Made In’s Carbon Steel Pan Is the Best of Nonstick and Cast Iron Combined

Irvin Lin

Tue, April 21, 2026 at 12:00 AM UTC

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Chicken Made In Carbon Steel Skillet. — Credit: Irvin Lin

I have a bit of a pack-rat habit of accumulating cookware, despite really only reaching for three or four pieces for 90% of my cooking. Like other folks at The Kitchn, I’m a fan of Made In cookware , which is a direct-to-consumer professional-grade cookware company with roots in the restaurant industry. One of my go-to pans is its 10-inch sauté pan , which I like so much I own it in both stainless and nonstick. But despite owning various stainless, nonstick, and cast-iron skillets, I don’t own a carbon steel one.

Have I always been carbon-steel curious? Yes, but I just couldn’t justify owning yet another skillet. This all changed when I got a hold of the Made In carbon steel 12-inch skillet . Now it’s my go-to skillet when I’m cooking. It’s lighter than my cast-iron skillet, more durable than my nonstick, and has a patina and seasoning that makes it easier to clean than my stainless.

A Quick Look at the Made In Seasoned Carbon Steel Skillet

The Made In carbon steel 12” skillet comes pre-seasoned, which means you can use it right out of the box and not have to worry about building up a patina first. It’s nonstick, if used properly, and is nicely balanced with a generous handle. It also has an ideal weight, not too heavy that it strains your wrist when you pick it up but not too light that you feel like a slight bump will send it off the stovetop. And it’s oven-proof, up to a whopping 1,200°F, which makes it perfect for dishes that go from stovetop to oven or for placing it under the hot broiler to quickly melt or brown ingredients.

What Is the Made In Seasoned Carbon Steel Skillet?

Made In seasoned carbon steel frying pan is a professional-grade skillet made of carbon steel. Carbon steel isn’t as heavy as cast iron, which it gets compared to a lot. It’s more responsive to heat, warming up and cooling down quicker. Like cast iron, most carbon steel pans require you to season the pan before use . However, the Made In frying pan comes pre-seasoned, meaning you can use it right out of the box. The nonstick-like patina makes cleanup easy, and the more you use the pan, the better the seasoning gets.

Made In

Seasoned Carbon Steel Frying Pan, 12-Inch, Seasoned

$129 at Made In

What’s So Great About the Made In Seasoned Carbon Steel Skillet?

Made In started as a cookware company for restaurants and professional kitchens. In 2017 it started selling direct-to-consumers. I could immediately tell that this carbon steel skillet was high quality, with its large bottom surface and a handle that actually stayed cool when cooking on the stove. Because this pan is made of carbon steel, it was very responsive to heat and suitable for all stovetops — including gas, electric, induction — and even open fire while camping. It’s also oven safe up to 1,200°F, making it suitable for putting under the oven broiler, too.

Because it already comes pre-seasoned, all you need to do is wash the pan and start using it right away. There’s no need to go through the whole process of seasoning it ahead of time. Unlike synthetic nonstick coated pans, I felt comfortable using metal utensils (like my favorite fish spatula ) in the pan. The generous sloped sides of the pan make it easy to pan-fry items, as well as sautéing vegetables. The entire pan felt durable, like it was designed to last a lifetime.

How We Tested the Made In Seasoned Carbon Steel Skillet

Fried eggs tests.I fried two eggs, starting in a cold pan with just a couple of teaspoons of neutral oil, to see how good the nonstick pre-seasoned carbon steel skillet really was. Would the eggs stick or slide out of the pan once cooked? I repeated this test with a preheated pan on medium heat. Then I repeated this test using two teaspoons of butter instead of oil, adjusting the temperature to see where the sweet spot was for cooking eggs that didn’t over-brown on the bottom.
Bone-in, skin-on chicken thigh test.I preheated the pan on medium heat and seared and browned four chicken thighs, skin side down without any oil in the pan. I flipped the thighs after 5 minutes and finished cooking them on the stove. I wanted to see how evenly the pan cooked the thighs, if the thighs stuck to the pan at all, and how long it took to cook them.
Bone-in, skin-on chicken breast test.I preheated the pan on medium heat and seared and browned three chicken breasts, skin side down with 1 tablespoon of oil. After 5 minutes I flipped the chicken and moved the pan to a preheated oven and finished roasting the breasts in the 450°F oven. I wanted to see if the chicken breasts stuck to the pan when cooking, if the pan seared the chicken evenly, and how easy it was to move the hot pan in and out of the oven from the stovetop.
Roast chicken with sliced potatoes test.I roasted a whole chicken with sliced potatoes in the carbon steel skillet. I wanted to see how easy it was to move a very full pan in and out of the oven. I also wanted to see how the skillet would perform holding a larger piece of meat like a whole chicken, how much the indirect heat of the oven would transfer to the pan to crisp the thinly sliced potatoes, and how difficult it would be to clean after the roasting.
One pot pasta dish test.I made a one-pot tortellini pasta dish with Italian sausage, onions, and broccoli rabe. I wanted to see how the pan performed when cooking ground meat like sausage, sautéing vegetables like onion, garlic, and broccoli rabe, and how easy it was to cook and to clean up after making a one-pot pasta dish.
Cleaning test.After each test I thoroughly cleaned the pan by hand using hot soapy water and nonabrasive sponge to see how easy it was for the food to be released after cooking. I made sure to dry the pan on the stovetop by heating it on medium heat until all the moisture was driven off, and then I inspected the pan to see if any of the seasoning was removed in the cooking or cleaning process.

Egg cooked in a Made In Carbon Steel Skillet. — Credit: Irvin Lin

How It Performed

The first thing I noticed about the pan as I pulled it out of the box was its construction, which felt solidly built but not heavy and hard to hold. The pan was comfortably balanced as I moved it around my kitchen and didn’t require major arm muscles like my 12-inch cast-iron skillet does. The flatter handle with the concave indention in the center gave me a place to put my thumb, and also felt stable, unlike rounder handles on pans that are often comfortable to hold but have the potential to twist as you pick them up (something that can make quite a dangerous mess if you aren’t paying attention). And the surface of the pan was smooth, unlike the pebbled rough texture of cast iron.

Though I cook with stainless steel and cast iron a fair amount, I do reach for synthetic coated nonstick pans when I’m feeling lazy. I can throw cooking oil and chopped aromatics like garlic and onion in the nonstick pan without heating it up, giving me more room in my tiny kitchen to prep other ingredients. With stainless steel and cast iron, I heat the pan up first with oil, then add the vegetables; otherwise they have a tendency to stick and burn. Carbon steel is similar, requiring a preheat. When I tried cooking eggs from a cold pan, they stuck to the surface, even with the pre-seasoned patina. A little bit of scraping with a metal fish spatula got the eggs off the pan eventually but preheating the pan and using butter (which I prefer for my eggs) had them sliding off easily with almost no effort.

Additionally I learned that I had to really dial in my temperature with the Made In pan, as carbon steel is very responsive to the heat. It heated up quickly, almost too quickly, when I used the higher settings of my stove. Eggs only required a medium-low temperature on my front burner (which had 15,000 BTU, more than twice the average home stovetop power ) or else the bottoms of the eggs browned too fast. Cooking bone-in chicken thighs on the stove was the same, requiring lower temperatures, lest the outside burnt before the inside finished cooking.

However, searing bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts for a nice brown skin and then finishing the breasts off in the oven was a delight. A slightly higher heat level on the stovetop (medium vs. medium low) seared the chicken quickly, while the softer ambient heat of the oven and the conductivity of the carbon steel meant they could cook quickly in the oven. This was even more evident with the roast chicken, as the bird was done at the lower end of the time range of the recipe, and the thin potatoes came out crispy and rich.

Cooking ground meat, like Italian sausage, and sautéing vegetables, like onions and garlic, was a pleasure as well. Adjusting the heat up and down meant I could quickly brown the meat and then lower the temp for the vegetables so they wouldn’t burn. The tall sides of the pan also meant that I could confidently add the rest of the ingredients, including 3 cups of water, for the one-pan pasta dish (which I typically make in a sauté pan with vertical sides ) without fear of spilling any of it onto the stovetop.

Cleanup reminded me of washing my cast-iron skillet, but without the strain on my wrists from the weight. The lighter carbon steel pan was easy to clean with hot soapy water, and there was minimal scrubbing to remove any food residue. I did make sure to dry the pan thoroughly after each wash with a clean kitchen towel and then heat it up on the stove. Once heated, I rubbed down the pan with a couple of drops of cooking oil to help build and maintain the seasoning.

I did make the rookie mistake of squeezing a lemon over the chicken breasts soon after getting the pan. The acidic juice ate away at some of the initial seasoning. Reseasoning the pan wasn’t difficult though — easier than cast iron in fact. The smooth bottom surface of the pan and the responsive heating and cooling of the pan meant I could quickly add back two or three layers of seasoning to the pan on the stovetop in less than an hour. By the end of the month, my pan felt solidly seasoned and well-loved.

What's so great

Quick and responsive to heat
Pre-seasoned so it’s ready for use
Oven safe up to 1200°F
Handle that stays cool during use
Available in 3 different sizes (8, 10, and 12-inches)
Lifetime warranty

Good to know

Acidic ingredients may affect seasoning
Not dishwasher safe
Shouldn’t be soaked overnight
Should be dried immediately after washing

Who Is the Made In Seasoned Carbon Steel Skillet For?

Because carbon steel requires a slight learning curve, the pan is great for enthusiastic and expert cooks that want a durable investment piece and don’t mind taking a little bit of time to learn the ins and outs of cooking with carbon steel. It’s also a great pan for curious beginner cooks who are interested in learning more about cooking. For casual cooks or folks who don’t want to think about preheating the pan, hand-washing it and immediately drying it, it’s probably best to stick with stainless steel or more traditional nonstick pans.

Where Can I Buy the Made In Seasoned Carbon Steel Skillet?

Made In initially started out as a restaurant supply company that sold its professional grade cookware to restaurants and other industry professionals. In 2017 it started selling kitchenware direct to consumers via the company’s website . Though it doesn’t have any stand-alone brick and mortar stores, you can now find some of its cookware and products in stores and online at places like Amazon , Macy’s , Crate and Barrel , various select Ace Hardware stores, as well as independent kitchen and home goods stores across the U.S.

Are There Any Made In Sales Right Now?

Made In often has some pieces on sale, and sales vary seasonally with what the brand has in stock. You can join the mailing list by clicking on the bottom left corner button of the company’s website where it says “special offer,” which will give you 10% off your first purchase of $149+ or by scrolling all the way to the bottom of the page and entering your email under the “Stay in Touch” heading.

Is the Made In Seasoned Carbon Steel Skillet Worth It?

This carbon steel pan comes pre-seasoned with a chemical-free nonstick coating.
The more you use the pan, the better the seasoning and coating becomes.
It’s lighter than cast-iron skillets but has the same durability.
You can use any utensil in it, including metal ones.
The handle is comfortable to hold, stays cool, and is nicely balanced to the body of the pan.
You can use the skillet on all stovetops, including electric, gas, and induction.
The pan is oven-proof and broiler-safe, up to 1,200°F.
The skillet is on the high end of the price range for 12” skillets. But it’s built to last a lifetime and comes with a lifetime warranty, making it an investment piece for your kitchen.