Educate me on carbon steel crepe pan size

Which of these De Buyer crepe pan sizes is best is best for a variety of crepes? The 9.5" seems small to me, but also seems popular.

Blue carbon steel (thinner):
9.5" (7.5" bottom)

Mineral B (thicker, heavy):
10.25" (8.25" bottom?)
12" (10" bottom)

Will be eventually cooking on a pro style gas burner, currently glass top induction.

this plate is 9.5" diameter - the pan ~10"
the larger the pan, the trickier it is to roll the batter around, it wants to set up before the bottom is fully covered . . .

also depends a bit on ā€œcrepes what?ā€ - these are ā€œbreakfast crepesā€ - rolled with strawberries. frankly it would be a bit easier to manage if they were smaller.
savory / dinner size - need to be bigger.

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Hi Tom, first off, that looks deliciousā€¦ you just made me hungry!

Thanks for the tip on the pan size and batter rolling. From what Iā€™m seeing of the De Buyer style crepe pans, a 9.5" pan only makes a 7.5" crepe, as the ā€œwallsā€ are 1". but, maybe I donā€™t have that right. Weā€™d be talking both breakfast and dinner, and it sounds like one size will not do it all. To me, it feels like a 7.5" crepe will be on the small side.

I guess Iā€™m the outlier here as although I have a 9.5, my favorite is an 8ā€ pan.
Whether rolled or filled , sweet or savory, I think the filling or topping is almost the primary focus, the crepes just being the carrier. And even when itā€™s a simple topping of lemon/sugar, my preference is still for the 8ā€. You still need to fit them on the plate! I think itā€™s a bit difficult to get an even cook on larger crepes and flipping becomes a little more cautious when you go larger than 9.5ā€.
Regardless of size, they are sure delicious!

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Wow, that looks amazing!

That is some good context on the smaller sizes. Thank you for sharing. Yes, I was thinking about the flipping, too. I love crisping up tortillas, and the ones we have in the fridge currently are about 8.5", so that may sway me a bit tooā€¦ however, would really like a pan thatā€™s not so heavy!

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I like to fill the triangle shape with a lamb ragu and then use a tomato/marinara sauce , grated Parmesan to bake them, in Italian they are referred to as fazzoletti, handkerchiefs. Molto bene!

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I am with you on 9.5 and 8. I also have a tiny one, makes a 3-4ā€ crepe / blink sizeā€¦

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I refuse to admit to how many sizes I havešŸ˜‚

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So, you also prefer the 8 over the 9-1/2, or you like both?

That may be the problem hereā€¦ I do think weā€™ll end up with multiple. To be honest, Iā€™m more savory than sweet, although my wife (who Iā€™m getting the pan for) is opposite. Those lamb ragu filled crepes look amazing!

if your usual is folded, the larger sizes will do fine - over 9 inches getting the crepe out, stacked up, then filled&rolled, , , can be tricky without tearing/etc.

folded & topped - that doesnā€™t come into play.

for me, one plate be too small, one plate be too big . . .

I like both for different things.

I use the 9.5 most often, savory crepes / pancakes / quesadillas / dosa and more (it actually sits out on my stove).

I use the 8 dessert crepes or appetizer / starter / finger food for entertaining.

(I have another 8 thatā€™s used daily as a tava / griddle in my momā€™s kitchen. Also a 9.5, but she prefers the 8 for daily use.)

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Crespelle and lasagne too.

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Yes, Marcellaā€™s layered crepe cake is a favorite!


Chicken / mushroom crepes, these are made in the 8ā€ pan, the ultimate size is about 6ā€ ~. The depression in the plate is
8ā€x5ā€.
Half the batch was made with a little sugar which will be for dessert crepes tomorrow.

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Sounds like itā€™s hard to go wrong with any size, because youā€™ll end up with multiple in then end of the crepe story!

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Iā€™d start with the 9.5

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Mine is a thin, old blue steel, 24cm at the rim. It knocks out fine crepes but also gets a lot of action for eggs. The extremely low walls make flipping eggs quite easy. Since 24 is a common size and I have several pans with 24 lids, it is also great for steaming eggs or melting cheese on most anything.

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Thanks, Tim! Despite being thin, that blue steel works well for you? Youā€™re on gas? Weā€™re on electric glass top now, but in about 6 months when the remodel is done, will be on gas.

I use gas. It is small enough that decent heat dispersion is not a big issue and thin enough to be pretty responsive to heat.

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