De Buyer Omelette Pan, 24 cm, Silver

I’ve had a Sunnex carbon steel for a few years and it’s been good for certain things like crispy fried eggs, home fries, stir fry’s and shallow frying. I’ve cooked steak on it but have to remove from pan and let the temp come back up as it’s only 1mm thick so wouldn’t retain heat. Burgers would come out nicely crusted on one side and stewed the other.People often change from non stick to carbon steel because of the perceived risks of Teflon. The truth is I think there’s a place in the kitchen for both, in fact they are both a necessity for me. My pan collection now includes 2 carbon steel pans, 1 carbon steel wok, 1 stainless steel pan and 1 non stick pan. The non stick is only used to cook scrambled eggs in butter using a silicone spatula in low heat making the best scrambled eggs and potentially allowing the pan to last many years more than most non stick pans. Provided I don’t accidentally scratch the surface it could last my whole life. The stainless steel is a specialist pan for dishes that involve using the fond that develops from cooking proteins such as pan sauces plus anything acidic such as heavy tomato based dishes.For frying stuff, nothing beats carbon steel. My brother had a cast iron skillet but the weight made it very inconvenient to use for the whole family and having had a small carbon steel pan in the family for over 30 years, I knew this was the way to go.I finally got this de Buyer and I wish I bought it years ago. The seasoning it would have built up by now would be perfect. As you can see from the pics, it seasoned up really well. I did the obligatory egg test and it flew around the pan. Temperature control will take getting used to as it retains so much heat you could practically fry an egg almost all the way through off the residual heat from the pan.This pan, like most carbon steel pans, will outlive me and be passed on through future generations of my family. I can’t recommend this enough. It’s probably not for everyone as most get by with a non stick pan for most day to day light cooking but for people who want to cook restaurant quality food at home, know that the right tool matters.

This is a really nice frying pan but I wasn't prepared for how heavy it was, I should of realised as this is cast iron saying this I do use it, it does give instructions how to season it on the packaging, but I had to look on utube so I could make sure I was doing it properly, I did find this so easy to use but it gets very hot fast, so if you get this be careful, as I am only in a small house and I did a steak once to see how it cooked and it created so much smoke it set the smoke alarms off, so it was panic mode trying to wave the smoke away, so now when I use it I tend to put a lid on and keep the gas low, but it does cook steaks great

I’ve long used stainless steel pans, purchased about 20 years ago when I lived in France. They are the type used by professionals, and are excellent for certain types of cooking, but food will stick to them. I wanted to try one of the De Buyer pans as a non-stick pan, since I’m familiar with working with a carbon steel wok. You need to season the pans correctly, but once you do, they are perfect. Worth this pan’s rounded edges, it’s easy to cook and fold an omelette. I whisk three eggs with some crème fraîche, put a bit of butter in the pan, then pour in the egg mix. I wait a few minutes as the eggs cook, browning on the bottom, then fold. Perfect.You do need to take care of these pans; you can’t wash them with soap, and make sure to not put any acid, such as lemon juice or vinegar in them. I use a wok brush if anything sticks to the sides that aren’t as seasoned as the bottom, then wipe with a paper towel, pour a few drops of oil, then wipe again. If you do mess up the seasoning, it’s not that hard to do it again.I plan to get one or two more of these pans; they’re wonderful.

Excellent pan very well made would definitely recommend

This is perfect for omelettes: it is the only pan I've used that has the right shape, the right size (for a 2 egg omelette) and the right weight - heavy enough to have really good heat retaining properties, but not too heavy to handle easily. The advantage it has over non-stick (apart from being just nicer) is that you can whack the heat up to maximum and sear things properly at high temperature without worrying about ruining the coating. And if you do ruin the coating, you just scrub it off and put a new one on.However you have to be aware of some unavoidable facts about this type of pan:- it needs to be seasoned properly to work and the seasoning needs to be looked after.- once it is seasoned it will be dark brown or black, not like the nice shiny thing in the picture (De Buyer have a picture of a seasoned pan on their website).- it is only useful for cooking certain types of thing - basically anything acidic is out, which includes onions and tomatoes. So it's great for omelettes and pancakes, and also for flash frying meat or fish, but don't expect to use it as your only frying pan.- it is made of iron and therefore will rust very quickly if it is left wet, or with acidic food stuck to it. If the rust is bad, the surface will be pitted, which basically ruins it. It's only worth buying if you are going to use it regularly: if stuck in a cupboard for a year, it will probably rust.

Most amateur cooks will buy non stick pans and end up having to buy new ones after a couple of years because the non stick coating deteriorates over time. This pan at half the cost will stay non stick forever if you treat it right.Season the pan and then deglaze the pan after each use and it will stay perfect, forever. As a former chef these are the pans we used to use. Just remember to use a cloth to hold the handles as they do conduct heat and get hot.My only gripe about these De Buyer pans is the handle is coated so you can only flash them in the oven for about 10 minutes. But this is usually more than enough time to finish off whatever you started cooking on the hob. Don't buy any non stick pans as you'll have to buy again and again. Buy this type of pan.