They Finally Made the PERFECT Pan (Or Did They?)

i tried seasoning steel, it stick as f... it's burned food.

mirror polished stainless steel is wonderfull.

Indeed it is a clever design. The negatives apply equally to carbon steel pans, and even cast iron.

I knew you’d come to the comments, good boy

why Strata was visualized heated only to 160/150 and the others to even 450 degrees? If after 2 minutes it heats up only to 150/160, then it's a trash🚮

Great summary. I learned a lot.
It's a tempting purchase if for nothing other than fish.
(I'm pretty adept with stainless, but my track record of searing fish without sticking OR overcooking is spotty.)
And I have no trouble maintaining a seasoned CS wok.

I see no reason to give up my all clad D3. Nice to see people trying to bring new products though.

I was a backer of Strata on Kickstarter. I bought a 10". I have a nice cast iron pan I love, but it is incredibly heavy. The cast iron is awesome for searing a steak. The Strata is for when I normally would use a nonstick pan. It heats evenly (most nonstick is thin, and has a pronounced hotspot, or is really expensive and since the Teflon coating will die in a couple years, is not a wise purchase.), is light, and that loses heat quickly, I find as a plus, it responds quickly when I change the burner temp, unlike thicker cast iron or carbon steel only pans. If you can cook with stainless, you will catch on to Strata very quickly. I like it so well, decided to also buy there smaller pan, It is I believe 8.5"... looking forward to it for omelet making. No more having to throw away a Teflon pan every two years. I really think stainless, cast iron and the Strata all have earned their place in our kitchen. With those in a couple select sizes, not much we cannot do perfectly.

Unfortunately overpriced. They make it in china and charge more than the established brands made in europe. This pumps their profit margins to the point where they are fleecing the consumer.

Rivets inside the pan. Instant no from me,i ain't cleaning around those MFs.

There’s no such thing as a perfect pan, they all have their pros and cons, you just need to understand what yours are and allow for them when using them. Personally I have two frying pans, one non stick if I’m doing something that will strip the seasoning off, and one carbon steel debuyer mineral B carbon steel pan that I use for frying eggs, meat etc. my saucepans are all non stick but these are only ever used for boiling and simmering.

I am not convinced enough to try it.

Why is heat retention a good thing? Thermal inertia is a poor substitute for even heating. Thermal inertia tries to mimic even heating by simply not letting any part of the pan change temperature quickly. This makes the whole pan slow to react. What you really want is a pan that quickly and evenly changes temperature with the control knob on the stove. Heat retention is only ideal when you have a stove that needs to cycle on and off to achieve low temps.

Nice concept. If it weren't made in China I'd buy it.

Here we go again.

It’s not non stick if you have to use oil…

What about Mauviel copper core pans?

Love my 12" Strata, I give it a 10/10! It's easily my favorite pan, and I haven't touched my nonstick pans, cast iron pans, or stainless steel pans since I bought it (except to cook a tomato sauce).

All the so called "Carbon Steel" stamped pans are cheap shit that cost next to nothing to make.
THRESHOLD FACT: ALL steel is carbon steel. There is no Steel that isn't carbon steel.
Stainless has chromium in it,
Super alloys like inconel monel metal hastalloy etc., have nickel in them ( among other things)
The phrase "carbon steel" IS pure marketing bullshit to bamboozle you into thinking you are getting something nice or special.
It's not it's probably A 36 Steel the cheapest and most plentiful steel on the planet. The pans are stamped and the nicest thing about them is the handle. They are a waste of money, not because they are no good, but because not one made anywhere by anyone is worth more than $12.00 retail.

I have gotten a Star-Gazer pan,I dont think its heavy,buy my 12 lodge is right to it,I happily cook on both,rinse with hot water after cook with scrub brush

Made in China? That's all I need to know.

That was a ton of oil/butter. If the SS was used correctly, there is no way it should have stuck.

I would like to see its performance on an induction cook top.

an infrared camera really would go a long way here, and some standardisation with your stove when comparing it with other pans

There is a Black Friday sale currently. 12.5" pan is now $126.65.

The low heat on the sides isn't a bad thing. That's a good thing. Sometimes you don't want something to cook as fast as something and to gradually get hotter rather than it be hot everywhere. ie maybe butter or garlic. Because garlic burns quickly and butter just becomes a disaster if overcooked. So you kinda have it go on less hot areas. So yeah, overall this isn't much better than an Allclad Stainless steel pan.

Black Friday sale is going on now: 15% off

I was one of those who crowd funded Strata. When they finally showed up, 2 of my 3 kids snatched them up (my son being a creative cook). I've carefully keep track of their satisfaction and can report their approval. I appreciate your well documented and reasoned reviews. Please keep up the great work.

I have heard the Heston non-stick is guaranteed for life including normal wear and tear. That sounds too good to be true. What have you heard about the Heston lifetime guarantee for nonstick?

Here I am thinking cast iron was supposed to heat MORE evenly.

I cook and clean dishes everyday though I don't particularly enjoy either. I enjoy my regular full time non-kitchen related job a lot more. I've learned to cook in stainless steel pans without sticking and feel it's all I need. I've never used carbon steel or cast iron, as I don't enjoy cooking or cleaning their needs for immediate washing, cleaning and seasoning keep me away, I know I'd just ruin them or ignore them to rust.

Just go with stainless

heat retention isnt always good ya know

Just learn how to use cast-iron properly. Done!

I get a warning on the strata site that it may contain elements that could impact my security.

I'd rather have this than Hexclad. In any case, I'm quite happy with my carbon steel pans.

Would like to see a heavier seasoning test. Innovative product

Hands down best review I have seen of this pan!. That said I rarely need carbon steel since I have learned to use stainless steel as you have demonstrated in your video. When I do need carbon steel ( fish and stir-fry) I simply use a 1/8" thick heat spreader/diffuser which gives me most of the benefits and I can use it with different pans. I prefer responsiveness to heat-retention but if you are so inclined, heat-spreaders can also be used to resolve your heat-retention issues(which to me is only meaningful if you have under-powered burners)

$109 for the small 8". Way overpriced a carbon steel pan should literally cost $5.

If you have an induction cook top, the heat retention shouldn't be an issue. The heat is instant, and the heat range is barely hot to nuke with the touch of a button. In other words, induction can simulate high, medium, or low heat retention effortlessly.

You lost me at "made in china"

What is this stove?
Are there 2 12 inch burners?

I love my Strata pan. The lack of heat retention actually makes it perfect as an egg pan. I can even do a french omelette on it with my crappy electric glass stovetop -- a task that's much much more difficult on regular carbon steel or stainless steel pans. A french omelette needs to be cooked without browning, which means you need the pan to be more responsive. A regular carbon steel or cast iron pan retains too much heat which can overcook the eggs. A stainless steel pan requires a higher temperature in order to get the leidenfrost non-stick effect.

So you'd want this pan specifically for food that benefits from a nonstick surface AND a quick to heat up and responsive surface? So basically it's an egg pan lol. A little expensive for my blood I gotta say, especially when you can get extremely high quality all clad cookware used for a song.

Some interesting info that I posted somewhere else too.
Heat retention is usually based on mass, more than pan material.
Interestingly, carbon steel as a material actually retains heat better than cast iron. Also, cast iron transfers heat better than carbon steel.
This is a paradox for most people, but this is the reason why cast iron skillets are made thick and carbon steel pans work well being made a bit thinner.
Due to the material and the thickness, cast iron transfers and retains heat very well.
Carbon steel can be made thick (2,5-3mm) like deBuyer Mineral B or thinner like deBuyer Blue (1-2mm). Thicker steel is comparable to cast iron. While still being usually thinner than cast iron the heat retention is very high and comparable. Being thinner makes also sure the material transfers heat very well. Still, at 2-2,5mm thickness, a carbon steel pan is no featherweight.
A thicker pan can deliver high initial stored heat and easier to control constant even heat. Baking bread, roasting big birds, searing steaks, making crepes/ tortillas and so on benefit of this.
Thinner steel pans are lighter with higher walls. Stir-frying and sauteing work very well. High end Woks are usually made on the thinner side (1,5mm). Thinner pans season quicker too.
Unlike cast iron that can take many different and unique shapes, carbon steel usually has the typical pan shape, unless handforged. When handforged unique shapes are possible but the purchase cost will be substancially higher.
My recommendations:
- The ideal cast iron skillet is a thick bottomed pan with thinner and high walls (around 2 inches, 5cm). Heavy but not unnecessary heavy: for convenience and quicker seasoning, while still performing as it should. In the market, I only find some of the old antique cast irons filling this caracteristics, but also a newer one called Field Company.
- The ideal carbon steel pan is a versatile pan.Thick enough to store heat and be warp resistant but also thin enough to react to temperature changes when cooking more delicate foods. High enough walls to be versatile enough to cook a range of many different things.
Lyonnaise shape is ideal: around 2 inches (5cm) high walls.
Thick bottom, 2-2,5mm. Important that the bottom is thick enough for good performance.
Thinner sides around 1,5-2mm. This takes a considerable amount of unnecessary weight from the pan.
Pans that are spinned instead of pressed usually have thinner side walls compared to the bottom. Handforging is also an option.
The brand that I highly recommend is Alex Pole from the UK. Skottsberg, concretely the 28cm version is also great. But there are also other options, including handforged pans that meet this criteria in the US and Europe.

Thorough and reasonably objective reviews

Summit Japan is very good pans to

When are you going to check out the new Ti coated non-stick pan?

I bought a 12" Strata pan about a month ago from their website when they had 40% off for the pans with minor cosmetic imperfections. Mine came with no imperfections that I could notice and at about $90 total this was a fair price for this pan. I didn't like it that much at first because despite three rounds of seasoning per instructions it was still somewhat sticky. Ok, I continued cooking with it anyway and basically after every wash (just hand wash with mild soap and water) I give it a quick seasoning round, e.g. dry it with a towel, put it on a stove to heat up to about 400F, apply whatever fat I feel like (ghee, beef tallow, lard or grape seed oil), wipe it almost dry and let it smoke a little bit. This method reproduces regular frequent cooking. I don't know, was it because of my seasoning technique or because I've learned to manage temperature for this skillet better, but it is much more nonstick now. Overall I like it a lot, it is easy to lift with my left hand, has a very good shape for spatula use, handle is ergonomic and doesn't get too hot. It is a beautiful pan too, with my maintenance routine carbon steel inside is shiny and of a rich dark bronze color. I reach for this pan more often than for carbon steel Matfer. Still, for the sous vide steak, nothing beats good old cast iron Lodge that leaves grill marks.