[Trazom]

Hello

I recently bought a De Buyer carbon steel fry pan . Am I ok to cook acidic foods in this pan ? One of the reasons I bought this pan was to cook quick tomato sauces in it. I seem to be reading conflicting things on acid and steel pans.

Didn’t all pans used to be steel? They cooked tomatoes 100 years ago right…. Don’t a lot of European kitchens still use these pans and also cook tomatoes?

Any advice is appreciated.
Thank you

[adamm]

my guess is it will either give the tomatoes a metalic taste, or turn them a darker color. i have a carbon steel wok i use for stir frying and i dont try and use any acidic things in it. if you do use it for tomatoes make sure you season it very well.

[phatch]

While they would have use carbon steel and cast iron, they didn't have a choice and thought the taste and color were just how it was. And for them it was.

We now have the option.

Carbon steel never develops the depth of patina that a cast iron pan will with the same use. A well seasoned cast iron pan/pot can make a long cooked tomato sauce. You will see a difference in the patina afterwards. And the sauce does have a different flavor, but not as metallic as the sauce would if cooked in carbon steel. But carbon steel is lighter, heats faster and has other positive characteristics.

The other big taste offender for these pans is red wine. The tannins react unpleasantly.

I don't consider it a big deal to have a stainless pan on hand for those times the tomatoes or red wine is going to spend a long time in the pan.