# Slightly warped Matfer Bourgeat pans - mystery solved



## jwk1 (Nov 13, 2009)

Hey All,

A follow up to my "Do all carbon steel pans warp?" thread and a piece of info for those interested in buying some Matfer.

Beind the OCD guy that I am, I bought seven pans, from 8 5/8" to 14 1/8".  I have so far used the 8 5/8", 10 1/4" and 11 7/8".  The ten and eleven inch pans are warped slightly and I thought I had done it while cooking.  Today I got out my straight edge and took it to my untouched pans.  Imagine my surprise to find two of them warped exactly like the two I am using.  How warped?  Well, not a lot, but enough so that when you drop an egg in the middle of the pan it slides to the side.  Enough so that if you need just a little oil, the middle of the pan will always be dry.  Enough so that when you put a straight edge on the bottom of the pan it is VERY obvious.  Enough so that if you have any OCD tendencies at all, you will be quite irritated.

So it turns out I didn't warp the pans with the way I cooked.  I didn't think the pans should be that wimpy and I was right.  Unfortunately, I would rather have been at fault.  Then I could have just ordered two new pans and be done.  Now I have to look into the expensive De Buyer pans.  And I was just about to get a new knife...

I talked to my brother tonight, who is a mechanical engineer.  He thought it probably happened during the stamping process, possibly the tempering process.

In any case, if you're picky and this kind of thing bothers you, make sure you pick out your own Matfer pans or have someone do it for you.  Three flat pans out of seven: Terrible odds.  These are restaurant grade pans and obviously the QC is not up to certain standards.  I hope the De Buyer carbon plus pans are.


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

Use some 2x4 and a hammer to flatten them as I described.   It's easy, won't take you long, and doesn't cost much.  If you're worried about not doing a good job, start calling metal shops.  Someone should be able to fix all three for well under $50, $20 and a sixpack is more like it.  We're only talking about 15 minutes.

QC is one of the reasons I like Vollrath so much.

Carbon pans are a lot like aluminum and old fashioned single-ply stainless.  No matter how heavy or well made, they will ding and warp eventually.  It's their nature.  The solution is to flatten them when necessary.

BDL


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Most pans warp when exposed to to high a heat for to long a time. And putting a hot pan in a sink filled with water . Deglazeing a lot can also warp a cheap pan


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## french fries (Sep 5, 2008)

I have two matfer bourgeat carbon steel pan, they're flat, always been, still are after about a year or two of use. Guess I just got lucky (I ordered them online)?!


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## jwk1 (Nov 13, 2009)

French Fries said:


> I have two matfer bourgeat carbon steel pan, they're flat, always been, still are after about a year or two of use. Guess I just got lucky (I ordered them online)?!


 Well, you got lucky or I got some bad luck. Considering I bought seven pans and four of them came warped (or not completely formed), you would be lucky in my book although my experience is definately in the "inadequate sampling" category.

I also don't think that your pans are going to warp. I have been using mine almost daily for the past two months for pancakes, potato home fries, searing meat, etc. IOW, using medium high and high heat on a typical home gas range. My pans haven't changed a bit. The pans that came flat are still flat and the warped pans haven't changed a bit. It also doesn't have anything to do with size, IMO. I just broke in my 14 1/4" pan with getting the pan hot with olive oil, then dumping in all the cut potatoes. Cooked up perfectly. This is what I had thought might have warped the pan before. The pan is still perfectly flat and I've subjected it to that level of torture a few times since.

I might get some De Buyer pans and reserve the Matfer for some REAL torture, if necessary. I'm not sure if it is, though. I deglaze in my stainless tri-ply, and have used the highest heat I'm going to for searing meat. I'm still learning a lot about cooking so I'm counting on the possibility of needing more abuse for these pans for some culinary reason.


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