PANCAKE/CREPE PAN - Need Advice

[kokopuffs]

Hi to all and TIA.
I'm thinking of purchasing a crepe pan listed below to use for cooking pancakes. It's made of carbon steel. Will it heat evenly (I use an electric stove) like my thick, aluminum saute pan presently used for pancakes? Does anyone have any experience with this product?

Here is the label of the french carbon steel pan (I'm fluent in French BTW):

de Buyer Fayment l'Heritiere Acier
Crepe Steel Induction Carbon Steel Crepe Pan

[ August 23, 2001: Message edited by: kokopuffs ]

[Kimmie]

Why not use a french steel crêpe pan. Take a look at Williams-Sonoma

Works on electric and gas stoves.

[kokopuffs]

Both pans look the same to me.

[kokopuffs]

Thanks, Hertzmann, for confirming my suspicions regarding the use of carbon steel a la electrique. I've used HALCO brand thin carbon steel pans on my electrique stove with dissatisfying results. The heat was very uneven. A flame is needed for more eveness. I think that an aluminum frypan with nonstick coating would suffice for my pancaque application. Merci.

That looks like some good equipment at Dehillerin. Do know what brand chef's knife is depicted at their website? Also, no crepe pan was shown.
D

[bouland]

kokopuffs: Dehillerin sells a lot more than they show on their web site. They're a restaurant supply store so if there's something you want that they don't show, email them an inquiry. I'd also email them for more information about the knife. I bought a very nice fish filleting knife there and it was a French brand that I was unfamilar with.

Also, in case you haven't seen it, I wrote an article earlier this year about crepes. It's located at http://www.hertzmann.com/articles/2001/crepes/ and there's more information about crepe making equipment as well as about 20 recipes.

[ August 23, 2001: Message edited by: bouland ]

[bouland]

I think you may find a pan like this problematic on an electric stove. I found a thick aluminum nonstick crêpe pan at E. Dehillerin in Paris that works good. The price there with VAT was less than 10USD and they do respond to fax and email requests. A steel pan doesn't have a high enough heat transfer coefficient to heat evenly on an electric burner. If you'd like to read more about different pan materials and their effect on cooking, especially on electic burners, click here to find an article I wrote on the subject.

I'd also suggest getting a pan larger than 10". This size, and smaller, is fine for many dessert crêpe recipes, but for savory crêpes like those served in Brittany you'll find that a larger size pan works better.

[kokopuffs]

Bouland, my first experience with crepes was in Paris about 30 years ago. The introduction was at a medium size restaurant called A LA BONNE CREPERIE in the 6'th arondissement, the Latin Quarter. I forgot the name of the rue. Ever been there?

[bouland]

kokopuffs: no, I've never been there. I've mostly confined my crêpe eating to Brittany.