Well, first use, it was great - totally slippery/nonstick. After that, massive fail, particularly on eggs. I write to them to ask for tips, sharing my frustrations as the eggs stick and cook funny even in a POOL of oil or butter. I’ve had better luck with cheap Airbnb pans than this crap. They proceed to send me ‘tips’ on how to ‘season my pan’ - but it’s nonstick, according to them! ANY pan is ‘nonstick’ once you season it.
I mean, look at this crap! I’m still unsure how it’s even possible to screw up eggs like that, and I make eggs 4-5x/week. How’s that for ‘nonstick’?
Neither Misen nor Madein, but I’ve had good luck ‘nuking’ and re-seasoning my carbon steel skillet. There are a million videos but of course I can’t find the one I followed. I used Bar Keeper’s Friend and a chain mail scrubber to strip it and then beeswax and a 400 degree oven to re-season. There are lots of other methods; some of which look less labor intensive.
Absolutely, for pans not designed to be nonstick, you must season them to make them nonstick…but the issue here is that they are supposedly nonstick to start, that’s the whole selling point.
Rather than toss them I’m now in the process of seasoning them, which I could do with any other (higher quality) pan. I’m done with Misen gear other than the spoontula, which I do like very much.
My carbon steel was nonstick to start. Over time, it became very stick. Since it does not have a special non-stick coating I wondered if it could be restored. I researched and found that this is a common practice. After several (non-consecutive) hours of scrubbing and a few waxing cycles, it is again nonstick. I don’t season after each use.
Edited to add - I thought that your’s became sticky over time but I now see it may have been on second use. If that’s the case it’s a different issue than what I addressed.
They can be a little tricky, but I’ve found 2 things that help - (i) starting with a splash of grapeseed oil (high smoking point) and adding butter, etc after and (ii) using moderate heat (these pans are thin and get really hot really quickly). That said, my visiting daughter used my 8” for fried eggs this am and they looked just like that!
Misen sells them as carbon steel non-stick and they are certainly better than non-seasoned carbon steel. I’m not sure that they will properly season without going through the motions. Eggs are their Achilles heal
Ha!! It’s frustrating, so I might just go back to the chemical nonsticks as they are ACTUALLY NONSTICK
That said, a fully seasoned pan is glorious for many foods, like my grill basket I used last night, all the veggies just slid off…quick and thorough wipe and done!
so true, it’s amazing how much faster and more thorough they heat
Yeah, I should have gone All-Clad also. Bought a 12-in stainless All-Clad for my daughter’s boyfriend…so I guess technically he has better kitchen gear than I do at present, particularly considering the frustrations of this ‘nonstick’ pan I have to season. I don’t see that All-clad has any carbon steel options, but they do have something called G5 Graphite
I agree with this. I owe a Misen stainless steel and a MadeIn carbon and both pans are fine, and do their job (I personally like the lower walled design of the Misen) but they are propped up by marketing and celebrity chef endorsements, which I admittedly also fell for.
The tried and true brands like All Clad, DeBuyer, Mauviel really are buy it for life
Funny, I spent about two hours looking for a new frying pan last night. I looked at Misen, Made In, de Buyer, Hexclad, all sorts of stuff. In the end, I settled for a Tramontina nonstick for eggs, fish, sautes, anything at medium heat or lower. I then got an All Clad D3 for high heat searing.
I really wanted something that was low maintenance, could sear meat, could fry fish and eggs, make tomato sauces, and risotto as well. Unfortunately, that did not exist. Carbon steel came close, but the cleaning and maintenance required seemed like a massive headache. It’s like cast iron except lighter.
Reading reddit now… seems like the pan is relatively new and the bad reviews are just coming out. Some aren’t having this issue - maybe the pans are seasoned more for them.
For the record, I regularly make scrambled duck eggs in my Misen with few problems - maybe a wisp or two that sticks but wipes right off with a paper towel
I’ve been getting tons of ads on social media for Analon N2 carbon steel, also another brand with similar story that it’s non stick and won’t consign you to an early grave with abnormally large breasts for a male.
