On 7/1/2014 2:40 PM, Terrence Crimmins wrote:
> Carbon steel pans. Fascinating. It seems, from the discussion, that they have advantages and disadvantages. Maybe they're like a cross between a wok and cast iron.
>
> Does anyone remember carbon steel knives? I used to buy them because they could be sharpened with a steel, unlike stainless steel.
>
> As for eggs, I think the pan flipping method makes them rather greasy. I prefer to have them on a more lightly buttered flat surface which, unfortunately, is hard to produce in a normal kitchen, so I only have them if I'm out for breakfast.
>

I'll flip eggs and other things mostly because I'm too lazy to dig a
spatula out of the drawer or sometimes when there's no proper spatula
available. I think that you're right about greasy eggs. I like to use a
lot of oil when frying eggs. I've become fearless in this regard. It's
very liberating.

> I remember years ago, when I was in the biz, as they say, watching Italian sous chefs flipping chicken cacciatore etc. in the pan. That is much easier to do on the old cast iron gas stoves with a marvelous flat surface of heat than in a standard domestic kitchen.
>

With the new glass tops, you have to lift the pan off the surface to
flip. That's a drag. Let me tell you, I miss the sound of the bottom of
the pan scraping the burner element. It was a very satisfying sound.