Okay gentlemen, I am going to be buying one of these pans for two reasons. First, I have wanted to do so for a long time. Second, our Tramontina 12" non-stick straight sided frying pan/chicken fryer/whatever style you need to call it is not working out. It is too thin, warped way too easily, and the coating is not that great. So with that, the carbon steel models are on the block for purchase. This will be an addendum to the 'kitchen gadgets' thread I started a few days ago.
I know the brands De Buyer and Matfer(I think?) and of course have watched YouTube videos on the matter. Just a few points to consider. First is weight. I have always seen comments that these are lighter than cast iron by quite a lot but a number of reviewers at Amazon refer to these as rather heavy. We also have an old 12" Lodge cast iron pan that is seasoned to perfect blackness and it is indeed heavy with a full load of taters or gravy in it. Seasoning. I have seen several 'perfect' methods offered as the only real way to do it. From heating with salt and working potato skins around the pan to pre-heating it to around 200F in the oven and adding just a thin layer of flax seed oil and then putting it back in the oven and raising the temperature up to 500F or so for about two hours and then killing the heat and letting the pan cool down in the oven without opening the door. Sounds reasonable to me since consistency is a good thing when tempering or seasoning metals. What say ye? Thanks.
I know the brands De Buyer and Matfer(I think?) and of course have watched YouTube videos on the matter. Just a few points to consider. First is weight. I have always seen comments that these are lighter than cast iron by quite a lot but a number of reviewers at Amazon refer to these as rather heavy. We also have an old 12" Lodge cast iron pan that is seasoned to perfect blackness and it is indeed heavy with a full load of taters or gravy in it. Seasoning. I have seen several 'perfect' methods offered as the only real way to do it. From heating with salt and working potato skins around the pan to pre-heating it to around 200F in the oven and adding just a thin layer of flax seed oil and then putting it back in the oven and raising the temperature up to 500F or so for about two hours and then killing the heat and letting the pan cool down in the oven without opening the door. Sounds reasonable to me since consistency is a good thing when tempering or seasoning metals. What say ye? Thanks.