Machika Polished Paella Pan, Professional-Grade Carbon Steel Skillet for Authentic Spanish Cuisine, Durable Carbon Steel Pan with Even Heat Distribution, Convex Design, 18 inches/12 Servings

Good pan to cook in

I see a lot of reviews complaining about how this pan rusts and discolors after one use. News flash, this property is inherent to carbon steel as this alloy is around 98% iron and 2% carbon - a composition that is not much different from a cast iron and thus the requires very identical care. If you don’t dry and oil it after use, it will inevitably rust. The instructions on the packaging even tell you to coat the pan in oil after use. In addition, the discoloration or burning of the pan is actually a good thing - that is the pan being seasoned.What baffles me however, is that the manufacturer doesn’t mention anything about seasoning the pan. Seeing as this pan is carbon steel, I believe a lot of people are missing out on what could be a 100% non stick pan that will surely outperform its enameled counterpart. I could fry an egg on my paella pan and it might sue me for slipping and falling. I have included my seasoning process at the end of this review.As for cooking, I recommend throwing this pan into a screaming hot Weber charcoal grill and for three reasons: 1) the pan isn’t flat, 2) a good paella requires serious BTU, and 3) charcoal imparts a nice aroma into your dish. You can control the heat by moving the charcoal around or by temporarily removing the pan from the heat.To properly season this pan, in the weber grill:1) First follow the instructions on the packaging which tells you to boil and wash off the coating that the pan ships with until it is bone dry. This coating prevents the pan from rusting while in storage.2) Again, heat the pan until bone dry.3) Remove the pan from the heat. Then using an oven mitt and a paper towel, carefully coat the entire pan with a very thin layer of a high smoke point cooking oil (I prefer canola). Yes this includes the underside of the pan. Remove any excess oil as thick patches of oil will turn into a sticky patch.4) Return the pan to the heat. After a few seconds you should see vapor being released as the oil polymerizes onto the carbon particles on the pan. If your pan is turning black you are doing it right.5) Repeat this process 3-5 times.6) Let the pan cool off7) Apply one final thin coat of oil and hang the pan for storage.You should only have to season the pan once but it never hurts to re-season from time to time. With that said, this pan is EXTREMELY high maintenance but as with any good cast iron or carbon steel cookware, it all pays off in the end. The more you cook with it, the more layers of seasoning you build and the more non stick your pan will become.Good luck!

Gets a little hot in the center as expected, but an amazing pan overall. I bought more and now these are all I use. No more non-stick coated pans.I was a little concerned with some staining, but vinegar and steel wool cleans it right up. Great pans for the price!!

Tried to warm up food

As with all carbon steel pans this pan performs very well when seasoned. I season my pans with hazelnut oil that has a very high smoke point. A photo of the seasoned pan is shown in this review.OH! The handles on this pan are not plastic as some have commented but steel.I have used the seasoned pan three times and it cleans up easily. The pan now performs as non stick.

Great product

This pan isn't completely flat on the bottom, so if you aren't cooking with gas and have a flat induction/electric cooktop, you're going to get uneven heat distribution/cooking. (Pic will show where the bottom of the pan touches a flat cooktop) Because the center was the only part that maintained contact while the edges were raised, the center cooked the rice having gravity draw the most liquid, then it burned, while the rice along the edges didn't even absorb enough liquid due to the slope of the pan toward the center. The pan is difficult to clean and the "dimples" on the bottom inside of the pan retain burned coloring, or maybe it's burned debris that won't come out. As is expected with this material, it rusted almost immediately after I didn’t towel dry it after cleaning and had to clean and dry it to remove the rust.

I haven't used yet, but is a very nice paella pan made where they make the paella. Great Buy

When the pan arrived I thought it was lightweight, but it cooked a good meal. We washed it, put it away - then noticed that it's ALREADY starting to rust! After one use! I re-read the instructions that came with it that say to oil the pan, wrap it in paper, and store it in a plastic bag after washing, so they are clearly expecting this to happen. Buyer beware. I wish I had paid closer attention to the reviews, please learn from my mistake. I'm very upset that we wasted our money on this pan.

We're quite happy with this product and consider it good value. The steel gauge is quite thick for a pan, the depth is adequate and I would say it's large enough to serve 4-6 people. The only problem we found is that, despite using a wooden spoon, the surface scratches quite easily. If you don't mind looking at the scratch marks I'd say this product is decent value for your money.FS

Only used once and cleaned right away, but the colour already changed from silver to yellowish. Not quite sure if that is supposed to be or the product is not very good. I’m thinking about return it but considering this price, not a bad price at all if the color change is normal.

Muy buena calidad del material y cocina muy parejo!

Great product....never wore my first one out, it's for 4 people, so purchased the 2 person one to have on hand.