The Best Carbon Steel Pan (2024)

I gained a lot of firsthand knowledge about kitchen gear and cookware throughout my years as a restaurant cook and then as a food editor in the Martha Stewart test kitchen, where I contributed to cookbooks, as well as Martha Stewart Living and Everyday Food magazines. For the past 10 years, I’ve been writing Wirecutter guides on all things kitchen and dining, from cookware to tablecloths.

For this guide, we looked at the most widely available carbon steel pans, as well as the most popular and well-reviewed models according to food publications and buyer reviews.

A carbon steel skillet is a great choice for folks who want something that can meet most of their stovetop needs, from frying eggs without sticking to searing steaks with a perfect crust. Carbon steel is much more durable than nonstick-coated cookware and lighter than cast iron, and it can be less expensive than our favorite stainless steel tri-ply skillet.

If you’re tired of replacing nonstick cookware, a carbon steel pan is a good alternative that can last a lifetime. Like nonstick-coated pans, a well-seasoned and thoughtfully maintained carbon steel pan is slick enough to cook eggs without sticking. But unlike nonstick pans, which slowly lose their slickness over time, carbon steel pans get better and slicker the more you cook in them.

Just note that you do need to use more fat when cooking with carbon steel than you would in a nonstick-coated skillet, especially when you’re still building up layers of seasoning on the pan. Even in a well-seasoned pan, we wouldn’t use less than a tablespoon of oil or ghee to fry eggs.

Another great thing about carbon steel is that you can use metal spatulas and tongs with them—that’s a major no-no with nonstick pans.

You might also want a carbon steel pan if you like the nonstick properties of a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet but don’t like the hefty weight. Carbon steel cookware is thinner and lighter—taking less time and energy to preheat and requiring much less muscle to maneuver. Even the heftiest carbon steel pan we recommend in this guide, the Mauviel M’Steel pan, weighs significantly less than the comparably sized Lodge 10.25-inch cast-iron skillet and our top pick from OXO weighs even less than that.

But for all of carbon steel’s virtues—high heat tolerance, nonstick surface, light weight—it has one main drawback. Carbon steel pans aren’t recommended for cooking acidic foods like tomatoes, citrus, and vinegar, which can react with the iron in the pan and yield a metallic taste in your dish. This is especially true when the pan is new and needs more layers of seasoning. A well-used and well-seasoned pan could probably tolerate the occasional handful of chopped tomatoes or squeeze of lemon to make a pan sauce. But I’d feel comfortable doing that only after six months to a year of heavy use.

When researching this guide, we looked at reviews of some of the most popular carbon steel pans available. From that research, as well as our own experience, we decided to focus on the following factors in our search for the best options:

Price: We believe that carbon steel pans are a good, longer-lasting alternative to nonstick-coated cookware. Since nonstick-coated skillets tend to be affordable (our nonstick-pan picks range from about $20 to $50), we wanted to find as many comparable carbon steel contenders as possible. Most of the carbon steel pans we tested cost $50 or less. But we also tested a few pans that ranged in price from $70 to $100-plus to see if their performance warranted the extra cost. Since carbon steel pans can last a lifetime, even a splurge could cost less than multiple nonstick pans over time. In the end, we found that you can get a good carbon steel pan whether you want to spend $40 or $100.

Weight: Carbon steel skillets perform like cast iron but are thinner and thus weigh significantly less. This makes them easier to maneuver, especially if you find it daunting to lug a cast-iron pan from the stove to the oven or sink. However, not all carbon steel pans are what we consider to be lightweight—some can even rival the heft of a cast-iron skillet. So we did our best to limit our testing to 10-inch carbon steel pans that weighed 3.5 pounds or less.

Thinner carbon steel is also more energy efficient because it heats up and cools down much quicker than thick cast iron. Note that when we mention the dimensions and weight of certain pans in this guide, we’re referring to the 10-inch size (except for the 11-inch Mauviel pan).

Seasoning: Like cast-iron cookware, pans made from carbon steel develop nonstick properties over time. This is due to the black patina of seasoning that results from built-up layers of polymerized grease. Depending on the manufacturer, carbon steel pans come either unseasoned or factory preseasoned.

Buying an unseasoned pan means that you have to season it yourself before you can start cooking. A good preseasoned pan, on the other hand, is ready to cook from the start. We tested both seasoned and unseasoned pans, and we were pleasantly surprised to find preseasoned pans that were truly ready to use straight out of the box, which eliminates some headache for new carbon steel users and old hands alike. But with use over time, whether they’re factory seasoned or raw, most carbon steel pan surfaces become slick and perform similarly.

Size options: For this guide, we chose to test 10- and 11-inch pans. But we made sure to test models that are available in at least three sizes, the most common being 8, 10, and 12 inches.

We started by prepping the unseasoned pans. That meant scrubbing off any factory coatings, such as beeswax or oil, that prevent the pan from rusting before you buy it. Then we seasoned each pan three times using the same method: We wiped it down with a thin coat of neutral vegetable oil and heated it over medium-high heat on the stove for five or so minutes. During this process, the oil polymerizes and creates a thin coating that, when you repeat the process, gives the pan nonstick properties. Spoiler: Three rounds of seasoning isn’t enough to make a brand-new unseasoned carbon steel skillet slick enough to release a fried egg.

We fried eggs in the preseasoned pans to gauge their slickness when brand-new. Only two pans cooked an egg without the slightest sticking right out of the box, the OXO Obsidian pan and the BK pan. The came in third place—we needed to use a sharp fish spatula to scrape parts of the egg from the pan surface without breaking the yolk. The rest of the preseasoned pans needed more use and seasoning before we could successfully fry an egg with the yolk still intact.

We continued seasoning the skillets that needed it. In addition to heating thin layers of canola oil to smoking, we cooked bacon and onions in the pans that had a ways to go before we could consider them even remotely nonstick.

We cooked a stack of pancakes to gauge heat distribution and control. You learn a lot about a pan’s quirks when standing over a stove flipping flapjacks for a crowd—things like the skillet’s ability to maintain moderate heat, and where hot spots tend to develop. We paid attention to how frequently we had to adjust the flame, as well as how quickly the pan reheated between the previous pancake and the next ladleful of batter. Thinner-gauge skillets needed minor heat adjustments during this test, but none of them produced a single scorched pancake.

We browned and roasted skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts. Rendering chicken skin until they’re golden and crisp takes patience and heat control. It’s a great indicator of any hot spots that may develop on the cooking surface of a pan. To our surprise, we were able to brown and roast juicy chicken with crispy browned skin in every pan we tested, even those made from thinner steel.

After cooking in and seasoning the pans for two weeks, we cooked eggs again. By this point, we successfully fried an egg in each skillet, though we still needed to use a metal fish spatula to fully release the fried egg from the majority of the pans we tested. We still chalk that up as a win, since our first egg attempts in most of the pans ended in a broken, stuck-on mess. As a bonus, we also made a two-egg soft scramble in each model, and every time it came out yellow and fluffy, with minimal sticking.

We tested them on different heat sources. We conducted most of our tests on a gas range. But we also fried an egg in each pan on an induction cooktop to see which models sat perfectly flat—that is, made full contact—on the induction burner.

The OXO Obsidian Carbon Steel Frypan with Silicone Sleeve impressed us with its nonstick surface, comfortable silicone handle, and ability to heat evenly. For folks who want a long-lasting alternative to nonstick-coated cookware, this carbon steel pan is a great choice because it’s ready to cook eggs and other delicate foods—no seasoning required.

The surface is as slick as Teflon right out of the box. No joke. The first egg we fried, using 1 tablespoon of oil, slid around the surface, enabling us to flip it without a spatula. The only other pan we tested that could pull this off was the near-carbon-copy BK Pre-Seasoned Black Steel Frying Pan (which isn’t a pick because the company offers no warranty or customer service).

The pan maintains even heat. We cooked a stack of fluffy pancakes and gently sautéed golden crisp-tender carrots with little need to adjust the heat. The OXO Obsidian pan also produced chicken breasts with evenly browned and rendered skin.

It’s comfortable and lightweight. The OXO Obsidian pan is the only one we tested that comes with a silicone sleeve on the handle, which we found to be convenient for a couple of reasons. The removable silicone sheath not only acts as a built-in hot mitt but also provides a cushy and secure grip.

And the 10-inch pan weighs just under 2.75 pounds. Although it’s heavier than a similar-size All-Clad tri-ply skillet or an aluminum nonstick pan, it’s significantly lighter than a cast-iron pan.

It’s roomy and well balanced. The 10-inch OXO Obsidian pan has an 8.25-inch cooking surface, which is pretty generous for a midsize skillet with sloped sides. That’s enough room to brown two large-ish bone-in, skin-on chicken breast halves. We also liked its balance, as it didn’t feel awkwardly heavy in either the handle or the body.

It sits flat and works on induction. Even though the center of the pan is slightly raised, that didn’t affect its ability to conduct heat and fry an egg on an induction cooktop in our tests. The slightly convex bottom is hardly noticeable unless you’re looking for it.

It’s available in three sizes. The OXO Obsidian pan comes in 8-, 10-, and 12-inch diameters.

It comes with a limited lifetime warranty. This covers manufacturer and material defects.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

As we mentioned earlier, the OXO Obsidian pan is as slick as nonstick-coated pans when brand-new. We noticed, however, that the slickness faded a bit after we used the pan for other tests. Even so, it was still much more nonstick than most of the other pans when we wrapped up testing.

The is a solid choice if you want to save some money and don’t mind sacrificing the frictionless cooking surface and silicone handle sleeve that come with our top pick. Though the Merten & Storck skillet lacks a cushy silicone sheath, it’s otherwise similar in weight, size, and performance to the OXO Obsidian pan.

It’s preseasoned, but it isn’t fully nonstick when new. Unlike the OXO Obsidian pan, in our tests the Merten & Storck pan didn’t release a fried egg when new. But we were able to fully separate the egg from the pan by gently working a metal fish spatula under the stuck spots. After we performed all our tests (plus seasoning the pan in between tests), we were able to flip an egg with less resistance. Side note: If you don’t have a good metal spatula already, consider getting our favorite all-purpose spatula.

Except for slickness, this pan was on a par with our top pick in performance. It browned chicken breasts, produced golden pancakes, and gently sautéed carrots just as well as the OXO Obsidian pan did.

The specs are nearly identical to those of the OXO pan. Both pans have an 8.25-inch-diameter cooking surface and weigh just under 2.75 pounds. They also have a similar handle length and balance. However, the Merten & Storck pan doesn’t have a silicone sleeve on the handle.

It’s well balanced and easy to maneuver. The Merten & Storck pan matches the OXO Obsidian pan in maneuverability and weight distribution.

It works on induction cooktops. It sits flat, even with a cooking surface that has a barely-there, hardly noticeable raised center. In our tests, the slight curve didn’t seem to interfere with the pan’s ability to get hot.

It’s available in three sizes, and it comes with a warranty. Offered in 8-, 10-, and 12-inch variations, this pan is covered by a limited lifetime warranty.

If you want an excellent, capacious pan and don’t mind taking time to season it: The 11-inch Mauviel M’Steel Black Carbon Steel Frying Pan is a stellar performer. In fact, it’s one of my favorite pans in this guide. Even though the Mauviel M’Steel pan was one of the heavier pans we tested, its excellent balance made flipping food and transferring the pan between stovetop and oven a breeze. Once it was properly seasoned, this pan evenly cooked chicken breasts, pancakes, and eventually eggs, with little to no sticking. This pan’s 8.75-inch surface diameter, the largest among all the pans we tested, provides lots of room to stir, sauté, and flip foods.

We decided not to name the Mauviel M’Steel pan as a main pick because building up a sufficient layer of seasoning on it takes a lot of work—and before that could happen, I had to clean off the factory beeswax coating, which took five to 10 minutes of scrubbing with scalding-hot water and soap. All in all, this pan needed several rounds of seasoning, plus cooking fatty items like bacon and chicken skin, before it was ready for eggs. And we found that this pan rocked very slightly on flat surfaces, which is less than ideal for use on ceramic, glass, and induction cooktops.

If you want the flattest possible pan for cooking on induction: The Made In Blue Carbon Steel Frying Pan was the only model in our tests that didn’t have the slightest curve in the center. It’s sturdy and a bit heavy—weighing just over 3 pounds—and the cooking surface is smaller than on our picks. In our tests, the preseasoned Made In pan wasn’t slick enough to cook eggs without sticking when new, but it eventually got there after several seasonings and a few sessions of cooking other foods.

There’s one quirk about this pan that we couldn’t look past. Its handle—while smooth and comfortable to grip—is dramatically curved and throws off the balance of the pan. The curve also makes the handle sit high. In our tests, folks who measured under 5-foot-5 found the Made In pan’s handle awkward to hold. (One of our editors on the kitchen team, who is roughly 5-foot-9, uses the Made In pan at home and finds it comfortable.)

If you want a mid-priced French pan: If you really want a made-in-France carbon steel pan and don’t want to pay $100 for the Mauviel model, the de Buyer Blue Carbon Steel Access Fry Pan is a solid choice. It did well in our tests, and we eventually got the surface slick enough to cook eggs. Compared with our picks, the de Buyer Access pan has a smaller cooking surface and weighs 0.25 pound more. Despite its dark-hued surface, this pan needs multiple rounds of seasoning before it’s ready to cook delicate foods that are prone to sticking. All in all, this is a good carbon steel pan that, once fully seasoned, can be a serviceable addition to any kitchen.

The BK Pre-Seasoned Black Steel Frying Pan has the same finish, dimensions, shape, and performance as our top pick, the OXO Obsidian pan, but it has a thick cast-metal handle that makes it 4 ounces heavier and gives it a wonky balance. Furthermore, we can’t find any warranty information online. We reached out to BK via the email address provided on the company’s website only to have our message bounce back.

If the unseasoned Vollrath Carbon Steel Fry Pan had cost around $30, we would have made it an “Other good” option. It’s a serviceable and lightweight carbon steel pan that, after many rounds of seasoning, cooked eggs, chicken, and pancakes with ease in our tests. Its steel construction is on the thin side of the pans we tested, and it’s also the lightest model we tried, so it heats up and cools down super fast. We initially thought that its thinness would cause some serious hotspots while cooking, and we did notice some temperature variation around the pan while cooking chicken breasts, but it wasn’t bad enough to be a hindrance. However, the pan’s long and sharply angled handle makes it a little awkward to maneuver, and it’s a potential space hog in many home ovens and cabinets.

The Matfer Bourgeat Black Carbon Steel Fry Pan is well made, sturdy, and available in an absurd number of sizes (nine, to be exact). In our tests it developed a workable seasoning with the same effort on our part as the other unseasoned pans required, eventually enabling us to separate a fried egg from its surface with a metal fish spatula. However, at 3.75 pounds, it’s the heaviest 10-inch pan we tested. And it has a relatively small cooking surface, at 7.5 inches.

The Lodge Seasoned Carbon Steel Skillet is another small but heavy pan. In fact, it has the feel and heft of a thin cast-iron skillet; the surface has a rough texture, just as on a cast-iron pan, not the glassy-smooth feel of carbon steel. We dismissed this model early in testing because it lacked the characteristics we were looking for in a carbon steel pan.

This article was edited by Marilyn Ong and Marguerite Preston.