Question about carbon content in carbon steel pans

[rockstar.esq]

I've long used seasoned cast iron pans for their non-stick properties.  After many years, I finally picked up a carbon steel fry pan and got to use it for the first time last night.  HOLY COW was it awesome!  15 minutes of seasoning is all it took before I tested it with a pat of butter and an egg.  The egg was moving like air hockey!  Seriously, this is significantly better than any non-stick pan I've ever used.  I can't recommend it enough.

With all that said, I got to thinking about the seasoning.  My limited understanding is that it's burnt-on oils filling in the surface roughness until you get a super smooth surface.  I know of people who used "seasoned" mild steel plates as griddles with no problem, so I don't think the carbon content has much to do with seasoning. 

This got me wondering if they're just calling it "carbon steel" to indicate that it's not pig-iron, or if they're trying to suggest it's high carbon steel.  I haven't seen where any of these pan makers actually specify the steel type.  If they're using high-carbon, I'm curious if there's a reason why mild steel wouldn't work just as well.

Either way I'm curious to hear what people know about these things.

[JHCC]

I'm pretty sure they're all mild steel, that the "carbon steel" designation is just to differentiate from cast iron.

[ThomasPowers]

And to make it sound fancier!   I have several old pressed steel pans from the 30's and 40's that I sometimes use to forge into more medieval configurations and rivet legs to.  At the fleamarket they were considered less valuable than cast iron ones.

[rockstar.esq]

Thank you both, that makes sense.

[Frosty]

Ditto Thomas, carbon steel sounds special and isn't false advertising. Heck it's probably lower carbon than typical mild being as it's intended to be pressed. Press dies are expensive, saving wear and using less power are good things.

Frosty The Lucky.

[ThomasPowers]

Sounding Fancy is a big part of advertising.  I had a Boss once that was exulting about getting a *Titanium* cased laptop.  He didn't like it when I told him that the Al ones were better as they transferred heat better and laptops have a problem with heat. Also anything that an Al case wouldn't protect the innards from; well the shock would mess them up even with Ti around them.

[JHCC]

43 minutes ago, Frosty said:

it's probably lower carbon than typical mild being as it's intended to be pressed.

My Matfer Bourgeat saute pan looks like it was spun, not pressed. 

[Frosty]

Not all pans are pressed?  Spinning lower carbon steel is easier on the dies and tooling as well. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[JHCC]

I don't know for sure about Matfer, but there's what looks to my eye like concentric spinning marks on the outside. Also, there's a fellow in Georgia working under the name JAO Originals who spins pots and pans one at a time from 1008 steel. From his website, it looks like he does some work in copper, too.

[Frosty]

If it looks like it was thrown on a potter's wheel it was probably spun. Lots of pans are still spun, I have a couple woks that were, one I got new about 15 years ago and another giant one I got at a yard sale.  1008 steel would be fun to spin. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[rockstar.esq]

I watched a youtube video over the weekend where this ex "rocket scientist" guy took over an old abandoned French trademark and started making tin-lined copper pans to match the originals.  He and a helper spun the copper stock to shape.  One guy provided the pressure, the other guided the roller.  The do beautiful work, but I couldn't help thinking that their methodology seemed clumsy compared to other spinning videos I've seen.  

I was a little surprised that the tin lining was applied using an ordinary commercial cooktop burner.  Seems like an unattended pot left to boil dry would eventually melt it's tin lining.

 

[Frosty]

Do you have a name for the tuber video? I've seen some really strange methods of metal spinning and am always interested. Lots of guys figure out how themselves, some are entertaining, some scary.

Were the two men on different handles of a scissor tool? They might just have been spinning really heavy stock or an unsoft alloy. There were times Dad took on parts that required two  men at a lathe because of the force required, my position was usually behind the lathe with the torch if heat was allowed. 

This triggered my memory. John: I traded a few emails with Jeff at "JAO Originals," he's a scissor tool spinner and has had similar experience with the stick spinning is the Only REAL spinning crowd. Seems to be a good guy, nice looking products but he's back ordered if you want some really nice cook ware.

Frosty The Lucky. 

[Kozzy]

The coating you end up with on steel or cast iron pans is polymerized oil.  It's a bit of a complicated reaction but oxygen in conjunction with a bit of surface iron which acts a bit like a catalyst basically turns the oil into a tough high temperature form of plastic.  Too hot and it carbonizes and breaks down, too cold and it just stays sticky.

The worse the oil is for your health, the better it generally polymerizes.  Healthy oil bends really suck when curing a pan--lard works a charm.  Soybean is interesting:  In processing plants which use soybean blends in their fryers, the vapor deposits on everything and the inside of the plant starts to look like it's been shellacked.  That coating is really hard to get off the walls, conduit, electrical boxes, controls, and everything else.  With healthy oil blends becoming the rage, many food processors are battling with sticking problems now.  The healthy stuff just doesn't cure as nicely as the old school oils.   It's also harder to get a good coating on stainless steel (especially passivated) because there is not the abundance of free surface iron available to get the reactions rolling well.

Carbon steel is nothing but a marketing term.  Even "High carbon steel" is darned fluffy.  I've seen anything higher than "mild steel" called "High Carbon", even if it was only the equivalent of 1020.  In my (food processing equipment) industry, we usually call anything 1035 or above high carbon as the generic term when the actual spec isn't stated.

[FisherPriceAnvil]

Does anyone know, perhaps Kozzy, if there is a good spec/standard for food-safe carbon steel for cooking? Are there certain elements that you do NOT want in such an application? Asking because I would like to get into making such cookware.