Until three
weeks ago the default pan in my kitchen was my big cast iron skillet. It is a
well seasoned pan that I can fry an egg in, flip it and remove it from the pan with
a spatula as if it were one of those disposable non-stick pans. Two drawbacks
to using it is its weight, and straight vertical sides. The weight and straight
sides makes it impractical to try to impress people by flipping things in the
air, and catching it back in the pan. Of course if you could do that with that
big heavy pan it would be impressive indeed, just don’t expect me to try it. The
third disadvantage is that short stubby handle, that gets about as hot as the
pan its self.
So what
happened three weeks ago to oust the default pan from my stove top? Well lately
I had been reading about carbon steel pans. Carbon steel pans have many of the
same properties as cast iron, as far as cooking is concerned. Seasoned in much
the same manner as you would season a cast iron pan, you get the same non-stickiness,
only without all the weight, and the carbon steel pans are relatively
inexpensive, as is cast iron. Eager to get one of these pans I started
researching, and shopping around.
My first
stop in shopping is Amazon.com. Not only do they sell just about everything in
the world, but there is much to be learned about each product right there on
the site. Not only do they provide detailed information about many of their
products, but customer ratings, provided by people who have used the product. I
find the customer ratings very helpful, and some raters go into great detail as
to why they ether like or dislike a product. As a customer reviewer you can
give a five star or less rating, with the stars appearing at the beginning of
your review. I like to read all the reviews, just in case some of the positive
ones are put there by manufactures, or retailers.
I discovered
several brands of carbon steel pans on Amazon. One of the brands featured at
Amazon was A Joyce Chan carbon steel stir fry pan, in other words a wok. I
found that very convenient, because I already own a Joyce Chan Stir fry pan,
that sees a substantial amount of use in our kitchen, as a stir fryer, so it’s
already seasoned. I immediately fried an egg in it and got the same result as
the cast iron pan. I still plan to buy a dedicated twelve inch carbon steel pan,
because I do use the wok with my bamboo steamer now and, than which requires
boiling water in it which destroys the
seasoning, but I’m not in as big a hurry as before.
If you have
an uncoated wok with a wide flat bottom, the kind you would buy for an electric
stove, it is essentially a fry pan. Season it and you can make one large
pancake, or three small ones, or an omelet very easily in it. All the brands
listed on Amazon have an average of four to four, and a half star ratings. So
far the only retailer I have found selling steel pans in my area is a seller at
the regional produce market. Check your local restaurant supply shops, and you
might have your carbon steel pan tomorrow. As far as Joyce Chen woks, you can
find them almost anywhere.
Oh!, by the
way I did not put my cast iron pan in the recycling ben. It still fries up a
mighty fine pork chop, and makes the best cornbread ever, but that’s another
post.
