JOYCE CHEN Joyce Chen 12 in. Silver Carbon Steel Stir-Fry Pan with Birchwood Handle

This pan is pretty. Let's just get that out of the way. When it arrives in your kitchen-the smooth, carbon steel composition gleaming in the light; the solid birchwood handle imbuing a classic naturalism-it might look too nice to cook with. Why mess up something so beautifully engineered and perfectly pristine? Well, here's why. For one, the meals you make on your uncoated carbon steel stir fry pan will only get better with each use. If you're not familiar with seasoning uncoated cookware, the more you cook with it, the more often you season it, the more it develops a custom patina, a complex flavor profile pro chefs covet. Also (brace yourselves) the more you cook with it, the less pretty and pristine your pan will get. As the surface takes on its seasoning, the carbon steel will lose that original gleam. It will almost seem tarnished as its factory settings develop a darker hue, similar to cast iron. In the end, trust us, this process will be worth it. A carbon steel pan you season yourself is something special, something you'll pull down from your pan rack more often, and something you'll treasure long past its picture-perfect first day in your kitchen.