MatferBourgeat Black Carbon Steel Frying Pan, 9 1/2"

I have the 11 inch Matfer Bourgeat carbon steel, and I highly recommend it. If you don’t want to read all the details below, and just want to know if I like it, YES! I’ll be purchasing carbon steel again in the future as the need arises. I think this is my favorite general use pan ever (I’ve used cast iron, stainless, ceramic, and non stick over the years). Here are some details on my experience with the pan:UNBOXING / INITIAL CLEANINGMine arrived in a sealed bag, printed with instructions to not remove it until I was ready to season. When I removed it, it did not appear to have wax or any other kind of coating on it. It looked and felt like bare metal. I believe that Matfer may have replaced the wax coating they used to use with the protective bag (not sure of that, but I received mine in October 2024). Nonetheless, I washed it in hot water with a little Barkeeper’s Friend and a washcloth. No wax or coating came off during this washing, as far as I could tell. I dried the pan and immediately began the seasoning described below.SEASONING / EARLY USEThere are lots of videos and reviews with advice on seasoning, but in the end I decided to go with the manufacturer’s instructions: add to the pan the peels of two large potatoes, ½ cup of oil (I used peanut), and ¼ cup of salt. Sautee at medium-high heat until the peels are crispy. I made sure to wipe oil up onto the inside edges of the pan while cooking, to coat the entire inside. After this, the inside took on a very faint brown or caramel color in some spots but this didn’t cover the entire inside.I did “baby” the pan for the first week or two that I had it, cooking only items that had a lot of fat or to which I added a lot of oil. For example, I fried some egg rolls, and made French fries and potato chips (all of which use a deep pool of oil in the pan). I also made bacon and caramelized some onions. During this period the pan developed a dark brown spot in the center which darkened and grew larger as I continued to use it.I avoided the use of vinegar, lemon juice or other acidics for the first two weeks. I did deglaze the pan with white wine after caramelizing some onions – I noticed that this affected the appearance of the seasoning, it got lighter and some blotches appeared. But it continued to cook well with very little sticking. After this “break-in” period I began to use the pan for everything (potatoes, vegetables, pork chops, burgers, chicken, etc). On meat I’m getting a GREAT sear and a little bit of fond to make a pan sauce, but not as much as with stainless steel. I repeated the potato peel / oil / salt seasoning described above after about three weeks.Seasoning has been a “two steps forward, one step back” process for me, I think because I use wine and brandy so often, but the pan has cooked consistently well since day one so I’m not too concerned.GENERAL USEI’ve had the pan four months now , and use it for pretty much everything, except eggs. (Only because I have another pan that I prefer to use for eggs). The surface is excellent, not truly non-stick like Teflon, but very little sticks and it cleans easily. It cooks MUCH better than non-stick. The appearance of the pan constantly changes as the seasoning develops, even after four months. The inside does not have a uniform color, it is blotchy with areas that are a light chestnut color, some that have a grey metal look, and dark black areas too. It looks like the cover of the King Crimson album Thrak. My advice would be don’t worry about how it looks, just cook with it! The surface is blotchy and irregular but everything I cook comes out great, so I’m not concerned. I very often deglaze with wine or brandy, and I notice the seasoning lightens and changes appearance when I do this, but the surface remains excellent and mostly non-stick. I love using the pan, even though it isn’t as pretty as the ones I see in the videos!CLEANING and CAREI don’t baby the pan at all; I hand-wash it in hot water with a plastic brush, and add little dish detergent if necessary (I know a lot of people say to never use detergent, but I’ve been doing it since I had the pan). If there are bits that won’t come off I use a green scrubbing pad. The scrubbing pad will take a little of the seasoning off so be gentle. I think the main thing is to make sure you immediately and thoroughly dry it. And after EVERY use, I dry it thoroughly, put a dime-sized dollop of peanut oil in it and rub down the entire surface inside and out, then wipe off the excess. I don’t do this to the handle, which is not carbon steel, but I’m sure you could if you want to.COMMENTSThe only “disaster” I’ve had is when I tried to make fried rice. I used pre-cooked jasmine rice and a generous amount of preheated oil, but it stuck very badly, leaving a crust of starchy rice on the cooking surface. I thought I had ruined the seasoning but once I cleaned it up, the surface seemed fine and the pan continued to work really well.The pan heats up well, pretty quickly, and the heat distribution is great. I was amazed, actually, at how responsive it is. It doesn’t stay hot nearly as long as my cast iron, which is one of the main reasons I decided to try carbon steel. The pan is hefty, but I find it manageable. According to one review I read it weighs 3.7 pounds, compared to the Lodge 12 inch which is 8 pounds, or the Lodge 10 inch which is 5 pounds. The handle is safe, comfortable and doesn’t get too hot. The pan is also oven safe.Searing meat is where the pan really excels in my opinion. Comparable to cast iron in that respect.One last note, if you are reading this review you are probably also considering the DeBuyer Mineral B Pro, as I did. I went with this one because the handle on the DeBuyer is not completely oven safe. If you look at the manufacturer’s instructions for the Mineral B, it advises not putting the pan in the oven at temperatures over 400F, or for longer than 10 minutes. What a strange choice to manufacture a pan with that limitation! That’s why I went with the Matfer. It’s a little bit cheaper, too (or it was at the time I bought mine).If you are willing to put a little extra effort into caring for the pan, you will have something that outperforms Teflon and ceramic, and which will last a lifetime.

This is a review on the 12 5/8", 9 1/2" and 14 1/8" pans. The 11" and 15 3/4" have been ordered. After research, I opted for Mafter over De Buyer and Misen. I like finishing things in the oven, and the De Buyer have a grey-ish handle coating, which some say has trouble in the oven. Moreover, the handle angle on the De Buyer is quite high, which also poses an oven problem (risk of burned hands). I like the lack of rivets on the Mafter as well. Also, the overall Mafter shape of the did it for me, the design is killer. If a pan can be sexy, these are.OBSERVATIONS: These are big, thick, heavy, serious, industrial use carbon steel pans. If your hope is that these are meaningfully lighter than cast iron, they aren't. The 14 1/8" is a beast, and will pose a real challenge to a woman using it, guaranteed. I'd say the 12 5/8" is the outer realm for female cooks. I shudder at what a monster the 15 3/4" will be. In fact, I ordered the 11" and 9 1/2" after I saw how big the ones were that arrived. The 9 1/2" (6 1/2" cooking surface) is a little small, except for a single burger, sandwich, or two egg omelette. I think the 11" (arriving later) may well be the sweet spot. That said, raw pan size isn't the whole story. I would STRONGLY recommend you look at the chart the gentleman kindly posted in the reviews that shows outside diameter vs. inside cooking surface. That is very useful in guiding you. Just be aware that the price you pay for the great pan shape with the 45 degree flattened sides is a seemingly disproportionate relationship between the interior cooking surface and the exterior total pan diameter. If you know that going in, it's a non-issue. Personally, I feel that the great design more than compensates for the increased square inches in total pan size.Due to the issues with some pans noted by other reviewers, I immediately placed a straight edge on the bottom of the 12 5/8" and 14 1/8" pans when they arrived. Both were perfect. There were a few miniscule manufacturing process marks on each, not even anything that I would call a dent or defect. Nothing that seasoning wouldn't entirely cover. Again, these are utilitarian working pans, and are meant to be covered in a patina anyway, so not at all an issue. I would agree with others that these are meant to be used with gas, NOT induction or electric, which tend to heat things in an extreme and uncontrolled fashion. Virtually every review mentioning warping involved use on a non-gas range. Also, given that there are over 6,000 reviews currently, and only a few complain of warping and pan damage upon arrival, I'd say quality control at Mafter actually is quite good. There were some reviews about rusting, etc. - but those folks don't understand how to deal with carbon steel.REMOVING THE COATING: Here's what worked well for me. I wet the pan under hot tap water (our tap is set very hot). I poured a generous amount of Barkeeper's Friend (magic stuff) and worked it up into a paste and let it sit on the pan (did one side then the other) for about 3 minutes. I used the soft yellow side of a standard green dish sponge (DO NOT use the abrasive green side, as it will leave all sorts of little scratches on that surface you want to be mirror smooth) and applied a little elbow grease. Repeated about 3-4 times. Total process to bare steel was 15 minutes tops. Easy-peasy. ALTERNATIVE: Oven-Off spray in a black trash bag. Leave it outside for an afternoon on a hot day.SEASONING: Light coating of grape seed oil, front, back and handle. Oven 500 for an hour. Let it cool for 2 hours. Repeat 3x. Then cook breakfast on it every day for a week as follows: (1) Preheat the oven to 500; (2) lightly oil the pan all over with grape seed oil; (3) Get the pan hot on the range and add a bit of butter; (4) cook scrambled eggs; (f) more butter / brown onions (5) brown a breakfast sausage; (6) wipe the pan down all over with a paper towel (thin layer all over and no food bits) including the handle; (7) pop the pan in the oven right side up and set a one hour timer. Go to work. When back home pull the cold pan and lightly oil with grape seed. Use it as a daily driver like this for a week, and it will be jet black, beautiful and non-stick in no time.THE GOOD: Good things about carbon in general - if properly seasoned, and used with adequate fat in frying, it will be non-stick. Great for a sear, etc. The post-carmelization oven cook through trick.THE BEST: The ergonomics. The shape is a superior design. The angle of the sides are perfect - flattened and 45 degrees. Great access during cooking, good drain off and aesthetically pleasing. Much better to cook with than nearly perpendicular sides of cast iron or a rounded interior wall slope. The long handle stays cool, and in the bigger pans you can hook it under your forearm. Much like the Japanese having the world beat in cutlery, I think the French may take the prize in cookware, or at least saute' pans.BAD: The things inherent in carbon steel. Care / oiling / rust danger / no tomato product. Weight - nearly as heavy as cast iron (at least on these) - but in terms of even heat dispersion (properly warmed up) that's good.FINAL: So far happy, will update if there's a change.RECOMMENDATION: Great value. Properly maintained, a lifetime, heirloom that will get better with use and age.