# are your carbon skillets JET BLACK?



## boomchakabowwow (Jan 4, 2017)

i saw a video of some lady cooking chinese radish cakes. her pan is black like charcoal. or satan's heart.. the sloping sides are really really black and i can see undulations where there is build up of stuff..clearly her pan gets used ALL the time.

mine sucks compared to her. it is non-stick and i am happy, but my relatively meat-less diet is not helping matters. i never cook bacon, or burgers..no chops, no steaks. not often. 

i know it is a PIA to post pics, but i would love to see the various levels of "black" on their pans. if i could do a screen shot of her pan, i would..but i also suck on my computer..haha


----------



## aboynamedsuita (Jan 4, 2017)

DamageInc had a pic awhile ago and his looked pretty good. Mine sucks compared to yours as I have too many CI/CS pans to use any one frequently enough (I'd say my lodge CI is defiantly darker as I've also had most longer)


----------



## boomchakabowwow (Jan 4, 2017)

my CI is black black. they were black when i bought them from some old lady, so i cant claim credit.


----------



## aboynamedsuita (Jan 4, 2017)

If you want to do a print screen of the pan you saw, try "CTRL" + "ALT" + "PRNT SCRN" to capture the active window on MS windows (if you're on a mac I can't help you)

EDIT
You got the vintage griswold correct?


----------



## boomchakabowwow (Jan 4, 2017)

aboynamedsuita said:


> I (if you're on a mac I can't help you)



mac..yup.


----------



## boomchakabowwow (Jan 4, 2017)

yes..i have griswold and some unmarked 8" that i love the most.

i got the lady's.


----------



## chinacats (Jan 4, 2017)

Mine are in various stages of seasoning...deBuyer except one...

Starting with a country pan...used mainly for veggies. Light colored area around base is where I added a bit too much tomato to a dish...fork scratches but pan is really non-stick. Lot's of different fats but little animal fat.







Next up is a small crepe pan that only gets used for crepes and pancakes...butter and oil are only two fats used.






Grill pan...completely non-stick...just meats cooked.






This one needs more use...still developing seasoning but needs to be used in a restaurant for a few days to speed the process. Butter is only fat used.


----------



## chinacats (Jan 4, 2017)

Remember when Matfer Bourgeat pans got that review in Cooks Illustrated and everyone joked about how they got used/treated? This one came to me by way of my sister's boyfriend...he cooked with it once and it stuck...threw it in his garage and this is how I received it:






It's a really nice pan but you have to think what a horrible thing to do to people...here in current condition...and I really do think it seasons and holds it better than my deBuyers.

Use it with more or less everything where I need a larger pan:






This one's lost it's seasoning numerous times...usually nonstick but have to pay more attention than with some of my other pans.






This pan get's used for single hamburgers only...continually pull off seasoning while cleaning but never sticks:






On anything I said never sticks:
1) seasonings on these pans always seem to come and go...
2) fingers crossed


----------



## alleyezond (Jan 5, 2017)

They _do _require a commitment to use and maintain. I recently had a friend who placed an order for a CI pan and after showing him my pans and explaining the process, he cancelled it real quick. He's the type that likes to leave pots/pans in the sink overnight, so that would have been a disaster. 

I guess people focus on the pros of CI/CS pans and selectively choose to tune out the most important part, the maintenance, that gives these pans their awesome non-stick abilities.

I have a deBuyer and a Mafter pan as well, and although my 10.25" deBuyer has seen more use, it seems that the Matfer takes on seasoning much more readily and evenly. I find that an occasional heating in the oven at 250F~ and wipe down of any thick spots of grease/oil to even out the seasoning works wonders for maintaining a consistent non-stick surface.


----------



## bkultra (Jan 5, 2017)

My cast iron are jet black and seem to never lose their seasoning. My carbon steel both take and lose their seasoning much faster. 

Carbon Steel crêpe pan (used for pancakes and only sees butter)






Cast iron (used for and sees everything)


----------



## cncrouting (Jan 5, 2017)

heat will burn off the seasoning easily.


----------



## GorillaGrunt (Jan 5, 2017)

My cast irons (12" Lodge and an old 10.5" Wagner) stay black, and if they ever get a spot that isn't I reseason with oil in the oven. The Lodge was preseasoned of course but wasn't nonstick until I did a fair bit of cooking in it. My carbon steel (12.5" Mauviel) doesn't stick but isn't completely black yet (2 months or so, cooking a lot of meat with various fats on the stove and in the oven). I'm not worried about it - after I did the recommended initial seasoning water would just bead up and fall off and I haven't gotten any rust spots. My CS wok has some black spots, some brown, and in fact a lot of it is still shiny -- of note, though, is that I oil that one after washing before putting it away. I'll eventually figure out how to do pictures and post some.


----------



## daveb (Jan 5, 2017)

Blacker than the inside of a bruised crow.


----------



## boomchakabowwow (Jan 11, 2017)

whoa. i think meat is the answer.

i seared a few slices of skirt steak and it got way darker!!


----------



## valgard (Jan 11, 2017)

Bacon is king! My cast iron skillets are very black by now and a good part of it is thanks to me using only the cast irons to cook bacon (I actually only did bacon for a while and now everything and anything is game)


----------



## bkultra (Jan 11, 2017)

Just be careful using bacon on a newly seasoned pan, the sugar in the bacon can cause it to stick and remove some of the seasoning. This is why I recommend ground chuck at first and then move on to bacon and such.


----------



## valgard (Jan 11, 2017)

bkultra said:


> Just be careful using bacon on a newly seasoned pan, the sugar in the bacon can cause it to stick and remove some of the seasoning. This is why I recommend ground chuck at first and then move on to bacon and such.


Now that you bring that up, I did have to be careful the first few times and re-season some of my skillets to make sure the season was uniform. Good to know about the ground chuck.


----------



## YG420 (Jan 11, 2017)

Here are a couple of my Matfer carbon steel pans. They've lost some of the black seasoning over time, probably from acidic cooking, but they're both still non-stick as ever.


----------



## milkbaby (Jan 12, 2017)

boomchakabowwow said:


> mac..yup.



On a mac, go to the Finder and under utilities look for Grab. Then at the menu options at the top when you bring it up, you can choose capture and choose selection which then will copy whatever you click and drag the mouse around.


----------



## milkbaby (Jan 12, 2017)

I have four Lodge cast iron pans that I bought new and a double burner griddle. Only the griddle is black because it's the only one that was used every day for a while.

I used to worry about the seasoning not being jet black, but they all work good enough for me that just cook and don't worry about it any more. I wouldn't mind having a nice carbon steel skillet, but I'm out of space. All my pans sleep in the oven until I need to use them or use the oven...


----------

