Name: 12" Carbon Nonstick™ Frying Pan
Brand: Misen
Price: 139.0 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.9 (1670 reviews)

12" Carbon Nonstick™ Frying Pan

$139.00

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 1,670 reviews

Total 5 star reviews: 1.6k Total 4 star reviews: 100 Total 3 star reviews: 9 Total 2 star reviews: 1 Total 1 star reviews: 5

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Eric H.
Verified Buyer
Reviewing
8" Carbon Nonstick™ Frying Pan
I recommend this product
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
15 hours ago
So far, very impressed
We have only used the 8” pan twice so far, but quite impressed with the quality. Non-stick is solid, cleanup is easy, and storage etc is a breeze.
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Eileen P.
Verified Buyer
Reviewing
12" Carbon Nonstick™ Frying Pan
I recommend this product
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
23 hours ago
My new pan
Great pancakes
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Jack B.
Verified Buyer
Reviewing
10" Carbon Nonstick™ Frying Pan
I recommend this product
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Yesterday
Great pan
It does all they say it does. Highly recommend.
Was this helpful?
Alex N.
Verified Buyer
Reviewing
10" Carbon Nonstick™ Frying Pan
I recommend this product
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Yesterday
Great Frying Pan
This frying pan has been great so far! It truly is non-stick and is super easy to clean.
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James A.
Verified Buyer
Reviewing
10" Carbon Nonstick™ Frying Pan
I recommend this product
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Yesterday
Works as advertised!
I have been on a mission to get rid of all my nonstick cookware. I've been happy with this pan for all around use. When I treat it like a stainless steal pan (preheat with some oil) is very close to a new nonstick. I like the way it browns meat, and other things, and it seem indestructible. I've also ditched all my nylon/plastic utensils. I've used cast iron and this is a vast improvement with similar cooking results. A couple times I've burned something on and metal scratch pads with soap work great and it doesn't destroy the nonstick qualities like cast iron would.
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The 12" Carbon Nonstick™ Frying Pan is built around a nitrided carbon steel surface — no Teflon, no ceramic coating, nothing that can flake or degrade over time. The nitriding process super-heats the carbon steel in a nitrogen-rich environment, creating a naturally nonstick, corrosion-resistant surface that gets better with use as seasoning builds up. An aluminum core keeps the pan lighter and more heat-responsive than traditional carbon steel or cast iron, and the 10-inch cooking surface gives you plenty of room for proteins, sautéed vegetables, or a generous frittata.

Unlike most carbon steel pans, this one is ready to cook on day one — no lengthy initial seasoning ritual required. It's safe with metal utensils, oven-safe up to 1100°F, and induction compatible. For best results, preheat for one to two minutes and use a small amount of oil. If you cook for two or frequently batch-cook smaller items, the 10" Carbon Nonstick™ Frying Pan makes a practical complement, or consider the complete 8", 10" + 12" set to cover every task on the stovetop.