Know what you're buying before you start frying
Welcome to another totally honest and real review of an expensive thing I had to buy because I don't get free stuff. (Let's change that, peeps!)[CARBON STEEL vs "NON-STICK" CARBON STEEL]Both kinds of pans are made of carbon steel, and both have non-stick properties. However, the kind marketed as "non-stick", like this one, is nitrided carbon steel. It undergoes a heat treatment that makes it harder, meaning more resistant to damage and more non-stick. It requires less maintenance than a normal carbon steel pan.Be advised Misen sells both kinds of pans, so make sure you buy the one that specifically says "Nitrided" somewhere in the description.[WHAT KIND OF COATING DOES THIS PAN USE]This Misen pan doesn't have any kind of coating. There are no toxic things that will flake off into your food. It's a bare metal pan that is non-stick because of the properties of the nitrided carbon steel, with help from a little seasoning. The core is aluminum, sandwiched between carbon steel layers, to help with even heating.[HOW HEAVY IS IT?]This pan is lightweight, anyone can flip food in it with ease.[HOW BIG AND DEEP IS IT? I LIKE IT BIG AND DEEP.]You can get these Misen pans as wide as 12 inches, but I got the 8-inch to test. It has plenty of room to cook for 2 people, though the pan is shallower than other carbon steel pans I've tried. For comparison, the American Metalcraft pans look like buckets compared to this one.[DOES IT WORK?]Yeah, it's great right away. You need to add a bit of oil as usual, and seasoning/slipperiness will get even better over time. The instructions specifically say not to use delicate foods like eggs to start with, so that's what I started with because you can't tell me what to do. A bit of avocado oil (or any high smoke point oil) swished around covered the pan evenly. Wiped most of it off and fried an egg in there, and it didn't stick. No complaints.[DO I NEED TO TREAT THE PAN LIKE A BABY UNICORN?]Yes and no. If you're cooking a lot of acidic foods, you should rub a bit of oil into it after rinsing it clean and putting it away, but that's basic seasoning. Aside from that, there's some stuff to consider, like don't put it in the dishwasher, and use low-medium heat to cook most things. Go ahead and crank it up to sear meats though. The website does a good job of explaining how to keep it in great shape, and it's all easy stuff.I don't suggest gifting this kind of pan to stubborn people who refuse to change the way they do things, because they won't appeciate it and will ruin it. If they refuse to cook with lower temperatures and not so much oil, screw them, buy the pan for yourself and enjoy years of slippery bliss.