Anyone who really cares about cooking, from professional chefs in high-end restaurant kitchens to amateur cooks looking to impress their friends with a fun new recipe, should know the importance of using quality cookware.
If you've ever tried frying with a bad pan, slicing and dicing with a bad knife, or grilling with a bad barbecue, you'll know exactly how frustrating it can be. On the other hand, if you use strong knives, sturdy pans, and solid, dependable cooking appliances, you can have a much better time.
Choosing the best pan can feel like a challenge, especially with so many makes, models, and materials out there. These days, more and more professional chefs and budding home cooks are turning to carbon steel pans, and here are just a few reasons why.
Durability
A big advantage of carbon steel when compared to other materials is its durability. Strong carbon steel pans can stand up to pretty much anything, resisting high temperatures with ease and offering impressive shock resistance too. When treated with care, these pans can last for years of repeated use, continuing to perform to the same high standards again and again.
What's more, carbon steel pans don't require much maintenance either. You'll need to carry out some initial seasoning to really help a non-stick pan perform at its peak, but after that, it won't require too much maintenance whatsoever. These pans and skillets are easy to clean with warm water and some models can simply be placed right in the dishwasher for convenient cleaning too.
Lots Of Options
As pointed out by Product Diggers, "there are a number of top-notch carbon steel pans available that will instantly increase the quality of your cooking", with various sizes and styles to suit every kitchen. You can find carbon steel pans that offer a classic frying pan experience, while others are more skillet-like.
Some are induction-friendly, others are safe to clean in the dishwasher, and some even come in wok shapes with wood-lined handles for your comfort and convenience. With such a lot of options to choose from, you can easily find a carbon steel pan that truly meets your needs and exceeds your cooking expectations, without being limited to certain sizes or styles.
Professional Level Quality
Even though carbon steel pans might not be as commonly spotted in home kitchens when compared to the likes of stainless steel and aluminum alternatives, if you walked into the restaurant of most high-end restaurants, you'd see plenty of carbon steel pans in use.
More and more professionals across the entire world are turning to carbon steel, and almost every big-name chef will opt for carbon steel over any other material when it comes to choosing their pans and skillets.
Part of the reason behind this is because carbon steel is immensely strong and durable, but also because it's highly versatile and surprisingly lightweight too, able to handle a wide range of ingredients and uphold the same high standards, no matter what you happen to be cooking at the time.
Premium Cooking Experiences
Once you start using a carbon steel pan, you can begin to see just why so many professionals rely on this material and how it can change and enhance your cooking experiences. Carbon steel pans and skillets are able to provide greater levels of control to the user compared to pans made with other materials.
How do they do this? Well, since carbon steel is a lot thinner than cast iron or other materials, it heats up quickly and maintains its temperature well, but is able to change temperature more quickly, allowing you to adjust the heat and get quick results, rather than having to plan ahead and risk overcooking or burning certain ingredients.
Conclusion
Once you make the switch to carbon steel, you may find yourself not wanting to use any other pan material ever again. That's just how good a carbon steel pan can be. Lightweight, durable, excellent for heat conduction, and minimal maintenance too, these pans have a long list of advantages and can work perfectly well for everything from searing meats to stir-frying veggies and frying eggs too.
It's no wonder so many of the world's leading chefs choose carbon steel every time, and you can do the same. Just be sure to read some pan reviews and compare your options before choosing to buy any particular pan, as some models are much better made and offer higher levels of value than others, so it's wise to shop around.
