I’ve got a pretty piece from Smithey Ironworks that i absolutely love; it has a rounded handle, not a flat one, so it doesn’t dig into my palms while handling it.

Edit: I got this beauty: https://smithey.com/collections/carbon-steel/products/carbon-steel-farmhouse-skillet

I have a Darto No. 25 that feels like it could survive a nuclear bomb.

It’s really heavy, but of course it maintains temperature really well, so it’s great for searing, and being a breakfast griddle.

Some brands have very thin steel: My first carbon steel was a “BK” that has a very thin layer, and therefore heats unevenly on my electric coil burners. I wouldn’t recommend those.

I do like the semi-nonstick seasoning when it’s built up over time, and that is a big advantage over stainless steel.

But of course, stainless steel has its advantages too: Much less fussiness and maintenance to keep them from rusting, worrying about acidic foods, washing and drying immediately after use to prevent rusting, etc.

We have a Mafter 10" that works great. The handle is kind of primitive feeling but one gets used to it. It totally replaced the 10" stainless All Clad pan which is now lingering in the basement.

I got the 25cm and the 27cm from Darto International last year and absolutely love them. I did a lot of research before picking which brand to buy and ended up going with Darto because of the thicker steel and unibody design (no rivets or different handle material).

They are heavier than non stick but I’m not using any kind of tossing technique so it’s not really an issue.

My only (kind of) regret is that my two sizes aren’t different enough. I like the 27 but I sometimes which I had gone with the 25 and 30 instead.

We bought a 14-inch Gibson carbon steel wok because we had a discount code. It was like $30. It’s been good. It was unseasoned so we had to season it ourselves, and we didn’t really do a good job lol. But it’s fine, it works. It’s pretty huge and unwieldy though. If I could do it over again, I’ll go for an 11 or 12 inch instead. And maybe a deep frying pan instead of a wok. For $30 though, it’s pretty good value. I don’t think you need to spend much for a carbon steel pan. At some point, they’re all the same material anyway.

The other thing you need to consider is you’re not supposed to cook acidic food (i.e. tomatoes).

We went with the updated recommendation of Mauviel from ATK.

The Best Carbon-Steel Skillets of 2025 | America's Test Kitchen

How do you choose a carbon-steel skillet? We’ve tested top brands including Matfer Bourgeat, Made In, de Buyer, and more to find the best carbon-steel skillet for you.

(www.americastestkitchen.com)

Wow, that is one beautiful pan

Good call. Teflon is shit. Ceramics are worse. Ceramics on aluminum is the bloody worst.

I like Demeyere. They’re used in professional kitchens a lot, too.

Why did you replace the stainless All Clad?

A bit of a tangent, but for nonstick applications with stainless steel, you can add oil or butter, get it to smelting temperature, and then lightly wash it out (deglaze basically) and then add more oil or butter and cook at regular temperatures.

I use this method to make omelets and it’s nearly as nonstick as using a Teflon pan.

I can tell you after watching a lot of tests on YouTube that Made In carbon steel, one of the more expensive ones, is absolutely worthless.

I have a pair of volrath 12" that are used all the time, a de buyer crepe pan that does everything it needs to do (crepes) and a yosukata wok that gets more use than I expected. All are great. Some brands use really thin metal, which can warp with high heat and that’s less pleasant.

Following in case someone has recommendations for a carbon-steel wok that can be used on a glass stove and isn’t complete garbage.

Edit: I currently use a stainless-steel wok from WMF, which works well enough but has room for improvement.

What type of stove do you have/use for the yosukata wok?

Look into strata, very cool

Induction, ge cafe chs950p, the medium sized burner does a better job than the large one (better magnetic coupling, so more power in general)

The wok is an induction ready one, so it has a flatter bottom, but I’ve never cooked with a rounded wok, so I don’t know what I’m missing and prefer to keep it that way.

I’m quite happy with my Matfer Bourgeat carbon steel frying pan. It was the America’s Test Kitchen recommendation.

I have this one. I will say that their instructions for seasoning the pan really suck.

My instinct was to treat it like my cast iron, but since this was my first carbon steel pan (other than my wok which works differently), I decided to follow their process exactly.

If i remember right, it came coated in beeswax, which you have to melt off. It then tells you to basically have a pool of oil in it while you put it in a really hot oven. It just ended up with a really splotchy season. I’m hoping it smooths out over time, but it’s been a couple years at this point.

I keep debating stripping it off entirely and starting over like i would for cast iron, but that’s a whole undertaking.

I have a fancy one (mauviel), and i don’t really have any reason to think it’s any better than something 1/3 the price.

If you look at Mauviel vs something like Lodge, the design is pretty much identical, including the steel thickness. If you go from those thicker pans to something even cheaper, you can basically get 1/3 the price of even a Lodge.

For example, my Mauviel is $120, an equivalent Lodge is $40, and an equivalent Choice (restaurant supply store brand) is $12.

With thinner metal, maybe you wouldn’t want to really crank maximum heat on an empty pan like to sear a steak, but for most uses, I’m sure you’d be fine.