Compare Frying Pan
Matfer Bourgeat Black Carbon Steel Pan 11.75 Inch scores higher on safety - here's why.
The most important dimensions, side by side.
Safety Context
Here's what our analysis flagged on the safety front — not to alarm you, but because this is exactly the kind of detail that's hard to find in a spec sheet.
Matfer Bourgeat
No active safety flags in our analysis.
Tramontina
Active Prop 65 warning
California requires this disclosure when a product contains substances on its list — it doesn't mean it's unsafe, but it's worth factoring in for families with young children.
Safety flags affect scores — our V4.2 rubric weights safety at 50% of the overall score. If a product has an active Prop 65 warning, that's reflected in its safety pillar rating above. The comparison above shows exactly where the gap lives.
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Carbon steel is bare iron seasoned with polymerized oil — that's it. There's no synthetic coating between your food and the pan, so nothing can chip, flake, or degrade into what you're cooking. The tradeoff is active maintenance, but the cooking surface itself has no expiration date.
The cooking surface is PTFE — the fluoropolymer used in traditional nonstick. The brand says it's PFOA-free, but no independent lab has verified it's free of all PFAS compounds. PTFE degrades with scratches and high heat over time; replace the pan at the first sign of flaking.
No synthetic coating means there's nothing to certify for PFAS or chemical leaching — the pan is iron and oil. That's a straightforward safety case that doesn't require a lab to verify. No certifications are listed, but none are needed for a bare metal pan.
NSF certification covers commercial food-service sanitation standards, not whether the coating releases harmful compounds during cooking. It doesn't tell you whether this PTFE surface leaches PFAS under normal use. For families focused on material safety, NSF doesn't answer that question.
Matfer Bourgeat doesn't specify what oil is used to season this pan from the factory. That matters if you have a seed oil sensitivity or prefer a specific fat for the initial cure. You'll likely want to strip and re-season it yourself before first use anyway.
PTFE nonstick pans don't require seasoning, so no oil type applies here. There's no publicly available data on the manufacturing process or conditioning treatments used.
Rated to 600°F, so you can start a sear on the stovetop and finish in a hot oven without switching pans. That covers steaks, frittatas, cornbread, and any recipe that needs high oven heat. The pan itself won't be your limiting factor.
Oven-safe to 400°F covers most everyday finishing tasks — frittatas, seared proteins, roasted vegetables. Pushing above 400°F accelerates PTFE degradation, so staying under that limit extends the coating's life. High-heat broiling or pizza-style baking isn't a fit for this pan.
Works on induction cooktops — no adapter needed. Carbon steel is naturally magnetic, so compatibility is reliable across all induction surfaces.
This pan doesn't work on induction cooktops. If you have induction, skip it entirely — check your cooktop type before buying.
At 11.75 inches, you've got enough room for two chicken breasts side by side or a full portion of vegetables without crowding. It handles two servings comfortably; feeding four will require cooking in batches.
The 12-inch total diameter includes flared sides; the flat cooking surface measures 9.5 inches. That's workable for one or two portions but tight for family-sized meals. Plan on multiple batches for anything feeding more than two people.
Out of the box, this pan needs several seasoning cycles before it performs well — expect sticky spots and uneven release for the first few weeks of use. Once established, maintenance becomes a quick wipe and light oil after each wash. The initial break-in period is the hardest part; it gets easier.
No seasoning required — standard for PTFE nonstick. You wash it and cook. That's a real advantage over cast iron or carbon steel, which need regular maintenance to stay functional.
This pan can't go in the dishwasher — water and detergent strip the seasoning and cause rust. Hand-wash with hot water, dry it immediately, and apply a thin layer of oil before storing. That's the routine every time.
Fully dishwasher safe — toss it in after dinner and you're done. Repeated dishwasher cycles do accelerate nonstick coating wear over time, so hand-washing extends the pan's life if longevity matters to you.
One year of warranty coverage is short for a pan built to last decades. Most quality carbon steel pans are warrantied for life. If something goes wrong after year one, you're on your own.
A lifetime warranty at $34.95 is strong for this price point. Read the exclusions carefully — most lifetime warranties carve out misuse, improper care, and commercial use, so normal home cooking should be covered.
The handle is a solid piece of iron — it gets hot on the stovetop and stays hot. You'll need an oven mitt or silicone handle cover every time, without exception. Keep that in mind if you have young kids in the kitchen.
The handle is designed to stay cool on the stovetop, per the brand's claim. No independent verification exists, but long handles on skillets generally stay manageable under normal stovetop use.
Everything you need to make the call — who each one is for, and who should skip it.
Go for it if you...
You cook on induction and want a pan that handles any heat level, including full-blast searing.
You're already comfortable with cast iron maintenance and want something lighter that heats and cools faster.
You cook proteins like steak or duck breast that benefit from a screaming-hot, dry pan with no nonstick coating to damage.
You want a pan with no coating to wear out — once seasoned, carbon steel is the cooking surface, not a layer on top of it.
You cook eggs, pancakes, or delicate fish on low-to-medium heat and want effortless food release.
You want a dishwasher-safe nonstick pan — this one handles machine washing, which saves time compared to hand-washing cast iron or carbon steel.
You're buying a budget workhorse and plan to replace it in a few years rather than own it long-term.
You need a second pan for a specific task and don't want to spend more than $35.
The main thing to know
Carbon steel needs to be seasoned before first use and re-seasoned whenever food starts sticking — it won't go in the dishwasher, and it won't perform well until the coating builds up over several cooks.
This pan uses a PTFE nonstick coating. Replace it at the first sign of scratching, and keep heat low-to-medium — PTFE breaks down above 500°F and should never be preheated empty.
Skip this if you...
You want a pan that's ready to cook on day one — carbon steel requires an active break-in process before it performs.
You need dishwasher-safe cookware or don't want to hand-dry immediately after washing.
You want lab-verified PFAS-free cookware — no independent testing confirms this pan is free of surface contaminants.
You cook mostly quick weeknight meals and don't want to think about re-seasoning when the surface starts looking dry.
You want a coating independently tested and verified PFAS-free — no third-party lab results are published for this pan.
You cook on induction or regularly use your oven above 400°F — this pan's heat versatility is limited.
You sear proteins or cook at high heat — PTFE coatings aren't built for that and degrade faster under those conditions.
Neither of these quite what you're looking for?
I've reviewed all Frying Pan options at every price pointEvery Frying Pan in our database is scored using R3's V4.2 deterministic rubric — the same inputs always produce the same score. For this comparison, we evaluated Matfer Bourgeat and Tramontina across 3 independent criteria: Safety (50%), Efficacy (25%), Usability (25%). No sponsored rankings. No paid placements.
Straight answers — no sponsored content, no filler.
I'd start with Matfer Bourgeat Matfer Bourgeat Black Carbon Steel Pan 11.75 Inch - it scored 6.9/10 overall in our V4.2 rubric. Safety carries 50% of our scoring weight, followed by performance (20%), usability (20%), and value (10%). Check which pillar matters most to your family and compare those specific scores.
We use our V4.2 deterministic rubric with four weighted pillars: Safety (50%), Efficacy (20%), Usability (20%), and Value (10%). Every score is reproducible - the same product data produces the same score. Each product is evaluated across multiple criteria within each pillar.
Not necessarily. The overall score reflects our weighted rubric, but your priorities may differ. If you care most about safety, compare the safety scores directly. If budget drives your decision, the value scores and prices tell a clearer story. The "right" pick is the one that matches what matters most to your family.
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