If you’re keyed into the goings on in the cookware industry, you’d know manufacturers are currently engaged in an arms race to create a better nonstick pan. The two types of “true” nonstick cookware—traditional PTFE (Teflon) and ceramic sol-gel—both have their own issues (we unpack them here and here), which have pushed brands and consumers to look for alternatives. With the release of its new Carbon Nonstick pan, Misen is the latest to bring a “new nonstick” to market.
So far, most nonstick innovations we’ve seen are just tweaks on existing cookware designs and materials that are accented with savvy marketing faff. Take Our Place’s titanium nonstick, which advertises itself as “the first coating-free nonstick pan.” In reality, it’s a titanium-coated pan with a textured surface that, according to Our Place’s materials, requires oil to activate its nonstick properties. By this measure, every stainless-steel pan could be considered a “coating-free nonstick”…but I digress.
That’s not to say these pans aren’t worthy alternatives. We’ve encouraged readers to swap nonstick for cast iron or carbon steel for years, though we know the care those materials require can turn many consumers away from them.
Which brings us back to this new Misen pan. When we first heard about it, the phrase “carbon nonstick” warranted a bit of an eye roll. Smart marketing, yes, but having tested other nitrided carbon-steel pans, I assumed there was nothing particularly novel here…or so I thought.
After putting it through our carbon-steel skillet test and living and cooking with it, my tune has changed. Though the Misen pan isn’t made out of anything new, it somehow performs more like a conventional nonstick pan than any other traditional or nitrided carbon-steel pans I’ve ever tested. I’ll explain how below.
How is the Misen Carbon Nonstick different from other carbon-steel pans?
The Misen Carbon Nonstick is a nitrided carbon-steel pan. Nitriding is a process where nitrogen is infused into the metal surface, hardening it and making it resistant to rust and corrosion. This solves a common pain point many have with conventional carbon-steel pans, which are vulnerable to rust when their seasoning is underdeveloped.
Other nitrided pans exist, like the Anolon Everlast and KitchenAid Nitro, which we’ve tested. Unlike them, the Misen pan is clad with an aluminum core, making it lighter and faster to heat. More than that, though, the Misen’s cooking surface repels moisture to a far greater degree, despite being made of ostensibly the same material.
Typically, when you put oil in a carbon-steel pan, it will spread out evenly across the cooking surface. The Misen repels it, much like how a Teflon or ceramic nonstick pan would (the other nitrided pans we’ve tested did not do this). Being made of carbon steel, the pan isn’t truly oleophobic (oil repelling) as it does continue to develop a seasoning over time. But out of the box, the nitrided surface is hardened and partially seasoned, meaning it doesn’t immediately absorb oil.
In practice, this meant that the pan required less oil than other carbon-steel pans to achieve a functionally nonstick surface. It also replicated the experience of cooking with a Teflon pan to a degree that no other carbon-steel pan we’ve tested has managed to do.
How does this pan compare to traditional nonstick?
From fried eggs to seared chicken thighs to sautéed onions, everything released easily or didn’t stick at all. While I did use a small amount of oil for each test, it was mostly because cooking in a nonstick pan without any oil, while technically possible, leaves you with weird and texturally off results. (Just because you can do it, doesn’t mean you should.) Food director Chris Morocco also took the pan for a spin and said that it was so nonstick that it was “practically allergic” to eggs.
Being carbon steel, the Misen has several advantages over ceramic and PTFE nonstick pans. It can really take a beating from metal utensils and abrasive scrubbers and withstand high heat. Most important, the pan improves with time, as the seasoning on the pan continues to develop. However, as mentioned earlier, it’s pretty much good to go right out of the box.
The verdict
The Misen carbon nonstick succeeds at improving on both carbon steel and traditional nonstick pans. In comparison to the former, the Misen won’t readily rust, is lighter to wield and quicker to heat, and doesn’t ask for much in terms of maintenance and care. Compared to PTFE or ceramic nonstick, it’s far more durable and heat-tolerant, and it gets better with use rather than worse.
If you’ve wanted to ditch nonstick but have felt that the traditional alternatives are just too high maintenance, consider this pan to be your answer.