Mauviel M'Steel Black Carbon Natural Nonstick Frying Pan With Iron Handle, 11-in, Suitable For All Cooking Surfaces, Made in France

This was my first carbon steel pan. It replaced a non-stick T-Fal pan that I had for years. My first cooking experiences with it have been very positive. After seasoning it was just about as non-stick as the pan it replaced. It has the most even heat of any pan I own and I liked the shape of the sides that make it easy to scoop, toss, and fold. I initially found the handle a little awkward, but I came to appreciate that it sits well above the flame on a gas stove. The biggest challenge was getting the beeswax off the pan. The instructions say to wash it in hot water, but I didn't want that much wax going down my drains and potentially solidifying later. I used a plastic scraper (like a credit card) to remove most of the wax. I then attempted to scrub off the rest. If I had to do it again, I would have turned up the temperature on our water heater because I just don't think it was hot enough. The wax softened with the water at 110F, but was still very difficult to remove. I think hotter water would have done a better job. After thinking I had all of the wax removed I followed the seasoning guide from Prudent Reviews on YouTube. I did not follow the Mauviel seasoning instructions because I wanted to season all surfaces of the pan in the oven. The pictures show before seasoning and after seasoning. The darker blotches after seasoning were the invisible bits of wax that burned during seasoning. Fortunately, those bits were mostly in areas that aren't cooking surfaces, like the top edges. However it does highlight how much wax was still there even though I thought I had removed it. This was my fault, the Prudent Reviews guide tried to warn me! After seasoning I did the obligatory fried egg test. It released very nicely and I got the egg just the way I like it. It has really impressed me with other dishes too. I'll be interested to see if it warps over time, especially since a flat induction cooktop is in our future, but for now it is in great shape. I couldn't ask for anything more from a pan.

I don't know why they don't have this in the official instructions, but Mauviel has a video showing how to use your oven to remove the wax from carbon steel pans. You'll want to lay an old dishtowel inside a half sheet pan, lay parchment paper on top of that, and set the pan upside down on top of that. Place in the oven, heat to 300°F, and let the wax melt for 45m to 1h. After that, I would get an oven mitt and a wad of paper towels. While the remaining wax is still soft, grab the pan's handle with the oven mitt, take a fistful of towels, and wipe wipe wipe with the towels until the wax is gone and the paper towels are no longer picking up wax, paying particular attention to the area around the rivets. Then let the pan cool completely and wash. The pan itself is good quality. The surfaces are very smooth. The handle is easy to grip and stable, and it stays relatively cool while cooking on a cooktop, though you definitely want a mitt if you put it in the oven. The size of the cooking (flat) surface is large for the pan's size, at least in comparison with competing carbon steel pans. I have not had any issues getting a good sear with this pan. The pan isn't as thick or heavy as competing carbon steel pans. My 11-inch pan is 2.2 mm thick and weighs 3.4 lbs, while other 11-inch carbon steel pans might be up to 3 mm thick and weigh up to 4.6 lbs. So... the pan has about 25% less mass than those competing pans (though there are carbon steel pans out there that have even less mass than this). I think this pan is plenty sturdy, and I don't think you need to be super careful with it, it just won't hold as much heat as heavier pans and might not forgive abuse as well. For what it's worth, good quality stainless clad pans are 2.6 mm thick, and two thirds of the thickness is aluminum. The pan is harder to season than pans with rougher surfaces. I recommend two or three rounds of oven seasoning using a thin layer of neutral cooking oil at a temperature under the oil's smoke point. In my case, I used soybean/vegetable oil at 350°F for one hour, allowing the pan to cool for another hour or two before the next application. This will get you a bronze coating all over the pan that is very aesthetically pleasing, which seems appropriate for a manufacturer best known for their copper cookware. I then cook with the pan, ensuring that I slowly heat the pan before adding food, adding at least a film of oil on the cooking surface for all but the fattiest meats, and avoiding temperatures that will produce excessive smoke. The cooking surface may lose some bronze color and get blotchy, but the net effect is that the pan darkens over time as the seasoning builds up. Avoid burning food in the pan so you avoid damaging the seasoning when you clean the burnt food out of the pan.

First, it did take me a while to figure out how to use this pan. Some really important tips: 1. Absolutely season first. I'd recommend a high temperature oil (I use avocado with a 500f smoke point) to season. 2. As with most non-stick pans, avoid using soap or chemicals that would strip the seasoning. 3. Always preheat the pan. Putting food directly into cold pan will result in sticking. 4. Ample oil/butter/both is your friend. 5. Clean up is simple: I'll scrape it clean with a wooden spatula, wipe it clean with a paper towel, and if the seasoning feels at all suss, I'll give it an extremely light layer of oil (think like a teaspoon for the whole pain) and a quick blast on the stove. At this point, I easily cook hash browns, eggs, etc. with no stick. And it's beautifully seasoned. I really love cooking in the pan, and the food that comes off it always tastes great. Also, it's much lighter than cast iron, and just a lot easier to handle. I have no problems with rust, the handle is great, and it's basically my go-to pan for 90% of the cooking in my kitchen.

After buying and using the wok from Mauviel, and my non stick pans coating wearing off I decided to give this pan a try. Arrived covered in beeswax just like the wok to protect it moisture while shipping. Beeswax is hard to clean off, takes plenty of hot water and scrubbing. With the wok I used grapeseed oil and seasoned it in the oven, witht he pan I decided after reading a couple reviews and watching the video of the "Vollrath Seasoning Method" I would try it. While the Vollrath method takes longer due, I prefer the finish on the pan after. After 12 coats with flaxseed oil I decided it was time to try to cook on it. Chicken Sausage cooked with no stick whatsoever. I cooked the sausage with no oil then added some olive at the end just to crisp the outside. The ultimate test however was the eggs I followed up with. The eggs cooked very well and did stick in one small spot. Cleanup was easy though, slight scrub with the soft side of brush removed the residue. Because it stuck I decided a few more coats of seasoning was needed. After three more coats I tired the same chicken sausage and eggs. The eggs this time cooked with no stick whatsoever. So if you do the Vollrath method seasoning when you think you have enough coats, just do a few more. I lost track how many exactly, but I know I'm way over 10 coats of flaxseed oil seasoning. I would guess between 13-15 coats. My pan does warp, but I think its a combination of the pan itself and my 1991 maytag electric stove. The heating elements themselves don't heat up even which probably leads to warping and also probably why my seasoning does not go all the way up the side of the pan like the video from Vollrath. It is not as thick as the Wok, but if it were I think it would be too heavy to handle. Overall I am happy with this pan and do not see the need to switch or try another one. I think Carbon steel is great and between this pan and my wok, I have two items that I will be cooking with for a long time. Again, I think the warping is caused more by my heating element coils, but the fact that it did/does warp prevents the 5 star rating.

This was my first Mauviel carbon steel pan, but I own several De Buyers already. I must say, I really like this one and might actually recommend it to most people over the De Buyers. This pan is a little thinner than the De Buyers, but just barely. It's still sturdy and heavy and will retain heat, just not quite as perfectly. I can imagine for some uses people would prefer De Buyer, and actually in the very large sizes I might recommend De Buyer (or the Mauviel paella pan, if it's thicker, not sure), because unless your burner is huge having the thicker material will make the large pan heat more evenly. For 11" and less, I'd recommend the Mauviel because it's a little more responsive to heat changes and it's a little lighter, making it better for eggs and for tossing vegetables, etc. As some reviewers have noted, the handle on mine was a little bit rough at the edges when I first got the pan. I sanded it down using one of those diamond-coated steel knife sharpening blocks, but I think any sanding paper would probably do fine. This isn't a necessity, it's not sharp or anything, I'm just a perfectionist. I note this because I think Mauviel could do better at sanding down the corners themselves in the future. It took me about 5 minutes though, so not a big deal, and then I seasoned the handle with a very very thin layer of oil to help protect from rust since I'd exposed a little bare metal along the edges. All that being said, the handle is actually one of my favorite parts of this pan and I hope Mauviel never changes it (other than to just sand down the corners a little haha). De Buyer has been driving me crazy with their new handles. The silicone one on the new Mineral line sometimes gets sticky in the oven and then trapped particles of my dish rag or something.. I'm not sure, but the point of a steel pan is to have a plain steel handle that can go in the oven without thinking twice. Mauviel captures this perfectly (so do my older De Buyers, for what that's worth). Finally, I wanted to note that customer service for Mauviel has been very responsive to my (perfectionist) inquiries about the material of the rivets. I got an answer, and it's stainless steel, which is great. I was confused because the rivets weren't the same material as the rest of the pan, but the customer service person talked to the warehouse head and got me an answer very quickly. So, here's to good customer service! I'm planning to buy one of the deeper Mauviel saute pans in the 11" size next and can't wait. Overall, I think this pan really embodies the essence of a french carbon steel pan - it's extremely, extremely versatile and will last forever. It's beautiful and it's very fun to cook with. The 11" size is perfect for most uses in my two-person household and is my most frequently used pan. I have a smaller De Buyer that I use for eggs, frying spices, or cooking a single steak sometimes so I'd recommend the 9.5" size as well if you don't have something comparable. Larger pans will harder to manage with one hand or to toss food with. I actually have a 14" De Buyer carbone plus paella pan (very similar to Mauviel paella pan from what I can tell), and that's been good as a "large" pan because it's easier to wash and fits in the oven well. Final note in this long review - it took me a very long time to understand the "non-stick" properties of carbon steel and cast iron. It really has more to do with cooking technique than the material itself, unlike teflon. Google how to "season" stainless steel pans and how to cook with them and you'll be well on your way to "non-stick" cooking. The carbon steel IS a lot less sticky than stainless, but the techniques are similar for reducing sticking - they just work better on carbon steel basically. A lot of it has to do with having the pan hot enough first, so that it creates a steam-layer or else seals the food fast enough to prevent sticking. If your food is really wet, it cools the pan down and get more a "steamed" exterior to the meat or vegetable your cooking (which also sticks more). So it helps to dry things off a bit before tossing them in. Don't add too much to the pan, either (at least not all at once), since that also cools it off. Thicker pans seem more "non-stick" because they hold heat better, but a lot of this is just technique. As I've learned more, I've managed to cook all sorts of things without them sticking. if things stick, look at your technique though - not your seasoning. It doesn't need to be black and perfect for it to work. For instance, if you're trying to get potatoes not to stick, I find it helps to rinse and briefly soak them first to get off extra starch that would otherwise make a sticky layer on the bottom of the pan, but be SURE to dry them after (see above note) so they don't cool down the pan and stick anyway. The water also mixes with the starch and creates a sticky residue, and having them dryer helps reduce this. Stir, shake, or toss every few minutes when you first add them until the potatoes get hot on all sides, then turn the heat a bit lower so they don't burn and just shake the pan every once in a while to turn them. Finishing them in the oven works well too, for thicker pieces of potato, or if you're cooking a bunch at once. Anyway, all of this is to say "don't freak out about the seasoning" - that's not what makes them non-stick, it's 99% about technique. It does help to have a little oil in the pores of the metal, which is why Mauviel's instructions have you heat oil in the pan for 5 minutes when you first get it. It won't blacken the pan, but it'll help prevent sticking. If it starts to stick again later, clean the pan really well (use soap and a rough sponge, I don't care, and then do this oil soak thing again). It's like seasoning stainless in that sense - the black patina may help and make it better, but you can cook potatoes on day one if your technique is good and you follow the instructions for an initial seasoning on day one. I do like to season the outside of the pan with a few extremely thin layers of oil to make it blacken (for looks) and prevent rust, but I let the inside's seasoning develop with time from cooking. Don't worry if a bit of it comes off too from making a pan sauce - it comes and goes and that's normal (like in a wok). The residue is inert as far as I can tell and won't hurt you or change the flavor of things. I think it's basically just tiny particles of burnt food. I wouldn't boil down something acidic for a long time (like simmering tomato sauce), but a simple pan sauce is totally fine.

Bought the pan because I have a flat electric stovetop and want to be able to use carbon steel pans instead of teflon coated (or similar) pans. The pan has a terrible bowl when heated up and I love the pan other than it heats unevenly due to the warping. I reached out to customer service and I am providing their "response" below. DO NOT TRUST the "guarantee" or description on Amazon, there is no guarantee, in what is clearly a manufacturer's defect, they will do absolutely nothing, telling you that you can't heat the pan high, or heat it up slowly. Do yourself a favor and look for a carbon steel pan elsewhere. I have a smaller Matfer Bourgeat pan that does not warp, I may buy that pan to replace this piece of garbage. Providing what Customer Service Wrote below: "As you know, your pan flattens it’s self out when heat is applied, this is normal, and Mauviel pots/ pans must be heated up very slowly. Copper and Stainless steel and the M’steel range pans tend to start to deform when the temperature is too high. This is why we recommended never exceeding 2/3 of your heating capacity. For example, If you have an induction hob. The maximum would be 6 on a range of 9. On gas cookers, medium heat is enough. Unfortunately, if the base is no longer flat, this is a sign that it has over heated and will need repairing. On a gas cooker this isn’t too big of a deal but this can cause some problems with induction hobs as the connection isn’t as good. At the moment we do not offer this type of service but it is something we are looking into. If you know any experienced welders or experienced metal workers, they should be able to realign your pan. Please take note that sadly sometimes when a pan has been to overheated, it is impossible to realign the base."

Great pan! Heats up quickly, temperature is easy to control and the heat is even. These are really great pans. Don't be afraid of the seasoning process. If you do it right (and it isn't that hard) you will be rewarded with pans that will serve you well and last longer than your lifetime. With that morbid thought out of the way, here's how to season this type of pan: I seasoned in the oven first to get a good patina and good layer of baked on oil. Oh, first get the beeswax off. I just pour boiling water over the pan in the sink and use a long handled scrubber to get it off. It comes right off like this. You will want to use another pot of boiling water to then get the beeswax off of your sink basin, by the way. Once the wax is off, put the pan in the oven set to 400 or 500 deg. let it get really hot in there - about ten or fifteen minutes. Take it out (with a mitt, please). apply a THIN layer of flaxseed (or vegetable, for that matter) oil using a paper towel and tongs. Don't use too much. It will make the pan sticky and just smoke more when you season it prior to cooking. put a piece of aluminum foil under the oven rack. Put the pan, upside down, on the rack over top of the aluminum foil. Bake it for an hour or hour and a half. After that, turn off the oven and let the pan cool in the oven until it is cool to the touch. This can take some time. When it is cool, take it out. Now your pan will have a good initial seasoning. Before you cook with it for the first time (and subsequent times, for that matter), heat up the pan on a burner over high heat. When it is hot, put a small amount of your favorite oil in there. Swirl the hot oil around in the pan and try to get it up the sides as much as possible without splashing it out. Put the pan on the burner and let it smoke (use your vent hood, here). Let it really smoke. Not just little wisps, but a good smoke. When you get good smoke coming off, turn off the burner and swab out any excess oil with a paper towel. Just do a light swab to get the excess out... don't scrub the pan. And don't burn yourself. I have mastered the art of using a folded towel on a hot pan to lightly swab the oil, but at first I burned the heck out of my fingers. Use tongs if you don't want to risk it.. .but go light! Don't scrub off the seasoning. Just get the excess. Let the pan cool down on the stove. It won't take too long - maybe ten minutes. Now you are ready to cook. If you did it right, you should have a glassy, non-stick surface. I did a seared tuna steak the first time out and very little of it stuck. Almost none, in fact. Tuna came out perfectly seared. To clean, just use hot water and maybe the rough scouring side of a sponge. Usually just the smooth side of the sponge and the hot water. No soap. It is actually easier to clean than a non-stick or stainless pan, in my opinion. Here's the trick - EVERY time you cook, take an extra five minutes and go through the burner seasoning method. It will pay off. Do it while you prep your food for cooking. Again, just heat the pan over high heat, put in a small amount of oil (I like flaxseed), swirl it, let it smoke, swab out excess oil. It sounds like a pain, but it really really isn't. I am going to post this same review for the Mauviel M'steel crepe pan I own as well. By they way, that is the best pan I have ever owned for making omelettes, fried eggs, crepes... it also makes perfect quesadillas.

Nice weight...versus my cast iron anyway...and size. The handle is very long but will just barely fit into my stove for finishing steaks, etc. This pan will likely last way beyond my remaining lifetime. I seasoned it per the instructions and immediately regretted it. On my second go-round, I wiped it sparingly with oil and put it in a hot oven...and repeated several times. It got a dark brown patina to it. I then sautéed some chicken and it stuck like crazy. I finished up the meal...a stir fry...and the burned part of the chicken will not clean off. I attempted subsequent seasonings and have used the pan a bunch of times since. The seasoning has all flecked off so I'm left with a mottled looking pan. I do not scrub to clean it but rather boil water in it and scrape with a plastic spatula...and then dry thoroughly. However, it seems to clean up fairly easily and food isn't sticking much at all. I figure I'll just keep using it and eventually it'll season itself over time. I did realize over several uses that my heat was too high so that might have been an issue...and one that I've corrected. I prefer this to yet another non-stick pan with its fumes and eventual toss into recycling or the landfill.

Se volverá antiadherente con el uso, a pesar que tengo la estufa grande la sartén no cabe muy bien. La calidad es muy buena. Si cabe en el horno de la estufa, ya he hecho pizza y rostizado pollo. Nada se ha pegado. Por ser de acero al carbono requiere más cuidados que una sartén normal. Muy recomendable.

Best chemical-free non stick pan with high build quality. Same or better properties than my old Non stick pan. Warping only happens on electric induction ovens if you blast it with high heat from a cold start. The proper way to heat carbon steel pans is to start with medium heat and then crank up the heat to high if needed for steaks etc. Ignored manufacturers seasoning instructions as they are inadequate to get a perfect non stick coating. The proper method: pour boiling hot kettle water on top and bottom of pan to remove beeswax. Tapwater temperature is insufficient. Clean thoroughly using sponge or paper towels. Once you have a bare metal surface it will start rusting if you don’t act quickly, which is obvious for any natural iron/steel based pans. So start seasoning right after drying. Seasoning Process is to apply a few drops of oil on bottom and top of pan with a paper towel (preferably sunflower, corn, safflower or avocado) and bake it in oven to just past its smoke point. This will take approx 50minutes from a cold start oven. A google search will have your oil’s smoke point. Avoid flaxseed or olive oil. Pull out of oven and cool. Add another thin layer and repeat bake. Do this process as many times as necessary to achieve the perfectly black color you’ll see in my photos. I did it 8-10 times. It sounds cumbersome but trust me it takes almost no effort and only 2 min each time so altogether 20-30 min excluding waiting time. But the reward is a perfect non stick polymerization that will last a very long time. I fried eggs and they glide around like they are floating on glass.

If you are lazy person then this pan is not for you. Go buy a cheap Teflon pan for your instant non-stick gratification and continue to disregard the damage they cause. However if you don't mind putting in a little work washing the wax off and YouTubing how to properly season, then this pan will serve you and your family well for generations with a beautiful, slick, naturally non-stick cooking vessel that is an absolute pleasure to use. Just be aware that it does take time for the non-stick surface to build up. It will definitely stick the first few times you cook with it, but you will be handsomely rewarded after "sticking" with it for a little while. When removing the bees wax, do not use hot tap water. It is not hot enough. Just boil a big pot of water and carefully pour it over both sides of the pan, then give it a good scrub with a soapy brush. The wax will come off in seconds. This pan is made for gas ranges. Even though it is advertised for electric and induction as well, if it warps, it is due to the bottom of the pan not touching and heating evenly. I wouldn't use this on anything other than gas. If you follow the instructions given for seasoning, you may end up with a gummy thick surface which is no good. You need to use oil sparingly, applying only a few drops to a paper towel and evenly applying a thin layer of oil on the entire pan. Heat until smoking and repeat multiple times until it is nice and dark. Then stir fry some onions or veggies. It won't be ready for eggs immediately. Gradually the surface will become more and more slick as you use it over time. Clean with hot water only.

De lo mejor!! Solo hay que tener cuidado as la quitar la cera y cuidar curarlo bien

By far my nicest pan. 10 minutes to season and it's non-stick. I'd definitely order other sizes to replace some of my other pans.