Cast Iron/Carbon Steel Showdown: Misen vs Strata vs Stargazer (and more...)

We put 9 of the most interesting cast iron and carbon steel skillets on the market to the test in our home kitchen to find out what’s worth the money. But in 2026, these simple pans are getting more complicated with nitriding, cladding, and bead-blasting all gaining popularity over the past year. They each got dozens of hours of use under real-life conditions and across all the main use-cases from frying eggs, baking cornbread, grilling steaks, roasting chicken and even braising greens and reducing sauces. Wait til the end for a brief personal update! --- Models We Tested 9 — Finex Carbon Steel Skillet 10": https://cultflav.com/products/finex-c... 8 — Made In Seasoned Carbon Steel Frying Pan 10": https://cultflav.com/products/made-in... 7 — Darto Saute Pan n.27: https://cultflav.com/products/darto-s... 6 — Misen Carbon Nonstick ™ Frying Pan: https://cultflav.com/products/misen-c... 5 — Anolon N2 Carbon Steel Skillet: https://cultflav.com/products/anolon-... 4 — Field Company Cast Iron Skillet #8: https://cultflav.com/products/field-c... 3 — Smithey Chef Skillet #10: https://cultflav.com/products/smithey... 2 — Stargazer Cast Iron Skillet 10.5": https://cultflav.com/products/stargaz... 1 — Strata Carbon Steel Clad Frying Pan 10.5": https://cultflav.com/products/strata-... --- 🍗 America's Test Chicken Recipe: https://cultflav.com/recipes/americas... --- 👋 Get Involved Subscribe to Cult Flav (starts at $20/yr): https://cultflav.com/subscribe --- 🎬 Chapters 00:00 About the review 01:44 The basics of seasoning 04:30 Our seasoning process 05:43 Finex Carbon Steel 07:49 Made In Carbon Steel 09:21 Darto n.27 11:19 Misen Carbon Nonstick 13:03 Anolon N2 Everlast 13:53 Field Co. No. 8 Cast Iron 14:56 Smithey Chef Skillet 15:59 Stargazer Cast Iron 17:51 Strata Tri-Ply Carbon Steel 20:08 A quick, personal update