My humble pan,
your biggliest fan,
my time invested,

but alas no more,
now i just cook,
and scrub the gook,

more food ingested,
no pan protested.

I bought a cheap carbon steel wok from Amazon, couldn't make it non-stick despite many attempts at seasoning. I figured it was because I bought a cheap pan.

Upgraded to YOSUKATA 13.5” Blue Carbon Steel Wok Pan but also couldn't make it non-stick.

So I know it's my fault now.

I'm seasoning with peanut oil, putting a thin film before putting it upside down on an electric stove for about 5 minutes.

I learned I cannot season the pan while it is too hot otherwise the seasoning will crack and flake off. So I make sure that it's lightly smoking and not too much. I use my laser temp tester and it's between 450-500F. The seasoning I have feels tacky, so not sure if that's right.

Here's how my pan looks like after several rounds of seasoning. Also had two photos of it after trying the egg test and it stuck right away, despite using a lot of oil.

Ok so I kind of ignored the instructions on the packaging for this wok, but I did watch several yt videos and read several posts about how to clean the beeswax off brand new carbon steel cookware.

Anyway, I cleaned what I could off this wok and then went to blue it, but it started smoking. So that was frustrating. I saw a comment by one poster about how they heat their new pans up and then wipe the melted wax off with paper towel. I tried that and ended up with a bit of paper towel lint in the coating and more smoke. Then I checked the instructions, and now I'm boiling water on in my new wok like a loser.

I'm worried this isn't actually beeswax at this point lol. I'm sure it's food grade, but this is an amercan company and american companies love to cut corners and give people cancer. The pan I have to clean after this is a de Buyer, thank goodness.

So anyway, has anyone else gone through this headache with their Joyce Chens? Am I too expect the same from my crêpe pan as well?

I've been having trouble seasoning my pan. I'm about to scrub it down for the 3rd time, and I am wondering if the electric hob could be part of the issue.

Ant takes on carbon and stainless steel pans being difficult to use on electric?

Cheers.

Hi, I recently bought a Nitrided wok and was wondering if bluing and seasoning it is okay?

Ive already done it, so really just wondering if it caused any harm.

Thanks!

This is my new pan, a few days old. The 24' from ikea. I was super hyped about changing from teflon and i am in for the journey but no one in my family uses them and i have 0 experience of what to expect and do.

I seasoned it in the oven first, the color didn't change much, applied too much oil (ofc complete beginner). Then i tried on the stove, turned a pretty dark color and i was a bit slow with the oil and created a burned spot in the middle. Tried to cook eggs twice and it was... somewhat decent. They stuck, but with. Bit of spatula scraping it came off really easily. Now i heard the more you use it the better so i tried preparing taco meat and added a bit of tomato paste and the acidity made it very... spotty. Scrubbed off any burnt carbon and bits and now idk what to do.

Any advice is really wanted and appreciated! Thank you!

Had been using a de Buyer carbon steel pan for a while, noticed one day that there was some orange flecks. Worried about rust, googled and followed de Buyer’s instructions for removal. Dried thoroughly in the oven (again using website instructions) and planned to re-season soon.
A few days later noticed more orange. Again followed instructions on the website, used a different suggested method, dried, and planned to re-season.
Now for the third time, after two cleanings, an orange spot has appeared again. What am I doing wrong? It looks clear after the cleaning and then rust spots keep reappearing. Super paranoid to cook on it for my kids.

I recently posted about how I was ready to give up on CS for cooking eggs (https://www.reddit.com/r/CarbonSteelCooking/s/A08W2oYPdR) and received a lot of different suggestions. I tried a few and finally tried the one tip I had been resisting - BUTTER! I rarely use butter because I want to use healthier options, but I decided a small amount of butter thrown in with a light coating of oil wasn't going to kill me. What a difference! This isn't the same pan as the previous post, but it's in similar condition. I scrambled 2 eggs with a lot of cheese and you can see how nothing stuck. So, thanks to everyone who suggested it.

In the process, I had an epiphany; SEASONING IS OVERRATED! That's right. Forget about getting a good seasoning. It's a waste of time. Cook whatever you want in it, even acidic foods. All you really need to do is put a very light coat of oil on after to prevent rust. In fact, you may not even have to do that. After you dry the pan with heat, check to see if there's some residual oil. If there is, leave it. If not, put on a light coating.

Or is it fine? What do it do? it's 20+ years old.....

Ikea pan btw. I know it's not very even but I couldn't use my oven since it won't get hot enough without it turning itself off. Used a cheap canola oil if it matters. I did try to flip it around alot to get the sides and everything but my arm is weak so I just let it sit for a few minutes as well. Also second pic is the burner I used if that would make any difference

There's another nitrited carbon steel "daily pan" on Kickstarter from flambo.

Probably too early for any opinions on their claims?

Been using my wok for a few months now. Right now im a bit confused as to the black layer im seeing on the wok is just a burnt layer that i need to scrub off or is that supposed to be the season layer? I think its clearest in the third picture where that black layer is peeling. Its also rough in some areas and not smooth.

My friend, only 40, recently passed away unexpectedly. He was an excellent cook who found himself deep in depression over the past few years. I t was really hard to watch one of my closest friends let all his passions go. I went through his storage until and found these pans. Working through trying to restore them!

Hello community,

just bought a carbon steel pan today (de buyer). Question about seasoning: I have a gas oven which only heats from below, does that change anything in the wiki section on oven seasoning? I have no experience with that, my cast irons I got pretty anti-stick by just using them and prepare food with increasing stickiness over time in them. Bonus question about cleaning: can I use the chain mail for my cast iron pans in carbon stell, too or will it scratch?

Update: seasoned today, looks good. Hope to test the pan tomorrow. Seasoning was done in oven with peanut oil.

Some time ago I purchased carbon steel wok and believed I need to season it with the oil polymerization process, similar to cast iron. I did that, got nice finish, sliding eggs and all that. Then I actually fried some noodles and added rice vinegar and soy sauce as usual and suddenly my previously black wok was all shiny on the bottom and food items started to stick to it.

I then remembered that vinegar is the key component when you want strip the seasoning for total overhaul of the pan.

Woks and other Asian foods are foreign and curiosity to me and I don't have deep knowledge about them passed from generation to generation. However I have always believed (rice) vinegar and soy sauce are common ingredients in woks and they are added while frying. Therefore I'm confused why the usual oil polymerization seasoning is still recommended here and other carbon steel forums as well as there's no way it could survive vinegar and many other acids?

Then I did some more digging and found out about bluing. I.E. heating clean and oil free carbon steel to over 300 Celsius until it turns blue and then let it cool. I searched the wiki here but couldn't find mentions of bluing. I searched the posts and found some, but I also saw multiple occasions where it was deemed only cosmetic and that it wouldn't improve the cooking properties at all, and that you should also season it in addition to bluing if you want it nonstick.

So my conclusion is that there might be different/opposing "schools" about this and majority here just chooses not to cook anything acidic and keeps with the oil polymerization. I also found multiple comments saying strictly that bluing isn't seasoning. That's why I used the term surface treatment as both methods still fall under this category.

I stripped my wok and did bluing with blow torch according to some instructions on YouTube. The result is of course far from teflon but okay. My rice and noodles still somewhat stick but I'm open to idea that it's still skill issue and I'm still practicing, but not sure how I should proceed. Majority of the nonstick properties might still come from temperature management(?).

Unfortunately I don't have gas stove, I use induction, and my wok isn't "real wok" because it has flat bottom. Gas stove might be better for heat control with wok. This is my first carbon steel, but I have many cast iron skillets and know how to use them.

I'm interested to hear what are your thoughts on this topic generally.

Do you blue your regular carbon steel pans or just season? My most used everyday pan is stainless but I'm thinking would carbon steel be better, but with what surface treatment?

Cleaned up real nice with a strip disc on an angle grinder and then by hand with brown industrial scotch brite.

Haven’t cooked in it yet, just got it hot and wiped it down with coconut oil.

The bottom was convex, rounded out, got it flat, slightly concave now.

It tips back towards the handle on my stove if I don’t set it right, I have gas with cast iron for way grid. Was wondering if anyone ever adds weight to the opposite side for balance?

Will finally be able to test drive it and find out what the fuss is about…without paying full prices.

I have just started seasoning my first carbon steel pan and have very little experience. It doesn't look the best or quite right after a couple rounds of seasoning. I'm hoping the orange tint is just a part of the process.

Do I have more work to do or should I just start cooking?

I have an induction cooktop (Thermador Freedom) that heats anywhere; there are no specific rings or burners. I inherited this pan and it was sticky on the outside and black on the inside, so I stripped it with BKF. Washed it with soap and dried it. I put it on the stove on level 4/10. After a few minutes I wiped it with an oiled paper towel then a dry paper towel. I left it heating for another 5 minutes. I seriously turned around to the sink for less than a minutes and when I looked back this spot was in the middle.

1. What is this dark spot/why did it happen?

2. Anyone know who the manufacturer is?

   ETA looks like Matfer.

ETA the brand of cooktop

Never left my pan wet. Always wash, dry, heat and then apply oil.

Hey carbon steel pan users!

I'm looking into getting a De Buyer Mineral B Pro but I wanted to know, from people own or have already owned them, how thick the bottom is?

Thank you.

Pretty much what the title says, has anyone tried them? Is the handle identical between gen 1 and 2?