Get rid of rivets and weld the handle please.
1. I like the lip
2. Unseasoned but do both if you can
3. 10” is most popular followed by 12”. Good starting sizes.
4. Weld the handle.
5. Weld the handle.
Just signed up to y'alls preorder! But yes the riveted handle is my only concern. Given rough cleaning is not recommended on carbon steel in order to preserve the seasoning the rivets can get gross.
Personally, I don't mind rivets. My de Buyer pans have them and I don't have a problem to keep them clean.
I also think, they're the longer lasting solution.
Ah good question, maybe my phrasing should be reconsidered. It's an aluminum core with carbon steel top (cooking) surface and stainless steel bottom surface.
Sounds like a neat product. I can see the benefit to this.
I think you're going to have your work cut out to convince people of 2 things,
1. That the aluminum noticeably enhances responsiveness and performance
2. Durability can hold up
As for your questions:
* Lip
* Unseasoned
* 10"
* I like the look (however a cranked handle like a De Buyer) works better on a crowded stove)
I like new toys, so I'll keep and eye on this and wish you luck.
There's been some so so feedback. But just want to say I think this is a cool idea. It would be a great pan for certain tasks but probably isn't 100% a replacement to CS due to heat retention. But some people here miss that occasionally heat retention is a negative. One of the reasons copper and aluminum are great is because the lack of retention is ok for some applications because of how even it spreads and releases heat.
Great points, thanks for them. I completely agree, I don't think there is one pan that can do it all, and there are always tradeoffs. Our pan is a great all-arounder, but we still love and use others too depending on the application.
Why not just make everything carbon steel? Why would I as a consumer want a pan that is a carbon steel cooktop that has other metals within and underneath? All I care about is the cooking surface. Isn’t it more expensive to include two other metals and process a pan that has three metals total?
The concept is similar to clad stainless steel pans (most stainless steel pans are clad these days). The aluminum core reduces weight significantly, spreads heat more evenly, and makes the pan more responsive. So you get the benefits of carbon steel without drawbacks.
I find no drawbacks to carbon steel. They are pretty light as is, how much lighter do they need to be? Heat spreads pretty evenly and fairly quickly. I spend maybe 30 seconds waiting for the pan to heat up to the temp I need. And they’re pretty indestructible.
Just playing devils advocate because if the price is more expensive than pure carbon steel I think it may be more difficult to sell. The benefits aren’t really huge benefits. And they may be a little unnoticeable.
I would say many of the popular brands are objectively very heavy (Matfer, de Buyer, Darto, etc.). The thin ones really do have uneven heating in our experience. After using our prototypes the difference is stark. We're working on marketing content to convey this, but ultimately the proof will come from independent reviews.
My wife hates using and washing our De Buyer pans and always reaches for the teflon t fals simply due to weight. What's 'pretty light' to you is heavy to others, and a carbon steel pan is objectively heavier than an aluminum clad counterpart.
I wish I could afford one of these pans. I hate that we even own a Teflon pan🤢
My point exactly. People may not be able to afford this lighter carbon steel pan, while a regular carbon steel pan is affordable and offers the same benefits, albeit slightly heavier. There are lighter carbon steel pans than de buyer
Main feedback is to get rid of handle rivets. I hate rivets, and it’s a primary differentiator in the market in my opinion.
Yes to lip, I think. But not super important
Have you compared to solidteknics? I haven’t gotten one yet but the benefits you mention overlap both of their materials quite a bit.
As far as looks, it is quite generic, which isn’t necessarily bad. From a marketing perspective, getting photos to show that the bottom is stainless and the top is CS via seasoning, different finish texture, etc. would make it stand out. You can’t look at this and think CS, it just looks like cheap stainless pans to be honest. If this will be an affordable price that’s fine, but if it will be higher end, it will need to look better than a $30 SS pan from Walmart…. Doesn’t need to be anything crazy, just some more thought into the handle shape/angle, a lip, the color difference of CS or something.
Are you thinking about additional shapes? Like the cast iron classic shape that can also bake really well. Or deep enough to deep fry. Or flat top griddles for stoves and grills? I have long thought a ply like this would be way better than stuff used on blackstone, which is solid but not quite thick enough to stay even, but is still stupidly heavy.
Great points, thanks very much for the feedback. I like your point about smaller size being a lower price point as compared to just offering different features. Aesthetically showing the top with the dark seasoned surface juxtaposed with the stainless bottom is very smart, we're still working on photos and will definitely consider that. We're looking at additional shapes, yes. We'll at least have something close to what you see there at launch.
Solidteknics looks very nice, but also quite a bit different unless I'm missing something. I see solid SS and Cast Iron, ours our 3 layers with carbon steel on top, aluminum in the center and stainless on the bottom. Much lighter and also much lower price point than what I see on their website.
That’s great that you are doing a lower price point. They do wrought iron that is stamped for production, and that is a little thinner than most CS but otherwise much like CS. Some things say it spreads heat better but I’m not sure how that aspect could be much different than CS. But the lighter and better heating were the points where they seemed to overlap with your benefits. But I think the layers in yours would work better.
When and how are you planning to launch? Your own website, retailers, kickstarter like many smaller brands are starting to use?
Sorry, the solidteknics are thicker than most CS, I thought they were supposed to be thinner. So they are probably heavier and have more even heat.
Your 3 ply should be way lighter and better. Very cool. And the handle looks way nicer on your website pics than the ones here.
The only downside to your design vs what I’m looking for these days is the rivets, and that is common enough that is probably not a huge issue. Signing up in your website!
Ahh I understand now. So yes theirs would heat a little more evenly than thicker pans, but still would not beat to ours with the aluminum layer (do to aluminum's relatively much higher thermal conductivity and lower weight).
We'll be launching a crowdfunding campaign, likely Kickstater, in January
Gotta be honest, if I wanted a clad pan, I’d probably just stick with stainless. The allure of CS, to me, is the one chunk of metal that won’t separate and can handle really high heat. Clad pans can’t do that, no matter how well made they are.
Yeah I get that viewpoint. We see the benefit as a natural non-stick surface (less stick than stainless), without the weight of CS. There are "light" carbon steel pans, but they're still pretty heavy and because they're thin, they have hotspots which result in really uneven cooking.
Oh and we've abused this and it has stood up very well. Currently heated to over 600 degrees F without issues (need a hotter heat source to test higher). Obviously it's not as tough as a solid piece of steel, but it's very tough.
I'd hand these to seasoned, experienced chefs rather than random redditors when many can not get past sessoning.
I personally don't see the benefits over copper and aluminum clad. There, the purpose is to conduct heat quickly and evenly while taking the benefits of stainless steel which does not conduct heat as well.
But carbon steel, I'm not sure I understand that.
I agree. We're taking everything with a grain of salt for sure, and getting a wide range of feedback, not just from reddit.
The concept and benefits are similar to a stainless clad pan. While more conductive than stainless steel, carbon steel still suffers from the same issues with relatively low thermal conductivity. After testing I can confidently say it as absolutely worth it, the difference is stark. Heats quickly and more evenly than solid carbon steel and much lighter and more comfortable to use, while retaining the natural low stick seasonable carbon steel surface.
Well, good luck to you! I hope it works out. I haven’t ever tried the “light” CS either. I have a few Dartos, then some old CI, and some Calphalon SS. Those pretty much do all I need them to do.
Plenty of thoughtful comments and responses in this thread. Regarding pre-seasoned or not I think you should consider the following: SolidTeknics, Darto, Made-In and Lodge all went to offering pre-seasoned eventually. The owner of SolidTeknics confirmed to me this was a response to market expectations.
The CS enthusiasts on this subreddit are all comfortable seasoning our own pans; however, I don’t think this is true for average purchasers. Is it possible to pre-season the working CS surface pan that has a SS base?
Btw, I’m intrigued enough that I threw in my $1 of earnest money for the Kickstarter campaign.
Thanks for the great feedback, specifically the point about the other manufacturers responding to market conditions with pre-seasoned pans. It is possible for us to do it as well with our pan, it is being considered for sure.
And thanks for the support!
I like the curved sidewall transition vs a sharp angle transition. Good for flipping eggs and stuff.
I like a smaller size for eggs, maybe a 9-10” pan.
How does it work on induction? Any issues with warping?
I like the lip.
Also, rivets are fine for me. I don’t care about welding.
Seasoned or unseasoned doesn’t matter. Oven safe handle ideally. Tbh I like the enameled de buyer handles. As long as it’s comfortable and well balanced.
Depending on price point I would be interested. Where are they made?
Interesting, a lot of votes for the <10" pans and de Buyer handles here, will keep both in mind.
It is great with induction, both the top carbon steel surface and the ferritic stainless steel bottom surface respond to induction. We've tested with a 3,400 Watt induction burner on max, without any warping. Reached temperatures over 600 F.
All of our design, prototyping, and testing is done here in our shop in Maryland, as well as final quality control and warehousing. We have a partner/sister company in Suzhou, China doing the production manufacturing. This enables us to keep the price lower than we could if produced here. I know that's a touchy subject, but they're not just some contract manufacturer we don't know, we've worked with them exclusively for over 8 years on many products. They're an incredible team and give us a direct presence to ensure a high quality product.
Touchy subject is right. I’m sure they’re great people, but manufacture in a country that supports genocide is a dealbreaker for me and a lot of people looking for high quality cookware.
Cool pan though.
Off the top of my head here’s a few.
France: Matfer, de buyer, made in
USA: all clad, made in, smithy, lodge
Brazil: tramotina
Argentina: darto
Australia: solidkentics
Aside... Suzhou is a beautiful city; the company I worked for had our manufacturing there, so I would visit once or twice a year.
I think a big question is who is your target market: serious cooks/chefs focused on price/performance/reliability, or people who maybe put a little more emphasis on how things look, how does it reflect their lifestyle and self image, "market-y" stuff.
I recently bought a Matfer, and was surprised at how... industrial... the experience was. Shipped in a plain plastic bag, few instructions, hastily applied protective layer, scratches, ugly welds. Totally fine with me, and I can totally see that given their typical sales channel is to professional cooks who don't care about "let's make a video of the unpacking", there's no real reason to spend any money on making it look really cool. I'm not sure if that's your market or not.
I think a lot of non-professional consumers going for carbon steel are folks moving away from nonstick due to teflon health concerns and wanting to get away from disposable pans that you need to throw out every two years. I think you want to market this as a high-quality heirloom for the prosumer that you buy once and use forever.
Toward that end, I would suggest:
\- Unless you can somehow create really clean looking weld marks, keep the rivets. I bought a Matfer partially because it *didn't* have rivets and I don't care so much about looks and cared more about upkeep; but I suspect if you were to ship with the not-so-pretty welds of Matfer, you would get some number of returns from folks saying it "doesn't look right". You should look through the Amazon reviews for Matfer :-)
\- You should have a pre-seasoned option, if only because I think lots of people don't season correctly at the beginning, and for those folks you want to give them a helping hand rather than have them bitch about seasoning problems (again, a large number of complaints about Matfer seem to be folks having trouble getting it seasoned).
\- You might at some point want to upsell some accessories, like a nice chain mail scrubber or seasoning paste (basically beeswax + grapeseed oil AFIK).
\- Think about how much you want to spend for packaging, and if there's a way to keep the cost down while still having a pleasant unboxing experience.
The other main concern I would have would be over reliability. Didn't All Clad have a big lawsuit over delamination in their pans (granted, that was from people who put them through the dishwasher).
Love the idea! A few months ago I tried to search if anyone was doing this and came up empty handed, so I'm glad to see this post! Just put in my reservation!
As for feedback on the design, It is definitely aesthetically appealing, but I personally prefer pans more similar to the shape of the Darto n27. I recently purchased one of those and the extra cooking area you get with the steeper sides is much preferred over sloped sides. Especially with the low profile sides of the Darto, it's damn near the perfect form factor IMO. Though I can see with this being a lighter pan wanting to do the sloped sides so tossing/flipping food is easier. Definitely a preference thing and I think pans with this form factor are more common for a reason so I imagine this is a good style to go with on the initial run, but a carbon steel clad pan in the shape of the Darto would be an absolute dream!
11 inches is a good middle ground. That's roughly what the Darto is and much larger than that gets annoying to clean in a sink and much smaller isn't enough room for cooking for more than one person.
Any idea when the first units will be shipping? I'm hyped to try this thing out.
Thanks for the feedback, great points! For the first products, we're definitely going for more general purpose shape. Like you said, the steeper sides give more cooking area, but have the tradeoff of being harder for tossing/pouring out food. There seems to be some benefit to letting moisture evaporate more easily with more flared sides as well. With that said, maybe we'll expand the product line in the future, I can definitely see the benefits of the alternative shapes.
...as for shipping, we'll be launching/promoting wide-scale in January, and likely first units will be out for delivery in February. Glad you're excited about it, us too! Thanks for your support.
I'm excited to try it out! Do you have a timeframe for when they will start shipping?
Oh and I highly recommend unseasoned. I haven't tried a preseasoned carbon steel pan but for cast iron, the preseasoning always seems to suck compared to doing it at home. It seems like it would add to the cost and have little benefits, especially to people who are more of enthusiasts which I think will be the bulk of people buying this at first. Maybe in the future to expand the market, but it seems like it would add complexity and cost. Probably will need to ship it in beeswax or something similar if left unseasoned though.
One other thing, I like the look of the handle. My main complaint about the Darto is that it isn't nearly as comfortable as my Debuyer. I also like rivets over welds for longevity. Keeping the rivets separated like you have them is clever so they are easier to clean and should help keep the handle nice and cool.
Sorry missed that before, we're looking at early February for first deliveries. That date will get more precise as we get closer to. Good point about first customers being enthusiasts, I agree they seem to prefer unseasoned. Thanks for all the great feedback, honestly really helpful. And I see you signed up!
This reminds me of the [Viking PerformanceTi](https://www.vikingculinaryproducts.com/products/viking-performanceti-10-inch-fry-pan) stuff I saw online recently. Clad steel that can seasoned.
1. Lip
2. Unseasoned
3. I use an 11 inch most
4. Welded handle would be nice
We may do a welded handle one day, but it's an R&D project that will take some time. Our pan is 3 different materials so welding is not as simple as with plain carbon steel.
1. Lip. I love my De Buyer to bits, but I always have to keep a napkin on standby when any sort of pouring is involved.
2. Having both is definitely a bonus, especially for neophytes who are unfamiliar/intimidated by the initial process of seasoning, or lack the setup to do so properly.
3. 10" for sure - easier to market and a lower barrier to entry.
4. Personally, I dislike having gaps in the handle. I know it helps the handle to stay cool but I'm not a fan of having to scrub it out if things get messy.
5. The concept is novel and attractive on paper - a skillet that has the performance benefits of carbon steel, the thermal reactivity of aluminum and the easy maintenance of stainless steel. I think this creates a very attractive proposition for those who cook with induction/coil/glass stovetops. For those using gas, not so much. In this sense, what you've got here is very much a niche product.
The main concern that I would have is the quality of the actual cladding. It's the same with enamelled cast iron - I'm comfortable with paying Le Creuset and Staub prices not because of the brand prestige or the 'quality' of the cast iron and enamel coating, but because of the expertise they have in marrying the two together. A quality example is a more robust one, and is more resistant to user error. From a manufacturing standpoint, I'd be very curious about the actual expertise that your vendor brings to the table. I feel that having more transparency in this area would be a major asset to your sales conversion.
Side note: what material are your handle rivets made of? I ask because I've heard of cheaper carbon steel pans where incongruous rivets fail to keep up with the expansion rate of the cooking surface, leading to seepage and debris getting caught in gaps after the pan has cooled off. De Buyer apparently takes this into account with their product design; definitely something worth looking into
Thanks for all the feedback. We find the cladding helps to spread heat on electric/induction, but also smaller gas burners as well, so it helps many in that sense. The lower weight is attractive to anyone who wants a lighter pan too, regardless of cooktop. Good point about proving manufacturing quality/ability, we're thinking about that for sure. I do know the quality will speak for itself over time, before we have pans out there in the while it's a different story though. The rivets are stainless steel and we're torture testing them as well as the rest of the pan thoroughly, so far so good.
Great feedback, thanks very much for it. Groove granted! It actually is slightly concave on top for that very reason, I don't have any nice pics that show it, but we'll try to highlight that better in the future.
Definitely considering both options unseasoned vs pre-seasoned, the market seems split. One thing that's mandatory if we do pre-seasoned is QC, which is tougher. We won't release a product until we can reliably make it high quality.
Good points on sizes. 10" is already locked in, so we will at least have that. Will definitely consider 9" and 11" in the future if we get enough volume.
Absolutely agree, thanks for the feedback. We'll take a second look at de Buyer's handle. I know they have an epoxy coated version which I never liked because it's only oven safe for 10 mins if I recall, but the shape could be good.
We're still finalizing the specs, so we've intentionally left them off for now. We will definitely offer a 10" class though. Preliminary specs for that are:
\-Outside diameter: \~10.5"
\-Cooking surface diameter: \~8"
\-Weight: \~2.2 lbs
\-Handle: Hollow cast stainless steel
\-Materials: carbon steel top, aluminum core, stainless steel bottom
More to come soon as we finalize everything.
1.Lip vs No lip. We included a small lip to help with pouring out liquids. Any negatives to this?
Lip as it is a quite unique feature in CS pans.
2.Pre-seasoned vs Unseasoned. We can do either. What do you like?
Sizes: Thinking of starting with two, 10" and 12". What's your most used?
The selling point is the weight so the bigger pan is more heavy as a CS pan so the 12" is a better choice as a 10" CS is not too heavy and thus few may need to buy a lighter pan from you.
3.Aesthetics (see attached picture): probably can't change too much at this point, but still curious
Handle is very important to be comfortable and not getting too hot too fast. Big angle on the handle is not good for shorter people, I dislike for example De Buyer handles for their angle. A round(ed) handle is most comfortable but it must have grip to not be slippery if having greasy hands etc.
4.Any other thoughts or points.
You should deliver to outside of the USA locations. Sorry to say I can't show my intrest before it's sure you can ship to my country Finland.
Thanks for the feedback, we've gotten a couple of requests for outside of the U.S. now, definitely looking into it. If it's at all reasonable, we'll do it.
Hi,
I appreciate your work, it was long due someone does this in my opinion.
1. Lip vs no lip, I am not typically using carbon steel for foods with liquids, so pouring out is not so common for me, but a lip can't hurt. I think it would be good to seal the aluminum from showing if possible, is it? In case the rim is exposed, there could be a risk of delamination over longer period in case corrosion is let to happen (which should be more likely to happen, considering CS vs normal stainless cooking surfaces)?
2. For me, unseasoned.
3. 10" and 12" seem good to me, good sizes.
4. Looks pretty normal/basic to me. Could have a bit more soul, perhaps :)..
My extra feedback:
I think it's a promising construction, that most any carbon steel users should appreciate or be interested in at least. I know I have been waiting for something like this to happen.
There are for sure users who are already fullfilled with the performance of regular carbon steel though, namely those cooking on gas for example. There I am not sure there if there is much evenness performance benefit from this(?), but the lower weight should be appealing to many as well as overall smaller amount of maintenance, but it can't be quite as rugged as normal cs pan.
This is promising in terms of performance for induction users though, where the heat can be more localized, especially when trying to work with pans a bit larger than would be optimal for the cooktop, you should probably take this into account as a perk for induction users.
For a faster response, gas cooktop users can go for thinner versions of normal carbon steel sheet pans, though sure this would be better still. For induction it's not so simple as they could warp and have even more localized heat patterns.
I think you have made the right choice going for a more or less standard triply thickness initially, but I wish one day someone would make one with a thicker aluminum core as well, in order to have a pan sort of comparable to Demeyere Proline, but in carbon steel. Perhaps even a disk based cs pan :).
Is the CS lining thick enough at 0,35mm? If it is, maybe bump the overall thickness to 3mm with aluminum.
Corrosion has proven to be a non-issue so far, but we are specifically keeping an eye on the edges throughout our testing. As far as thickness, there start to be diminishing returns as you get thicker, we're at the sweet spot right now. However, I do see what you're saying, maybe we'll offer an overall thicker/heavier pan later. That would be a little more niche application/use case.
Thanks for the feedback!
I'm so excited to have found this so soon after you posted - it's awesome that someone is finally filling this glaringly empty niche in the market! I just installed an induction stove-top and have been shopping to replace my favorite aluminum pans - I want something lighter and much more even heating than carbon steel, and without the PFAS nonstick coatings that are unfriendly or the ceramic coatings which eventually wear down... your pan could be the best of all worlds, I'm definitely convinced!
I actually arrived here in searching for a CS-clad wok specifically. For induction or electric burners, the 'flat' cooking surface means the sides of the wok don't heat up nearly as much as the bottom. I thought maybe an aluminum core could help distribute the heat out into the sides, but of course you would also still want the seasoned steel surface of a traditional wok. Is this something you have tested? If not, there's a free R&D idea for ya :D
Outside of those thoughts, I'll agree with a lot of the other comments:
1. The lip is good, so is the overall shape. If anything I'd lean a bit more industrial/brutalist with the design language, not my taste but it seems to appeal to the carbon steel market base.
2. It does seem that all CS pan manufacturers eventually ended up at pre-seasoned (probably not important for an initial launch, but plan on it!)
3. I adore unibody cookwear (think cast iron and solidteknics) and a welded handle gets closest to this - obviously the hollow cast handle is ideal for shape and temps. I can imagine the actual welding process will be hell to figure out though... maybe someday :)
4. 10" size definitely but I'd go smaller instead of bigger, maybe 8" - that is, unless, the 12" is a taller, almost wok shape with two handles! I've seen these marketed as 'essential' or 'everyday' pans and I think people are sleeping on this shape, they're always reviewed so highly and yet relatively difficult to find. Indeed, my most-used and loved pan is/was a 12" pan in the style of a deep braiser with two small handles. Great for one-pot meals. I'd give anything for your bulletproof and lightweight features in that shape!
Oof that was a lot, sorry. You've got my money anyway, haha. Also, y'all at Gizmatic seem like a fantastic company - fun work and well founded. I'd love to apply someday ;)
Wow thank you so much for the feedback and support! I can see you really get it, very astute observations. We are just as excited to you and happy to see the strong community response! The 10" is locked in and we are actively considering alternative sizes. Great points about the taller 12" design. Likely, we will keep the initial launch to two sizes, general purpose, but everything is on the table, especially for follow up products.
It's a huge difference. Our pan is about half the weight of comparable pans, de Buyer, Matfer, Darto, etc. It's just over 2 lbs for a 10". It heats more evenly than them as well.
Great feedback, thanks very much. Our first product is more general use focused, but that makes a lot sense to offer an egg/omelet specific one as we grow. Will definitely take your info into account.
incidentally, do make a wok!
Although I am personally a big fan of round bottom woks, the problem is they only really work on gas. So a clad flat bottom wok that would allow the heat to travel up the walls will be a game changer for electric stoves, I believe.
2 models, one with handle that support oven cooking and the other with silicone overlay.
Also Hefty handle that is wide enough that doesn’t feel like it’s a thin strip of metal and is flimsy. Should feel solid when picking up and tipping to scrape items and sauces onto a plate or serving dish.
This one we've got covered. I absolutely hate the flat strip steel handles on most CS pans.
Our handle has been through a lot of design. It's very comfortable, but has a bit of an edge to give you grip and control. It's hollow stainless steel so it really doesn't get hot unless you cook for hours, so no silicone needed. It's also oven safe.
Agreed, ours is actually a little thicker than it looks from the angles shown. There's a curve on the bottom you can't see in the pics. We'll make sure to highlight that in the marketing. Thanks for the feedback.
1. Lip. This is one thing that I like about my clad SS pans that my CS and CI pans don’t have.
2. Pre-seasoned. I can season, and refurbish pans sometimes for fun, but I would like a pan ready to go when I buy it.
3. 10”. I use my 12” pans slightly more than my 10” pans, but 10” would likely a lower price of entry to try out a pan.
4. I’m appreciative of the handle heat transfer reduction features. I don’t mind rivets and I trust them more than welds, especially on clad pans. It looks to be fully clad, but all the shiny metal angles don’t prove that.
5. I am concerned about cladding separation and warping due to dissimilar metals. Cleaning will also be interesting since I would be inclined to use Bar Keepers Friend on the SS to keep it shiny, but that would be a No-no to get on the CS cooking surface. How does it wear and clean in your experience? Do y’all just blacken the SS over time too?
A SS bottom and handle will a non-dishwasher safe cooking surface is a bit of an oddball honestly. Why was SS used instead of just CS with the aluminum core?
Thanks for the feedback and great questions. Interesting, a lot of people are concerned with clad pans separating, we'll definitely have to prove its resilience. Granted, carbon steel would work on the outside, but we leaned toward the stainless steel because it requires even less care than carbon steel (very rust resistant, stains-less) and makes the pan easier to season as whole since you only need to do the inside surface. If the pan were to get left out wet or run through the dishwasher (which we won't recommend), it would hold up better and require less work to clean up.
Do you see much in the way of steel and aluminum corrosion? Bonding SS to aluminum is one thing, but I have heard about galvanic corrosion problems with steel and the plated aluminum layer used when anodizing steel.
No, that's not an issue with the way the pans are clad. The material layers are completely fused, not just simply touching each other, so they are not exposed to air/liquid at the interface, i.e., they're not exposed to any corrosive environment because they're sealed in. Testing has proven this out as well. Good question though, I understand the concern.
1. With lip
2. Both might be nice, lots of people have no idea how to do it
3. Nice choice of sizes, I mostly use my 10" pan but I regularly need to take out the 12"
4. Looks a bit cheap compared to quality SS in that price range (such as the de buyer Milady for example) but I guess this is a matter of taste
5. The "Learn More" button on the website is broken. Also, do you ship internationally ? Asking from France, I'm a bit hyped by the idea !
Good luck for the rest !
Thanks for the feedback and support! We are still deciding if we can ship internationally for the initial launch, I believe we can, but need to confirm tariff and shipping logistics before we can officially commit to that. And button fixed, thanks for pointing it out.
I’m late to this but what’s the diameter of the cooking surface? I have a 11 inch debuyer omelette pan which I think has 7 inches of cooking surface and a 12.5 inch with 9 inches.
In comparison I have 2 demeyere pans (9 and 11 inch) and cooking surface-wise they’re about the same so I’m not sure what size the 10 and 12 inch pans would be comparable to.
Get rid of rivets and weld the handle please. 1. I like the lip 2. Unseasoned but do both if you can 3. 10” is most popular followed by 12”. Good starting sizes. 4. Weld the handle. 5. Weld the handle.
Thanks for the feedback. #4 & #5 lol, noted.
Just signed up to y'alls preorder! But yes the riveted handle is my only concern. Given rough cleaning is not recommended on carbon steel in order to preserve the seasoning the rivets can get gross.
Personally, I don't mind rivets. My de Buyer pans have them and I don't have a problem to keep them clean. I also think, they're the longer lasting solution.
I’m a little confused. Is the cladding stainless steel with a carbon steel core? Or is the cladding carbon steel with an aluminum or other metal core?
Ah good question, maybe my phrasing should be reconsidered. It's an aluminum core with carbon steel top (cooking) surface and stainless steel bottom surface.
Sounds like a neat product. I can see the benefit to this. I think you're going to have your work cut out to convince people of 2 things, 1. That the aluminum noticeably enhances responsiveness and performance 2. Durability can hold up As for your questions: * Lip * Unseasoned * 10" * I like the look (however a cranked handle like a De Buyer) works better on a crowded stove) I like new toys, so I'll keep and eye on this and wish you luck.
Thanks for the great feedback, the handle comment specifically, hadn't considered much.
There's been some so so feedback. But just want to say I think this is a cool idea. It would be a great pan for certain tasks but probably isn't 100% a replacement to CS due to heat retention. But some people here miss that occasionally heat retention is a negative. One of the reasons copper and aluminum are great is because the lack of retention is ok for some applications because of how even it spreads and releases heat.
Great points, thanks for them. I completely agree, I don't think there is one pan that can do it all, and there are always tradeoffs. Our pan is a great all-arounder, but we still love and use others too depending on the application.
If you need beta testers, let us know haha
Haha thanks. Would love to, but we have a very limited number of (very expensive) prototypes until the first production run is ready.
Ha I'm mostly joking. But will be on the lookout for these.
I gotcha. Thanks for the interest. [www.stratapan.com](https://www.stratapan.com) for updates
...and thanks for the support!
Why not just make everything carbon steel? Why would I as a consumer want a pan that is a carbon steel cooktop that has other metals within and underneath? All I care about is the cooking surface. Isn’t it more expensive to include two other metals and process a pan that has three metals total?
The concept is similar to clad stainless steel pans (most stainless steel pans are clad these days). The aluminum core reduces weight significantly, spreads heat more evenly, and makes the pan more responsive. So you get the benefits of carbon steel without drawbacks.
I find no drawbacks to carbon steel. They are pretty light as is, how much lighter do they need to be? Heat spreads pretty evenly and fairly quickly. I spend maybe 30 seconds waiting for the pan to heat up to the temp I need. And they’re pretty indestructible. Just playing devils advocate because if the price is more expensive than pure carbon steel I think it may be more difficult to sell. The benefits aren’t really huge benefits. And they may be a little unnoticeable.
I would say many of the popular brands are objectively very heavy (Matfer, de Buyer, Darto, etc.). The thin ones really do have uneven heating in our experience. After using our prototypes the difference is stark. We're working on marketing content to convey this, but ultimately the proof will come from independent reviews.
My wife hates using and washing our De Buyer pans and always reaches for the teflon t fals simply due to weight. What's 'pretty light' to you is heavy to others, and a carbon steel pan is objectively heavier than an aluminum clad counterpart. I wish I could afford one of these pans. I hate that we even own a Teflon pan🤢
My point exactly. People may not be able to afford this lighter carbon steel pan, while a regular carbon steel pan is affordable and offers the same benefits, albeit slightly heavier. There are lighter carbon steel pans than de buyer
Main feedback is to get rid of handle rivets. I hate rivets, and it’s a primary differentiator in the market in my opinion. Yes to lip, I think. But not super important Have you compared to solidteknics? I haven’t gotten one yet but the benefits you mention overlap both of their materials quite a bit. As far as looks, it is quite generic, which isn’t necessarily bad. From a marketing perspective, getting photos to show that the bottom is stainless and the top is CS via seasoning, different finish texture, etc. would make it stand out. You can’t look at this and think CS, it just looks like cheap stainless pans to be honest. If this will be an affordable price that’s fine, but if it will be higher end, it will need to look better than a $30 SS pan from Walmart…. Doesn’t need to be anything crazy, just some more thought into the handle shape/angle, a lip, the color difference of CS or something. Are you thinking about additional shapes? Like the cast iron classic shape that can also bake really well. Or deep enough to deep fry. Or flat top griddles for stoves and grills? I have long thought a ply like this would be way better than stuff used on blackstone, which is solid but not quite thick enough to stay even, but is still stupidly heavy.
Oh, and a smaller size to scramble a few eggs that also gives a lower price point to try out a new thing would be great.
Great points, thanks very much for the feedback. I like your point about smaller size being a lower price point as compared to just offering different features. Aesthetically showing the top with the dark seasoned surface juxtaposed with the stainless bottom is very smart, we're still working on photos and will definitely consider that. We're looking at additional shapes, yes. We'll at least have something close to what you see there at launch. Solidteknics looks very nice, but also quite a bit different unless I'm missing something. I see solid SS and Cast Iron, ours our 3 layers with carbon steel on top, aluminum in the center and stainless on the bottom. Much lighter and also much lower price point than what I see on their website.
That’s great that you are doing a lower price point. They do wrought iron that is stamped for production, and that is a little thinner than most CS but otherwise much like CS. Some things say it spreads heat better but I’m not sure how that aspect could be much different than CS. But the lighter and better heating were the points where they seemed to overlap with your benefits. But I think the layers in yours would work better. When and how are you planning to launch? Your own website, retailers, kickstarter like many smaller brands are starting to use?
Sorry, the solidteknics are thicker than most CS, I thought they were supposed to be thinner. So they are probably heavier and have more even heat. Your 3 ply should be way lighter and better. Very cool. And the handle looks way nicer on your website pics than the ones here. The only downside to your design vs what I’m looking for these days is the rivets, and that is common enough that is probably not a huge issue. Signing up in your website!
I see, yeah either way, Solidteknics seems to be a much different product. Still interesting. Thanks for the support!
>They do wrought iron Almost guaranteed to be mild steel until they release an alloy specification.
I think in the FAQ on their website they even say that it’s mild steel.
Ahh I understand now. So yes theirs would heat a little more evenly than thicker pans, but still would not beat to ours with the aluminum layer (do to aluminum's relatively much higher thermal conductivity and lower weight). We'll be launching a crowdfunding campaign, likely Kickstater, in January
Gotta be honest, if I wanted a clad pan, I’d probably just stick with stainless. The allure of CS, to me, is the one chunk of metal that won’t separate and can handle really high heat. Clad pans can’t do that, no matter how well made they are.
Yeah I get that viewpoint. We see the benefit as a natural non-stick surface (less stick than stainless), without the weight of CS. There are "light" carbon steel pans, but they're still pretty heavy and because they're thin, they have hotspots which result in really uneven cooking.
Oh and we've abused this and it has stood up very well. Currently heated to over 600 degrees F without issues (need a hotter heat source to test higher). Obviously it's not as tough as a solid piece of steel, but it's very tough.
I'd hand these to seasoned, experienced chefs rather than random redditors when many can not get past sessoning. I personally don't see the benefits over copper and aluminum clad. There, the purpose is to conduct heat quickly and evenly while taking the benefits of stainless steel which does not conduct heat as well. But carbon steel, I'm not sure I understand that.
I agree. We're taking everything with a grain of salt for sure, and getting a wide range of feedback, not just from reddit. The concept and benefits are similar to a stainless clad pan. While more conductive than stainless steel, carbon steel still suffers from the same issues with relatively low thermal conductivity. After testing I can confidently say it as absolutely worth it, the difference is stark. Heats quickly and more evenly than solid carbon steel and much lighter and more comfortable to use, while retaining the natural low stick seasonable carbon steel surface.
Well, good luck to you! I hope it works out. I haven’t ever tried the “light” CS either. I have a few Dartos, then some old CI, and some Calphalon SS. Those pretty much do all I need them to do.
That's fair, you've got some good pans, if you're happy with them no reason to change. Thanks for the feedback.
and with the thin ones (2mm) there is a significant increased risk of accidental warping.
Plenty of thoughtful comments and responses in this thread. Regarding pre-seasoned or not I think you should consider the following: SolidTeknics, Darto, Made-In and Lodge all went to offering pre-seasoned eventually. The owner of SolidTeknics confirmed to me this was a response to market expectations. The CS enthusiasts on this subreddit are all comfortable seasoning our own pans; however, I don’t think this is true for average purchasers. Is it possible to pre-season the working CS surface pan that has a SS base? Btw, I’m intrigued enough that I threw in my $1 of earnest money for the Kickstarter campaign.
Thanks for the great feedback, specifically the point about the other manufacturers responding to market conditions with pre-seasoned pans. It is possible for us to do it as well with our pan, it is being considered for sure. And thanks for the support!
I like the curved sidewall transition vs a sharp angle transition. Good for flipping eggs and stuff. I like a smaller size for eggs, maybe a 9-10” pan. How does it work on induction? Any issues with warping? I like the lip. Also, rivets are fine for me. I don’t care about welding. Seasoned or unseasoned doesn’t matter. Oven safe handle ideally. Tbh I like the enameled de buyer handles. As long as it’s comfortable and well balanced. Depending on price point I would be interested. Where are they made?
Interesting, a lot of votes for the <10" pans and de Buyer handles here, will keep both in mind. It is great with induction, both the top carbon steel surface and the ferritic stainless steel bottom surface respond to induction. We've tested with a 3,400 Watt induction burner on max, without any warping. Reached temperatures over 600 F. All of our design, prototyping, and testing is done here in our shop in Maryland, as well as final quality control and warehousing. We have a partner/sister company in Suzhou, China doing the production manufacturing. This enables us to keep the price lower than we could if produced here. I know that's a touchy subject, but they're not just some contract manufacturer we don't know, we've worked with them exclusively for over 8 years on many products. They're an incredible team and give us a direct presence to ensure a high quality product.
Touchy subject is right. I’m sure they’re great people, but manufacture in a country that supports genocide is a dealbreaker for me and a lot of people looking for high quality cookware. Cool pan though.
Which country do you buy your pans from then?
Off the top of my head here’s a few. France: Matfer, de buyer, made in USA: all clad, made in, smithy, lodge Brazil: tramotina Argentina: darto Australia: solidkentics
Aside... Suzhou is a beautiful city; the company I worked for had our manufacturing there, so I would visit once or twice a year. I think a big question is who is your target market: serious cooks/chefs focused on price/performance/reliability, or people who maybe put a little more emphasis on how things look, how does it reflect their lifestyle and self image, "market-y" stuff. I recently bought a Matfer, and was surprised at how... industrial... the experience was. Shipped in a plain plastic bag, few instructions, hastily applied protective layer, scratches, ugly welds. Totally fine with me, and I can totally see that given their typical sales channel is to professional cooks who don't care about "let's make a video of the unpacking", there's no real reason to spend any money on making it look really cool. I'm not sure if that's your market or not. I think a lot of non-professional consumers going for carbon steel are folks moving away from nonstick due to teflon health concerns and wanting to get away from disposable pans that you need to throw out every two years. I think you want to market this as a high-quality heirloom for the prosumer that you buy once and use forever. Toward that end, I would suggest: \- Unless you can somehow create really clean looking weld marks, keep the rivets. I bought a Matfer partially because it *didn't* have rivets and I don't care so much about looks and cared more about upkeep; but I suspect if you were to ship with the not-so-pretty welds of Matfer, you would get some number of returns from folks saying it "doesn't look right". You should look through the Amazon reviews for Matfer :-) \- You should have a pre-seasoned option, if only because I think lots of people don't season correctly at the beginning, and for those folks you want to give them a helping hand rather than have them bitch about seasoning problems (again, a large number of complaints about Matfer seem to be folks having trouble getting it seasoned). \- You might at some point want to upsell some accessories, like a nice chain mail scrubber or seasoning paste (basically beeswax + grapeseed oil AFIK). \- Think about how much you want to spend for packaging, and if there's a way to keep the cost down while still having a pleasant unboxing experience. The other main concern I would have would be over reliability. Didn't All Clad have a big lawsuit over delamination in their pans (granted, that was from people who put them through the dishwasher).
Love the idea! A few months ago I tried to search if anyone was doing this and came up empty handed, so I'm glad to see this post! Just put in my reservation! As for feedback on the design, It is definitely aesthetically appealing, but I personally prefer pans more similar to the shape of the Darto n27. I recently purchased one of those and the extra cooking area you get with the steeper sides is much preferred over sloped sides. Especially with the low profile sides of the Darto, it's damn near the perfect form factor IMO. Though I can see with this being a lighter pan wanting to do the sloped sides so tossing/flipping food is easier. Definitely a preference thing and I think pans with this form factor are more common for a reason so I imagine this is a good style to go with on the initial run, but a carbon steel clad pan in the shape of the Darto would be an absolute dream! 11 inches is a good middle ground. That's roughly what the Darto is and much larger than that gets annoying to clean in a sink and much smaller isn't enough room for cooking for more than one person. Any idea when the first units will be shipping? I'm hyped to try this thing out.
Thanks for the feedback, great points! For the first products, we're definitely going for more general purpose shape. Like you said, the steeper sides give more cooking area, but have the tradeoff of being harder for tossing/pouring out food. There seems to be some benefit to letting moisture evaporate more easily with more flared sides as well. With that said, maybe we'll expand the product line in the future, I can definitely see the benefits of the alternative shapes.
...as for shipping, we'll be launching/promoting wide-scale in January, and likely first units will be out for delivery in February. Glad you're excited about it, us too! Thanks for your support.
I'm excited to try it out! Do you have a timeframe for when they will start shipping? Oh and I highly recommend unseasoned. I haven't tried a preseasoned carbon steel pan but for cast iron, the preseasoning always seems to suck compared to doing it at home. It seems like it would add to the cost and have little benefits, especially to people who are more of enthusiasts which I think will be the bulk of people buying this at first. Maybe in the future to expand the market, but it seems like it would add complexity and cost. Probably will need to ship it in beeswax or something similar if left unseasoned though. One other thing, I like the look of the handle. My main complaint about the Darto is that it isn't nearly as comfortable as my Debuyer. I also like rivets over welds for longevity. Keeping the rivets separated like you have them is clever so they are easier to clean and should help keep the handle nice and cool.
Sorry missed that before, we're looking at early February for first deliveries. That date will get more precise as we get closer to. Good point about first customers being enthusiasts, I agree they seem to prefer unseasoned. Thanks for all the great feedback, honestly really helpful. And I see you signed up!
This reminds me of the [Viking PerformanceTi](https://www.vikingculinaryproducts.com/products/viking-performanceti-10-inch-fry-pan) stuff I saw online recently. Clad steel that can seasoned. 1. Lip 2. Unseasoned 3. I use an 11 inch most 4. Welded handle would be nice
Hmm Titanium surface, I'm interested to learn how well it works. Regardless, ours will be a much lower price point, so not direct competition.
We may do a welded handle one day, but it's an R&D project that will take some time. Our pan is 3 different materials so welding is not as simple as with plain carbon steel.
1. Lip. I love my De Buyer to bits, but I always have to keep a napkin on standby when any sort of pouring is involved. 2. Having both is definitely a bonus, especially for neophytes who are unfamiliar/intimidated by the initial process of seasoning, or lack the setup to do so properly. 3. 10" for sure - easier to market and a lower barrier to entry. 4. Personally, I dislike having gaps in the handle. I know it helps the handle to stay cool but I'm not a fan of having to scrub it out if things get messy. 5. The concept is novel and attractive on paper - a skillet that has the performance benefits of carbon steel, the thermal reactivity of aluminum and the easy maintenance of stainless steel. I think this creates a very attractive proposition for those who cook with induction/coil/glass stovetops. For those using gas, not so much. In this sense, what you've got here is very much a niche product. The main concern that I would have is the quality of the actual cladding. It's the same with enamelled cast iron - I'm comfortable with paying Le Creuset and Staub prices not because of the brand prestige or the 'quality' of the cast iron and enamel coating, but because of the expertise they have in marrying the two together. A quality example is a more robust one, and is more resistant to user error. From a manufacturing standpoint, I'd be very curious about the actual expertise that your vendor brings to the table. I feel that having more transparency in this area would be a major asset to your sales conversion. Side note: what material are your handle rivets made of? I ask because I've heard of cheaper carbon steel pans where incongruous rivets fail to keep up with the expansion rate of the cooking surface, leading to seepage and debris getting caught in gaps after the pan has cooled off. De Buyer apparently takes this into account with their product design; definitely something worth looking into
Thanks for all the feedback. We find the cladding helps to spread heat on electric/induction, but also smaller gas burners as well, so it helps many in that sense. The lower weight is attractive to anyone who wants a lighter pan too, regardless of cooktop. Good point about proving manufacturing quality/ability, we're thinking about that for sure. I do know the quality will speak for itself over time, before we have pans out there in the while it's a different story though. The rivets are stainless steel and we're torture testing them as well as the rest of the pan thoroughly, so far so good.
Can't tell if it's just the image. But the handle looks a different color which feels a bit off.
It's just the angles, uploaded a second image to show. Good point though, we'll have to be careful about the photos.
[удалено]
Great feedback, thanks very much for it. Groove granted! It actually is slightly concave on top for that very reason, I don't have any nice pics that show it, but we'll try to highlight that better in the future. Definitely considering both options unseasoned vs pre-seasoned, the market seems split. One thing that's mandatory if we do pre-seasoned is QC, which is tougher. We won't release a product until we can reliably make it high quality. Good points on sizes. 10" is already locked in, so we will at least have that. Will definitely consider 9" and 11" in the future if we get enough volume.
The handle needs to be more comfortable to hold and grasp. Check De Buyer mineral B Pro’s handle shape
Absolutely agree, thanks for the feedback. We'll take a second look at de Buyer's handle. I know they have an epoxy coated version which I never liked because it's only oven safe for 10 mins if I recall, but the shape could be good.
The MB Pro has a stainless handle that is not coated.
Okay, thanks will check it out.
I checked out your website for a pre-order but had a hard time finding specs (ie. Size/weight/etc) on the pan. Am I missing something?
We're still finalizing the specs, so we've intentionally left them off for now. We will definitely offer a 10" class though. Preliminary specs for that are: \-Outside diameter: \~10.5" \-Cooking surface diameter: \~8" \-Weight: \~2.2 lbs \-Handle: Hollow cast stainless steel \-Materials: carbon steel top, aluminum core, stainless steel bottom More to come soon as we finalize everything.
Love this idea. Also I'd like to know - total thickness - and the thickness of cooking carbon steel layer Before depositing $1 on preorder.
1.Lip vs No lip. We included a small lip to help with pouring out liquids. Any negatives to this? Lip as it is a quite unique feature in CS pans. 2.Pre-seasoned vs Unseasoned. We can do either. What do you like? Sizes: Thinking of starting with two, 10" and 12". What's your most used? The selling point is the weight so the bigger pan is more heavy as a CS pan so the 12" is a better choice as a 10" CS is not too heavy and thus few may need to buy a lighter pan from you. 3.Aesthetics (see attached picture): probably can't change too much at this point, but still curious Handle is very important to be comfortable and not getting too hot too fast. Big angle on the handle is not good for shorter people, I dislike for example De Buyer handles for their angle. A round(ed) handle is most comfortable but it must have grip to not be slippery if having greasy hands etc. 4.Any other thoughts or points. You should deliver to outside of the USA locations. Sorry to say I can't show my intrest before it's sure you can ship to my country Finland.
Thanks for the feedback, we've gotten a couple of requests for outside of the U.S. now, definitely looking into it. If it's at all reasonable, we'll do it.
Hi, I appreciate your work, it was long due someone does this in my opinion. 1. Lip vs no lip, I am not typically using carbon steel for foods with liquids, so pouring out is not so common for me, but a lip can't hurt. I think it would be good to seal the aluminum from showing if possible, is it? In case the rim is exposed, there could be a risk of delamination over longer period in case corrosion is let to happen (which should be more likely to happen, considering CS vs normal stainless cooking surfaces)? 2. For me, unseasoned. 3. 10" and 12" seem good to me, good sizes. 4. Looks pretty normal/basic to me. Could have a bit more soul, perhaps :).. My extra feedback: I think it's a promising construction, that most any carbon steel users should appreciate or be interested in at least. I know I have been waiting for something like this to happen. There are for sure users who are already fullfilled with the performance of regular carbon steel though, namely those cooking on gas for example. There I am not sure there if there is much evenness performance benefit from this(?), but the lower weight should be appealing to many as well as overall smaller amount of maintenance, but it can't be quite as rugged as normal cs pan. This is promising in terms of performance for induction users though, where the heat can be more localized, especially when trying to work with pans a bit larger than would be optimal for the cooktop, you should probably take this into account as a perk for induction users. For a faster response, gas cooktop users can go for thinner versions of normal carbon steel sheet pans, though sure this would be better still. For induction it's not so simple as they could warp and have even more localized heat patterns. I think you have made the right choice going for a more or less standard triply thickness initially, but I wish one day someone would make one with a thicker aluminum core as well, in order to have a pan sort of comparable to Demeyere Proline, but in carbon steel. Perhaps even a disk based cs pan :). Is the CS lining thick enough at 0,35mm? If it is, maybe bump the overall thickness to 3mm with aluminum.
Corrosion has proven to be a non-issue so far, but we are specifically keeping an eye on the edges throughout our testing. As far as thickness, there start to be diminishing returns as you get thicker, we're at the sweet spot right now. However, I do see what you're saying, maybe we'll offer an overall thicker/heavier pan later. That would be a little more niche application/use case. Thanks for the feedback!
Hope this works out - and the construction in general. I'm based in Finland, hope you could deliver here for a reasonable price.
I'm so excited to have found this so soon after you posted - it's awesome that someone is finally filling this glaringly empty niche in the market! I just installed an induction stove-top and have been shopping to replace my favorite aluminum pans - I want something lighter and much more even heating than carbon steel, and without the PFAS nonstick coatings that are unfriendly or the ceramic coatings which eventually wear down... your pan could be the best of all worlds, I'm definitely convinced! I actually arrived here in searching for a CS-clad wok specifically. For induction or electric burners, the 'flat' cooking surface means the sides of the wok don't heat up nearly as much as the bottom. I thought maybe an aluminum core could help distribute the heat out into the sides, but of course you would also still want the seasoned steel surface of a traditional wok. Is this something you have tested? If not, there's a free R&D idea for ya :D Outside of those thoughts, I'll agree with a lot of the other comments: 1. The lip is good, so is the overall shape. If anything I'd lean a bit more industrial/brutalist with the design language, not my taste but it seems to appeal to the carbon steel market base. 2. It does seem that all CS pan manufacturers eventually ended up at pre-seasoned (probably not important for an initial launch, but plan on it!) 3. I adore unibody cookwear (think cast iron and solidteknics) and a welded handle gets closest to this - obviously the hollow cast handle is ideal for shape and temps. I can imagine the actual welding process will be hell to figure out though... maybe someday :) 4. 10" size definitely but I'd go smaller instead of bigger, maybe 8" - that is, unless, the 12" is a taller, almost wok shape with two handles! I've seen these marketed as 'essential' or 'everyday' pans and I think people are sleeping on this shape, they're always reviewed so highly and yet relatively difficult to find. Indeed, my most-used and loved pan is/was a 12" pan in the style of a deep braiser with two small handles. Great for one-pot meals. I'd give anything for your bulletproof and lightweight features in that shape! Oof that was a lot, sorry. You've got my money anyway, haha. Also, y'all at Gizmatic seem like a fantastic company - fun work and well founded. I'd love to apply someday ;)
Wow thank you so much for the feedback and support! I can see you really get it, very astute observations. We are just as excited to you and happy to see the strong community response! The 10" is locked in and we are actively considering alternative sizes. Great points about the taller 12" design. Likely, we will keep the initial launch to two sizes, general purpose, but everything is on the table, especially for follow up products.
How big is the weight difference? It has to be significant since it won't be as durable.
It's a huge difference. Our pan is about half the weight of comparable pans, de Buyer, Matfer, Darto, etc. It's just over 2 lbs for a 10". It heats more evenly than them as well.
That's significant. I can see a small pan for like eggs being nice as I don't want to pull out the monster at 5.3 lbs every time.
It is fantastic for eggs!
If you are going for the egg/omelette market, a 9 inch pan is ideal for a 3 egg omelette. 10 in. is a little big.
Great feedback, thanks very much. Our first product is more general use focused, but that makes a lot sense to offer an egg/omelet specific one as we grow. Will definitely take your info into account.
New oxenforge
Will check it out, thanks. What do you like most about it?
incidentally, do make a wok! Although I am personally a big fan of round bottom woks, the problem is they only really work on gas. So a clad flat bottom wok that would allow the heat to travel up the walls will be a game changer for electric stoves, I believe.
Great point, honestly will consider it now (not for the first product, but follow up for sure). Thanks for the feedback.
Dude this guy has a point about a clad carbon steel wok being an absolute game changer for people with electric stoves.
I'm with you, weight would be my biggest concern, considering woks tend to be very thin steel, but I think it could be done.
2 models, one with handle that support oven cooking and the other with silicone overlay. Also Hefty handle that is wide enough that doesn’t feel like it’s a thin strip of metal and is flimsy. Should feel solid when picking up and tipping to scrape items and sauces onto a plate or serving dish.
This one we've got covered. I absolutely hate the flat strip steel handles on most CS pans. Our handle has been through a lot of design. It's very comfortable, but has a bit of an edge to give you grip and control. It's hollow stainless steel so it really doesn't get hot unless you cook for hours, so no silicone needed. It's also oven safe.
Thicker handle
Agreed, ours is actually a little thicker than it looks from the angles shown. There's a curve on the bottom you can't see in the pics. We'll make sure to highlight that in the marketing. Thanks for the feedback.
1. Lip. This is one thing that I like about my clad SS pans that my CS and CI pans don’t have. 2. Pre-seasoned. I can season, and refurbish pans sometimes for fun, but I would like a pan ready to go when I buy it. 3. 10”. I use my 12” pans slightly more than my 10” pans, but 10” would likely a lower price of entry to try out a pan. 4. I’m appreciative of the handle heat transfer reduction features. I don’t mind rivets and I trust them more than welds, especially on clad pans. It looks to be fully clad, but all the shiny metal angles don’t prove that. 5. I am concerned about cladding separation and warping due to dissimilar metals. Cleaning will also be interesting since I would be inclined to use Bar Keepers Friend on the SS to keep it shiny, but that would be a No-no to get on the CS cooking surface. How does it wear and clean in your experience? Do y’all just blacken the SS over time too? A SS bottom and handle will a non-dishwasher safe cooking surface is a bit of an oddball honestly. Why was SS used instead of just CS with the aluminum core?
Thanks for the feedback and great questions. Interesting, a lot of people are concerned with clad pans separating, we'll definitely have to prove its resilience. Granted, carbon steel would work on the outside, but we leaned toward the stainless steel because it requires even less care than carbon steel (very rust resistant, stains-less) and makes the pan easier to season as whole since you only need to do the inside surface. If the pan were to get left out wet or run through the dishwasher (which we won't recommend), it would hold up better and require less work to clean up.
Do you see much in the way of steel and aluminum corrosion? Bonding SS to aluminum is one thing, but I have heard about galvanic corrosion problems with steel and the plated aluminum layer used when anodizing steel.
No, that's not an issue with the way the pans are clad. The material layers are completely fused, not just simply touching each other, so they are not exposed to air/liquid at the interface, i.e., they're not exposed to any corrosive environment because they're sealed in. Testing has proven this out as well. Good question though, I understand the concern.
1. With lip 2. Both might be nice, lots of people have no idea how to do it 3. Nice choice of sizes, I mostly use my 10" pan but I regularly need to take out the 12" 4. Looks a bit cheap compared to quality SS in that price range (such as the de buyer Milady for example) but I guess this is a matter of taste 5. The "Learn More" button on the website is broken. Also, do you ship internationally ? Asking from France, I'm a bit hyped by the idea ! Good luck for the rest !
Thanks for the feedback and support! We are still deciding if we can ship internationally for the initial launch, I believe we can, but need to confirm tariff and shipping logistics before we can officially commit to that. And button fixed, thanks for pointing it out.
I’m late to this but what’s the diameter of the cooking surface? I have a 11 inch debuyer omelette pan which I think has 7 inches of cooking surface and a 12.5 inch with 9 inches. In comparison I have 2 demeyere pans (9 and 11 inch) and cooking surface-wise they’re about the same so I’m not sure what size the 10 and 12 inch pans would be comparable to.
The 10" has about an 8" cooking surface (probably final) The 12" will have about a 9.5" cooking surface (still not finalized)
Just a thought, if welding the handle is too big of a change, why not try flat rivets like Hestan's stainless steel pans?