#Black steel pan mac

They aren’t typically as pretty as cast-iron or stainless steel cookware, largely because carbon steel pans haven’t historically been designed with aesthetic considerations in mind. Whether you need to sear, fry, sauté or toast, a carbon steel can give you restaurant-quality results Jason Perlow/CNN UnderscoredĬarbon steel pans are the go-to cookware in restaurant kitchens because they’re versatile enough to handle low-heat cooking of delicate foods such as eggs and crepes and high-heat sears of proteins such as fish filets and steaks with equal aplomb. What you need to know about carbon steel pans However, it gave us equivalent results and was still easy to handle, and you can’t complain about it at this price point given its overall quality. The Matfer Bourgeat pan we tested doesn’t have a second handle, so you’ll want to take a little more care moving it in or out of the oven.

The textured handle is about the same quality as the de Buyer or the Mauviel, though it is arc-welded to the pan instead of being attached with rivets, so it doesn’t have the finished, crafted look of the de Buyer. It’s deep enough to handle frying (some of the other budget pans were too shallow to cover all the bases) and performed well in all of our testing. And, of course, it is significantly less expensive than our top pick without giving up much in performance. The Matfer Bourgeat isn’t quite as deep as the de Buyer (1.75 inches) or as wide (11 7/8 inches), but it’s thick, heavy (78.50 ounces) and designed to take some serious abuse in a French restaurant kitchen. Matfer Bourgeat Black Carbon Steel Fry Pan, 11 7/8 Inches Jason Perlow/CNN Underscored Like many high-quality carbon steel cookware pieces, the de Buyer ships from the factory coated in beeswax, so you will want to melt that off in the oven before seasoning.īest budget carbon steel pan: Matfer Bourgeat Black Carbon Steel Fry Pan, 11 7/8 Inches $66 $53.99 at Amazon Note that there are many versions of this pan, including a single-handle model that performs the same and is also a good choice if you don’t feel you need the handling assist.

#Black steel pan mac

It can easily double as a casserole dish because of the second handle, making mac and cheese, roast chicken or cornbread a little easier to deal with. We love that this pan has two handles: one main, smooth long handle (which is attached with three short rivets) and a loop-shaped grabbing handle so that you can carry it - with potholders - in and out of a hot oven. This is a multitasker that can be used to cook just about any meal on your stove or in your oven you can think of, and it is worth every penny - it will become your main kitchen workhorse.

If you’re looking to cook large proteins and want thick, heavy metal construction, with a lot of depth (for stir-fries, fried chicken and other single-pan dishes), the de Buyer is absolutely the pan you want to get. Made in France, the de Buyer Mineral B was one of the deepest (2.06 inches), the second-widest (12.50 inches), and also the heaviest (96 ounces) pan we tested. Your CNN account Log in to your CNN accountĭe Buyer Mineral B 12.5-Inch Frying Pan Jason Perlow/CNN Underscored