Bought a $40 carbon steel pan and it wrecked my nonstick habits

I spent $40 on a cheap carbon steel wok from a restaurant supply place in Chinatown last month. My plan was to use it for stir fries but I ended up using it for everything including eggs and fish. The seasoning took about 6 tries to get right but now nothing sticks and it's way tougher than my old Teflon pans. Anyone else find that switching metals changes your whole cooking technique?

2 comments

2 Comments

jones.grace6d agoMost Upvoted

Best kitchen decision I ever made. Seasoned mine with potato peels and salt.

eric_carr6d ago

Tbh that potato peel method is legit. I had a buddy who swore by it and I thought he was just being extra. Then I visited his place and his skillet had a slidey egg situation that was unreal. @jones.grace knows what's up with building that seasoning layer slowly instead of rushing it with oil alone. The salt helps pull out moisture and the peels add that natural starch layer that bonds to the iron. Ngl I used to just blast mine with high heat and oil and wondered why it always flaked off. That friends pan looked like obsidian after a few months of doing it right.