SMF

Just use real garlic, the powdered stuff can have a slightly bitter, metallic undertone. I saute with large slices of garlic which are then removed prior to serving the dish.

When I ordered the Matfer pans they were both out of stock and not available until early September I was told. Predictably the wife was all, "What do we need that for, yada, yada.". But our Teflon pan is losing it's no stick properties and I don't want to fork out another $140 for another pan that has a finite life. Too, if it works better than cast iron, there is the weight savings and neither of us is getting any younger. We need to look ahead. My plan is to retire the CI and Teflon and have only SS pans and the steel pans. One note about Matfer shipping. I don't remember seeing a notification that it shipped, and I think I would have seen it. Yesterday we got a phone call from FedEx telling us to expect a package that needed a signature. Maybe normally they contact when shipping but I don't know that. I do know that they were buried under a mountain of orders so maybe they simply can't inform when things ship.

The 9" crepe pan came in today. Initial impression was that of a no frills pan, but I'm definitely not about looks but performance. It was scrubbed to remove any manufacturing residue, then seasoned using their directions; 1:2 oil/salt and some potato peels. Put the pan on medium heat for 8-10 minutes until the peels are crisp and brown, moving things around once in a while even up onto the edge of the pan, one can watch the seasoning develop. I went by the observed seasoning and not so much the peels. Let cool, wipe, then it's ready to use. As a test I very lightly buttered and toasted up a roll, then sliced up the potato. The result? Crispy potatoes and no sticking, the roll didn't stick either, but that was no test since I've never had buttered bread stick to anything. I have had raw potato stick to CI. The real test will come in the morning. I bought the crepe pan not specifically for crepes but for eggs and such in the morning since with it's low sides it's something like a small griddle. Right now we have some knock-off Taylor Pork Roll sliced and that has a residue when it cooks that sticks like a SOB to seasoned CI. I'll cook some up with my morning eggs in the crepe pan.

As billed, the pan heats up rapidly, and heat transfer is much better than cast iron. Be aware of that and reduce the amount of heat you normally use under a steel pan or things will burn. I detected no hot spots even though the steel appears thin. Just amazing performance. I like efficiency, these pans appear to allow me to use less propane to get the same job done with better performance. But again, I'm still testing that.

So far this one small pan is working exactly as "black" steel pans have been described to work. So far I'm happy with it. I'm looking forward to getting the bigger pan when it comes in; it's still back ordered for now.

Before seasoning, the pan was the color of the handle in the picture. Seasoning changed that as did the subsequent use. The brown is what makes the pan work, do NOT remove it by scrubbing with detergent and such. Water and a paper towel is fine as long as the pan isn't soaked to remove the seasoning. Don't use the pans for simmering anything, IMO use SS for that. It's not difficult to re-season the pan, it's just unnecessary with a bit of forward thinking. After a lot of seasoning is built up through use it would really tick me off to find the seasoning removed.

The new crepe pan passed the knock-off Taylor Pork Roll challenge with flying colors! I absolutely found it hard to believe that it did so well.

I fried up 3 slices of TPR, then without scraping, rinsing, or any other action to remove the residue I fried my egg for my muffin sandwich. After assembling the sandwich I used a piece of paper towel and all it took was light rubbing to get the pan down to the seasoned surface. Amazing! I was actually better than a Teflon pan, and no synthetic chemical coating.

Comparing that to cast iron, I would have to use a metal flipper to remove the stuck on TPR residue before I could fry the eggs. I would put a great deal of elbow grease into the operation to remove the residue that is almost like rubber glue in characteristics. The difference between the 2 pan types is like night and day. BTW, all my CI pans are seasoned, it's not the seasoning or what I cooked, the only difference is the base metal.

The new pan is a definite keeper and in time the CI fry pans will all be replaced. I have a larger frying pan coming in when it arrives in country, and we'll get a honkin' huge pan in time to replace the 16" CI.

Sounds like a winner, Brian! I'm afraid my wife would eschew anything that "looked" dirty, however. I'll have to stick (or not!) with cast iron.

Yeah, it took awhile to get that through my wife's head re: cast iron. Now she understands.

Does she ever eat at a restaurant? If so her food was more than likely cooked on a steel pan that looked even dirtier than the picture. As the seasoning builds up the pan gets darker. Restaurants have used them for many years and it's been a secret known only to them, until recently anyway. Cast iron uses the same seasoning, it just can't be seen due to the color of the metal. But if she would wash it, then yes, it's a non-starter. It would be the pits to be forced to re-season the pan before every use.

Maybe get a test pan and educate her? Show her how it works if she just uses a paper towel to wipe it out? You know your wife and if that would work, I certainly don't. The 9" crepe pan isn't much money, but I can't remember how much it cost.

Today I see a Lodge LCS3 Pre-Seasoned Cast-Iron Chef's Skillet, 10-inch, for only $14.97.

http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-LCS3-Pre-Se ... B00008GKDJ

GA Russell wrote:Today I see a Lodge LCS3 Pre-Seasoned Cast-Iron Chef's Skillet, 10-inch, for only $14.97.

http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-LCS3-Pre-Se ... B00008GKDJ

Can't not to agree with you, even if this topic is old! These models are really nice and cheap, I have one of them too and it's ok after several years I also like teflon skillets very much, especially the ones made by Tefal, they can be used for cooking for many years and aren't so dangerous as it's written in some articles I have also an electric one like on these examples from cozzy, mine is Cucina Pro model, it's a nice type of skillets too



However I can't say that they're much better than the classic ones, it only depends on your preferences in different cooking stuff For me it took time to get adjusted to it because I always used classic teflon ones