Name: 12" Carbon Nonstick™ Frying Pan
Brand: Misen
Price: 139.0 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.9 (1688 reviews)

12" Carbon Nonstick™ Frying Pan

$139.00

Best Carbon Steel/Nonstick Alternative

Best Carbon Steel/Nonstick Alternative

A Forever Pan,
Without Forever Chemicals

Kickstarter campaign stats: $2.3M pledged, 15,000 backers, 9,377% funded

Chart comparing nonstick performance over time for ceramic, traditional nonstick, carbon nonstick, and traditional carbon steel pans

A New Way
to Nonstick

With its smooth nitrided surface, Carbon Nonstick™ is a
clean-cooking alternative to chemical nonstick and ceramic.

Completely Uncoated,
Naturally Nonstick

Nitrided carbon steel has no chemicals, coatings,
or anything that can flake off or degrade.

Carbon Steel, Without the Fuss

A lightweight aluminum core makes this pan easy to handle and ultra-responsive to heat.

Not Your Grandma’s 
Cast Iron

Carbon Nonstick™ is perfect for carbon steel fans looking
for a lighter, rust-proof pan you can soak in the sink.

How Carbon Nonstick™ Stacks Up

Carbon nonstick pan comparison chart vs regular nonstick, ceramic, carbon steel, stainless steel, and cast iron across 8 benefits

Questions?

Carbon Nonstick™ is a carbon steel pan with an aluminum core. It’s 3-ply, meaning it has three layers. The inner layer is the aluminum core, which helps the pan heat and cool more quickly than other carbon steel pans. The top and bottom layers are nitrided carbon steel.

Nitrided carbon steel is essentially carbon steel that has been super-heated in a nitrogen-rich oven, which creates an extremely durable, corrosion-resistant, and virtually nonstick surface without the need for coatings.

Nitriding is extremely safe and widely used in industries beyond cookware, including aerospace, automotive, surgical, and industrial machinery.

Carbon steel (Carbon Nonstick's™ primary material) relies on something called “seasoning” to achieve its non-stickiness. Unlike ceramic (aka Silicon dioxide) and nonstick (Teflon) which both require a special coating, seasoning is completely natural and builds up more and more over time.

This process of seasoning is called polymerization: when any type of fat is heated in the pan, it chemically bonds with the metal to create a durable surface that prevents rust and improves nonstick properties. The more you cook, the more the seasoning builds up. Over time the pan will become even more nonstick.

Our pan takes things a step further: through a process called "nitriding," Carbon Nonstick™ is fully nonstick right out of the box, and even moreso over time. Nitriding is a process by which a metal surface is super-heated in a nitrogen-rich environment, which creates an extremely durable, corrosion-resistant, and virtually nonstick surface without the need for coatings.

Nitriding is extremely safe and widely used in industries beyond cookware, including aerospace, automotive, surgical, and industrial machinery.

No, Carbon Nonstick™ is free of PFAS, PTFE, and PFOA.

Traditional nonstick pans (Teflon) and ceramic are both made with coatings that wear off over time, making the pan useless. Carbon Nonstick™ does not contain any chemical coating; instead, it self-seasons over time as you cook with it, creating a lasting, nonstick surface.

This process of self-seasoning is called polymerization: when any type of fat is heated in the pan, it chemically bonds with the metal to create a durable coating that prevents rust and improves nonstick properties.

This process happens naturally as you cook. The more you use the pan, the more layers of seasoning build up, and the more nonstick the pan becomes.

Carbon Nonstick™ takes it a step further: through a process called nitriding, this pan is made even more nonstick out of the box and over time. Nitriding is a process by which a metal surface is super-heated in a nitrogen-rich environment, which creates an extremely durable, corrosion-resistant, and virtually nonstick surface without the need for coatings.

Nitriding is extremely safe and widely used in industries beyond cookware, including aerospace, automotive, surgical, and industrial machinery.

TL;DR: At first, no. But soon, yes.

The longer answer: Traditional nonstick (Teflon) and ceramic are both made with chemical coatings that create a nonstick effect on your pans. Carbon Nonstick™ does not contain any chemical coating, therefore it may not be quite as nonstick right out of the box. However, while ceramic and other nonstick pans lose their nonstick coating as you use them, Carbon Nonstick™ will actually become more nonstick with use as cooking oils build up on the pan’s surface (this is called seasoning, and Carbon Nonstick™ seasons itself naturally as you use it). So while your other nonstick pans will be useless in a matter of years, your Carbon Nonstick™ has the potential to last forever.

Absolutely, bring on the lemons! Whereas most carbon steel pans will lose their seasoning and rust if they're exposed to acid, Carbon Nonstick™️ can stand up to acid without a problem. (We find it especially useful for finishing our pasta in tomato sauce.)

That said, our factory recommends waiting about 30 days before you go heavy on the acid, so that the pan has a little time to build up its seasoning.

No. Unlike traditional carbon steel cookware, you don’t need to season your Carbon Nonstick™️ pan. By simply cooking with it, you'll be seasoning it; the more you use it, the more seasoned it becomes.

That said, we like to apply a thin layer of cooking oil to the pan’s surface after cooking, and rub it in with a towel. This step speeds up the seasoning process, but it is completely optional.

Carbon Nonstick™️ is not pre-seasoned. This sets it apart from our Pre-Seasoned Carbon Steel, which is pre-baked with neutral oil to jumpstart the seasoning process. Carbon Nonstick™️, on the other hand, does not need to be pre-seasoned because it's been nitrided, which does the same job. Instead, the pan is simply wiped down with a thin layer of neutral corn oil after nitriding. This moisturizes the pan and makes it nice and slippery right out of the box.

We still love and use our Pre-Seasoned Carbon Steel pans. But there are some key differences between that pan and Carbon Nonstick™️.

First, Carbon Nonstick™️ is lighter: only 2.48 pounds, compared to 3.2 pounds. It's an easier pan to hold and use on a daily basis.

Second, Carbon Nonstick™️ doesn’t require seasoning. Our original Carbon Steel needs to be regularly seasoned as you use it, that seasoning can come off depending on what you cook, and sometimes the pan needs to be re-seasoned from scratch. That won’t happen with Carbon Nonstick™️ because it’s nitrided, aka heated in a super-hot, nitrogen-rich oven to make it extra-hard, extra-smooth, and extra-durable.

Third, Carbon Nonstick™️ has an aluminum core, while our Pre-Seasoned Carbon Steel pan does not. The aluminum core makes the pan lighter and helps it heat and cool faster. This responsiveness to temperature changes makes your cooking more efficient and precise, whereas our Pre-Seasoned Carbon Steel has slightly better heat retention for tasks like heavy-duty searing.

Fourth, Carbon Nonstick™️ is resistant to rust. Our other carbon steel pan isn’t nitrided, so it will rust if you don’t wash and dry it immediately after cooking. Carbon Nonstick™️ can soak in the sink overnight without issues.

Nitriding is a process by which a metal surface is super-heated in a nitrogen-rich environment, which creates an extremely durable, corrosion-resistant, and virtually nonstick surface without the need for coatings like ceramic or Teflon.

Nitriding is completely safe and nontoxic, and is widely used in industries beyond cookware, including aerospace, automotive, surgical, and industrial machinery.

Carbon Nonstick™ works on all stovetop types - gas, electric, and induction.

Customer Reviews

4.9

Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars

Based on 1,688 reviews

Total 5 star reviews: 1.6k

Total 4 star reviews: 101

Total 3 star reviews: 9

Total 2 star reviews: 1

Total 1 star reviews: 5

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Michael T.
Verified Buyer
Reviewing
12" Carbon Nonstick™ Frying Pan
I recommend this product
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
7 hours ago
The IS & SHOULD ……
It IS what it says it does!
This SHOULD be My last nonstick frying pan
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Scott L.
Verified Buyer
Reviewing
10" Carbon Nonstick™ Frying Pan
I recommend this product
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
13 hours ago
Fantastic
Is like advertised gets better every time you use it?
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Timothy H.
Verified Buyer
Reviewing
10" Carbon Nonstick™ Frying Pan
I recommend this product
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
16 hours ago
Expectations
We purchased this pan because of the weight and and being carbon steel. We use cast iron exclusively (one is a Griswold) which are all non-stick at this point but are heavy. This pan is every bit as good as our cast iron and functions as expected.
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Debra H.
Verified Buyer
Reviewing
8" Carbon Nonstick™ Frying Pan
I recommend this product
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
3 days ago
Easy clean non stick eggs!!!!
Love the ease of fried eggs without the labor of a stainless steel pan prep!
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James L.
Verified Buyer
Reviewing
8" Carbon Nonstick™ Frying Pan
I recommend this product
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
5 days ago
Misen fry pans
The pan is fabulous ! I have a 10" carbon steel pan and that is excellent too but its heavy to handle sometimes. The non stick pan is significantly lighter, cooks evenly, and is easy to maintain. I also own the Misen 10" chef knife and that is a pleasure to use as well.
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The 12" Carbon Nonstick™ Frying Pan is built for cooks who want the searing power of carbon steel without the upkeep headaches. Its nitrided surface is naturally nonstick from the start, so there's no long seasoning ritual before you can cook eggs, fish, or a proper stir-fry. The aluminum core keeps the pan light and responsive, heating and cooling faster than traditional carbon steel or cast iron, and it's rust-resistant enough to handle a quick soak in the sink.

If you want more surface area for browning or cooking for a crowd, this 12" size is the largest single pan in the line, though it's worth exploring the full Carbon Nonstick collection to see how it compares to the smaller options. Cooks who like to switch between searing and simmering often pair it with the 12" Deeper Carbon Nonstick pan for higher-sided dishes, or add a glass lid version for braises and covered cooking.

Since it's safe with metal utensils and oven-safe up to 1100°F, this pan moves easily from stovetop to oven. Hand wash it and keep it lightly oiled between uses to build seasoning over time, and it'll only get more nonstick with age.