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- With Made init is blue carbon steel saucepan ($69), you don’t have to choose between your favorite stainless steel skillet or your cast iron skillet because it combines the best properties of both.
- The skillet is light and thin, with a smooth cooking surface and sloping sides. It heats up quickly but also retains that heat well. You season and care for it like a cast iron skillet, and over time it will develop a non-stick surface.
- I generally lean more towards Team Cast Iron, but I must admit that the Blue Carbon Steel Pan has the main advantages of speed, control and lightness.
Of all the debates you can bring up to piss off home cooking enthusiasts, one chasm seems to divide them the most: stainless steel or cast iron?
While you can argue that they’re good for different things, it’s hard to ask someone to pick just one. Stainless steel is lightweight yet durable, heats evenly, doesn’t require much maintenance, can cook acidic foods, and tends to be more affordable.
But cast iron has great heat retention and performs well at high temperatures, develops a non-stick coating over time, has versatile cooking capabilities, and is sturdier than stainless steel.
The one olive branch of cookware that could make both of these camps happy is the carbon steel pan.
Carbon steel is a hybrid of stainless steel and cast iron that combines the best properties of each. It features the light weight, heat control and cooking speed of stainless steel and the heat retention, seasoning and non-stick surface of cast iron.
Made in
The Made In cookware game-changer (if you need proof of their rise in the industry, Tom Colicchio and Grant Achatz are now the startup’s advisors) is the place to get your hands on a pan so versatile and efficient.
She sells her made in France Blue Carbon Steel Pan (10″) for $69 and we tried it out to see if its marriage of stainless steel and cast iron is really as good as it’s supposed to be.
You will immediately notice its unique look and feel. It has a curved handle, a smooth, thin surface, and slanted sides. If you are a vintage cast iron fan, you’ll appreciate the similarities in weight and texture.
Due to the skillet’s excellent heat retention, it is perfect for searing and crisping meats and vegetables. Anything that requires high heat, it handles easily. At the same time, it heats up faster than thick cast iron. I made fajitas in the blue carbon steel saucepan in less time, but their shade and flavor were comparable to what a basic cast iron skillet would have achieved.
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Its angled sides make it better for actively sautéing and mixing ingredients, compared to a cast iron where straight sides are better for cooking foods like cornbread or stationary baking. Since the pan is not heavy and the handle does not heat up during cooking, it is comfortable to hold throughout cooking.
Like a cast iron, you need to properly care for and season carbon steel to keep it performing at its best. Made In offers advice on how you can take care of your Carbon steel saucepan. As you cook and the seasoning develops, the pan will become more non-stick and your food will taste even better, so it pays to be patient and treat your pan well.
Read more: 6 direct-to-consumer cooking startups changing the way we buy cookware and knives
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Don’t get me wrong, my stainless steel pots and cast iron skillet still have a place in my kitchen. I love that the former is lightweight, reliable, and low maintenance, while the latter retains heat and imparts rich flavor to whatever I cook.
However, the blue carbon steel saucepan is the rare piece of cookware with few compromises and packed with features any frequent cook will love. After trying Made In Carbon Steel Cookwareit’s easy to see why carbon steel pans are so often used in professional kitchens.
Buy the Blue Carbon Steel Frying Pan (10″) for $69 at Made In here
Shop all kitchen utensils at Made In here
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