Matfer Bourgeat 062009 Black Steel Round Frying Pan, 17 3/4-Inch, Gray

Opened the plastic protective bag today to season the pan and I noticed the edge on the outside rim of the base is very rough & deeply grooved, not smooth like the rest. The scratches are deep and raised enough to risk damaging my induction cooktop's glass surface, if it were used. Not the quality of the previous 30cm (11 7/8inch) Matfer pan I have purchased. Not happy!

I have been on a serious quest for the perfect frying pan my entire adult life. A pan that doesn’t scratch, is nonstick, can go from stove top to oven, easy care, long lasting, doesn’t cost $400, and, should the situation call for it, can be used as a weapon. After doing a ton of research, I decided to try the Matfer Bourgeat. This. Pan. ROCKS. The more I use it, the better it gets! To be honest, there was a slight learning curve while attempting to get the manufacturer’s protective coating off. Yes, it’s there. You just can’t see it until you actually start to scrape it off. Or jab at it with a fork like I did. I remembered reading review after review as to what a challenge it was for many new pan owners to scrub said coating off. I initially tried a pot scrubby thingy, gave that up within two minutes. I then went straight to my Holy Grail of cleaning implements; the SOS Pad. Yep, that bad boy, combined with a little elbow grease, conquered the factory coating in less time than it originally took me to decide which size pan to order. Point is BUY THIS PAN. AND a box of SOS pads, if you haven’t got any on hand. Matter of fact, they ought to include one pad with the pan purchase. Sort of a bonus, and it may save a lot of consumers some headache and googling. Anyhoo, my pictures show my pan half way through the de-coating process. According to the directions on the pan’s label, I then seasoned it stove top with veggie oil, a cardiac arrest-worthy pile of salt and a whack of potato peels from Christmas dinner. Threw that ungodly concoction out, then went thru same process a second time. Boom. Took an hour or so, and definitely did the trick; first think I fried up was a proper omelet. I’ll tell you that folded little egg gift from god slid out of the pan almost perfectly. Almost. After the pan’s third or forth use, it’s definitely nonstick, even the sides. I wash it by running it under hot water and running a dish brush over it. No soap. Then dry it and rub a little olive oil all around the inside. Done. Boom. Size wise, I have the 10.25”. It is large enough to fry two eggs, make an omelet, or three pan cakes. (We like small pan cakes.) Holds heat very well with very even distribution. Handle is a typical restaurant handle, oven safe, but doesn’t offer heat protection. It’s called a towel or a cozy, people. Oh, and it’s heavy. Too heavy for my elderly mother to lift easily, but heavy enough that if you belted somebody in the head with it, they are not getting up any time soon. And the pan would probably show no sign of damage. Maybe that’s not a selling point to the average consumer, but it may be relevant if you’re cooking dinner during the zombie apocalypse outbreak. I seriously love this pan. It lived on top of the stove for several weeks even when not in use, cuz it made me happy just looking at it. I told my family that I would marry it if I could. I do plan on buying another, a larger one. I just hope my first pan doesn’t get jealous.

So, why the five stars? Well, the rating is for the quality of the pan, but not the utility. Also, nobody reads the lesser-rated reviews. First off, everything you’ve read about the seasoning process is probably true. I’ll just add that I had to use an SOS pad and Barkeepers Friend a number of times. I also used the potato peel method as directed by the manufacturer, but note that they don’t mention seasoning the bottom. I did that anyway with the oven method. Now, to the utility problem. See, these pans are designed for industrial use. It kind of reminds me of back when restaurant-style gas stoves became popular in home kitchens. The proud owners quickly learned that they were not suited for home use, with their high flames and lack of insulation turning the entire kitchen into an oven. Carbon Steel pans are designed to be cheap and take a beating. But, since they’ve doubled in price the past few years, only the latter remains true. Are they really nonstick? The simple answer is: no. Sure, if you put enough butter in one you can swirl an egg around like you see in the videos. Only problem is you can’t actually swirl the pan because it’s too heavy. What’s more, you can do the same thing with a stainless steel pan which you can actually pick up and move around. But in none of these can you crack an egg into it without fat like you can a nonstick pan. Any other problems? Yes. Because of the way they’re stamped in production, there’s an annoying crease around the interior edge that traps all kinds of gunk. Also, they’re very small. Owing to the highly-flared rims, my 10” pan only has an interior of less than 7”. Compare that to the over 8” interiors of my 10” All-Clad and Oxo Non-stick pans. What would you use it for? Well, it makes a mean grilled cheese sandwich (but then, so do all the others). It excels at steaks and burgers (but then, so do all the others, especially cast iron). And, unlike the others, it leaves a good bit of fond that you can’t just wipe out (see Fig. 1). And, of course, once you scrub it out with hot water (even without soap), there goes your seasoning. And if you want to use that fond for a pan sauce, that will remove your seasoning too, plus add a lot of dirt and rust to your sauce (see Fig. 2). You’re way better off with stainless. Oh, and don’t forget the handle gets hot; you’ll need a silicone cover. So, what is it good for? Hmm…nothing really. It will last forever, though, if you go through the trouble of hefting, using, cleaning, and re-seasoning. And you get to brag to your friends that you have one. Do I hate carbon steel? Absolutely not. My current wok is about twenty years old and has a beautifully-seasoned finish. I wouldn’t use anything else for stir frying. Of course, owing probably to it’s rounded shape (less chance for warping, so thinner), the wok is much lighter (and it's 4” bigger). Do I hate the Matfer Bourgeat? No, but you will.

Perfect fry pan

Very well made pan and does a good job of heating up quickly enough, and retaining heat. However, the base of pan doesn't hold seasoning as well as expected. The inside and outside walls and exterior have held seasoning well though. Might change to 5 stars if I go through another few rounds of seasoning.