Five Carbon Steel Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Trouble with your carbon steel pan? Uncle Scott shows some BIG mistakes everyone makes when they are new to carbon steel, and more importantly, how to fix them! Great advice on how to season a carbon steel skillet, which oil to use for seasoning, how to prevent sticking in carbon steel pans and more!

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#carbonsteel #seasoning #cooking #cookware #debuyer #mauviel #matfer #lodge #cookingshow

[sNajlicious]

there are people getting jealous about other people cars or homes and here i am being jealous about your beautiful black and shiny patina. thanks for those advices. helping me a lot.

[scottthompson]

Great job. Those 5 nailed it. I use my carbon steel pans often (daily) and now starting to get some friends using them. I have told them to subscribe here. Uncle Scott is there best on YouTube for carbon steel.

[MyFloridaCoastalTeam]

This is titled "Mistakes and How to Fix Them" - so I was hoping to find an answer to the issue you mentioned - I used too much oil and have a sticky buildup - so I know I did it wrong, I know that. But now that I have the problem I was hoping to find out How Do I Fix It???

[dbkfrogkaty]

I'm on a facebook carbon steel pan group. Often people new to the group ask about seasoning. So of course we get all the seasoning tips from 3 times to more. I always say the same thing: Season once, then just cook with it. I also say don't worry about the "fried egg test" if your egg sticks. Cook with the pan. learn the pan. Cook chicken, beef, pork, veggies, etc. Thanks for tips Scott, helped me a lot.

[andrewkowalczyk]

You convinced me to get a carbon steel a year ago, now a year in with my Matfer I couldn't be happier, I've even converted family and friends!

[JerrySmith-ihrd]

Hey Scott. Everything you just went through I already know. Thing is, it took me about 45 years to learn it on my own. All your statements about seasoning, cooking at the right heat, different pans& foods= some different methods, different seasoning of food (a little, a lot?…) etc.. This same lesson is true everywhere in the kitchen. One of the big obsessions that has been happening for a while is on knives, (use, what’s the best, sharpening, steel etc). What works. Thanks so much for this video.

[Skrelnick]

I’ve been cooking with cast iron and carbon steel for over 10 years now and everything in this video is right in line with what I’ve learned through years of trial and error. One thing I found is that seasoning your pan in a bbq next to a wood/ natural charcoal fire gets them almost completely black on the first seasoning.

[corksauve]

A lot of times you don't even have to add a protective coating of oil. Once you done cooking and the pan is wiped clean, there is still a micro covering of oil. And that's all that's needed to keep it rust free.

[mattmiller]

Hi Scott, I got a huge #12 cast iron skillet and a "bacon press" recently, been making some great smash burgers. My New Years resolution is to eat more cheese burgers this year.

[spandanmusser]

A couple good ones were in there that I wasn’t aware of, thanks!
In particular, I had no idea that the protective oil was supposed to be added to the pan after its cooled.

[joeidaho]

Love the carbon steel videos. Probably heard it all before....but still nice to see. What I did notice this past week...is that I lightly scoured my carbon steel with a green scouring pad...and I thought might have been a mistake and as I noticed it lightly removed some seasoning. However, I did 3 eggs in the pan the next day, after oiling the pan....and those 3 eggs slid on the pan better than I've ever experienced before. Not sure if some cleaning with the scouring pad made the real difference, but I've never had eggs ever slide like nothing on the pan. I usually have to either do a good shake...or actually pry up some edges with a fork.

[risknotdonot]

Thanks for being a great source of information on cookware, nice refresher

[liahfox]

After the initial wash I don't even bother with a regular seasoning and just start cooking. Usually I cook with duck fat or pig fat. I haven't had any issues seasoning. After washes I put a very fine layer of avocado oil to keep them protected from moisture.

[RoWzteR]

I bought the debuyer mineral b pan, seasoned it once, decided that first thing i'll cook on it will be pancakes, it worked like a charm! Looking forward when the pan gets the shiny black color. Thanks for the tips!

[troymadison]

Great refresher Scott! I had forgotten a couple of those tips.

[mikel]

Yep, you nailed it. Now, you can't lead a horse to water ... you know the thing. But if you don't get frustrated and go back to your non-stick, then I say go back and pay CLOSE attention to exactly what he says and Scott has given you the keys to the kingdom.

[apuz]

I think #5 is why my pan always gets messed up. Thanks for these tips.

[kimberly]

It took me several yrs to learn that last point. I always just skip the last step now. After i have cleaned my pan i place it on a warm burner for 3-4 min to ensure it's dry then shut burner off and I am through. If I was going to store my skillet for a month or so maybe I would store with a little oil, but probably not. I have carbo and some carbon skillets hanging for several months not oiled and they are perfectly rust free. I use my daily carbon #9 almost daily so there is no need to store it coated w oil. People w little skillet knowledge need to quit spreading the bad knowledge to coat a hot pan w oil then store it

[philipstaite]

I've been guilty of #4 as I was transitioning from "non-stick" pans to carbon steel. Not just the wrong temp (usually too low), wrong technique with the temp. Call this "4a" -- You generally need to preheat the pan. If you don't properly preheat the pan you won't get a good sear and the food will stick unless it is practically swimming in oil. You (probably) don't want the pan smoking hot, but you do want to build up some heat in it before putting the food into it. Related to this is patience waiting for the food to sear and release. Also related to this is do not overload the pan. Too much food in the pan will pull the temperature down and cause all the same problems... If that sounds like I'm speaking from experience it is because I am...

[supernova]

Totally agree, after 3 years of switching to Carbon steel, i have reached the same conclusion . I recently bought a carbon steel wok, and transfered my knowledge and did 1 layer of seasoning and did the sliding egg challenge without any problems ☺️. One thing I still have an issue with the wok, if I do any food with moisture content and leave, it strips the seasoning off and I get rust layer.