Is de Buyer Cookware Worth It? My Brutally Honest Review

I tested every de Buyer cookware collection, including Blue Carbon Steel, Mineral B, Mineral B Pro, Alchimy, Affinity, Prima Matera, and Inocuivre.

In this de Buyer review, I show you what I love about these pans, some potentially deal-breaking flaws, and how they compare to other popular cookware brands like All-Clad and Demeyere. 

Towards the end, I reveal which de Buyer cookware collections I like the most and which are not worth buying. I also give you a handy chart so  you can compare all the options side by side.

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Use the links below to navigate the review:

• Comparison Chart
• Blue Carbon Steel
• Mineral B
• Mineral B Pro
• Alchimy
• Affinity
• Prima Matera
• Inocuivre
• Bottom Line: Which de Buyer Collections Are Worth Buying?

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Comparison Chart

Swipe to view the full chart on mobile.

Collection	Blue Carbon Steel	Mineral B	Mineral B Pro	Alchimy	Affinity	Inocuivre	Prima Matera
Price on deBuyer’s website	$$	$$	$$$	$$$	$$$$	$$$$$	$$$$$$
Where It’s Made	France	France	France	France	France	France	France
Materials	Carbon steel	Carbon steel	Carbon steel	3-ply stainless steel (aluminum core)	5-ply stainless steel (aluminum core)	Copper with stainless steel interior	Copper with stainless steel interior
Rim to Rim (in)	12.7	12.5	12.5	10.8	12.5	12.6	12.6
Flat Surface (in)	9.2	9	9	7.7	9	9.2	9.2
Wall Height (in)	2.2	2	2	1.8	2	2.3	2.3
Weight (lb)	4.2	6	6.9	2.4	3.6	5.5	5.6
Thickness (mm)	2	3.1	3.1	2.8	2.8	2	2
Handle (in)	10.0	9.3	10.0	9.0	10.0	11.2	10.0
Oven Safe Temp	450°F	400°F (10 mins only)	500°F	500°F	500°F	500°F	500°F
Induction Compatible	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Main Benefit	Lightweight, corrosion-resistant	Thicker, better heat retention	Comfortable oven-safe handle	Rapid heating	Superior heat retention	Traditional copper elegance	Induction-compatible

Blue Carbon Steel

De Buyer has three carbon steel collections: Blue Carbon Steel, Mineral B, and Mineral B Pro.

All three are made in France with sloped walls and long, sturdy handles. All three are unseasoned, so you need to coat them with a thin layer of oil and bake them in the oven or on the stove. The seasoning process prevents rust and makes the cooking surface non-stick. 

In terms of performance, all three collections are excellent. They take a minute or two to preheat, but once they’re hot, they cook evenly and retain heat well. Because of their smooth cooking surfaces, they’re great for eggs.

And because of how well they hold heat, they’re ideal for searing. 

All that said, there are some key differences between each collection, and one of them has a major deal-breaking flaw. 

Blue Carbon Steel is the least expensive of the three. As its name suggests, the steel goes through a heat treatment process that makes it more corrosion-resistant and turns it from gray to dark blue.

Unlike the other two collections, the pans in this collection have welded handles. There are no rivets interrupting the cooking surface, which makes it slightly easier to clean. 

Also, the Blue Carbon Steel frying pan walls are slightly taller than de Buyer’s other carbon steel collections, so you get more capacity and slightly less splatter on your cooktop.

But the biggest difference between Blue Carbon Steel and the Mineral B collections is the weight and thickness. This collection has much thinner walls, and therefore it’s lighter.

The Blue Carbon Steel 12.5-inch fry pan weighs 4.2 pounds, the Mineral B 12.5-inch fry pan weighs 6.0 pounds, and the Mineral B Pro 12.5-inch fry pan weighs 6.9 pounds.

A couple of pounds might not seem like much, but it makes a huge difference when you’re washing and drying these skillets by hand every day. 

The downside of a thinner lighter pan is that it doesn’t retain heat as well as thicker pans. To quantify this, I heated each de Buyer pan to exactly 400°F, took it off the heat, and measured the surface temperature after 5 minutes. 

The Blue Carbon Steel skillet had the lowest temperature by far. It still retains heat relatively well, and better than brands like Made In, but the two de Buyer Mineral B carbon steel collections retain heat much better.

Below are the complete heat retention results for all de Buyer collections and several other brands I tested:

Pan	Temperature After 5 Mins
Carote 10-inch non-stick pan	102°F
de Buyer Inocuivre 12.5-inch	109°F
Made In Carbon Steel 12 inch	112°F
Hestan ProBond 12.5-inch	115°F
de Buyer Alchimy 3-Ply 11-inch	123°F
Made In Stainless Steel 12 inch	123°F
de Buyer Blue Carbon Steel 12.5-inch	126°F
Hestan CopperBond 12.5-inch	127°F
Hestan ProBond TITUM 12.5-inch	127°F
Made In Non-Stick 12-inch	127°F
All-Clad Copper Core 12-inch	128°F
All-Clad D3 12-inch	132°F
Hestan NanoBond 12.5-inch	134°F
de Buyer Prima Matera 12.5-inch	142°F
de Buyer Affinity 5-Ply 12.5-inch	154°F
de Buyer Mineral B 12.5-inch	154°F
Demeyere Altantis 12-inch	159°F
de Buyer Mineral B Pro 12.5-inch	162°F
Caraway 10-inch non-stick pan	166°F
Made In Enameled Cast Iron 12 inch	178°F

Another downside of this collection is the handle. I love that it’s 10 inches long and welded, but the thin, flat design is uncomfortable. It’s a common design across many carbon steel brands, including Made In and Matfer Bourgeat, but I’m not a big fan of it because the edges dig into your hand.

Also, the handle has a steep angle; you need over 7 inches of space between racks to fit it in the oven.

Mineral B

The Mineral B collection is more expensive than Blue Carbon Steel, with some notable differences and one major flaw.

Mineral B doesn’t go through the bluing treatment, the walls are slightly shorter, and the handle is attached by three rivets instead of being welded.

Although the handle design is the same, it’s slightly shorter and not angled as high, so you can slide it between oven racks with less space.

One of the most significant differences is that the Mineral B 12.5-inch skillet is 2 pounds heavier and over a millimeter thicker than the Blue Carbon Steel skillet (3.1 mm vs. 2 mm). And because of that, it retains heat significantly better.  

People often choose carbon steel over cast iron because most brands are lighter and easier to handle. But that’s not the case with de Buyer Mineral B. At 6 pounds, the 12.5-inch Mineral B skillet is just as heavy as cast iron skillets like Lodge Chef Collection and Stargazer.

Now, here’s the deal-breaking limitation with Mineral B: the handle has an epoxy coating that limits its oven-safe temperature to just 400°F for a maximum of 10 minutes. 

The Blue Carbon Steel collection can handle up to 450°F with no time limit, and the Mineral B Pro, which I’ll talk about next, can handle up to 500°F with no time limit. 

This is a major drawback for two reasons. First, it severely limits what you can cook – carbon steel pans are great for roasting and broiling, and you simply can’t do that with Mineral B skillets. 

The second drawback is that you can’t season it in the oven. Oven seasoning requires you to heat the pan for about an hour, usually over 400°F, depending on the oil you use (the temperature needs to be at or above the oil’s smoke point for it to properly polymerize). 

You can season this collection on the stovetop, but if you have an electric or induction cooktop like me, you can’t coat the outside with oil since it would burn the cooktop. This means you can only season and protect the cooking surface from rust, not the exterior.

Mineral B Pro

Mineral B Pro is de Buyer’s most expensive carbon steel collection, but in my opinion, it’s the best. 

The body of the pan is the same as Mineral B, so you get the same thickness, weight, and excellent heat retention — but the handle is totally different. 

Instead of the epoxy-coated flat handle, you get a polished stainless steel handle that’s thicker and has rounded edges that make it much more comfortable. 

Since there’s no epoxy coating on the handle, the pan is oven-safe up to 500°F with no time limit. The handle has a cutout to disperse heat, and the helper handle is much larger than the one on the Mineral B pan. 

Compared to Mineral B, the only real downside of Mineral B Pro is that it’s about 30% more expensive. 

Alchimy

de Buyer is best known for its carbon steel cookware, but they have two stainless steel collections.

Alchimy is the less expensive of the two, but it’s not cheap. In fact, it’s much more expensive than All-Clad D3, Made In, and Heritage Steel. These pans are fully clad with an 18/10 steel interior, an aluminum core, and a brushed steel exterior. 

When cooking with this collection, I noticed that it heats up incredibly fast and evenly.

But to see how it compares to other pans, I did my standard heat conduction test where I heat the pan on medium and measure the temperature with a surface thermometer at the one and two-minute marks. 

At one minute, the Alchimy pan was already scorching hot at 563°F. I kept it on the heat to measure the temperature after two minutes, but it got so hot my thermometer wouldn’t read it, which has never happened before.

Here are the test results from the other pans I tested. As you can see, de Buyer Alchimy is the fastest heating pan across several brands and collections.

Pan	Temperature After 1 Minute	Temperature After 2 Minutes
de Buyer Alchimy 3-Ply 11-inch	563°F	>600°F
Made In Stainless Steel 12 inch	415°F	529°F
de Buyer Prima Matera 12.5-inch	413°F	512°F
Made In Carbon Steel 12 inch	393°F	484°F
de Buyer Affinity 5-Ply 12.5-inch	362°F	479°F
de Buyer Inocuivre 12.5-inch	359°F	457°F
de Buyer Mineral B 12.5-inch	331°F	484°F
Carote 10-inch non-stick pan	307°F	428°F
de Buyer Mineral B Pro 12.5-inch	303°F	501°F
de Buyer Blue Carbon Steel 12.5-inch	292°F	500°F
Caraway 10-inch non-stick pan	225°F	310°F
Made In Enameled Cast Iron 12 inch	212°F	337°F

Besides the high price, there are three things I don’t like about this collection. 

First, the middle of the handle is comfortable, but the end is flat and the edge digs into your hand. 

Second, the handle is attached by 3 rivets, which is one more than most stainless steel pans. Rivets trap food bits and oil and are difficult to clean, so fewer is better.

And third, like all the other de Buyer collections, the rims are straight and not flared. This isn’t a huge deal, but it makes pouring liquids and transferring food to a plate slightly more difficult.

Affinity

Affinity is de Buyer’s premium stainless steel offering. It’s about 30% more expensive than Alchimy but instead of 3 layers, these pans are 5-ply, and instead of brushed, the exterior is polished. 

The most significant difference between the Affinity and Alchimy collections is the handle. The Affinity handle may look familiar. That’s because it’s the same handle used on the Mineral B Pro pan. 

It’s long, thick, and comfortable. And instead of three rivets, it’s attached by two rivets that are spread out and easier to clean. 

Many pans have comfortable handles, but at 10 inches, this is the longest I’ve seen on a stainless steel pan. So you have plenty of room to keep your hand far from the heat. For comparison, most stainless steel pan handles are around 8 inches. 

Another notable difference between Affinity and Alchimy is their heating properties. Affinity heats much slower, but it also retains heat better. So the temperature is a bit more stable. When you drop in cold ingredients like meat, it stays hotter and cooks more evenly.

Demeyere Atlantis has the best heat retention of any stainless steel pan I’ve tested, but de Buyer Affinity is a close second. 

There’s not much I don’t like about this collection except for the price. It’s in the same range as All-Clad D5, All-Clad Copper Core, and Demeyere Atlantis and is more than double the Made In and Heritage Steel Eater Series price.

Prima Matera

Prima Matera is one of two de Buyer copper collections. This pan is 90% copper with a thin steel interior and a steel plate on the bottom, which makes it compatible with all cooktops, including induction. It has the same ergonomic handle as the Affinity and Mineral B Pro collections.

Despite being thinner than the Affinity stainless steel collection, Prima Matera is much heavier (5.6 vs. 3.6 pounds) due to the density of copper.

My testing shows that it heats fast and retains heat well, and overall I love the way it cooks. However, there’s one major downside. At $950, this is the most expensive pan I’ve ever tested. 

It’s more expensive than Hestan NanoBond by a lot and even more pricey than the French-made Matfer Bourgeat copper pan.

Inocuivre

Inocuivre is de Buyer’s other copper collection. The shape and size of the pan are the same as Prima Matera, but there are a few key differences. 

First, instead of the stainless steel handle, this handle is cast iron, and it’s attached by three rivets instead of two. At 11.2 inches, it’s the longest handle I’ve seen on a frying pan, and I’ve tested over 50. 

I know these bulky cast iron handles are common on French copper pans, but I prefer stainless steel handles. They look better and won’t stay hot for as long when you take the pan out of the oven, so there’s less risk of an accident.

Unlike Prima Matera, this collection doesn’t have a steel plate on the bottom. The exterior is pure copper, and since copper isn’t ferromagnetic, this collection isn’t compatible with induction cooktops.

The biggest downside, and the deal breaker for 99% of people, is the price. Of the 50-plus frying pans I’ve tested, this is the second most expensive at $730, only behind the Prima Matera collection. 

Bottom Line: Which de Buyer Collections Are Worth Buying?

Now that you have an overview of each de Buyer collection, the question is, which are worth buying and which should you avoid?

The two copper collections perform great and have an elegant look, but they are absurdly expensive and the benefits don’t justify the cost. Unless you’re set on copper and have no budget constraints, avoid these two collections. 

I also don’t recommend the Mineral B carbon steel collection. The performance is excellent, but the fact that you can’t put these pans in the oven for more than 10 minutes is a deal breaker. Some people say you can burn the epoxy of the handle in the oven or with a blow torch, but that’s messy and dangerous and not worth the risk.

Alchimy is another collection I don’t recommend. It heats fast and evenly, but so do pans that cost half as much. I also really dislike the flat part of the handle.

The Blue Carbon Steel collection is worth buying, especially if you want a relatively lightweight carbon steel pan. It’s similar in design, performance, and price to Matfer carbon steel, but the walls are higher, so it’s better for frying.

If you value heat retention over maneuverability and don’t mind a heavy pan, Mineral B Pro is a great option. It cooks like cast iron but has an ultra-smooth surface and large, comfortable handles. 

I also recommend the Affinity collection. If you want to invest in quality stainless steel, this is one of the better options. The handle is longer than Made In and Heritage Steel and much more comfortable than All-Clad. Plus, it retains heat similar to Demeyere Atlantis, which is a much thicker and heavier pan.

Read more reviews and check the current prices of all de Buyer collections at deBuyer-USA.com and Amazon.