The $210 Pan That Alton Brown Is Currently Obsessed With

On his Good Eats show, Alton Brown has always been an advocate for sensibility when it comes to kitchenware. His tirades against uni-tasker tools were practically a staple of the show, and few episodes ever used a tool, pan, pot, or appliance that wasn’t something you’d see in the average American kitchen. So, when he raves about a piece of cookware (and promises it’s not an advertisement), we listen.

On his Instagram this week, Alton held up a pan and declared it the most beautiful one he’d ever seen. The pan in question is a nine-inch carbon steel skillet from Blanc Creatives, a company out of Charlottesville, Virginia (where, in fact, all their pans are made). The made-in-America, design-forward, handcrafted style is as striking as Alton implies, with the details of its making etched into the metal.

Buy Now: Nine-Inch Skillet, $210 from Blanc Creatives

Carbon steel pans are a favorite of chefs because, like cast iron, they are non-stick without a coating, they can take very high heat, and heat quite evenly. However, it’s easier to work with than cast iron, so they are able to make it a bit lighter and more pan-shaped than the severe angles of a cast iron pan.

You can read more about the advantages of cast iron here

The Blanc Creatives pan Alton holds up doesn’t come cheap — it’s $210. But if that’s in your budget, it is awfully tempting, since it comes with a lifetime guarantee, meaning that theoretically that’s the last time you’ll need to buy a pan. It’s also the same pan that Andrew Zimmern declared as his favorite in Food & Wine, and Sam Sifton of the New York Times said put the “amor in amortize.” And with that triumvirate of food dudes recommending it, who wouldn’t stick this straight onto their holiday wish list?

A similar, more budget-friendly option: Lodge 12-Inch Seasoned Carbon Steel Skillet, $50