So after seasoning my two new carbon steel pans four times, I was finally ready today to use them. I buffed them four times with avocado oil, and then stuck them in the oven for 30 minutes at a time at 450 F. Of course, it made the whole main room smell, and the air purifier was not a fan, so twice when I did this, I had Chris take Kaia out walking to keep her away from the unpleasant fumes. I was originally aiming to season five times before using, but I figured that since they did say these pans were pre-seasoned, four times should be sufficient.

Well, after tweaking the temperature a few times to get it just right, the banh cuon overall were a success. The rice rolls didn’t stick much once I got the temperature and timing correct, and we had some delicious banh cuon to eat for dinner, even though Pookster wasn’t able to enjoy them as much since she’s still a little under the weather. After. I got the hang of a few rolls, I got into a rhythm and knew when they’d release cleanly and come out as one piece. I still need to get the batter thinner so it’s more translucent, but that was really because of the recipe: I ran out of a key ingredient, corn starch, to get the thinness correct, and I ended trying to compensate with more tapioca starch. But that ended up making my rice rolls too thick for my liking. I always have next time once I buy more cornstarch.

So far, I’m pretty happy with this purchase, but only time will tell if these carbon steel pans do last forever.