Merten & Storck 12" Pre-Seasoned Carbon Steel Frying Pan Skillet

1 year update: I happen to stumble across this listing again and it seems like the reviews are very polarized so I want to do an update and share a tip for people having sticking issues. Firstly, this is still my daily driver in the kitchen. In regards to this pan specifically, I think it's a perfectly good carbon steel and reasonably priced. That said, I have struggled with the non-stick performance and was nearly ready to give up on it before stumbling upon a "hack". So like I said originally the factory seasoning works quite well. However, that started to fade after a few weeks or so. After awhile I got annoyed and tried to apply new layers of seasoning. This is my first carbon anything pan so these attempts had varying success (seems like the best was leaving it in the oven for a good 20-30 mins and leaving it in there to slowly cool). Regardless, even if it worked great for a few days or couple weeks, it always faded again. Seemed like the "gets better with time" didn't apply to carbon steel or I was doing something wrong. I started calling it the "all stick pan" and at one point was trying to apply a seasoning layer every week or two. I bought a flexible metal spatula and this was a big upgrade. Much more effective at releasing stuck on food. Annoying that it's necessary but hey it works right? However, I noticed that simply running that spatula over the pan to remove food bits made the pan more non-stick the next time I used it. This was my first clue that I wasn't cleaning aggressively enough. Now I have a friend who loves his cast iron and he's anti-soap. He does what I'm now calling a "hot water deglaze". As soon as you're done cooking and the pan is still piping hot, throw a splash of hot water in so that it boils very vigorously. I'd only very seldom done this bc the instructions say let it cool slowly (presumably to prevent warping). However, one night I deglazed while making a pan sauce. I'd made the "mistake" of not using my stainless for that. The pan was being pretty sticky at that point. But the next morning I made eggs and boom! Super non-stick as if I'd just seasoned it. So it seems like the issue is thin layers of baked on food residue that don't come off with normal scrubbing. I've noticed some foods are more problematic than others (eg meats, and I think mushrooms). The hot water deglaze removes the remaining grime layer. Now whenever the pan starts getting a little sticky I just do a hot water deglaze after cooking and it's been great. Some of my excess seasoning layers have flaked off and it's forming a nice patina (black area) underneath. Hopefully this tip helps for some of the people struggling with sticking issues. To address warping: I did have an issue with that and I ended up pounding it out with a rubber mallet (while hot). It sits flat and stable now but does have a high spot in the middle and the oil pools around the edges as others have shown. Don't really want to pound it the other way so idk what to do about that. I just try to tilt the pan a bit to spread the oils before tossing food in. Doing the hot water deglaze hasn't caused any warping. Since I pounded it out it's been stable. Original review: Was shopping around for a cast iron and discovered carbon steel. Never heard of of it before, nor owned a cast iron, but I like the idea of it being lighter weight and heating up faster for daily use. I like the idea of a smooth surface too. Note that probably a lot of my comments pertain more to carbon steel in general than this specific pan. Pros: pre-seasoning is great. The pan is very nonstick right out of the box, on par with typical nonstick pans. It's very light and responds quickly to changes in heat. The instructions say you don't need to oil it regularly but I'm doing it anyway. But I like knowing that if that step gets skipped on occasion it's no big deal. It has a smoother surface and requires less oil than cast iron. Also, the handle doesn't get hot under normal usage which is nice. Cons: I think the biggest con here is that the pan is actually too thin. Great for lightness and responding to heat, but it warps very easy. Won't matter much on a gas stove but I have a glass top and that means poor contact, hot spots, and being annoyingly unstable (always wants to spin). You have to try to heat the pan slowly to avoid warping. And of course lack of thermal mass isn't as good for searing meat (cast iron is better for that). It's actually thinner and lighter than my stainless pan (has layers of copper and such). Also, the first time I used it I was using metal tongs and I ended up getting a nick in the bottom of the pan. Hasn't adversely affected anything but it seems like I'll have to stick to silicone cookware or flexible metal. Overall great pan and is now my go to.

I have been a user of cast iron pans for over 15 years. Many of the cast iron pans I have are very old, and were crusted pans that I had to strip the crud off them and season them before they could be used. Some are newer preseasoned pans that I often stripped the seasoning from them to season them again. When I discovered the carbon steel pans, I was intrigued as these pans are much lighter than cast iron. As a point of reference, I also have a number of Le Creuset and Staub pans and Dutch ovens that I love, but are also very heavy and relatively expensive. Before buying, I usually do research to find out about products I am not familiar with. In my research, I found out that materials used in carbon steel and cast iron pans are basically the same except that carbon steel contains 99% iron and 1% carbon vs. cast iron that contains 2%-3.5% carbon and less iron. The additional carbon causes cast iron to be more brittle, so pans are made thicker to help prevent breakage which also makes them much heavier. Since both have a high iron content, they must be oiled to prevent oxidation and rust. Both have pores that absorb oil when heated, hence the creation of the non-stick properties through "seasoning", but the pores in carbon steel are microscopic and much smaller than the pores in cast iron. Because of this, much less oil should be used to season carbon steel than cast iron. If you use too much oil, or do not remove the excess oil as the pans cool, you will end up with a sticky residue on the pan. This is true for both carbon steel and cast iron, and both require some simple maintenance by heating them and coating them with oil after each use. I, personally, use Crisco All Vegetable shortening. A couple reviews mentioned flaking of the surface after use. These pans come preseasoned and coated with a layer of wax to prevent oxidation (rust). The layer of wax must be cleaned off per the instructions before the first use. This is done by washing them in warm soapy water and wiping them with a scrubby sponge to get all the wax off. If this isn't done, the wax will flake off when used the first time. At this point, I truly love these pans and will likely sell some of my treasured cast iron. So, what do I love about these pans. 1 - They are so much lighter in weight than cast iron. 2 - These pans are nonstick with the seasoning already on the pans and only gets better with time and proper seasoning after each use. 3 - Carbon steel, as well as cast iron, will continue to look like new if cleaned and seasoned after each use. 4 - Heats and cools much faster than cast iron. For both, medium to medium high heat is all that is needed. 5 - Can be used on the stove and in the oven as well as an induction cook top. 6 - Since carbon steel cools faster than cast iron, it is less likely to burn foods that are not immediately removed. 7 - Nest together well and take less storage space than most other pan. 8 - Can stack together and use metal utensils without the fear of scratching them. In conclusion, I would definitely recommend these pans if you are willing to take the time to maintain them. If you can do this, they will last for years to come. UPDATE 03/31/22: I have 3 of these pans in 8", 10", and 12" sizes, and the two pictured are the ones I have used the most. In the last 4 weeks, I have used these pans quite often, and so far, they are totally non-stick and have not changed in color as I expected them to. Maybe it is something in the way I take care of them. After using them, they are washed with soap and water without any scrubbing. I totally dry them by heating them on the stove to open the pores of the pan, and then add a very small amount of Crisco oil on a paper towel to coat them with oil. After a couple more minutes of heating, I use a paper towel to remove any excess oil. As they cool, more oils beads on the surface of the pan, and this is again wiped off. Before I store them, I wipe them again with a kitchen towel. Although I fully expect these pans to change color over time, it's possible they stay looking nice by not letting excess oils stay on them. I do know that leaving excess oil on these pans or on cast iron pans will cause a sticky residue to develop. Built up oils on these pans or cast iron will cause them to look really cruddy and will reduce the nonstick capabilities of both. UPDATE 4/07/22: Today, I found out something about carbon steel pans the hard way. Cooking acidic foods in a carbon steel pan removes the seasoning. I made brats with sauerkraut in one of my carbon steel pans. I browned the brats, and then added the sauerkraut to the pan to heat it with the brats. The pan was fine until I cleaned it and found that part of the seasoning was gone. The pan was down to the bare grey metal in spots. Although this doesn't damage the pan, it has to be heated, oiled, and cooled a couple of times to season it again and regain the nonstick qualities of the pan. I also want to mention that when searing meat, you need to get a good sear on the meat before turning it. If you don't, the meat will stick. UPDATE 5/13/22: I have added pictures of my 8" and 10" pans that have been used quite a lot since I got them a couple of months ago. I am extremely happy with the nonstick quality of these pans and that they are so very much lighter than my cast iron pans. After every use, I season them as described previously, and so far they haven't changed in color. Personally, I believe this is because I don't let the oil burn on the pan when I season it as I have also found this to be true with my cast iron pans. All of my cast iron is an even dark black color and also nonstick. In the past, I have had a couple of cast iron pans change color when oil had been left on it for too long and burned. Although the color of the pans will get darker with use and seasoning, I don't think they have to become ugly if the patina is developed evenly. I hope this review was helpful for you. I will update the review if my opinion changes.

This review is of the 10 inch frying pan pros: It really comes with all the promises that they make. It is pre-seasoned, really. It is just as good as nonstick as long as you use oil, not butter only, to cook anything. It is lighter than cast iron by a good bit. It is heirloom quality. You could dent this pan or even fold it in half and still heat it back up, bang it back into shape re-season it and it will still work. If the rivets got damaged you could grind them off and re-rivet the handle and it would work just fine. The very first try out of the box I cleaned it up and I heated it up to very hot to burn off any contaminants that might have been on it and then I proceeded to fry not one but 6 eggs with less coconut oil and butter than I use in my normal Teflon pens (I combine the two because butter keeps the oil from beating up and spreading evenly across the pan surface). Not only did the eggs not stick, I mean I didn't even have to use a spatula for any small stuck areas, it simply slid around in the pan like a brand new ceramic. Not only did it perform perfectly but it also flipped all six eggs, perfectly. Because of the taller sides and steeper angle of the sides I didn't think it would work but again to my amazement it worked perfectly. Can't really say enough positive about my experience so far. These cons are not really cons in context. But to provide a good context you need to know that carbon steel is substantially heavier than stainless steel or aluminum but on the plus side much lighter than cast iron even "lighter built" cast iron. The handle is a very heavy duty steel handle (and here's the only thing I can say that's negative about the pan is that the handle is not really that comfortable to hold, but I knew what the shape was going in and that's on me) and probably didn't need to be that heavy duty, but it is and it does get hot is if its under heat for quite a while or at high heat. I'm going to make some slide on wooden covers but that's because I can. The pan heats up way faster than our cast iron stuff and does hold its heat for quite a while. The texture is very smooth compared to cast iron and I'm very happy with it. If you're looking for a way to buy once and own forever. Looking for a way to get away from repurchasing ceramic and eating ceramic and Teflon when they break down then I can't recommend anything better than this pan for its shape and consistent durable construction, this company For availability and price. I'm not excited about having to re-season and pay attention to that process. But everything has a pain, pick your pain. I'm no longer interested in wondering if I'm eating Teflon or having to repurchase 30 to 40 dollar pans every couple of years or as soon as my children or others who use the pans cause a scrape.

I bought this pan to replace an old ceramic coated one I've had for many years. Over time the ceramic coating became damaged so I decided to upgrade to a carbon steel pan. I was debating between cast iron and carbon steel. My research indicated carbon steel pans offer the advantages of cast iron, but with a smoother surface. Since I intended this pan to be used for cooking eggs, I thought somehow this would be the better option. The German manufacturing and good Amazon reviews were selling points for me as I've believed German steel to be of high quality. When I received the 8" pan I followed the instructions by washing the pan in warm soapy water to remove the wax coating. Then, I began to season the pan by heating it up in my oven and rubbing peanut oil on it. I figured peanut oil would be good because it has a relatively high smoke point. After three rounds of seasoning I tried cooking my first egg. I like my eggs over easy so non-stick is important characteristic. After cooking my egg I noticed some dark coloring of the egg white, darker than a normal browning due to high heat and it was all over the egg. I thought maybe I didn't season the pan correctly, so I eventually re-seasoned the pan using the provided directions. Once re-seasoned, I tried cooking another egg. Unfortunately, the dark coloring was still there. Then, I called Merten to discuss the issue. My suspicion was that the heat treatment of the pan was not done correctly and the metal was leaching out of the pan and into my egg. The customer service representative helped me by sending me a new pan. I was hopeful the new pan would work better, but after running through all the above procedures again, my eggs whites remain dark. So, now I have 2, 8" Merten pans that I prefer not to use. I'm pretty disappointed with the purchase, but I guess shame on me for thinking I could get a really nice pan for $30. Other comparable pans were in the $60+ range. You get what you pay for I suppose. At this point I'm thinking stainless steel would have been the better choice for me. About 6 months after I wrote the review above, I tried a new method of seasoning the pan. Instead of heating the pan in the oven, I heated it on my gas range and simultaneously with a portable propane torch; so heating it from both sides. This got the pan really hot. Then, I rubbed the peanut oil on it as I did before. As the pan began to smoke, I continued heating it until the pan started to change color. I repeated the oil application three times while continuing to heat the pan and the color of the pan became darker and darker. Once the pan cooled, there was a glossy hardened layer of oil on the surface of the pan and the pan was essentially black; I believe they call this polymerization. I gave it the paper towel scrub test and there was no residue. Finally, I cooked another egg on it with a bit of butter and it worked great. The egg whites had no residue and the non-stick feature worked great. However, after a few times cooking eggs and cleaning the pan, I eventually rubbed off this protective layer of oil. So, I have had to repeat the seasoning process relatively frequently. So, since the pan is able to perform well given a good seasoning, I'm bumping the rating from 3 to a 4. If anyone has any experience comparing the Merton & Stork to other carbon steel pan brands, please let me know.

I have Hexclad, Green Pans, Cast Iron, stainless steel, and enameled cast iron. This is my favorite pan. Nonstick properties are excellent. Much lighter than cast iron and works well on recipes where you go from high heat to low heat and back again. Cleans easily with a little soap and water or some kosher salt as an abrasive (don’t soak it and dry it completely when done). After two years of regular use, I seasoned it up with some beeswax and it’s better than new. Plus, not worried about weird chemicals leaching into my family’s food.

UPDATE 12/20/2024: I loved the 10" skillet so much, I bought the 12". They are my goto skillets, without a doubt. I use them daily, many times more than once per day. These are the only pans that I use to make eggs. So, my Merten and Storck fry pans have been used dozens and dozens of times. I've ordered an induction range which will arrive day after tomorrow. These pans will work great on the induction cooktop. I'll update with info on how they do with induction and how I have to adapt. I was making tuna patties tonight in the 12" pan. To this day, both pans are non-stick, and I mean so darn slippery that it takes a spatula plus another implement on the other side to flip anything. Even fried eggs just slide around. The pans are almost too slippery. I detailed how to season the pans to keep them nonstick in my original review. I've learned that after reheating and rubbing oil on them a few times that it becomes unnecessary. They'll stop soaking up the oil. When you see this, then simply wash them under hot water (when they've cooled down) and dry. I rarely use dish detergent. I have a BLUE 3M scrubber that I use. I only use the BLUE, because it's non-scratch. If I think the pan needs more, I'll put a very small amount of Dawn on the scrubbing pad, wet it in hot water, wash, rinse, and dry. That's all there is to it. I've had no issues with rust. My pans hang on the wall. You can see where oil has polymerized in a couple of places on the cooking surface. This is correct and what it's supposed to do. Don't scrub it off! It's a part of the seasoning. There are 2 things I never do: 1. I never soak the pans. 2. I never run cool or tepid water into a hot pan to clean it. I always cool them down. Original review: I've read reviews where people think these pans are coated with a nonstick material; they aren't. I've also read that you should treat them like cast iron; you DON'T. Here's the right information. First, the pans may have a bluish hue. It's not from an applied finish. When you heat carbon steel, you get blue heat marks. Certain metals will so this when heated. You see it more readily in silver colored pans and it's natural. These pans are extremely preseasoned. I fried eggs over easy this morning, and they slipped around the pan so much, I had a hard time turning them! This is how you want these pans to perform. I have a carbon steel wok (that was Not pre-seasoned) and I've never had one thing stick in it. Unlike cast iron, you should wash your COLD carbon steel pan, using dish soap, rinsing well. Never ever put a hot pan in cool water; it'll warp. After washing and drying, sit your skillet back on the stove. Turn it on to medium-low. Heat the pan. When the pan is hot, use a paper towel to apply cooking oil. You can use olive oil. I think a higher temp oil is better, like corn or vegetable oil. Don't let the pan overheat. Just rub the oil around. You'll see it disappear into the pan. When the pan isn't taking anymore, turn off the burner. After the pan cools, simply wipe off any excess oil and put it away. That's all there is to it. Don't put in the dishwasher. Just hand wash with dish soap, dry it, heat on a burner and apply oil. It'll stay extremely slick. BTW, if you buy a pan that isn't seasoned, it'll come with a coating of shellac on it to protect against rust. You have to heat it on high heat and burn the shellac off, scrubbing the soot. When you're done, the pan looks like these pans, black with a bluish hue. The 10" skillet is a nice weight without being too heavy. The metal handle doesn't get hot when cooking on the stove. These are very nice pans!

This pan works great! I'm seeing so many negative reviews from people who obviously haven't even looked at the instructions that came with the pan. Follow the instructions, or even better watch some vids on how to cook on carbon steel and you're good to go. This pan after a few uses is more non stick than teflon by far. I've not had 1 issue with rust, just put it back on the hot burner for a minute to dry after washing. Yes, the seasoning will show some scratches if you use metal utensils, but it's normal. It's normal for the factory seasoning to gradually be replaced with cooking patina that's also non stick. It's normal for some seasoning to be eroded away when cooking meats too. Always preheat the pan so there's that steam barrier between the pan and your food, and nothing will stick. It's light, heats up quick, and also cools down quick so you can wash it without waiting long. You always want to let it cool a bit so you don't warp it with cold water when it's hot. Then just wipe a thin layer of canola oil on it after washing (I just use one of those chain mail scrubbers) and before drying it on the burner and you've replenished the seasoning and ready for next time. Am overall really happy with replacing my "ceramic" cookware with these. Bought this one just to try out carbon steel and I am a believer!

Update May 2026: this pan has warped so the bottom no longer sits flat on the stove top. I’ll probably look elsewhere for my next carbon steel pan Recently got this pan and have been cooking in it for a few weeks. This is hands down my new favorite pan. If you’ve ever cooked on a flat top / blackstone type grill then you’ll feel right at home. I follow the same principles on this pan that I do on my Blackstone. Use the same utensils too. Except for the initial “smoking” that I do on my blackstone…you don’t need to do that with this pan. You do need to use some type of oil / butter when cooking. Don’t need a ton, but if you don’t use anything then food will stick. That’s just the reality of achieving non-stick without all the chemicals. This pan conducts heat VERY well, even on my old, simple glass top electric stove. So you only need a low heat for a lot of foods otherwise you’ll burn it. Take the time to learn the pan and you’ll not have a problem. Cleanup is easy too. Slight scrape (when necessary), tiny bit of mild dish soap and warm water, dry, then light coat of oil and you’re done! It’s super easy. This is my first carbon steel frying pan and I’m hooked. I’ll be replacing all my non-stick pans with this now. This pan isn’t TOO heavy, though it definitely weighs more than your average non-stick…not as much as a cast iron skillet though. Handle is A- for comfortability…I might look to see if there are some kind of silicone covers I can get. Pan is also oven friendly so it’s good for just about everything. The only thing you’ll want to avoid is tomato-based foods due to the acidity (use stainless steel for that). This pan feels like it’s built to survive a bombing. Rock solid. So yeah, if you’re looking for a legit, quality, relatively easy to learn alternative to the chemical-based non-stick pans (don’t waste your time on the crap ceramic junk out there) then I would definitely recommend these Merten & Stork pans. After reading about them online for months, I’m 110% convinced. Carbon Steel frying pans for the win!

La poêle est solide, semble très bien faite. Cuire des tomates l'a décoloré, c'est normal car elles sont acides. Avec une petite touche d'huile rien ne colle. A voir avec le temps, mais je suis très contente avec les premiers essais. La seule chose qui me derange est leur contract légal, il y a trop des provisions bizarres qui me font penser qu'ils vendent un truc dangereux, qu'ils savent que c'est dangereux et qu'ils se lavent les mains en disant que si ça tombe mal, ils n'y sont pour rien même s'ils le sont... Bizarre, comme j'ai dit. C'est une poêle, pas un paquet des cigarettes.

Matériau excellente qualité. Facile à nettoyer et surtout pas trop lourde

I seasoned my pan before use the first time and had no issues. However after cooking 4 pieces of salmon it has left stains even after washing it immediately with hot soapy water, salt and a sponge. I never had this issue with my cast iron from Lodge so it's weird how this seemly now has a permanent stain! And no I feeling NOTHING when touching the surface, so it's clean to the touch.

Una sartén excelente. Las de acero al carbono como esta son las que hay que utilizar para una alimentación sana. Muy recomendable. Solo necesita un curado inicial, y sartén para toda la vida.

This is a carbon steel pan. Not anodized aluminium, not stainless steel, no non-stick chemical coating like teflon. It's carbon steel like the best, and cheapest, woks, and, as with all carbon steel, seasoning is not some trendy, optional, fashion thing, it's been a necessity since carbon steel first got used for woks in china 500+ years ago. They had the advantage of not having dishwashers and brillo pads so were less likely to destroy their pans this way. Instead they used water and bamboo brushes, both of which are available today, though for the most part a wipe with paper towel will do the trick. If you don't want to know about seasoning, then don't buy a carbon steel frying pan or wok. Buy a decent one that you will have to replace every few years. Treat this pan well and your grandchildren will fight over it, abuse it and you'll bin it in a month, if not sooner. And just to be clear, treating it like any other pan is abusing it. Don't, just don't, there are cheaper frying pans out there that last a lot longer than a month. They're not as good as a seasoned carbon steel wok, but they might be just what you need if you, or anyone else who will use this, is how can i put this delicately? ignorant of how to treat a carbon steel frying pan and unwilling to learn (and that doesn't even rhyme with ''duck bit', the phrase that first came to my mind).