De Buyer MINERAL B Carbon Steel Fry Pan - 11” Diameter, 8.3” Cooking Surface - Ideal for Searing, Sauteing & Reheating - PFAS, PFOA & PFOS Free - Made in France

I started my cooking journey with non-stick pans, then moved to the Analon/Circulon thing, and then cast iron. The cast iron is great for retaining heat and, once seasoned, being non-stick, but it's so big and heavy, This wonderful steel pan heats faster than cast iron, retains heat wonderfully (even if not as great as cast iron), and seasons to a wonderful easy to clean finish.I cleaned the new pan and used a beeswax blend for seasoning cast iron and carbon steel three time (per the instructions) and it's beautifully seasoned. I used plastic and wood tools at first to build up a good seasoning (without scratches), but metal utensils are used as needed. A set of 5 of these weighs less and takes up less space than 3 cast iron pans (almost only 2), plug these heat so much faster and season much easier. I still keep my cast iron pans and use for pan pizza other oven bound dishes (these pans are oven safe, but no where near like cast iron).All in all, I love these pans. I started with two specialty pans (an omelet pan and a cute little one for a single XL egg) in case I didn't fall in love, but I ended up buying two more. These pans are amazing and appear to be built for the long haul.

Over the years I have a collection of All-Clad Stainless Tri-Ply, Calphalon nonstick, plus a cast iron pizza pan, so I am quite familiar with the strength and weakness of each type of material.The stainless tri-ply sears well, has pretty good heat conductivity, can be nonstick if you use good technique(dry and warm up certain type of food before cooking, and use enough oil), but it's a pain to clean.You are probably familiar with nonstick like Caphalon. They work pretty well, don't sear as well as tri-ply stainless, but is easy to clean. They wear out after a few years and you have to replace them. To me, they have no soul. I mostly used mine for eggs.I used the cast iron pizza pan for steak, hamburger, and frittata. It's well season and nonstick. The one big draw back is that it weight a ton.I heard good thing about DeBuyer iron cookware so I ordered a DeBuyer 24cm bluesteel crepe pan as it's inexpensive to try out. It's fantastic: eggs slide off it, and cleaning is just rising with warm water and wiping dry with a towel. So I decided to get the 12.6-Inch frypan to use as my general everyday pan. So far I have cooked steak, stir fry, and seared fish with it. I would say that it combines the best features of all the cooking surfaces I have used so far: it's nonstick, sears better than tri-ply stainless - perhaps as well as my cast iron, and weight a lot less than cast iron would have been, and it's easy to clean up. Most of the time to clean it I just rinse it with warm water. If I cook fish or steak I would use boiling water to rinse it, and on occasions I would use a slightly soaped sponge on it. Then I would dry it, and when I am not too lazy I would put a couple drop of cooking oil in it and wipe it with a paper towel. The clean up is much faster than with my stainless cookwares.But best of all, the steak comes out fantastic, the fish seared nicely, and the side is just tall enough to not get in the way yet provide enough volume to use as a really nice stir fry pan. If you cook for 4 people, this is the perfect size.I said jokingly to my 5-year old daughter that some day this will be hers as she watch me season it the day it arrived. The truth is this thing will last forever and will be hers some day. There is a satisfaction of owing something that will last for generation and is a pleasure to use. I am now a DeBuyer convert (there may be other brands that make iron cookware that are just as good). I bought a 11.8-Inch crepe pan for omeletes and frittata.

First off: If you cannot lift heavy pans, don't get these. Instead, I'd opt for high-quality stainless. And if possible a stainless/copper.With that said, these are truly a lifetime investment item if they are taken care of. Once it's seasoned, you cannot cook a better pan-fried steak. One of the best pans I've used thus far, and I've owned a restaurant.There are a few suggestions for seasoning. The company's seasoning method is fine, but it's more ideal for a restaurant environment where the pan is being used multiple times a day...thereby creating a very quick seasoning layer from cooking alone. I have found though that cooking at home is different, and the maturation can take much longer. So, I want to share with you what I do to achieve the best and most successful seasoning of my Debuyer iron pans without the sticky residue or uneven seasoning. I'm certainly not the authority on seasoning, but I hope this helps.What you will need: Water, 3 potatoes washed well, flax seed oil, sponge, and a spare dry towel(s).Currently, Amazon sells cast iron flax oil - just do a search and you should find it. Otherwise, you can find flax oil in your local Whole Foods or other markets.INSTRUCTIONS:1. Once you receive your pan, place on burner and fill nearly to the brim (leaving about 1/2" from the top) with water.2. Next, add peels from approximately 3 potatoes. Make sure the potato is washed really well so that you don't get dirt form around the edge of the water. Let boil for 15-20 minutes. You'll notice the water beginning to darken after about 10 minutes, which is normal. This step helps remove the beeswax that is added before shipment more effectively.3. Pour out the water. You may notice a black line where the water level was, that's also normal. Use a sponge to lightly scrub the pan under hot running water, focusing on the sides and around the rivets. You are just finishing off the beeswax that was left over after boiling. BTW: If you have dark spots from the potato peels at the bottom of your pan, no worries...it's normal and not necessary to remove completely. Towel dry and return to burner.4. Turn your burner to high heat, and then place up to 2 tsp. of flax oil (depends on the size of your pan) in the center of your pan while it's cool. Make sure to turn on your exhaust fan if you have one.5. Rub a very thin layer of the oil around the entire inside of the pan with a towel. Make sure to soak up any excess oil, but don't soak up all of it. This is very important, because too much oil will ruin the seasoning process. And not enough will make the process seem like its achieving nothing. Heat until it smokes oh so slightly.*Since the timing is so different from one stove to the next, I suggest you allow it to smoke slightly only as a visual to know that it has reached a hot enough temperature.*Do not leave your pan on the burner without watching it carefully. Again, allowing the oil to smoke a lot is not a good thing and can ruin the seasoning.You will notice it darkening to a dark caramel color, maybe even a reddish-brown tone, but not yet black.6. Allow to cool.7. Repeat steps 4-6 until your pan is nearly black (approx 5-7 layers). Finally, begin cooking!If your pan is really sticky after seasoning, you have added too much oil, the pan didn't get hot enough, or you need to repeat the process. You may have a slight stickiness after seasoning is finished, but that's fine. It's the thick residue you don't want.NOTE: Your pan may not be a perfectly even tone once you're finished, and that's okay. Just cook. It'll be fine. These pans tend to vary slightly from one to the next in terms of their finished color. The only thing you should be worried about is if there are strange smudges in the pan. If that's the case, then you may need to scrub off those smudges and start over. Because over time those smudges may flake off. It means that too much oil accumulated in those spots and caused a truly uneven seasoning layer.BAKING THE SEASONING:I do not find seasoning by baking a good idea unless you are experienced at doing it. For most that aren't it ends up failing. This can cause a lot of unnecessary frustration and wasted time. I really want people to have the easiest experience and not be discouraged, thereby switching to non-stick inferior pans for sake of ease.I also don't suggest switching oils during your seasoning process as some tips may suggest, because it's not necessary when you use flax-seed oil. You have to take into consideration that each oil will have a different burning or smoking point, therefore mixing the oils is not a good idea in my opinion.SEASONING MAINTENANCE:You can repeat one layer of seasoning after each batch of food in the first month or so, or intermittently. This will ensure a nonstick surface that is sure to last through just about anything. The more you use your pan, the more the non-stick surface becomes. Your pan should be completely matured, depending on quantity of use, within two or three years - sometimes less if you use it a lot and properly.BTW: You'll know when your pan has matured when hardly anything sticks to the pan, and you don't have to clean it with anything other than a paper towel after cooking. Sometimes you may have to use hot running water and a soft sponge if you cooked something sticky. Other than that, the pan is very low maintenance once it has matured.And as with all pans, just watch the outside of your pan making sure that it doesn't get a thick layer of buildup. This outside buildup affects the heating aspect. It can cause uneven cooking in some cases. So, just be mindful of that. You can clean the outside of your pan with Bar Keeper's Friend if necessary.***Always remember to oil your pan after each use***LET'S COOK!Your first batch of food should be a meat as this will speed up the maturing process. Most will start with eggs to see if the seasoning is working. This may be disappointing if you don't allow a crust to form on the eggs before flipping, so just be mindful that it may not act like T-Fal initially. And remember the seasoning hasn't fully matured yet. The maturing process takes time. However, once it's achieved your pan should be completely non stick only requiring a paper towel and maybe some hot running water to clean it up.DEEP FRYING:Deep frying food can quickly season the pan, however there is a possibility that the seasoning will begin to flake off around the middle of the sides of your pan if you deep fry often. This is caused by very high heat. If this happens, don't panic. Just take a non abrasive sponge under hot water and lightly scrub off the small bits of loosened seasoning. Then, return to the burner and add a few layers of seasoning to the exposed area to keep any rust from forming.IRON AND HEAT:Remember that iron continues to rise in temperature, thus you can easily burn your food. You will need to get to know your pan in order to find out when to adjust the heat. Regardless of what I'm cooking, I almost never set my heat to HIGH unless it's stir fry. It just doesn't drop in temperature fast enough before burning something.Also, if you add anything cold to your pan it will be stuck initially. Like I mentioned with the eggs, you should wait until it forms a nice crust in which it can be easily removed or flipped.CLEANING AND COOKING UTENSILS:Wait for several batches of food before you use a metal spatula. If you notice small scratches in your layer of seasoning after cooking from your cooking utensils...don't worry. It will darken over rather quickly and should not cause any issues. Flax oil seasoning isn't real soft, but it isn't indestructible either. So, just be graceful at first.To clean your pan do not use soap and water. The good thing about seasoning initially with flax is that the layers are very hard, and even if you happen to use soap and water, it shouldn't completely destroy your seasoning. With that said, I still do not recommend cleaning your pan with soap and water. Hot water is perfectly fine. Do not use metal scrubbers - only the basic sponges with the more gentle scrubbers is recommended. Clearly you will have times when it is necessary to be more aggressive, and that's fine. Just don't feel that you haven't seasoned your pan enough just because you have some sticking. Remember... true seasoning doesn't occur immediately. It takes time.If really stubborn food is stuck to your pan after cooking add HOT water, bring to a boil for about 30 seconds and scrub stuck particles with a wooden utensil. Dispose of the liquid, rinse and towel dry. Afterwards you'll need to place a light layer of oil in your pan and heat the pan just barely to the smoking point. It's not a good idea to boil water often as it will slow the maturing process.Additionally, one tip suggests to place course salt in the pan to sanitize it. However, this can scratch your surface rather quickly if it's the beginning stages of your seasoning, so use that tip cautiously.I really hope this helps you. Good luck, and happy cooking!