today i bought an inexpensive de Buyer crepe pan. it's 2mm thick, 24cm
(9.5") in size, and is induction capable. i really like the results
i'm getting and thought i'd look into other de Buyer carbon steel pans.
i'm bewildered by de Buyer's website, and i haven't found a cook
explanation of their line in English. there appear to be regular
carbon steel pans, and blue steel pans. some pans say they're suitable
for induction, while others don't. from http://www.debuyer.com:

001 "CARBONE PLUS" - Heavy quality steel
002 "FORCE BLUE" - Blue steel, extra-strong quality
003 FORCE BLUE - HACCP collection - Blue steel, extra-strong quality
004 FORCE BLUE**** - Blue steel, extra-strong quality - St. steel
handle
005 "LA LYONNAISE"- Blue steel, strong quality

i guess Carbone Plus isn't blue steel. does that mean it won't work
with induction hobs? if blue steel is just a way to temporarily keep
carbon steel from rusting, will blue steel and non-blue steel
eventually achieve the same seasoning if properly treated? i'm a bit
confused.

Josh

> wrote:
> today i bought an inexpensive de Buyer crepe pan. it's 2mm thick, 24cm
> (9.5") in size, and is induction capable. i really like the results
> i'm getting and thought i'd look into other de Buyer carbon steel pans.
> i'm bewildered by de Buyer's website, and i haven't found a cook
> explanation of their line in English. there appear to be regular
> carbon steel pans, and blue steel pans. some pans say they're suitable
> for induction, while others don't. from http://www.debuyer.com:
>
> 001 "CARBONE PLUS" - Heavy quality steel
> 002 "FORCE BLUE" - Blue steel, extra-strong quality
> 003 FORCE BLUE - HACCP collection - Blue steel, extra-strong quality
> 004 FORCE BLUE**** - Blue steel, extra-strong quality - St. steel
> handle
> 005 "LA LYONNAISE"- Blue steel, strong quality
>
> i guess Carbone Plus isn't blue steel. does that mean it won't work
> with induction hobs? if blue steel is just a way to temporarily keep
> carbon steel from rusting, will blue steel and non-blue steel
> eventually achieve the same seasoning if properly treated? i'm a bit
> confused.

I see they've been fooling with their web site again, and not necessarily
for the better. I've visited it a few times over the years. Now they have
some English descriptions on the main cookware page, but the descriptions of
the individual product lines it basically all French. There used to be
English descriptions there, but they were inconsistent, as if someone had
just done a quickie job throwing the web site together.

I think the best way of looking at their steel lines is view it this way.
There are three lines that have three different thicknesses of metal. They
are from thinnest to thickest: Lyonnaise (1.0 to 1.5 mm), Force Blue (2.0
mm), and Carbone Plus (2.5 to 3 mm). The Lyonnaise and Carbone Plus don't
come with a choice of handles. The middle line, Force Blue, comes in three
choices of handles: Acier Force Blue - standard handles, Force Blue HACCP -
color coded plastic coated handles, and Force Blue **** - stainless steel
tube handles.

The thickness of the Carbone Plus line probably isn't justified except if
you are doing a lot of high heat searing as one would do in a cast iron pan.
Maybe the Lyonnaise is a bit thin and could be more prone to warping if used
a lot with higher heat.

I have a couple of crepe pans (#24) and a large skillet (#30) which I
believe are from the Force Blue line. I also have a small skillet of unknown
size that I use as an omelette pan from the Carbone Plus line. Not that I
needed something that thick and heavy for that use, but it was the right
size for a 2-3 egg omelette and was the only line the store had in that size
at that time.

I haven't really noted any differences in seasoning characteristics. All
three (crepe, skillet, omelette) have seasoned differently, but I believe
that's more due to how I use them than due to the material. I'm pretty sure
the "Force Blue" blueing is of no significance in actually usage.

Interesting on the main steel cookware page at the very end... it says all
heat sources EXCEPT induction! That is mystifying. I thought that basically
any iron or steel pan that had magnetic properties was okay on induction,
meaning the entire steel cookware line would qualify.

wff_ng_6 wrote:

> I haven't really noted any differences in seasoning characteristics.
All
> three (crepe, skillet, omelette) have seasoned differently, but I
believe
> that's more due to how I use them than due to the material. I'm
pretty sure
> the "Force Blue" blueing is of no significance in actually usage.

Thanks for the informative reply. It does make sense to group the
various lines according to pan thickness.

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

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.

Josh

wff_ng_6 wrote:

> I haven't really noted any differences in seasoning characteristics.
All
> three (crepe, skillet, omelette) have seasoned differently, but I
believe
> that's more due to how I use them than due to the material. I'm
pretty sure
> the "Force Blue" blueing is of no significance in actually usage.

Thanks for the informative reply. It does make sense to group the
various lines according to pan thickness.

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

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.

Josh

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

Josh

> 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.

> 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.