> wrote:
> What did your blue steel pans end up looking like after they were fully
> seasoned? Are they now black?

The main one is the big skillet. It is various shades of brown to very black
towards the center inside, where most of the cooking and highest heat is
located (using a cheap gas stove). I've had it for about nine years now.

> The suitability for induction hobs remains a mystery. My Force Blue
> crepe pan definitely says it's suitable for induction, but I don't see
> why the Carbone Plus line wouldn't be also.

I can't see why any of their carbon steel pans wouldn't be suitable for
induction. I do have one 20 year old set of Korean made stainless with
aluminum disk bottoms with another stainless layer over that. All the
stainless on that set is non-magnetic, and would not be suitable. In
contrast, I have a much more recent Sitram pan of very similar design, but
with one big difference. Though the body of the pan (including the inside
bottom) is non-magnetic, the outside bottom layer covering the aluminum disk
is another kind of stainless steel, which is magnetic. It was made that way
explicitly to make it induction capable. I don't think induction cooktops
were around much when my old Korean set was made.

> By the way, how do you remove burned food from your pans? Have you
> used a pumice stone?

Maybe I've never gotten things burned on really really bad... but I use a
Scotchbrite Dobie Pad (plastic) for cleaning most of the time, including the
burned on stuff. On the carbon steel or cast iron pans I have, I'm not
concerned with getting ALL of the burned on stuff off. I just get it down to
a relatively smooth surface. Sometimes I let things soak for a bit in hot
water if it's not coming off quickly enough. On stainless I get out an old
fashioned Brillo steel wool pad once in a while to clean things up, but not
very often.