carbon flakes come from poor maintenance. They are not a result of using iron cookware but a byproduct of not cleaning off cooked on food.
I would guess that even if some carbon flakes came off in your food it is not significantly different than searing/charring foods - that blackness on them (eg. roasted peppers) is simply carbonization too. But it would be better to maintain your cookware and not have it. ;-)
@@DavGilmPF 1 - Probably less unhealthy than the chemicals you ingest when chemical nonstick surfaces inevitably begin to flake off. 2 - Much better for the environment. Nonstick pans turn to trash in a number of months/years after frequent use - they are degrading from the first time you cook with them. Iron/carbon steel pans, when maintained properly only improve over time and would last "forever".
Is it ok to use chainmail on a carbon steel pan? Some people seem to say it scratches it up, others say it's fine. I have a Misen and there is a ring of black around the edges of the pan. Thanks.
Long shot of you seeing this as the video is a year old, but in your experience what’s better? Chainmail or a cast iron scrubber brush? I just recent bought one and have been pointed out too there’s a slight carbon build up. Don’t want to go and buy one without knowing for sure which is best
as far as I know, Chainmail scrubbers will be gentler on your seasoning than a metal brush, although I use some chainmail, some natural brushes, and some synthetic brushes.
Hi, thanks for all of your very informative videos. Is there a link for doing massive clean/refinish to a not well loved de Buyer pan? The video makes reference to a link above but I didn't see it. Thanks!
I have a question. I just got a nitrogen hardened cast iron pan. I washed it, rubbed some oil it and my paper towel became black. I put it in the oven (per instruction), after that used a paper towel to wipe it, and again, paper towel had black residue on it. I never cooked with this pan. Actually, I repeated this procedure and still get the black residue on my paper towel. No matter how many times I do that. Any idea how to get rid of that black residue? I don't feel comfortable to cook in it yet. Thanks in advance! :)
You mention in many videos that you put the heat at "6 out 10". But what does that actually mean? What's the actual temperature of the pan after you've given it time to heat up on "6"? On my induction plate I can dial in different temperatures (60 - 240 C / 140 - 464 F) or I can dial in different power settings ("1" = 200 W | "2" = 400 W | "3" = 600 W | ... | "10" = 2000 W). But if I put it on "2" (400 W) and let it sit for a while, the cast iron pan temperature will reach and stay at 230 C / 446 F according to my infrared thermometer. If I put it on "3" (600 W) the pan temperature will stay at around 280 C / 536 F. If I put it on "4" (800 W) and wait, the induction plate will shut off with an "overheated, cooling down" error message. I can use "10" (2000 W) to boil a pot of water quickly or something, but there's no chance to use an empty pan for more than a couple of minutes on more than "3". It'll just overheat and shut off for a while. Which is to be expected, because you need lots of energy to heat up a pan to a certain target temperature initially, but after that point you only need to replace the "little bit" of energy that gets lost as heat from the pan to the surrounding air and the glass surface below. I guess your induction stove top works differently? After it reaches a certain temperature it won't heat more and more and eventually overheat and shut off, but just hold that temperature... no matter if you've put your power setting to "3", "6", "10" or whatever? edit: Thx, nvm, I figured it out from your other video: "IRON COOKWARE ON INDUCTION VS GAS - What's the best heat source?" ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0kj3f3nyrUQ.html After 5-6 minutes on "6", your cast iron pan temperature is 190 C / 375 F in the hottest spot in the middle. Since my induction plate heats up the pan way hotter than that on setting "2" (400 W) already (given enough time, like 7 minutes), I guess your induction stove top works differently. I guess your induction stove top on "6" reaches 375 F and then says: "Ok, I'll ignore the "6" for now and dial the heat way down enough so that the pan temperature stays at 375 F." I guess even on "10" your pan would only heat up more quickly, but then when it reaches 375 F, your induction stove top would dial back the heat to keep the pan at 375 F. (Or... another theory: maybe the "6 out of 10" on your induction stove top is not correlated to the power output (i.e. 1200 W out of 2000 W), but to the internal temperature sensor. So "6" might tell the hob "keep the pan temperature at 375 F", and "10" might mean "keep the pan temperature at 240 C / 464 F". But this seems less likely to me, since then it could just tell you the target temperature directly. My induction plate lets me choose either power (Watts) or a target temperature between 140 - 464 F.)
I’m new too this. I have seasoned my new pan two days in a row now. The seasoning is sticky. What do you think I am doing wrong. I used grape seed oil. The coating also look blotchy.
You added too much oil. Put on some oil, then take a paper towel and scrub it all off. There will still be a very thin layer of oil that you will bake in the oven to become your seasoning
I have followed your recipe for seasoning wax in another video, and it works very well. But usually I get an odd matte layer on the pan when it’s cooled, which is easily removed with a quick wipe with a dry cloth. Do you know what could have caused this?
Often when I wipe the oil in a pan I just washed and dried over low heat, and the paper towel has gray/black soot on it. Does that mean I need to re-wash the pan better because I still have protein stuck in my supposedly clean pan? That could explain why I have trouble getting seasoning to stick, and my carbon steel and cast iron pans tend to flake.
I recently came upon your channel. Thanks for the wonderful information. I just started getting into cooking with a Carbon Steel Wok. And I now want to replace all of my non-stick pans with carbon steel as well. However, I was wondering if there are any carbon steel saute pans? Especially ones with lids? I cant seem to find any. Thank You.
Hi, not exactly but de Buyer does make a 'country pan'. That is about as close as you'll get. I may suggest looking at Staub. They make a Braiser that is very popular for what you are looking for.
You talk about using numbers like 5 and 6 in your videos but I find on my gas stove if I go much higher than the 2, I will get smoking. Is it normal for gas burners to have that much of a difference from induction?
how did you wash that stargazer and not have your drying towel turn black? i have one and the wash water turns black, the drying towel turns black. so frustrating!
my carbon steel debuyer pans have biuld up some carbon right on the crease where the side starts, i tryed cleaning it up but i couldn't so i left it be, at the end of the day it doesn't interfere much when cooking. same with the carbon build-up on the edge of the sides and outside part of those and my wok
Would you say using mild natural soap to fasten cleaning aspect is a bad idea? I do all the other procedures the same and don't realize a massive difference at the end, but I worry if I am not building seasoning up and just using the reseasoning I do every time.
It's okay to use mild dish soap whenever you feel it's required. It's especially useful to get rid of misflavors or rancid oil. Due to the soap removing the protective layer of oil, you then should dry the skillet on the stove or in the oven and reapply a very thin layer of oil to the ehole skillet. I find dish soap helpful when food sticks and doesn't wanna come out with just hot water and a brush.
Thanks for very informative videos. I know it’s not you problem, but I really think it is a big shame that I will have to pay around 50-60 USD for one seasoning paste, because I live in Denmark
I got a carbon steel because of the hype, but i'm starting to think a teflon is healthier because it has a temp limit where it starts to release stuffs. Burnt oil on the other hand is not healthy, if i cook more than eggs it starts to always make lots of smoke
@@ILoveTheAllCreator lol. It's alright. I've learned over the few years of owning my pan. I clean with hot water and brush-scraper, then chain mail if necessary. And then I re-season with bacon fat over the stove top.
Actually, I use steel wool (with a light touch) with water to remove carbon buildup and to smooth out the pan now and then. When I used chain mail, it scratched my mineral b pan, but maybe a smaller diameter chain might work better.
Informative video, but I found it hard to keep watching because of the horribly intrusive background music--one obnoxious clip played on repeat, endlessly.
Within 4 years you will go back to non-stick. The constant struggle, time lost, extra cost for seasoning, heating and the fumes is probably not worth it in the end. Someone just needs to come up with a pan recycling program, so they don't end up in landfills..."Teflon" & "ceramic" coatings are getting better all the time. Most folks don't have the extra 5 hours to season a pan perfectly and needing to resurface every once in a while...or we can just compromise.... buy carbon steel and put in a little elbow grease in cleaning it up and losing a bit of our meal to the pan.
That is why I'd never buy a cast iron or carbon steel skillet to anybody. As an owner of many of these, it is just way too much hassle with their maintenance. For someone that doesn't have much time to hang out in the kitchen, and just wants to have a pan that cooks things - there is no point in this. It was literally becoming a second job for me when I had +5 of these pans. So, my advice... get a decent SS pan and be done with it, forget about maintenance, just cook at the right temperature.
I can’t stand bees wax on my pans. I hate it when I get a new de buyer at the house and it’s got that funky bees wax. What a PITA. Back in the day, de buyer never used bees wax on their pans.
This is confusing. Some experts say to polymerize the oil, some say carbonize it. Carbon sounds more logical because it sticks to iron and nothing sticks to it or dissolves it except oven cleaner.
Hi, that is 2 steps in the same process. First the fat will polymerize and then carbonize. Both steps are fine but too much carbonization will degrade the seasoning
@@Cook-Culture That's what I've heard, and you have a lot more experience with it so I believe you. I haven't had any problems with polymerization so far, it's very non-stick. I will eventually experiment with a carbonized surface, and I have some ideas how to keep it smooth so it will be non-stick as well as super durable.
@@Cook-Culture Yes, I realize the dark color in the polymerized oil is carbon. My goal is to turn most or all of the oil into carbon that is smooth enough to be non- stick. Carbon bonds to iron more strongly, and is harder and tougher than polymerized oil. Pretty sure it's been tried many times, but I have to try it for myself.
How can somebody abuse/ cook a pan like the ones you are showing? My experience is different, my pans are all dark brown after one year of cooking, how? I seasoned in an oven first, some of the inner seasoning got off during the first cookings, but the pan got more and more nonstick, I used more oil at the beginning and reduced it overtime, I am rarely facing issues with sticked food, but honestly, my former non stick teflon pans also had problems with some food, my summary is, cooking with care helps more than seasoning like mad ,,😊
