Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Mess Hall => Topic started by: K Frame on January 06, 2021, 12:34:26 PM
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Debating whether or not to get a carbon steel pan.
I have a couple of stainless steel pans, and a couple of teflon pans, but the teflon is wearing out and I'm not all that crazy about the stainless pans. Even a lump of butter sticks in them.
So... yes? no? maybe?
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I like my carbon steel pans. Like cast iron they take a little bit of maintenance but once properly seasoned they are hard to beat. You can use steel tools in them, take them from stove top to broiler, good for searing.
Some of them can get pretty spendy which could be a down side. Lighter than cast iron, a good thing IMO.
If I were going to buy new cookware I would look at replacing with carbon steel for a few more skillets.
Grace Young (Chinese Chef) has a method for seasoning that I used, I don't know if it was any better than any other way but it worked.
bob
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I have one I bought for camping and it only went camping once.
It has been in regular use in the kitchen since I bought it a few years ago.
As a side benefit it works great for making deep dish pizza.
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I love my cast iron, but I have a glass top stove and, even with being careful, I scratched it using my big cast iron pan. So, I'm looking for something similar, and the carbon steel seems to be a good substitute.
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My carbon steel pan has become my most used pan. For most applications, I will even grab it over the cast iron. It is by far the most expensive pan I have ever bought, but to me, worth every penny.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00462QP0W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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This is the one I'm looking at...
10"
https://www.amazon.com/Merten-Storck-Carbon-Frying-8-Inch/dp/B08CZYS4FJ/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=carbon%2Bsteel%2Bpan&qid=1609956764&s=home-garden&sr=1-1-spons&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzOEVQQ1NWWENNMzRJJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMTI0ODA1MUNOVEJHVE1NTkNVUCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwOTIyNzA0MUVHTURSWEtRQVMzWCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU&th=1
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Hell with it, for $30 I bought it.
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Hell with it, for $30 I bought it.
That works, one thing with that one the handle will probably get hot. Be sure to use a hot pad, gloves or even something like this (https://www.amazon.com/s?k=cast+iron+handles&hvadid=77721855305963&hvbmt=bb&hvdev=c&hvqmt=p&tag=mh0b-20&ref=pd_sl_5wwox4xdnw_b).
bob
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I've got a silicone pan handle for my splatter screen that should work nicely on it.
If it doesn't, I have multiple other options.
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I have a big 12-14" with high sides I love to use when I need to cook that much.
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Hell with it, for $30 I bought it.
Let us know how it turns out. I've had my eye on that same pan.
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I really like my carbon steel pan. Seasoning is a bit different from cast iron.
What I found to work great is to use the peelings from a couple potatoes, 1/3 cup oil and 2/3 cup salt. Cook on medium heat until the potato peels are pretty dark, 10 minutes or so. Discard contents, clean pan, and dry.
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I will say that the only negative to my carbon steel pan was the time it took to remove that *expletive deleted*ing beeswax coating. :laugh:
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Fill it partially with water and then boil it on the stove top for 2 or 3 minutes. Dump the water, fill it with hot tap water and detergent and scrub.
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I own only one CS cooking vessel. I bought a large rolled carbon steel wok at a Chinese market when I was a college student over 49 years ago. It’s been great and I’ve used it on the gas range, an outside propane burner (fish fryer type), and over many wood campfires.
For everything else, I prefer my vintage cast iron. But if I didn’t have that, I would certainly consider decent CS pans or skillets.
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I own only one CS cooking vessel. I bought a large rolled carbon steel wok at a Chinese market when I was a college student over 49 years ago. It’s been great and I’ve used it on the gas range, an outside propane burner (fish fryer type), and over many wood campfires.
I've got a carbon steel wok I received as a Christmas gift from my ex-wife about 30 years ago. I love the darn thing, unlike my ex-wife. I have been on an Asian kick recently, so the wok has seen a fair amount of use on our gas stove. Beats the heck out of using a regular frying pan for stir frying anything.
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OK, I've used it a couple of times since I got it Saturday.
So far, so good.
Yesterday I made ham and bean soup, so I used it to sweat the onions. Nothing very taxing about that.
After I cleaned it last night I gave it a light coating of oil and heated it until it smoked.
This morning I made eggs for breakfast. Sprayed some Pam in it. Some very light sticking, but overall not bad at all.
I'm going to be using it this evening to cook some ground turkey.
So far I like it. The weight is good and it perfectly fits the burners on my stove.
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Re-seasoned mine today.
I inadvertently damaged the seasoning by deglazing.
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"I inadvertently damaged the seasoning by deglazing."
PERVERT!
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I'm really liking this pan so far.
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I used one for a few years, until I accidentally figured out how to make my cast iron pan work. The only advantage I see to steel is they are MUCH lighter, and tend to start with a much smoother surface, where new Lodge pans need to be hit with a flap wheel and boiled in bacon grease for a week before they start to be pleasant to work with.
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I used one for a few years, until I accidentally figured out how to make my cast iron pan work. The only advantage I see to steel is they are MUCH lighter, and tend to start with a much smoother surface, where new Lodge pans need to be hit with a flap wheel and boiled in bacon grease for a week before they start to be pleasant to work with.
I found out that with cast iron, cooking at a lower temp and more fat (i.e. butter) makes them less sticky. I can slide an egg around in my newer 13.5" Lodge now when cooking.
I have been thinking about a carbon steel pan for my grill for making veggies up when grilling meat. Just because it's lighter and I constantly be flipping my veggies.
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I've always had trouble getting and keeping a cast iron pan seasoned. Well a few months ago I was cleaning out my pantry and the can of shortening was starting to smell rancid. (it takes a *long* time for shortening to turn, this can of shortening might have been many years old) I warmed up my iron skillets a little and wiped them down with it before I threw the can away. I put the skillets in the oven and forgot about them. I pulled them out a week or two later to use the oven, and they were seasoned very nicely. I'm enjoying using them.
I wipe them with a paper towel with a little turkey fat on it when I am finished with them to maintain the seasoning. (vegetable oil gets sticky when it dries; it's too unsaturated. Beef or pork fat doesn't dry. Poultry fat seems to be about right, it dries and hardens very slowly. I suspect the iron is a catalyst)
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I found out that with cast iron, cooking at a lower temp and more fat (i.e. butter) makes them less sticky. I can slide an egg around in my newer 13.5" Lodge now when cooking.
I have been thinking about a carbon steel pan for my grill for making veggies up when grilling meat. Just because it's lighter and I constantly be flipping my veggies.
Yep, lots of butter, olive oil, or bacon grease, and nothing sticks.
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The more I use this thing the more I like it.
I pan seared a couple of thick boneless pork loin chops last night for dinner.
A heavy does of no stick spray and no sticking problems at all. Then I dumped in a can of hominy after I pulled the chops to rest. Again, no sticking issues.
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Alton Brown had an interesting program on carbon steel a week or so ago on "Good Eats Reloaded". He has gone over to using them over non-stick, which he says "Non-stick is a temporary condition, at best".
He found it amusing that cast iron is 3% carbon and carbon steel is 1% carbon.
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Do you remember what the main body of the episode was? I'd like to take a look at that one.
And this pan just keeps getting better and better!
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I don't remember for sure. The old episode started out with (young) Alton using a non-stick pan, and (older) Alton stepping in and explaining why he doesn't use them anymore. I googled "Alton Brown carbon steel" and got a few hits. Might be his fried egg episode (one of them).
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OK, I think I found it, looks like it's the Egg Files Reload.I'll keep an eye out for it
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He found it amusing that cast iron is 3% carbon and carbon steel is 1% carbon.
metallurgy is a type of sorcery that most people have little inclination for.
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well, about the only thing I've found that I don't like to cook in my new carbon steel pan is eggs. More specifically, Egg Beater's style no-fat egg substitute. I generally eat those because I can eat more for the same calorie load.
They're made pretty much entirely from egg whites, which means that they are all protein. No matter what, no matter how much fat I use, they stick for me, so I've gone back to a non-stick pan for my weekend breakfasts.
Everything else I've cooked in the carbon steel pan, though? Turned out great.
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I've finally really hit the sweet spot with this pan, and now it's even doing eggs nicely. Still a bit of sticking, but one I got the seasoning layer figured out just right... not bad at all.
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With eggs, there are 2 keys I’ve found for the carbon steel pan.
You have to put that thin layer of oil on the pan when it’s hot from drying on a burner after cleaning and let it cool. Doesn’t seem to matter how much oil I add for cooking, I can flood the pan, but if there isn’t that thin coat that’s been through a heat cycle my eggs stick.
The other is not getting the oil for cooking the eggs too hot before dropping the eggs in the pan. A frying sound and instant bubbles in the whites means you got it too hot.
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I tried your trick of making sure that the pan is cooler when I put the eggs in... Seemed to work pretty well.
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Use more butter! Float those babies! :laugh:
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I use cooking spray most of the time. Convenient.
And even when I did float them, I'd still have sticking problems. I'll mess around some more and give it a few more tries at various heat settings.
I know in general they say you're supposed to cook eggs at fairly low temperatures to be gentle on the protein in the whites, but damn it, I'm hungry NOW!
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I also find the more I fiddle with them the more prone they are to sticking.
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My favorite cooking oil has become schmaltz, especially for eggs or browning meat for a braise. Best is from well raised ex-layer hens, but rendering the fat from store bought chickens is good too. I take the skin from any chickens I don’t want the skin for the recipe and put it in a glass baking dish. Sprinkle a little salt and cook at 375 until the skin is crispy (about an hour). Remove the skin and eat like chips. Pour the fat into a mason jar and store in the fridge.