That is a really strange thing to say.
I have a feeling that maybe this person misunderstood the questionā¦ and was answer āironā cookware.
For example, what were iron cookware were like before cast iron cookware.
In Germany they still make forged āironā pans like they did in the late 1850ās - this is made by āTurkā in Westphalia ā¦ note the handle and pan are from one piece of steel.
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Very nice video, showing the hand made individual process. Also the cooking side by side was pretty nice.
I own two of these Turk pans (28cm &24cm). I love everything about them and use them as much as my Demeyere proline(s).
Hi Brian , I know cookware should be a simple subject, but like everything else, there is the using and the emotion involved. What do you love about these pans, and how do they perform compared to cast iron or the carbon steel French pans. ?? What caused you to buy them in the first place?
Hi my name is JTā¦
I have always preferred cooking certain foods in carbon steel (deBuyer mineral B) and cast iron (lodge). Cast ironās flaw has always been it short handle and heavy weight. Carbon steel addresses both of these and has a smoother interior (almost too smooth). Most CS pans also use rivets to attach the handle. So my search to find a great compromise beganā¦
Three contenders stood out to me. 1) Spring Blackline, 2) blu skillet, 3) Turk forged pans.
Spring Blackline has no rivets and looks to be to be well made, but lacks the rustic appearance of the other two.
Blu skillet has the hand made appeal and appearance, but it still has rivets.
Turk has the rustic appearance and lacks rivets. It has an interesting back story (only 3 employees forge these pans).
In the end Turk won out. It is fairly thick, just over 3.5mm. It has a nice heft to it, but has a long angled handle to help deal with its weight (that also lacks rivets). The interior is smoother then cast iron, but rougher than carbon steel. And did I mention it just looks so damn cool.
Edit: I realize I forgot to address how it performs compared to CI and CSā¦ Itās iron, same as always and nothing magical. Itās has the same properties as always. It comes down to the design of the pan to help negate the bad and accentuate the good. This pan has the right balance of this for all the reasons I listed above.
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Thanks for posting this interesting information. Based on your description, I just ordered a 28-cm Turk pan, and it should be arriving tomorrow. I can hardly wait to play (ahem, cook) with it. A nice thick steak is defrosting in the fridge as we speak!
Thatās awesome. I canāt get the image of the guy pulling the rope and letting the weight fly down, out of my mind, it gives new meaning to the expression ādropping the hammerā.
I wanted to ask both Tanuki and Brian where they bought their pans. Itās sort of exciting to try something unique and have it work out well. I made crepes in a silver lined copper pan this morning just to check it out- crepes usually get made in a Komin fry pan. ( thin cast iron)
Hi Alexander,
Sorry, but I canāt be of much help regarding a good US source for these pans. I live in Japan and ordered mine from Amazon Japan. After I watched the cool video you posted, I went to Amazon JP and was pleased and surprised to see that they had a variety of sizes available for next-day delivery.
The pan actually arrived earlier today, and it did a very nice job on the steak I mentioned in an earlier post. My initial impressions are very similar to those of Bkultra ā the pan is pretty much right at the midpoint between cast iron and carbon steel. Imagine a rivetless De Buyer carbon steel pan with a rougher surface finish. which I hope should eventually build up a tougher seasoning layer than Iāve been able to achieve on my smooth-finish carbon steel pans.
BTW, it works great on induction cooktops. The only minor disappointment is that itās not perfectly flat (pretty damn close though).
TS
Hey, TanukiSoup, thatās great. Thanks for the quick review!
https://www.kaufmann-mercantile.com/products/turk-one-piece-forged-iron-fry-pan is the only importer in the USA that Iām aware of. They recently dropped their price on the pans. I ordered my pans from amazon.de and amazon.fr. At the time I ordered various amazon sites had the best pricing (depending on the size).
One of my pans is not perfectly flat (24cm), but it is very close to it. The 28cm is pretty much perfectly flat. They do suggest these pans are only suitable for gas and induction because of this very reason.
A bit of wobble is okay. I figure itās the price you pay for the charm and character of a hand-crafted item.
Thanks again for posting your impressions of these pans. Next up, Iām looking forward to making some German-style fried potatoes like those in the video.
Oops, just accidentally deleted my own reply.
The Turk pan reminded me of this US-made forged iron pan, available in a local shop. Itās made by Jacob Bromwell. Forged iron, made in the US, crazy expensive, made from a historical design
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Cool! The helper handle on the 12" pan is a nice touch.
$200 for a small colander? WTF?
On one hand, it is hand made individually, so it is going to be costly. On the other hand, there are just so many cheaper alternatives.
Itās amazing there are actually so many reviews for the colander. Now Iāve paid crazy amounts for kitchenware, but I am at a loss.
Iāve held the pan in my hands and its quite nice. The looped handle is tough to store, so youād want to hang it. But, I just walked across the street and bought a restored vintage Wagner.
