![]() ![]() ![]() Your carbon steel pan will last for decades, while you have to replace nonstick pans every few years. (When you use enough cooking oil, all pans are nonstick.)Įven though carbon steel isn't as nonstick as Teflon, there are good reasons why you should use it instead of Teflon: no potentially toxic chemicals, the ability to use high heat and metal utensils, and a smaller carbon footprint on the planet are the biggest reasons we can think of. Just enough to thinly coat the entire pan. This doesn't mean you need to use a ton of oil. ![]() For food to not stick to carbon steel (or cast iron), pans need to be seasoned-at least a few times before first use, even if bought pre-seasoned.įor best results, you also need to use enough cooking oil to coat the pan well. Some people swear they are, as do the makers who are selling "nonstick" carbon steel pans, but they can't compare to PTFE (Teflon), which is the most slippery substance known to man.Įven so, you can get excellent results from carbon steel and cast iron both. Well-seasoned carbon steel comes close to true nonstick, but it will never be as slippery a new PTFE pan. Some companies today are marketing their carbon steel pans as nonstick, but the truth is a little more complicated than this. You still have to season them, hand wash, and dry thoroughly after use to prevent rust.Īre blue or black carbon steel better options than untreated carbon steel? They look great, but as we said, the performance is not affected, and seasoning makes it kind of a non-issue. That is, the treatments help prevent rust and do not affect heating properties.Īlso, as you add layers of seasoning to your pan, the colors will darken to the same deep brown color whether your original pan was blackened, blued, or untreated carbon steel.īlue and black carbon steel will resist rust, but they are not rust-proof. The treatment darkens the steel so instead of being silver, it looks blue or black even when new.īlacking and bluing carbon steel are technically different processes, but the end result is the same as far as cookware goes. "Blue" and "black" refer to carbon steel that has been heat treated to harden the surface, which helps to prevent rust and corrosion (sort of like anodized aluminum). Fans of carbon steel will claim that it sears and browns every bit as well as cast iron, but the physics of the materials make this wishful thinking: the thinner walls and lighter mass of carbon steel can't retain heat as well as the thicker, heavier cast iron.Ĭarbon steel does a good job searing, but cast iron will always be better.īlue and black carbon steel are variants of carbon steel seen often in cookware. It depends on the gauge (i.e., thickness), but typically a carbon steel pan weighs about half as much as a cast iron pan of the same size. The higher carbon content in cast iron makes it more brittle than carbon steel, which is why cast iron is always thicker and heavier: thinner versions of it would be too brittle to make durable cookware. Yes, we're comparing carbon steel to stainless in this article, but we also compare to cast iron because it's what carbon steel is closest to in composition, durability, stability, price, and heating performance.Ĭast iron contains 97-98% iron and 2-3% carbon remember that carbon steel pans contain about 1% carbon. Carbon steel with a carbon content of 0.6-1% is called "high carbon steel." It is a very strong material used in many industrial applications as well as in cookware and high-end kitchen knives. Carbon steel used in cookware is typically 99% iron, 1% carbon. It can range from 0.5% carbon up to 2% carbon. Carbon steel is an alloy made of iron and carbon. ![]()
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