Enjoying the changes as you cook. A life with iron pans, copper pans, and donabe (clay pots)

What broadens the range of your cooking isn't always the ingredients—sometimes it's the cookware itself.

Take, for example, pans shaped by melting iron or copper, or donabe formed by kneading clay. In today's world, where functional cookware designed for ease of use is everywhere, these tools that have been made for generations still continue to be crafted and used—perhaps precisely because there are reasons for them to endure.

①A French-made iron frying pan

②A copper pan still made in the old downtown district of Tokyo

③A donabe made from quality Iga clay

This time we're featuring three pots and pans that ZUTTO staff members use and love. Now, several years after they first started using them, these pieces have become much easier to use than when they were new, and their appearance has changed as well. We'll introduce the appeal of these pots and pans, as revealed through the changes that appear over time, along with tips for continuing to use them for years to come.

The all-around performer: the iron frying pan

Element Frying Pan / de Buyer

The de Buyer family's pan-making business started in 1830 in a small town in France. Building on their background in sheet metal and iron tools, they took up the manufacture of pots and pans, developing alongside France's industrial revolution. Their production method remains unchanged from that era: as many as 180 craftsmen still use 300 machines that date back to the industrial revolution to make each piece. De Buyer is the only maker in the world able to carry out the entire production process at a single factory. The durability and usability of the pans made with their exceptional craftsmanship are recognized by chefs around the globe.

The joy of a gleaming black surface, three years in

Before switching to the Element frying pan, this staff member had been using a Teflon-coated pan. But with Teflon, using it nearly every day meant the surface coating wore off in under a year, and food started sticking no matter what was being cooked. Wanting to escape that hassle and find something that wouldn't need replacing, they chose this Element frying pan after much deliberation.

An iron frying pan requires seasoning with oil before its first use, and it needs to be washed right after cooking. Leave it sitting, and it can rust…. Such concerns might make it seem like a pan that's hard to commit to, but once it's properly heated, it transfers that heat to the ingredients all at once, sealing in flavor in a way nothing else can match.

After three years of use, the pan's color has gradually shifted from its original strong silver impression to a lustrous brownish-black reminiscent of bronze. The underside, likely from direct contact with the stove flame, has turned completely black. Since the surface coating was removed before first use, this color is truly something that time itself has created.

The power of a frying pan to expand your cooking repertoire

Right after starting to use the pan, food would often stick even after seasoning it with oil. The likely cause was that the pan hadn't been heated thoroughly enough. Once the pan is on the flame, it's best to wait until it's hot enough that you can feel the heat when holding your hand near it before you begin cooking. By keeping this in mind while continuing to use it, this staff member found that food no longer sticks no matter what's being cooked, and the pan has grown into one that sears everything wonderfully juicy.

One reason frying pans have been loved around the world may be that they suit such a wide range of cooking methods. You can sear meat or fish, stir-fry vegetables, and more. Pour in a bit more oil than usual and add flour-dusted ingredients, and you can even deep-fry; add water and put on the lid, and you can steam. It's an all-purpose pan that, on its own, dramatically expands what you can cook.

＞＞de Buyer iron frying pans

The copper pan whose charm lies in how quickly it heats

Tamagoyaki Pan / Nakamura Doki Seisakusho

Nakamura Doki Seisakusho is now run by its third-generation head, continuing to produce copper pans. The copper tamagoyaki (rolled omelet) pans made by these craftsmen in Tokyo's old downtown district are prized pieces favored by professionals as well—the copper's ability to conduct heat evenly gives tamagoyaki a beautifully fluffy, delicious finish. The interior is coated with tin through skilled artisan technique, a finish that resists peeling and takes to oil exceptionally well.

Feeling that "smooth glide," two years in

A pan made just for tamagoyaki might sound like a bit of a luxury, but achieving that thick, fluffy, piping-hot texture of tamagoyaki is something only a copper pan can do. The secret lies in how quickly heat spreads through it. Copper has high thermal conductivity, so even over low heat, the whole pan warms up almost instantly. That makes it ideal for something like tamagoyaki, where you want even heat throughout. Because the heat spreads so uniformly, you end up with tamagoyaki that looks beautiful too.

This tamagoyaki pan has copper on the outside and tin baked onto the inside. When new, it had the shiny look typical of copper and tin, but with use, the copper's color has gradually deepened, and even the wooden handle seems to have darkened somewhat. On the inside, perhaps from contact with food and chopsticks, faint scratch-like marks have appeared on the surface. Even so, the pan now takes to oil far better than when it was new, and the tamagoyaki now rolls right up with a smooth glide.

Efficiently heating small amounts of ingredients

Like the iron frying pan introduced earlier, copper pots also need seasoning with oil when you first start using them. Just as with iron, there's a temperature at which food tends to stick, so it's important to heat the pot thoroughly past that point—and if the surface isn't sufficiently coated with oil, ingredients will stick. Since too much oil can also interfere with cooking, the key is to pour it in and then lightly wipe it with a paper towel to work it into the surface.

A compact tamagoyaki pan you can lift with one hand, effortlessly. Thanks to its size and copper's excellent heat conductivity, it's not just for tamagoyaki (Japanese rolled omelette)—it's efficient for cooking small portions of all kinds of food. For instance, you might fry bacon for breakfast, or after making tamagoyaki for a bento, quickly stir-fry some vegetables for another side dish, or reheat a single serving of a simmered dish. It heats up fast, it's compact, and the heat spreads evenly, making everything taste better… This pan really has it all.

＞＞Nakamura Doki Seisakusho's tamagoyaki pan

Donabe (clay pots) that grow stronger with use

Iga Clay Round Donabe, Four-Person Size / TOJIKITONYA

TOJIKITONYA was founded in 2007, when three companies previously engaged in the wholesale trade joined forces with a mission: to make use of materials nurtured by the region's history and culture, and to pass on high-quality ceramic products suited to modern life. Even in pottery-producing regions, traditional techniques and craftspeople are rapidly disappearing, and there is a strong desire to carry forward the excellent techniques and products of a ceramics industry that has developed alongside the history of Japanese food culture. TOJIKITONYA's donabe are made in Iga, in Mie Prefecture, a pottery-producing region. The clay used comes from the ancient Lake Biwa stratum found in Iga, which is known to be highly fire-resistant and well suited to heat-resistant earthenware. It excels at retaining heat, and has a distinctively rough, textured surface. Iga clay is also said to emit far-infrared rays, which bring out the natural flavors of ingredients and give dishes a mellow, rounded taste.

Year two: growing attached to the changes in the clay

The round donabe has mainly served as the star of hot pot dishes during the winter months. Actually, when we first started using it, we noticed water leaking from the bottom. We worried we might have already cracked it, but upon observing the leak more closely, we found that moisture was simply seeping out slowly from the base. This isn't due to a crack—it's because the clay itself contains countless tiny pores. The process of sealing these pores is called "mejime," but even after mejime, leaking can occur again when you first start using the pot, or when you resume using it after a long period of disuse. By patiently repeating the mejime process several times, the leaking gradually stopped.

Looking inside the pot, you can see countless crack-like patterns covering the surface. This pattern, called "kannyu," arises from the difference in shrinkage rates between the pot's clay body and its glaze. The more you use the pot, the more these crackle patterns develop. On the underside, the bottom retains its rough, unglazed clay texture. Though invisible to the eye, the pores in the clay body gradually fill in as you use the pot, and the donabe itself grows stronger over time.

*The donabe pictured above is from before a specification change. Please note that the color of the pot's base differs in the current version.

Rice that's delicious—and good for the pot, too

Since the round donabe is made in a four-person size, it really shines as the centerpiece of winter hot pot meals. Beyond that, rice and donabe are an excellent match. The starch in rice helps bind the clay body together, further strengthening the pot as it's used. And once you learn the right water measurements, cooking rice in a donabe is surprisingly quick and delicious. Rice steamed slowly and thoroughly this way turns out plump and fluffy, with concentrated flavor. Keeping that warm, hearty texture is something only a donabe can achieve. Beyond cooking rice, donabe are also ideal for dishes like okayu (rice porridge) and udon, where warmth matters—so you can enjoy a wide range of hot pot dishes with one pot.

＞＞TOJIKITONYA's round donabe

To keep using them for years to come

Iron pots, copper pots, and donabe are each made from different materials, so the details of their care differ as well. Still, as pots, they do share some common ground. To keep using them for a long time, keep the following three points in mind, regardless of material.

① Wash immediately after use

Pots are easier to clean while they still hold heat. This is especially true for metal pots like iron and copper—washing them with hot water while they're still warm makes it surprisingly easy to remove even stubbornly stuck-on food. For donabe as well, washing as soon as possible after serving helps prevent odors from being absorbed into the clay.

The specific washing method varies by pot—use a scrub brush for iron frying pans, and a soft sponge for copper pots and donabe. Please also refer to the "First Time" series linked below for more details.

② Don't stack pots made of different materials

This is a surprisingly easy point to overlook. When storing pots, you might stack them on top of one another, but stacking different types of metal together can sometimes cause rust. Combinations like iron and copper, or stainless steel and other metals, can potentially lead to rust, so please be careful. If a pot's handle has a hole in it, we recommend hanging it up for storage instead.

③ Adjust the flame to suit the pot

Do you know the right heat level for your pot? Generally speaking, there's no need to use a flame larger than the bottom of the pot, and some pots don't need high heat at all once they've heated through.

Iron potsBecause the pot itself is sturdy, it can withstand even high heat well. Since the thermal conductivity is low, it takes time for the heat to spread, but once it has warmed up, it retains heat, so cooking is entirely possible over low to medium heat as well.

Copper pots: Copper is a soft material, and in the case of Nakamura Douki Seisakusho's tamagoyaki pan, the pot itself is made with thin walls, so heat should be kept to no more than the size of the pot's base. Also, since heat spreads quickly, once the pot has warmed up, cooking is possible even over low heat.

Donabe (clay pots): These are vulnerable to sudden changes in temperature, and putting them straight onto high heat risks damaging them. We recommend starting with low to medium heat, letting the pot get accustomed to the flame, and then adjusting the heat level. Like iron pots, donabe have excellent heat retention, so once heat has spread through them, they stay warm for a long time.