Similar results at a far lower price point than the more popular nitrided carbon steel pan brands
Once again I find myself buying and reviewing a nitrided carbon steel pan, because all the other “reviews” so far show they got theirs free lol. These pans made by Stackbear are new on the market, let’s see if they do any better than the Misen and American Metalcraft pans I’ve used before.

[WHAT KIND OF COATING DOES THIS PAN USE?]
These Stackbear pans don’t have any kind of coating. There are no toxic things that will flake off into your food. They’re bare metal pans that release food well because of the properties of the nitrided carbon steel (high hardness and smoothness), with help from a little seasoning over time. It’s supposed to be even harder and less sticky than normal carbon steel.

The handle however seems to have a powdercoating or paint, and it’s already flaking off near one of the rivets. The bottle opener on the end of the long handles looks like rough unfinished metal. The outside walls of the pans have a faint ribbed texture, that might make them hard to clean later if food spills or bubbles out.

I get the impression these are made in someone’s garage in India. They feel well-made, and I like the combination of subtle textures throughout, but also have a handmade/prototype vibe.

[WHO IS THIS PAN FOR?]
Sometimes I think these companies read my reviews and work my points into their ad copy and product highlight reels. Which is fine, I’m going to start bringing up beautiful alien babes more often and hope someone out there gets inspired to make sci-fi themed cookware.

While technically nitrided carbon steel pans should be easily usable by anyone because they can take abuse from metal utensils and stay slick, they do still have a nominal learning curve. Keep this in mind if buying these as a gift for your mate who, for example, refuses to change how they cook things. They won’t get any better.

[IS THE PAN EASY TO USE?]
The main complaint I see with these kind of pans is that food still gets stuck. Yes, at first some food may get stuck, but I find this is often because of user inexperience, myself included. Here’s how to use them:

-First let the pan heat up to cooking temperature, without any oil. Once it’s hot enough, add a little avocado oil, or other high-temperature cooking oil, to lightly coat the pan. The pan is ready to cook now.

-You will likely need a lower temp than you’re used to too, so start with medium-low heat and see how that works for you.

-The other half of the prep is you need to let your food reach at least room temperature before throwing it in the pan.

I think what happens is that pre-heating the pan makes the metal expand and fill whatever micro-pores or whatever there may be, making the surface even smoother. If you throw cold or frozen food into the pan, it causes the metal to contract and expand unevenly, which is probably what “grips” the food and causes it to stick.

This would explain why some people can’t even cook an egg in these pans. They don’t pre-heat the brand new pan and then throw a cold egg in there straight out of the fridge, causing the issue. Some foods are just sticky though. Thankfully the pans do clean up easily afterward with just hot water and a scrubby sponge, no matter how burned-on something may be.

And if you’re wondering why one of the promo images shows the pan with tomatoes and lemons in it, it’s because one of the common suggestions out there is to not cook acidic foods in these pans, like tomatoes and lemons, because it strips away seasoning. They’re basically daring you to cook those things, that’s how confident they are their pans work regardless. No, don’t throw battery acid in there, what’s wrong with you.

[COOKING TEST 1]
First thing I notice is how small the bottom is on the 8 inch pan. The pan is less than 8 inches in circumference, and the flat bottom section is significantly less than that. Try to keep it centered on the flames so they don’t flare up the sides.

Anyway, first I heated the pan, added a little oil, and threw a cold egg in there. I could feel the pan trying to release the egg when I pushed it with a spatula, but it stuck in a couple places. One of the pictures shows the ugly aftermath. I used a metal spatula to scrape some of it off and the pan didn’t take any visible damage.

[COOKING TEST 2]
After letting the pan cool, I cleaned it with some water and a scrubby sponge and tried again. This time I heated the pan, added a little butter, and let the egg warm up next to the stove before throwing it in there. And this time everything was fine, nothing stuck.

So what’s going on? Does the butter coat the pan better than oil so it gives better results? Does the temperature of the food going in really matter so much? I think all we can say for sure is what I said before, as good as these pans can be they still have a learning curve. Use lower heat, don’t use cold food and use enough oil/butter to let the food slide and you should be fine.

[OTHER NOTES]
I don’t like the how sharp the angle is between the wall and bottom of the pan, it made the egg harder to flip. By comparison the Misen pan I have has a smooth, gradual slope there and flipping stuff is easy with a quick jerk. I do appreciate the higher walls on the Stackbear pans though.

The long flat handles are also a bit awkward, though they aren’t too bad if you adjust your usual grip. They each come with a grippy silicone sleeve to add some bulk. The 10 inch pan is more awkward to hold than the smaller one simply because of the higher weight on the end, but both are fairly light.

[SHOULD I GET THEM!?]
Considering you get two nitrided carbon steel pans for like $50 less than the cost of the 8 inch Misen, for similar performance, I’d say sure, these pans are pretty good, assuming you get used to their quirks and don’t mind how cramped the 8 inch one feels. I think we’ll be seeing a lot more commpanies trying to make a few bucks by capitalizing on this nitrided carbon steel trend.