Betcha she meant carbon steel. I have a couple of deBuyer steel pans, which are French, but you don't have to travel that far to get them. Carbon steel conducts heat wayyyy better than stainless, so they are much simpler to construct and way cheaper than quality clad stainless steel. They have to be seasoned, much like cast iron, and must be washed by hand.

Here is a link that might be useful: de Buyer Blue Steel Pans

Thanks...so is carbon steel and blue steel the same? Would you season them the exact same way you would cast Iron? I thinkI want to get one to tinker with and see how I like it.

Cheers,
M

I'm pretty sure I seasoned my carbon steel pans on the hob, while I do cast iron in the oven. Try a google search on seasoning woks - most of them are carbon steel. Note that CS pans never look as good as they do when they are new. They will never be shiny and perfect looking like SS. They are designed for performance, not for looks. I do omelettes in mine without sticking, so I guess I'm doing something right. They are heavier than most SS pans, but not nearly as heavy as CI.

I ordered one to try. I found a video for seasoning and they use potato peels - interesting. After they were seasoned, they didn't look good but that doesn't bother me at all. To cook or look? Cook.

Thanks again for responding!

M

Seasoned and use the pans last night. I think I may be in love...with a pan! ;-)

I recently purchased an 8" crepe blue steel pan made in France. Super inexpensive & I love the pan. Yeah, the seasoning with potato peels was different for me but, hey, it worked!

I've got induction so always looking for pans to compliment the All-Clad.

/tricia

I'm not sure if my new ones are Blue Steel, but I just got the set of 3 De Buyer Mineral pans. The potato "seasoning" is just to remove the coating from the metal I think (almost like you would remove the mill glaze from wood before staining it). Then you actually start seasoning with oil, and further saeson each time you cook. And like others have attested, I had perfectly stick-free eggs immediately after the potato-oil process. These are a beautiful thing (and great for induction).

I was all set to do the potato peel boil when I got my DeBuyer Carbone Plus pan but there was nothing about it on the instructions. Nothing on their website either so I rinsed with hot water & wiped with a paper towel, & heated oil & wiped, etc as instructed. This pan is a pleasure to use.

From the website I gathered that the Carbone Plus is DeBuyer's commercial line & Mineral is the new, 'green' line aimed at the residential market with both being constructed of the same heavy gauge but possibly different steel composition. They also make 2 lines of blue steel pans that seem to be lighter with one being thin enough that I suspect it's their 'economy' line.

Here is a link to the youtube from De Buyer. I love, love these pans...

Here is a link that might be useful: Potato Peel Seasoning

Blue steel is carbon steel. A blacksmith could explain the process to turn plain carbon steel blue. In terms of performance, there's no difference. I have both kinds, a deBuyer Force Blue and deBuyer Carbone. They're crepe pans. The Carbone is, as antiquesilver posted, a little thicker and heavier.

I've just ordered a deBuyer fry pan from Sur La Table. It's their Tim Love line, identical to Mineral B, and on clearance right now. If you're looking for a bargain in a premium carbon steel pan, jump on this. They've also got a grill pan and chef's pan (sauteuse) similarly priced.

Here is a link that might be useful: deBuyer Tim Love frypan