This week I get technical. I get asked all the time 'What should I buy, cast iron or carbon steel". In this video, I try and help you answer that question.
Shiny materials such as carbon steel or stainless steel reflect IR gun rays and it throws off the reading, whereas dark cast iron will take a better reading. With some IR guns you can adjust its calibration based on how reflective the material is. I would guess the cast iron was hotter because it’s heavier and stores more heat, but not 150 degrees hotter.
This! I wish people also understood about the IR Reflectivity. If you want a more accurate reading he should contact ThermoWorks they have a instant read "surface" thermometer.
Definitely have had that experience. This is mainly the reason that I don't like to use them. I find visual or the water test works great. I did not have better results because of the IR gun.
Actually, the cast iron got hotter because of its mass! There is more material to interact with the magnetic field which will capture a greater amount of energy than in the Carbon steel pan! That it has more mass to retain heat and the more reflective surface on the steel is why it gets to, stays, and reads at a higher heat.
@@Cook-Culture Makes sense! The problem is it's not super convenient to have to regularly bring water between the sink and the skillet, which may be far from each other, drop the water in, try to discern if you're getting the right droplet pattern (fry quickly vs. small beads vs. large bead) and then wipe it out if necessary. The gun is about 5x more convenient for me, it just doesn't really work on stainless steel (unless I change some settings), which is exactly where I need it the most.
I wonder if the heating difference is induction specific and has to do with how efficiently induction works with the different materials in each pan. Perhaps you’d see more consistent heat times/temps on a gas or electric cooktop? Just a thought…
I will continue to use both so it's not a which to choose for me. I choose based on the "use case" and what I am cooking. My lodge pans were ridiculous cheap and have worked perfectly for years, They aren't going anywhere ! I have had two Matfer pans and both warped into spinners unfortunately. I bought a 10" OXO carbon steel and I have been completely impressed with it's performance and no warping ! I am going to give my OXO a few more months to see how it goes. If it continues to perform as well as it has and is as easy to maintain as it has I will buy the 12" OXO. The OXO is VERY light which I like, as it is more responsive to heat change. If I need a pan that holds heat then I always pull out my tanks of a pan lodge.
I tend to do a 2 stage preheat with my carbon steel or cast iron. Start at around as 3 then move up to five or six. There is less thermal shock, I believe as the heat takes time to spread throughout the pen. Then up higher. Sometimes, I just do a longer preheat at around 4, and the pan just heats up and then holds lots of heat. After all, it takes time to chop all those onions, the pan might as well be heating. The comparison is interesting, proving again the adage, know your tools and the right tool for the job!
I would get both, no need to choose. In my experience, cast iron's seasoning stands up much better to acidic foods and it's better for searing stacks and baking breads/cakes. Carbon steel has the obvious advantage of heating up much faster.
This was an interesting video. I personally use either type of pan depending on my mood. I really enjoy cooking with both cast and carbon. Keep up the great content.
Your cooktop is of the adaptive type, no? It activates as many coils as it detects are covered by the cookware. So it might be that the bigger (specifically more bottom area) skillet heated up quicker because more coils were activated for it? Just a hunch.
This. Also, less bottom area and more side slope meant the Matfer was more heavily loaded with food relative to its maximum capacity compared to the nearly straight walled cast iron skillet.
I like using my cast iron for pan frying meats (especially schnitzel), corn bread, mushrooms. Where the carbon steel excels is with eggs, dumplings (pot stickers), perogies, spaetzle etc.
If the choice was if I could only own one: carbon steel or cast iron, then it would have to be cast iron for the reason that Cast Iron is nicer to serve food directly in. It has a traditional, classic look that also photographs well, if that is something you are interested in. Most carbon steel by comparison is very industrial looking and doesn’t present as nicely. The slightly taller, less sloped walls of most cast iron also lends itself to performing better as a baking tool. Slices, casseroles etc.
Matfer...love em. But I tend to reach for my cast iron, even for simple cooks, for whatever reason. I know they take longer to heat up, heavier, etc....I just do.
I cook over gas. My mom gave me a cast iron pan when I left home (in '81). It was my 'go to' pan until last year. The thing was completely covered in layers of carbon, especially on the bottom. Under the carbon, there was rust. It survived through the 'olive oil' era, but just barely. One day I purchased a Matfer carbon steel pan out of Holland (pre Brexit price) and I live in the UK. They shipped me a de Buyer instead. I have used that pan about 900 times since I have owned it. I lovingly 'restored' my mom's cast iron pan with oven cleaner and a stainless steel wire brush on an electric drill after using an old chisel. I was surprised to find 'Made in Japan' on the bottom of it under all of the carbon and rust. I researched the pan in the internet and found out that it was circa 1960. My mom probably got it as a wedding present. The cast iron is extremely fine, not like Lodge. It has a fully finished cooking surface that feels like glass and shines. It cooks very, very well. It is quite thin and light by cast iron standards so it feels very handy. Since getting the de Buyer Carbon Steel pan, I have used my cast iron pan just for cornbread. It is great for that. There is a little bit of a learning curve with carbon steel. I have had to use a bit more heat to get the results I want. Cast iron likes more time and less heat. Both are great, but for my day to day cooking I always reach for my carbon steel for some reason. Saying that I also have a dedicated Lodge cast iron pancake pan which I will never replace. The Lodge is very forgiving and I use it over quite low heat. I find that heat is very evenly distributed with the Lodge whereas not so much with my mom's old pan which had definite hot and cold spots. If I was going to cook a steak or eggs or a chop or fry onions or make a smash burger right now I would reach for carbon steel. I would have to think of something to cook in my cast iron pan... But I do throw it on the BBQ from time to time. Something non-acidic that I need to finish in the oven? Cornbread. Cast iron is oven proof (& BBQ proof). My de Buyer has a coating on the handle limiting its time in the oven. This has not turned out to be a problem as I only need about 8 minutes of oven time to finish the occasional really thick chop. As far as maintenance goes, I find that carbon steel and cast iron are about the same. I do get quite a build up of carbon around the edges of the Lodge and the pan is always sticky around the rim but dry in the middle (try a different burner?). From time to time I have to really scrub the Lodge out (stainless brillo pad until I see metal) to get rid of carbon build up. I use the same seed oil on cast iron and carbon steel but get different results. The carbon steel pan likes to be lightly cleaned after each use, then lightly seasoned. I don't need much soap on either pan. I think it depends on your mood and what food you are into (this week). Both carbon steel and cast iron are really great. I can see a time when I will switch back to cast iron as a preference. You can get a bit larger carbon steel pan than same weight of cast iron to help get your swirl on. Thanks for all of your videos. I really like you using and showing real pans that are being used regularly and not the seasoning 'masterpieces' that haunt the internet. Life is not black and white. It is uneven shades of grey with a bit of stuck on carbon.
Made perfect cornbread last night in my mom's old cast iron pan. It is just perfect for this. Joy of Cooking recipe with the addition of 6 chopped jalepenos and about 1/3 lb aged cheddar. 28 min at 180C Served with Texas Red. Quick cleanup with chain mail. Super easy.
I love both and they both have their strengths and weaknesses. Both can be very nonstick if you season them and bring them up to temp correctly. Carbon steel is thinner and noticeably lighter. Cast iron holds on to heat really well, whereas carbon steel is more responsive to temp changes. Carbon steel can warp whereas cast iron would just crack if exposed to extreme and rapid temp changes. I feel that seasoning tends to stick more firmly to cast iron but that can be mitigated by bluing your carbon steel over high heat before seasoning. They both are great, healthy to use pans. Stir frying vegetables in a carbon steel wok is THE way to cook vegetables. I love using my cast iron pans over and next to wood fires in my bbq. There’s nothing like smokey beef stew or braised short ribs cooked in a cast iron pan with a real wood fire. They’re both relatively inexpensive…..so get both.
Are the tested Field and Matfer pans cooking surfaces equal? Otherwise I would assume the bottom size is the biggest reason for the outcome of this test? For instance a Matfer of over 12" size would not work on my 21,5 cm electric hob as well as a good 10" pan. Also what size are the coils on the induction hob -are they truly big enough for the Matfer?
Are there foods you would suggest to cook in one vs the other? I have cast iron skillets but I wonder if a carbon steel would be a good addition to my arsenal.
I think your video was a fair comparison. I was surprised that the cast iron heated up more quickly and it is possible this result has something to do with your cooktop (even at the same temperature). Personally, I like cast iron better as the seasoning seems to hold better.
Hi Jed, I've been trying to use carbon steel for over a year now and it's just not working. I've gone through multiple pans, spent hours on the phone with customer service with the previous company that sold me the first carbon steel, found your videos, ordered a du buyer, watch several hours of your content trying to learn how to use this material. Seasoned it 5 times with buzzy wax, tried to fry eggs with plenty of fat. There was carbon builtup so I scrubbed it off and it looked like the cooking surface returned to its original color before seasoning. Went to post season, now I have sticky oil burnt on. I watched your video, I need bar keeper's friend and steel wool, or else I'll just use the chain mail scrubbers I have. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, I've spent so much time on this trying to learn how to use a non-toxic cookware where I can fry a damn egg. I'm disheartened and frustrated to where I've thrown away carbon steel pans and seriously doubt if I will ever figure out how to use this. Can you help? Also, the rag to season... I think some cotton fibers came off and are stuck in with what still exists of the seasoning. I've heard you say lint-free, does that mean a microfiber?
Hi Jed, thanks for the nice video! People always say "its normal that the patina on carbon steel changes and goes away here and there". But I always think: "at black castiron pans the black patina persists. it´s pretty much undestroyable. there must be a way to archive this with carbon steel". Yes, cast iron is often times very very rough, but I think the difference must be a) within the seasoning process or b) in the micro structure of the pan. I tried a fine sandpaper before seasoning, with not much success. But I think there must be a way. Maybe that is a perspective that you could look / investigate into? All the best! Heike
Wondering how this test would be over gas flame, if the induction is picking up more magnetic properties from the cast iron due to the mass or structure of the cast iron? I have induction. I find it unpredictable. The jump between 6 to 7 goes from not hot enough to burn your dinner.
Love the videos brother. But gotta let you know. The emissivity of both pans is not the same. They have too much reflection to give accurate readings. Im going to assume your IR gun is set at .95 i recommend a surface thermometer, like the one from cuisinart.
I was watching a video that claimed cast iron was better than carbon steel to cook steaks because of better thermal properties. I have been using carbon steel for steaks for months now. I decided to try my cast iron instead and see what the difference is (if any). The steak out of the cast iron was perfect. I found that I did a longer preheat but cooked over a smaller flame for a bit less time compared to the carbon steel pan. I achieved a perfect sear very easily. It was a pretty steak. I was going for medium rare. The same size steak (Waitrose high end rib eye about 3/4 in) in carbon steel would have taken about 30 sec longer per side over slightly higher heat to achieve the same appearance. Theoretically both steaks were medium rare but interior of the steak from the cast iron was less cooked than I personally prefer. I think that the extra 30 sec per side and slightly higher heat makes a very subtle difference. Visually, the exterior of both steaks are identical. It is really done to personal preference. Again the difference is so subtle that in a home setting you could not tell. Both pans can cook a perfect steak. Again, it really comes down to how do you like your steak, your mood, and the overhead lighting at the table you are eating at.
Great comparison, Jed! Personally, I prefer carbon steel just because of the weight difference. Speaking of which, I just received my 9 1/2" De Buyer Pro omelette pan and am enjoying it. Besides initial oven seasoning, I, too, cooked a bunch of diced onions to help add some color to the pan. Nothing like the taste of grilled onions, right? 🙂
I have too noticed big differences between cast iron and carbonsteel of virtually EQUAL thickness. (possible to compare due to 4.20mm DARTO N30) My current explanation is that there is a LOT more eddy current losses in cast iron, compared to "soft steel" the latter wich bacically is the low carbon steel used in carbon steel cookware. The eddicurrent losses makes the cast iron pan heat up faster (at equal thickness) compared to carbonsteel AND its softer on the induction hob, never experinced or herd about an overheating induction hob when using cast iron. However carbonsteel due to the very same reasons in MY experince at EQUAL thickness does heat up signifigantly more evenly than cast iron.
Bit of a wasted effort as the test assumes that both pans get to the same temp from the same induction settings. A flawed assumption and the wrong instrument. Using a thermocouple probe touching the pan surfaces on the same relative location would provide more trustworthy readings. You would likely find they are at different temps due to the different relative mass and alloy induction response. If you balanced the heat settings to get equal temperatures, then you would have a fair basis for cooking performance.
Fair enough, but the heat did regulate somewhat once I was cooking. I was not looking to get the same outcome. I was looking to see what would happen if I used the same input.
It would be interesting to increase the heat to 7 under the carbon steel pan and do the comparison again. If you start out hotter when the pan is well oiled, it might not stick like it did in the first test. What I got from this is that a hotter pan cooks faster and turning up the heat after the food has absorbed the oil can lead to sticking. With more heat under the Matfer, it might cook as well or better than the Field, and then it would win with low weight. But if the higher temp causes burning and sticking, it would be the clear loser. A follow up with matched heat from the start (not just matching the setting) would be excellent!
The reason I started with a 6 is that I knew from experience that a 7 would be too high for the Matfer to get a similar result as the field. More testing to be done!
We used a cheap 110V induction hob for years, and it provided adjustments in 10F increments. It worked great at lower temps. At 220F, it would boil water; at 210F, the water would be flat. It wasn’t good at high temps though, with inconsistent duty cycles. Earlier this month, we bought a high end, 50A 220V induction range, and it can do high heat easily, but like yours, it’s just 1-10 with boost. While the slider control is simple and elegant, the steps are too coarse to be ideal. A 6.5 might be just right for your test, but it’s unavailable. And what cook would manually bounce between 6 and 7 every few seconds? The next generation of high end induction ranges needs finer adjustments and numbers to show precise, accurate, repeatable readings. With gas, we know that coarse adjustments of the knob aren’t enough. Sometimes, we nudge the knob just a degree or so to get the flame just right. I hope manufacturers improve this as induction is great in many ways.
Thanks for the attempt to eliminate variables, although in my humble opinion the use of a cheap IR temperature gun defeated the attempt. A few thoughts: To confirm identical pan cooking surface temperature, use a surface thermometer instead. Alternately put enough high temp oil in each pan so that there's enough oil in each that the tip of your cooking thermometer can read the temp of the oil which relates to the tenperature of the pan it is in. My guess is that induction doesnt heat different types of pans equally, even if the flat bottom suraces of the pans are exactly the same thickness. Another suggestion is to do the same comparision, timing how long it cooks, and regulating the hob temperature to get the rate that the food cooks at which experience tells you is right. I know on my stove i need higher settings on the dial for the same food with carbon steel than i need for cast iron. Once i turn up the setting when using carbon steel, cooking times are pretty similar as are the results.
I swear by my infrared gun, but it's the expensive Thermoworks one. I make a grilled cheese for lunch almost every day in a de Buyer Mineral B Pro (found that pan through you, if memory serves), and when the gun says about 455 - 475, I know it's ready to go. I have an electric stove, and it will get up to 450 F on $ if I leave it long enough, but I usually do 4.5 as it gets there a little quicker. I also use it when I'm cooking on the gas griddle outside, and it's very handy to know if I'm at the right temperature for whatever I'm doing, as bacon requires a very different temperature to cook than eggs do, for instance. In general I prefer carbon steel because it's lighter, but that cast stainless steel handle on the Mineral B Pro makes it barely any lighter lol. I am backing those Strata pans and pretty excited for those. I've got a ganglion cyst in my right wrist, so while the weight of cast iron isn't that big a problem lifting wise, it's just a lot of weight on the wrist.
@@Cook-Culture I dunno. It’s still going to be inconsistent from split to spot because of reflections and such. I have not done a side by side, but at least on my electric stove, with the eye set on the same thing, cast iron and carbon steel will go to the same temp according to the gun. I have a 12” Stargazer, but it needs stripped and reseasoned, and I’ve been too lazy to put together an electrolysis tank.
I just have too much cast iron to give carbon steel a try. We have 25 iron skillets in the house 4 are my wife's lol. We do have 1 stainless steel pan I got at a thrift store but still haven't used it yet. I think I would like carbon steel but I've made a commitment to cast iron that started back in 1979 when my grandma gave me a Griswold for high school graduation present. I still have it.
Honestly a lot of it is just preference and what you cook. Acidic foods wreck my stomach and I could care less about pan sauce so I don't bother with SS. More than 90% of what I cook is in carbon steel with a few niche things for cast iron but I could get by fine with just a cast iron if I needed to. I just prefer my matfer pans even though I love my stargazer to death.
I've been cooking on both for over 50 years. If I was forced to choose only one type, it would be the Smarts cast iron that would get kicked to the curb, not the carbon steel, Most who say they would prefer cast iron if they could only have one would admit they have relatively little cooking experience with carbon steel if they were honest. Both types require you to learn how to get the best out of them.
Matfer is a very well balanced pan. It is easier and more fun to cook with it than with a cast iron skillet. I find I can control heat better with the Matfer. But for low and slow cooks the cast iron works better. The CS is more versatile, agile pan. If I had to choose id just skip the CS and get a clad frypan instead. Which has the benefit of being able to cook acidic stuff.
Let’s talk steel. The term “Carbon Steel” is marketing gobbledygook. The reason Steel is Steel and not simple iron, is Carbon. All steel has Carbon in it. Using the marketing phrase “carbon steel” to describe a pan (or anything else) is just falling for marketing bullshit. There is no alloy of steel called “carbon steel.” There are thousands of steel alloys. Each alloy may have elements like Molybdenum, Nickel, Cobalt, Chrome, or any of a boatload of other alloying elements put in them to produce a steel with the desired properties for machining or ease of welding or lubricity on and on and on. But Carbon is universal. All steels have Carbon in them. So the term “Carbon Steel” is just foolish redundancy fed to us by marketing assholes. The steel alloy that these pans are made from is most likely A36. A36 is the most common and cheapest steel on the planet. It is a very old alloy, and it is the one that lay folk might call “Structural Steel” because it is the steel that all steel erection for buildings, bridges, and navel vessels the world over are made from. So, there’s a very good chance that the manufacturers of these pans use a common, easily sourced, and inexpensive alloy of steel, and A36 and a slew of other steels will fit the bill wonderfully.
