Matfer Bourgeat Black Carbon Steel Frying Pan, 10 1/8"

Where has this pan been all my life? I followed the simple seasoning instructions, cleaned the pan as recommended, and have enjoyed non-stick cooking, many of the advantages of cast iron skillets, and easy care for almost a year now. I wish I had discovered it 30 years ago. I was tired of non-stick pans that put invisible chemicals in my food, which steadily deteriorated with every use, and which required replacement every few years. Properly cared for, this pan will last a lifetime with no loss of quality. It is slightly heavier than most non-stick pans of equal size, but far lighter than cast iron. A great professional skillet at a reasonable price.

Just cooked first breakfast on a new 15.75 incher. My impressions. First, it's big. I wanted something bigger than my vintage 12 inch cast iron for cooking big batches of veggies and bunches of burgers for the fam. To get a bigger bottom surface area, went with the 15. It's 2 pounds heavier than a #12 cast iron. The pan is thick and the handle is almost comically well built. The 15.75 is way too big for a standard oven, which is fine for my purposes. I cook on a powerful bluestar range with 25k btu burner. I wouldn't go bigger than this size for sure. On a regular range, I have to believe this wouldn't heat evenly on the edges. The 14 would probably fit better on a bluestar with less overhang but I wanted the extra space. This pan and size would probably be good for a drive in campfire cook. High sides, lots of room, big handle. I talk about the seasoning. The instructions on the sticker are deceptive in how easy they make it sound to clean the factory coating off. Warm water and detergent with a brissle brush won't do it. I worked hard on it and the coating just started scratching after 15 minutes. I saw various places people say to use easy-off oven cleaner outside to avoid fumes. Tried it and have to say this is my new method. Sprayed it on and left it in a garbage bag for a couple hours. It still took hard scrubbing but it progressed pretty quick and could easily see where there was and wasn't coating. The effort after easy-off was like what I thought it should have been out of the box. Then I seasoned with canola oil cause that's what I had. Held it over the huge burner till each section smoked. It looked and felt perfect. I would have done this in the oven for a smaller pan. Even with 25k btu, it took a while to get each area to smoke. It's a thick pan. Don't know if the smaller pans are thinner. Weight. The 15.75 is very heavy. I'm a beefcake with strong arms that has no problem one handing a full 12 inch cast iron. This thing is a 2 hander all day. It's very long handle to the far opposite side. The bottom half the handle gets hot. The top half seemed to stay cool. I have a long history with cast iron. Have a bunch of vintage griswold pans of various sizes. Cooked 1000s of meals in CI. My wife has a carbon steel crepe pan and I started messing with it for eggs and I was like, what's this? Seemed light and very non-stick. I've wanted something bigger than a #12 cast iron for bigger meals. So after a bunch of research, I ended up with this 15.75 to get a bigger bottom surface than a #12. I think the 15.75 is maybe an inch wider at the bottom, which is quite a bit more in area when you do the math. My overall impression of cast iron vs carbon steel is carbon steel is easier to clean. Feels a bit more non-stick. I like that I can run a hot/warm carbon steel pan under water. Don't do that with CI. I cracked a vintage CI pan doing that. I like the longer handles. This newer matfer has the convex bottom which I'm not a fan of. On gas, the oil runs to the outside. It's not terrible, just less than perfect. Temperature IR tests. Did a simple heat comparison with an IR gun between a griswold #12 and the 15.75 matfer. From each pan completely cold, tested each pan every minute on the middle and the outside edge running full blast on the 25k burner each minute. I expected the matfer to be faster to climb. I was surprised. Results (middle of pan and outside edge): #12 Griswold @ 1 min: 370 mid, 288 outside. 2 min: 570 mid, 490 outside. 15.75 Matfer @ 1 min: 200 mid, 168 out. 2 min: 340 mid, 235 out. 3 min: 410 mid, 288 out. 4 min: 460 mid, 330 out. Then after the test about 3-5 minutes, didn't measure closely, the #12 was still 330 degrees. The matfer was 160 ish. Matfer had more time to cool as it was tested first. CI definitely holds heat. These are different shaped pans and not really and apple to apple but I expected quicker heats up on the matfer as that's one of its selling points. The CI was blazing in a couple minutes. Not saying that makes it better. That pan does tend to get and stay too hot. The 25k is a monster and I can't imagine how long a 12 or 15k typical burner would take on this pan. Wouldn't be good at all for searing steaks, anything high heat. Just throwing that out if anyone with a regular gas burner is thinking of going this big. I can't speak for induction or electric. Outside cooking on a bayou burner would be a good fit probably. After seasoning, cooked sunny side up eggs and they came out perfect. As non-stick as I expected. Probably a hair more non-stick than the cast iron. Clean up seemed easier. All in all, I'm impressed. I think 15.75 is too big probably even for a bluestar range but is workable. Great quality pan. I'll be picking up some other sizes and will sideline some CI pans other than for searing.

Pictures show residue left from throwing bacon on the dry pan, having only seasoned it 2 times. Another shows after i cleaned it, everything wiped off no problem in the sink. some of the seasoning wore off, i shouldve seasoned it 3 times. Then how the pan evenly heats pancakes, my stove does not heat evenly but this pam distibutes it great! Im gonna start off with the "negatives" because thats what i think people are here to see. If you dont season it good 2 or 3 times, its not gonna be non stick. Also depends on what you cook, if you arnt cooking very fatty foods like steaks and bacon, you NEED to season it at least 3 times before using. Its anoyying yes but most people are looking to get rid of teflon and unknown ceramic pans, thats the trade off. Now the great thing is once its seasoned this pan is probably the best pan ive ever had. I seasoned the pan 2 times, 500 degrees with avacado oil which has around 550 smoke point. I still should have and will season it a 3rd time but i wanted to test how it held up with 2 and i know id cook steak and bacon ect. Well i threw bacon into this newly seasoned pan dry, and unsurprisingly it stuck a little. But after a minute of searing it was easy to pull off and any residue was very easy to push off the pan. Then i threw eggs in and because of the bacon bits sticking the eggs were sticking slightly too, but i didnt brake a yolk and again none of the egg bits that stuck a little stayed on the pan. For cleaning i let it cool a little then just used a non abrasive scruber and a little dish soap and everything wiped right off! Make sure you dry the pan and throw a little oil on it so it wont rust. Oddly some of the eggs from the firet cook seemed to wear off the seasoning a bit, another reason to season it again. You need to take care of this pan for the first few uses or it will stop being non stick. shown in the picture with the pancake, this pan distibutes heat insanely well! My stove heats 1 side a little more and i could see it in the cooking but its way more even than an aluminum or stainless pan. Its is totally non stick if you treat it right as i said before, even without butter the pancake didnt leave residue on the pan, and i still need to season it one more time! Overall great pan, wish i got one sooner.

I haven't had much luck with cast iron pans and was trying to get away from non stick pans. Plus, I wanted a larger pan to avoid cooking in batches. So I decided to give this pan a try. The pan was easy to clean and season and has been remarkably non stick. The width of the pan at the rim is about 3 inches wider than the cooking surface. The handle is very long, so it fits in my oven only if it goes in with the handle pointing to the back corner. It's a little unwieldy, but if you're careful, can be managed. I use the pan on my glass top electric stove with no warping or uneven heating. I had read various recommendations and concerns with this pan on my type of stove. Also the directions for seasoning that came with the pan was the oil, salt, and potato peel method, but no specific amounts for the 15 inch pan. I called Matfer and the service they gave me was exceptional. The rep was very knowledgeable and followed up with written directions via email. I have only one recommendation: make the handle shorter and add a helper look handle on the opposite side.

Read about carbon steel pans in Cook's Illustrated. Sounded like something to try. Got this pan (should have gotten smaller, and will) to test it out. Yep, it is heavy. Not as heavy as the same size cast iron, but a lot more than the non-stick Cook's Essentials Anodized Aluminum. First it needs to be seasoned, and not like you would a cast iron pan. The directions that come with it are iffy, almost badly translated French. So, I will add here the directions from Cook's Illustrated and hope they weren't copyrighted. First though, the pan and using it. Very nice, cooks great. Really is non stick after seasoning and clean up is a swipe. Going to have to get used to that. Seared the steaks perfectly and finished the cream sauce without at hitch. Yep, gotta get you some. INITIAL SEASONING: First you'll need to remove the new pan's wax or grease coating (used to protect the metal from rusting in transit). Use very hot water, dish soap, and vigorous scrubbing with a bristle brush. Dry the pan and then put in on low heat to finish drying. Add 1/3 cup oil, 2/3 cup salt, and peels from two potatoes (these help to pull any remaining wax or grease from the pan surface). Cook over medium heat, occasionally moving the peels around the pan and up the sides to the rim, for 8 to 10 minutes. (The pan will turn brown) Discard the contents, allow the pan to cool, and wipe with paper towels. You are ready to cook. (If you experience sticking, repeat once. This method will work on any carbon-steel skillet.) MAINTENANCE: Avoid soap and abrasive scrubbing. Simply wipe or rinse the pan clean, dry it thoroughly on a warm burner, and rub it with a light coat of oil. If you accidentally scrub off some of the patina, wipe the pan with a thin coat of oil and place it over high heat for about 10 minutes until the pan darkens ( it will smoke; turn on an exhaust fan). BLOTCHY IS OK: As soon as you season and start cooking in a carbon-steel pan, it changes from shiny silver to brown and blotchy. The blotches are a sign that the pan is building up a slippery patina, which will help it become increasingly nonstick. The blotches and nonstick capability may initially wax and wan, but with use, the pan's cooking surface will gradually darken and become more uniform in color.

Great quality pan. Heavy substantial weight Great value for your money Easy to season

Really wanted to like this pan . I followed all the instructions and have experience with other carbon steel and cast iron pans when it comes to the seasoning process . It warped to almost like a bowl within the seasoning process . Never even had the chance to cook with it because I was afraid it was going to tip or spin right off my stove .

This turned out to be a fine pan. First off though getting it ready to cook. Cleaning the protective coating off of the pan was a pain. I wish there was a better way to protect these pans. I cleaned, and scrapped, and scrubbed to get that stuff off for almost an hour. Then it started to show signs of rust. So that was enough of cleaning for me. Time to season. I used the salt and potato skins technique for seasoning. Worked ok. Then I oiled it it up with avocado oil and placed it in the oven at 450 degrees. Pan did not change color much and I never got it to that nice bronze color I see a lot of people get. So to heck with seasoning it, I'm just gonna cook with it. I've done sausage, bacon, eggs (over easy and an omelette) steaks, chicken, mushrooms & onions, and pork chops. All this with no sticking. All of that cooking and the pan is what I would call well seasoned. It's just not bronze in color. Go figure. I like the pan though. It has nice weight to it. The handle does not get too hot when cook short meals. It's just continues to warm up the longer you cook. That's expected of course. It's a snap to clean. I just let it cool then use some hot running water in the sink and the stuff just rises off. If there is some heavier cooked on bits just boil some water in the pan until the stuff softens up then wipe it out. Easy. Great pan I fully recommend it. Update 08/28/2021: Pan is outstanding. It has developed a nice dark patina now and food just slides around in it. With a little oil even delicate fish fillets release easily. Patience is needed with these pans. Sure you can season it as directed for a few hours, then drop an egg with butter/oil for the "egg test". The egg might slide around or it might stick some. It's not a failure. Cook in it. Steaks, hamburger, chicken, fish and more. Give the pan time to really get that patina built up after lots of cooking. This pan is a superb piece of cookware. 03/31/2022 Update: I mistakenly added some sauce to the pan that had vinegar in it. It ate away some of the seasoning that I had built up over the last few months. I'm not too concerned about it at this point. I'll just keep cooking with it and see how it goes. 12/19/2022 Update: This latest photo is of my pan after two years of cooking. It's amazing how slick it is. I just cooked a couple of eggs in it, then wiped it out with a paper towel. It doesn't get much better that this!

I love cooking and was looking for pans I can safely use on my gas stove top, put in the oven and use on my 100 year old Rayburn wood stove! I am weeding out all plastics, Teflon and non-stick surfaces, and noticed lots of very good reviews for the Matfer steel pans. I started with a small pan, followed all the starter seasoning instructions and cleaning after every use very carefully and so glad I did. I was so very happy with this pan I bought another. When I can afford a third I will add to my collection. Nothing sticks! The cooking results are excellent. I'm very happy! Tip, I purchased heat proof slip on silicon handles, cause they get hot and the pans are heavy. Follow the cleaning instructions every single use. No detergents, dry thoroughly and oil lightly when dry. I use rice bran oil. My pans are nearly black now, which is how they are supposed to be after correct use and cleaning/storing.

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Seasoned it on the stove (following the video guide by Serious Eats) and it turned beautifully dark in just a day! Food did not stick, except when I used soy sauce the first time. It’s my first time using carbon steel and I have high hopes and good experiences so far. It’s on the heavy side but more manageable than cast iron. The bottom surface is very small though, much less space than a 10 inch Lodge skillet.

Its a Joy to cook in, once it is seasoned, its the best non stick pan. Best for stake lovers. I personally try to cook as much possible in this. Wok will be a nice addition to our kitchen. Its going to last a life time. Absolutely worth the investment.

This is my third matfer bourgeat cookware and as expected is of high quality. Highly recommended! Have provided photographs of before and after seasoning …