I am guessing thinner layers, or maybe a higher seasoning temperature, would help to prevent flaking. I have often had an egg stick just a little bit, like you had, right after seasoning or re-seasoning, but later eggs don't have the same problem.
Did you notice a significant difference to the weight? [ edit: see around @19:05 ] That is, if you like moving the pan, especially making the food go airborne (like flipping eggs), would the lighter pan (how much lighter is it? [edit: strata: 2lb+4oz, mineralB: 4lb+10oz]) make a big difference?
I have no problem with thinner carbon steel pans such as Beka ones or Matfer ones. They are quicker than a De buyer and in general I use them more, because it's faster. I envoy even more my classic enameled carbon steel Riess. This Strata seems a good idea but personally I do not see the benefit.
Hi Jed, great review, this seems like a very useful pan. The question all want to ask but are afraid to is, how does this compare to Hexclad? Just me being silly. Best to you.
I ordered the Strata pans for my mother. She's aging and has problems with her hands, arthritis, thin skin, etc. She's been using these shitty cheap copper pans because they are light, and the nonstick coating has worn off so food sticks and they're a pain to clean. I think I'm supposed to be getting the pans anytime now. Am I getting the old model or the new one?
Welcome Strata to the Carbon steel cookware world. Glad to see more venders introducing carbon steel. Awesome to see you collaborating with Uncle Scott :), you both rock!
Preordered the 12” with your promo code, thank you for the review!! I prefer lighter and more responsive pans in general. I mainly cook on a 2mm carbon steel wok, and it’s great, but I need a big flat surface for fried eggs, pancakes, large cuts of meat, etc. That’s where Strata comes in. I have a 12” Lodge cast iron but it’s so heavy that it sits at the bottom of my pan stack. It’s a pain to get out, a literal pain to hold (with the very tiny handle), and it takes forever to heat up and cool down. Yes, I realize that this is a virtue for some styles of cooking, but not the kind of cooking that I typically do in my skillets.
This is why I was excited about this pan, to have a large, lightweight frying surface, with even heating, and is a chemical free non-stick. I'd be interested in a 13 or 15 inch version.
My wife finds our De Buyer and Matfer pans to be to heavy. Arthritis in the hands doesn’t help much either. This may be a good option for us. I assume that different sizes are available?
You have become a trusted brand ambassador at our house. Your even , honest reviews, detailed information have helped us make some good decisions on investing in well functioning cookware. Good cookware equates to better health, better delicious meals. Its kind of ruined going out for meals. Has to be high end to match what i do simply at home. Thank you for all the hard work on your channel.
I have a great problem that has developed watching both your channel and Uncle Scotts kitchen. My small kitchen has a pan storage problem after Ive been getting new pans this year. My great husband is solving the “problem” by putting in a nice wall rack system in a walk in pantry. I now will have more space. Have my eye now on some new stainless steel and want to replace a saucier. Great pans and equipment really do make a difference in cooking.
I just used mine and it cooks super evenly. I was having issues with other carbon steel pans because the oven burns are weird I did a stove seasoning but I will do an oven seasoning tomorrow as well
i'm imagining these less as "light carbon steel" (the thermal momentum isn't there) and more as "plastic-free non-stick that lasts forever" i'd be less interested in comparing it against solid carbon steel for hard searing and whatnot and more against typical light teflon pans for gentler stuff like omelets and fish
Hi I just wondering your opinions on bluing carbon steel? I am new to iron cookware and have seen people bring it up with carbon steel. Is it beneficial and if it is would you recommend doing it with the strata pan?
I have reseasoned old pans and they hold seasoning WAY better than brand new pans, no matter what you do to them. Also using just butter works perfect for me, butter and oil, not that well, no matter what pan. I think I saw little defects on the seasoning of the De Buyer pan, too, but because it’s darker, it’s less obvious.
I am one of the early backers of their Kickstarter. I did so after watching your first video on their pan. I am patiently awaiting the arrival of both sizes. Seeing this updated video gives me great hope for what I can expect from Strata. Thank you for this update.
Just got mine yesterday! Let the seasoning begin! Don't intend to replace any of my iron, but sometimes you don't need the heat retention, and prefer responsiveness, this will be a great tool to have!
Great video! But I'm curious, is there any difference from just using a stainless steel pan (like all clad or whatever) and seasoning it? That is,is there a reason why carbon steel surface is better than stainless steel surface for seasoning?
This seems like a silly idea to me. If you're going to spend that much money on a pan, just get a high quality stainless. It doesn't appear to do anything as good as carbon, or cast. If weight is the only thing it has going for it, might as well get something that can cook sauces as well.
Great Video. Thank you. I remember you saying, that you recommend 350 degrees. Did you realize, that 425 works even better? And do you let it cool off, and then preheat again for a next round or do you put on the next layer of oil directly after taking the pan out of the oven?
This feels over-engineered just to get a stainless outer; the base stainless steel layer has a thermal conductivity roughly ~1/15th of aluminium and roughly ~1/3 that of carbon steel. Why go to the effort to have a pretty stainless outer when the pan still has the high maintenance of a carbon steel pan? Due to the poor thermal conductivity of the base layer, I doubt these pans heat anywhere near as quickly as an equivalent carbon steel pan (also, these may be even less effective on an induction stove due to the aluminium core?)
a very reasonable price for a beautiful, lightweight, and apparently good quality forever pan with a nice slippery coating. i'd love to have one but i have already a collection of beautifully seasoned old cast iron pans, and i don't even have a carbon steel one and i'd love one too, but, still always so happy to cook with my cast iron pans, for now.
Grapeseed oil is very good for oiling carbon steel to prevent rust. It is edible and dries to a sticky film that is great for its protective properties ..and.. washes off easily with dish detergent.
How come you wont talk about hestan nanobond? You talk about the environment and health, but you wont mention anything about hestan. Its pretty much the only titanium pan that doesnt leach any metals in your food. And it lasts forever.
Thank you for the informative video. You mention that you haven’t had any problems with warping. Do you think the Strata is less prone to warping than a full carbon steel pan? I have had carbon steel pans warp on my glass cooktop even over low heat and I’m hoping that perhaps the aluminum exterior on the Strata would help prevent that.
I backed the 10" Strata at Kickstarter. I received my pan and have seasoned it. I received it and did three seasoning coats. One a day. Lots of time to cool between seasonings. I've been cooking for about 3 weeks. I really think the Strata is great for someone like my wife, who finds the cast iron, or even our iron pan, to simply be hard for her to handle. I also like that the Strata because of the aluminum core has such great heat dispersion with no real hot spots. For things where I want to really impart the most cooking energy, I prefer the cast iron. I can get it ripping hot, and then quickly sear a steak after sous-vide. Cast iron is unsurpassed at that, just because of the huge thermal mass! I like that with the Strata, it is much like the modern clad pans, in that it heats and cools quickly and evenly. The issues that take a while to get used to with carbon steel, where once it hits the temp you want, you need to have stopped the heat a bit before, or you will overshoot, just seems easier with the clad pans, like All-Clad or Strata. There are things I absolutely love and will use our stainless clad pans for, but when we want something non-stick, we will be using the Strata. When I want to really sear some meat and want a huge thermal mass, I'll use the cast iron skillet. They all have their place. I'm really happy with our Strata. I'm so glad Strata didn't copy the All-clad handles, our stainless clad are another brand with a more Strata like handle design. I think Strata did an excellent job. Count me as a happy customer!
Aluminum is lighter but it has about twice the specific heat of steel. This means that the same mass at the same temperature aluminum would have twice the amount of heat. This means that it takes half the weight of aluminum to retain the same amount of heat as steel.
My Strata arrived on Saturday and I just did my first seasoning tonight. I'm going to put it to the test tomorrow morning with the one and done method. Hopefully it will work out but I am not overly hopeful to be honest. I usually season all my carbon steel and cast iron at least 3 times.
@@Cook-Culture the one and done was an epic fail. I then applied 3 rounds of Buzzywax and that worked better but the center of the pan still lost its coating. Now I'm just cooking with it and it's pretty good in the nonstick department.
I’ve been using my 12” Strata for about a month, and I love it! I’m super grateful for your review and promo code. The Strata delivers exactly what it promised, and they paid a lot of attention to detail in the design. Overall it seems similar in both price and design to the All Clad D3 line, but the carbon steel surface is fantastic, it’s a joy to use and gets better every time!
Is there anyway to tell what kind or grade of steel the 'carbon steel' portion of this (or any other mfg's) pan is? I find information like 18/10 or 18/0 in reference to stainless steel grades and 3004 in reference to aluminum used in cookware but I have never come across a grade for carbon steel.
Hello, can you do a video on annealed carbon steel pans aka pans that have been blued through high heat to prevent rusting to see if acidic foods or vinegar affect that surface? I'd love to see a video on that!
I think a thinner carbon steel pan is very susceptible to warping, so you don't want to go too thin. For instance, there are advantages to a deBuyer mineral B, as compared to a typical Matfer pan, since it's thicker. If you're using an aluminum core pan like this, it can be thicker without adding nearly as much weight.
Good points all. Thank you! Edit: Although, it would be nice to see a comparison when cooking with Strata vs. thinner carbon steel over gas and induction.
Thanks for this. I was watching an older video of yours and you seasoned at 475. In this video 425. I’m using an avocado/sunflower buzzy wax. What temp would you use for a matfer or mineral b? Thanks!
I started watching your stuff by accident because you were hacking on All Clad which I have some. I use it for some applications. Its not junk. But probably 90% of my cooking is done on carbon steel and a little stainless. I own four different sizes but now I maybe need to try this one. I like the Copper state one but not sure they are worth the price. Thank you for your videos.
Hey, thanks for watching. I have no issue with AC, except when they coat their pans with Teflon. Blows my mind. A great pan becomes trash in a short amount of time.
A theory about the initial seasoning coming off a bit: The new pan (pre-seasoned) looks as shiny as any stainless steel pan. It looks beautiful and may be the reason for the seasoning issue. In your Stargazer video you mentioned a special step in the manufacturing process which produces a micro-texture on the interior surface. This texture might help the seasoning to hold on more securely. An extra step in the manufacturing process can increase the price. Do you have any ideas of creating your own micro-texture in the pan?
Only knock on this channel is Jed only cooks vegan food, except for eggs. Wished he cooked meat dishes so I actually get full reviews on how I would use it.
It's interesting that the pan being compared with is one that has just undergone a full strip and re-seasoning. Picture being now a half dozen years down the road using the Strata pan and it's time to do a similar reconditioning exercise to it. Would putting it through a lye bath be too hard on the aluminum side? What would be the best approach?
Don't put aluminium anywhere near washing soda or even worse caustic soda, I realise that the aluminium is in between two layers of steel but if there is any chance of ingress don't do it !
@@CrimeVid I actually meant to say the stainless steel (bottom) side, but point taken .... so it still begs the question of whether the make up of the materials will make it difficult to perform the maintenance task that carbon steel surfaced pans need to periodically undergo.
This channel owner obviously has some personal gain to be had by pushing so hard for Strata. See my detailed comments all the way above, if you are interested. IMHO, you made a much wiser and better choice.
Good choice. As I said in the video, if I had to choose 1 pan, it would be a 100% iron pan. Strata solves a problem for people who need a good lightweight solution.
I certainly do have a personal gain. I have dealt one-on-one with my customers for decades, trying to get them a lightweight solution for iron cooking. This is it.
So this looks more and more like one big infomercial by you for Strata. Disclaimer: I am not personally affiliated with any companies not named Strata. I have no personal interest in any of these. I merely want to point out the glaring shortcomings of this pan. My major gripe with this pan is the outrageous price and where it is made. Simply put, no pan is worth this much money when it is made in China, which does not have a good reputation at all as a place for "High Quality" manufacturing, especially when it comes to cookware. Afterall, we use it to cook our foods. Strata is not alone in this dept. So does countless others. No cookware that is made in China should cost more than $20.00 U.S.D. There are many issues with this pan, based solely on your expert analysis in this video and not on any personal experience of mine. I will list them below for anyone who is interested. Yes, it is long. But it is a Sunday, and I have the urge to dissect the issues at length for your viewers' benefit. Of course, at the end of the day, to each his own. Trash for some could be treasure for others. It is a free world. We are free to choose to do whatever strikes our fancy, as long as no one is hurt, including ourselves. Here are a few things I have issues with: 1. In your previous video of this pan, I made the comment that this pan is way overpriced, especially when it is made in China. As such, no offense; even with a 15% discount, it still costs a whopping $115 U.S.D. for a 10" pan. According to STRATA's FAQ page: "Where are the pans made? All of our design, prototyping, and testing is done here in our shop in Maryland, as well as final quality control and warehousing. Our production manufacturing is done by our partner company in Suzhou, China. We have a history and relationship with this manufacturer with previous products giving us more control over build quality as well as ethical labor practices." 2. Here's the problem with a wannabe carbon steel pan disguised as a light-weight "real" carbon steel alternative: it's light-weight alright, but there is no free lunch. When it is so light, implying the actual carbon steel layer is super thin, this means we will need to control the cooking temperature really well in order to achieve the same result and desire as a "real" carbon steel pan. Then, maybe this is a moot point because some just want this pan due solely to its weight and non-stick property, and nothing else matters. So it all boils down to whether you have absolutely zero compunction about paying through your nose for a pan that gives you "somewhat" carbon steel results. 3. So you are pushing this pan due to its light weight, right? The pan is a 10" pan. It weighs 2 lbs. 4 oz. Take the Made-In carbon steel 10" pan, for example; it weighs 3 lbs. The delta is 12 oz. It costs $109 U.S.D. without any discount. But I am sure one can easily find some kind of discount somewhere. The pan is "Made in Sweden." To be fair, no one knows where the steel is sourced from. All I know is that it is not "Made in China." So why does this made in China Strata's pan, only slightly lighter than a Made-In pan, cost more than a real carbon steel pan that is made in Sweden? 4. In the video, you kept stressing that you believe your way of pre-seasoning the pan is effective. Then, between approximately 15:00 and 17:00 minutes into your video, you now say, "A Bit of Weak Seasoning?" Are you being serious? So why did you go through all the extra trouble to pre-season the pan? Might as well just do it once, then let the patina build up gradually and call it a day. 5. The Mineral B carbon steel that you have, made in France, is $90.00 U.S.D. without discount. I am sure one can easily find a minimum 10% discount somewhere. It is 3 mm thick. This is why it is a lot heavier than the Strata because the pan is 99% iron and 1% carbon even when the Strata is only 0.2 mm thinner. Again, there is no free lunch. 6. According to Strat's FAQ: "How thick is the pan? The total thickness is 2.8 mm." So this most likely means the majority of the thickness is in the aluminum inner core and a stainless steel bottom layer since it is half of Mineral B's weight, right? Otherwise, it will weigh just as much as a Mineral B. Thus, why is the pan more expensive than those made in France and Sweden, even with a 15% discount? 7. Aren't you based in Canada? So what's the deal with your temp. settings? Are they in Celsius or Fahrenheit? Of course, I can pretty much guess, but you, as a RU-vidr, need to do a much better job with your production. Am I being a bit nitpicky? Maybe. But my philosophy is that you either do it right or do not bother to do it at all. But then, that's just me. To summarize, exactly where is the significant advantage of buying this pan when I can just go get, for example, a Made-In real carbon steel pan? Funny that you use the Mineral B pan for comparison, but not something similar in weight as the Strata, like a Made-In. This alone, is a dead giveaway that you have some form of partnership with Strata. You can prove us wrong, of course. Again, I have no affiliation with any company not named Strata. I just find your pushing so hard for Strata highly questionable. You are free to refute every point I made above.
honestly I'd seriously question the quality of the cladding by a company who chose-at ANY point-aluminum rivets; this screams of future delamination; I cannot possibly trust their aptitude for materials science love the idea; hard pass
Not a slam on the channel, it’s great. But this pan seems to be more of a gimmick. It’s 100% carbon steel or nothing. There’s 10k gold and then there’s 24K gold. Which one would you rather have? de buyer “Mineral B Pro” is my 24K. What’s in your kitchen?
That's about the stupidest thing I've ever seen. I use carbon steel skillets, cast iron skillets, stainless, and aluminum, each one has it's specialty. Your product is ridiculous.
Why is it ridiculous? It's basically a lighter carbon steel pan. What is so weird about that? Why would you be upset about that? What a strange mindset
If you would otherwise go for a stainless steel pan, but really like the non-stick nature of a carbon steel surface (or even other aspects, like the colour, or just the fun of seasoning it all the time) then this pan really can fit that niche well! It's certainly not a required product and will probably never be common in most kitchens.
This is something that I’ve been wanting for a long time. I love the way my clad pans respond on my stove top. I also like carbon steel for a non stick surface. The aluminum layer in this should give it the responsiveness of clad cookware with that carbon steel surface. Win win
it's the aluminum ones that give folks pause; unless you have stainless-clad insides, either they're raw or they're teflon non-stick, both of which raise questions about chemicals leaching into food
The aluminum core is very effective at spreading heat from an induction stove. I received mine two days ago and have noticed much more heat up the sides. I have been using an IR thermometer to check it all over. My cast iron pans(don’t have any other carbon steel) have roughly half the heat up the sides and spotty on the bottom surface. The Strata 10” on induction is very even on the surface and maybe a 20-50F drop up the sides. My first omelette was excellent :)
This is a pan made of forever materials. A one and done sale. If they were trying to sell sell sell they would have released yet another Teflon variant like hexclad.
Not everything is for everyone, but these pans are solid. They are made of materials that won't wear out and can be reclaimed for generations. Not my idea of snake oil.
