I love cooking with carbon steel pans. They strike a good balance between cast iron and stainless steel, being lighter, nonstick, and offering excellent heat retention. While the best carbon steel pans often require seasoning and careful maintenance, I believe it’s a small price to pay for their incredible performance! With dozens of models from countless manufacturers, finding the best carbon steel pans for your kitchen can be challenging. To create my list, I started with my own experience and included my own top pick from De Buyer. From there, I scoured the internet for the highest-rated carbon steel pans based on reviews from both regular consumers and food professionals. Ahead, you can check out my recommendations for the best carbon steel pans up for grabs right now!
My Top Picks:
Reviews of The Best Carbon Steel Pans
1. What’s in My Kitchen: De Buyer MINERAL B Carbon Steel 10.25” Fry Pan
If you’re invited to my home for a meal, this is the pan you’ll likely see me using. It’s the right size for many of the dishes I make, with enough capacity to cook for all but very large dinner parties. It heats up quickly, distributes heat evenly, and then retains that heat for a solid period of time. While it comes unseasoned, it’s straightforward to complete the seasoning process as long as you follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Once seasoned, it holds up well and improves over time, provided you avoid cooking acidic sauces (like tomatoes or citrus) for extended periods and don’t wash the pan with harsh soaps. Overall, this De Buyer pan is highly recommended—its carbon steel construction is thick enough to distribute heat without making the pan too heavy to cook with. Please note, however, that if you’re cooking with this pan for an extended period, the handle can get a bit hot. I often use a silicone handle sleeve like this one to prevent burns. The Specs:
Diameter: 10.25” Oven-Safe?: Up to 400°F for 10 minutes Weight: 4.5lbs
What I Like:
Conducts and retains heat well Simple to season Durable Good size
What I Don’t Like:
Relatively expensive Fairly heavy
What Others Are Saying: Buy the de Buyer MINERAL B Carbon Steel 10.25” Fry Pan:
2. Best Professional Carbon Steel Pan: Vollrath Carbon Steel 12 1/2″ Fry Pan
In a restaurant kitchen, efficiency is key. It’s easy to see why many professional cooks favor this pan from the commercial kitchen tool manufacturer Vollrath. Its thin carbon steel heats up quickly while still distributing heat evenly, allowing sizzling steaks to finish cooking in mere minutes. At just over 3 pounds, it’s relatively lightweight, making it easier to cook with for extended periods. That said, this pan can quickly burn food if not handled with skill, so it might not be the best choice for newcomers to carbon steel pans. However, if you have experience with carbon steel and value cooking speed and low weight, this could be the pan for you. The Specs:
Diameter: 12.5” Oven-Safe?: Yes Weight: 3.2lbs
What I Like:
Affordable Transfers heat and cooks food rapidly Lightweight
What I Don’t Like:
Some reviewers noted hot spots It can burn foods quickly if not used carefully Can warp with extensive use
What Others Are Saying: Serious Eats and America’s Test Kitchen both included it in their lists of the best carbon steel pans. Buy the Vollrath Carbon Steel 12 ½” Fry Pan:
3. Best Black Carbon Steel Pan: Matfer Bourgeat Black Steel 11 ⅞” Round Frying Pan
In the world of carbon steel, you may have seen pans marketed as ‘black steel’ or ‘black carbon.’ There is no universally agreed-upon meaning for these terms, but they typically refer to the black coating that develops on a well-seasoned pan as oils and other compounds polymerize under high heat in the presence of oxygen. This creates a natural non-stick layer over the original gray steel of the pan. In any case, they’ve really hit it out of the park with this line of ‘black carbon’-branded pans, like this frying pan. It’s made from sturdy, thick carbon steel that distributes and maintains even heat and features an ergonomic handle and sloped sides. Better yet, a recent redesign has added a slightly concave bottom, which should help counter any warping at high temperatures. The Specs:
Diameter: 11⅞” Oven-Safe?: Yes Weight: 4lbs
What I Like:
Distributes heat evenly and holds heat Ergonomic handle Sloped sides make it easy to access food as it cooks Concave bottom to help prevent warping with high heat
What I Don’t Like:
Other options may be a bit sturdier Requires salt and potato peels to season
What Others Are Saying: Buy the Matfer Bourgeat Black Steel 11 ⅞” Round Frying Pan:
4. Best Pre-Seasoned Carbon Steel Pan: Made In Blue Carbon Steel 12” Frying Pan
While one of the most attractive aspects of a good carbon steel pan is its natural nonstick properties, most still require seasoning. If you’re intimidated by that process, this pre-seasoned pan from Made In may be a good choice. The fundamentals of this pan are strong: it distributes heat quickly due to its thin (2mm) bottom, has high sides, and comes ready to use right out of the box. The Specs:
Diameter: 12” Oven-Safe?: Yes, up to 1200°F Weight: 4.31lbs
What I Like:
Comes pre-seasoned Heats quickly due to fairly thin bottom High sides means it can hold and cook a lot of food
What I Don’t Like:
Thin steel bottom doesn’t distribute heat as evenly as other top picks
What Others Are Saying: Buy the Made In Blue Carbon Steel 12” Frying Pan:
Other Carbon Steel Pans to Consider
Lodge CRS10 Carbon Steel Skillet, Pre-Seasoned, 10-inch
Tramontina 10-inch Carbon Steel Fry Pan
BK Pre-Seasoned Black Steel Carbon 10″ Frying Pan Skillet
KitchenAid Nitro Carbon Steel 10-Inch Skillet
Why You Can Trust Me
After learning about the negative effects of using non-stick pans, I have been cooking many of my dishes primarily with carbon steel pans. This list is based on my own experiences as a home cook and Japanese food educator, as well as considerations from my interactions with my international and diverse group of readers.
Everything to Know Before Buying a Carbon Steel Pan
What to Consider Before Buying a Carbon Steel Pan
There are a few things to consider before buying a carbon steel pan: Characteristics: Think about what you value most in a pan, whether it’s a nonstick surface, quick and even heat distribution, weight, or a combination of these factors. Size: For a moderately sized family of four, like mine, a pan with a diameter of about 10 inches is usually sufficient for daily use. If you often cook for larger groups, you might want to consider pans that are 12 inches or more in diameter. Seasoning: Many of the best carbon steel pans require regular seasoning, but some options come pre-seasoned (including this pick from Made In). If you prefer to avoid the maintenance of seasoning a pan yourself, you may want to choose one that arrives already seasoned.
How Do You Season a Carbon Steel Pan?
One important note about carbon steel pans is that most do not come from the factory with a pre-applied seasoned coating. Don’t worry, though—it’s easy to apply a natural protective and non-stick coating to your new carbon steel pan. Here’s how to do it: You now have a natural coating for your carbon steel pan, which will help protect it from rust and prevent food from sticking to it! *Read: How To Season A Carbon Steel Pan: Step By Step Guide
The Best Skillet Recipes
Once you’ve purchased your very own carbon steel pan, you have an ideal tool for cooking all sorts of dishes. One of my personal favorites is this super comforting and filling izakaya-style steak garlic rice, which benefits in a big way from the excellent heat-conducting properties of carbon steel. But it doesn’t end there! Try out your new pan using any of the following recipes:
Gyoza (Japanese Potstickers) Teriyaki Salmon and Chicken Teriyaki Negiyaki (Japanese Scallion Pancake)
Prices were accurate at time of publication.
