Frequently asked questions
Jump to a Section
Our Products
Our products are provided with a 2 year guarantee against any manufacturing defects and under normal conditions of use. Guarantee does not apply to damaged products used or stored under adverse conditions. The user must inform the company or the retailer within 2 years from the purchase date. In case of a manufacturing defect, our quality department will control the product. Returns of defective products or pieces are charged to the user. Once the quality department has given its agreement, de Buyer Company will replace or have repaired the defective products or pieces.
We sell our products through retailers, but you can also purchase directly from our website by clicking the link here. Simply shop online for home delivery, or email us with your location and choice of product and we will advise you of a nearest stockist. If the retailer has stock, our partners can always order in for you with minimal fuss.
The diameter of the utensil must be adapted to the diameter of the cooking zone. Indeed, for safety reasons, induction hob manufacturers have provided their appliances with a detection system that recognises magnetic utensils from a specified size. To know the minimum detectable diameter, refer to the user guide of your induction hob or enquire at the induction hob manufacturer.
This problem is encountered when cooking on induction hobs. To avoid it and obtain a homogeneous cooking, we recommend you do not to heat at maximum heating power. Disparate heating of preparations despite this precaution means that the inductor and the cooking zone are too small relative to the size of the pan (refer to the size guide in the user guide of your induction hob).
Silicone Moulds
Before the first use:
- Clean your silicone mould with warm water and washing up liquid.
- Silicone moulds are suitable for dishwasher. Yet, we recommend you to wash them by hand as dishwasher might shorten the product lifetime.
- Grease the mould with some butter or oil. For the next uses, it will no longer be necessary.
Cooking:
- Place your silicone mould on a grid or a perforated baking tray to enable a better heat circulation.
- For a use in a fan oven, place the grid in the middle of your oven.
- For a use in a traditional oven, place the grid in the inferior part of the oven.
- Never switch on the grill function of your oven as infrared rays may damage silicone moulds.
- Never heat your mould while it is empty. If there is not enough preparation to fill all the forms, fill them with some flour or oil to preserve them.
- Do not use sharp utensils within silicone moulds.
- Heat silicone moulds in traditional and fan ovens only
NB: moulds from the MOUL’FLEX range are suitable for microwave. Never use your silicone mould on other heating sources such as gas stove or electric hobs.
For preparations that will rise during the cooking, fill the forms ¾ maximum.
Designed for an intensive use, ELASTOMOULE (patented) is professional quality and enables a great caramelization as well as a perfect heat and cold transmission thanks to micro-bubbles present in the silicone foam, and to a metal powder. With their sharp angle forms, moulds enable to bake perfectly shaped pastries with neat lines.
ELASTOMOULE moulds can be used to cook in a traditional oven or for cold forming in a freezer, a blast-chiller, a fridge… since they resist to temperatures between -70°C and +300°C.
MOUL’FLEX range is made of a high quality platinum silicone* that is peroxide free. The moulds can be used to cook in a traditional oven, in a microwave oven or in bain-marie. They are also perfect for cold forming as they resist to temperatures between -40°C and +280°C.
* Platinum silicone is a kind of silicone using exclusively platinum (a natural precious metal) as a catalyst to form the material. As a consequence, the quality is superior and moulds are more resistant and totally odourless, that way not modifying the taste of food. Thanks to its safe components, platinum silicone is chemically inert, doesn’t produce any residue when it is exposed to heat, and as a result, platinum silicone is perfectly suitable for food contact. The material also repels water and keep bacteria away, guaranteeing maxi mum hygiene.
As they are designed for cold forming, Charlotte moulds are not suitable for induction, whether they are made of stainless steel or tinned iron. They can still be used for hot forming in an oven or in bain-marie.
Copper Cookware
Copper is a material showing exceptional thermal properties. As it is the best heat conductor and benefits from a great reactivity, copper enables to perfectly control the cooking environment and its temperature. Inevitable in the French Gastronomy, utensils made of copper are ideal for reduction and delicate cooking thanks to a homogeneous heat spreading and a perfect heat transmission that both enable to concentrate the flavours of food and to preserve its texture.
To clean copper, you should apply a paste specially adapted to this end very easy to use. To prevent copper from dulling, we advise you to regularly use a copper cleaner.
You can use metallic objects within your utensil, regardless the material of the inner surface (whether it is made of copper or of stainless steel). Indeed, copper and stainless steel resist well to scratches.
In contact with humidity, copper might oxidise. This oxidation is toxic; as a consequence, it is important to avoid any contact between food and copper during the cooking. This is why de Buyer utensils made of copper are, for most of them, lined with stainless steel, or tinned. Our Prima Matera, Inocuivre, Inocuivre VIP and Inocuivre First Classe cooking ranges are made of 90% outer copper and 10% inner stainless steel. This proportion is ideal and guarantees exceptional cooking properties.
Exception: copper is not harmful when it is used to beat eggs white or to cook sugar. As a result, egg-white hemispherical bowls, jam pans and sugar saucepans are neither tinned nor lined with stainless steel.
Non-Stick Cookware
De Buyer non-stick pans have been designed for a professional and intensive use. As a result, pan aluminium body is thick to face frequent uses. This great thickness also guarantees a homogeneous heat spreading for a uniform cooking, and screens the coating from the heating source. Consequently, the non-stick coating is less exposed to high temperatures and non-stick properties are optimal longer.
Non-stick utensils are intended to be used for delicate cooking at medium and low temperatures. They are perfect for reduction cooking and ideal to simmer, warm up, maintain warm, and readjust pre-cooked dishes.
Non-stick aluminium pans spread heat homogeneously and are designed to simmer, warm up and readjust pre-cooked dishes. As a consequence, cooking on high heat is useless. What is more, medium and low temperature cooking preserves the non-stick coating that deteriorates when it is exposed to high heat.
Heating up a non-stick pan while it is empty is highly inadvisable as it would damage the coating.
To preserve the optimal non-stick properties of a coated pan, it is important:
- not to over-heat the utensils,
- not to heat them while they are empty,
- to avoid thermal shocks by increasing the heating power gradually,
- not to clean the utensils in the dishwasher or with an abrasive sponge.
Eventually, using metallic objects in a coated pan is highly inadvisable.
You can heat a non-stick pan in a traditional oven from 10 to 15 minutes maximum to warm up or to maintain warm.
Non-stick pans are not suitable for microwave ovens as they are made of aluminium.
After each use, soak your non-stick utensil to remove possible residues. Then, clean the pan with some washing up liquid and a soft sponge. Dry the utensil with a kitchen towel or let it dry on your kitchen sink.
Avoid abrasive sponges and washing powders as they may damage the coating.
We strongly advise you against cleaning non-stick pans in a dishwasher.
Carbon Steel Cookware
A scratched seasoning is not a problem. Indeed, the seasoning regenerates each time you use your iron pan to cook food. When the seasoning is damaged by a kitchen utensil, pan cooking properties are not spoilt.
How to clean my iron pan?
Once food is cooked, deglaze your utensil by pouring some liquid into it (wine, water…). This step will enable you to make a delicious sauce easily and to remove stuck food.
After deglazing the pan, clean it with warm water. If residues remain, you should use an abrasive sponge. Dry the pan immediately and slightly oil it to avoid rust. Then, tidy it up in a dry place.
Careful: Never clean your iron pan in a dishwasher or with detergent products as they would damage your pan and its seasoning. Never soak your utensil or let it dry on a kitchen sink as it could oxidise.
The blackening of an iron pan is a natural phenomenon meaning that it is seasoning.
As for all cookware during the cooking, your iron pan heats up and pasteurises, that way killing all the possible bacteria as they don’t resist to heat (pasteurisation occurs between 62°C/144°F and 88°C/190°F).
Pour about 1mm of oil into your iron pan and heat it. Once the oil slightly steams, empty it into a recipient and wipe the pan with a paper towel.
The seasoning of your pan will be optimal and efficient after having cooked red meat 10 times. The more your pan is used, the best the cooking results are. The more it blackens, the less it sticks. Once your pan is well seasoned, you will be able to cook more delicate food such as eggs, fishes…
Cooking with or without fat depends on your liking, but the seasoning will be effective after having cooked pieces of red meat 10 times. Once the pan is seasoned, it has natural non-stick properties that enable you to cook with very little fat (simply add some oil or butter).
To season your iron pan or to cook food, you should use food cooking oil that can stand temperatures up to 180°C.
Why does meat stick to the pan during the cooking?
During the cooking, foods stick to the pan before coming off easily. This is the cauterizing and caramelization phase that enables meat to remain tender and juicy by keeping its water inside. Therefore, as long as this cauterizing phase is still going on (as long as meat doesn’t show a browned crust), you should not try to turn your piece of meat over. Sealing your piece of meat this way leads to the Maillard reaction (occurring at about 140°C) that reveals all the flavours of food. Once it is well sealed, meat will come off the pan easily.
We recommend you not to pierce the piece of meat before cooking it.
Iron conducts heat perfectly and reaches high temperatures fast. This is why iron utensils are ideal to grill, seal and brown food (cooking meat, fish, potatoes, pancakes, omelettes…).
We advise you against using an iron pan with liquid or acidic preparation as they may damage the seasoning. For this kind of preparations, we recommend you to choose a stainless steel or copper pan.
All cookware from our iron ranges can be used in traditional ovens. Nevertheless, pans equipped with an iron handle coated with epoxy can only flash in the oven (10 minutes at 200°C maximum) as an extended exposure to heat or to a higher temperature might damage the epoxy coating.
For any longer cooking in an oven, we recommend you to use cookware with stainless steel or aluminium handles. Please don't use wood.
Stainless Steel Cookware
White marks are due to limestone present in the water or to food salt.
White marks caused by limestone are easily removable. Only scrub your utensil with a sponge and some white vinegar, dilated or not with water. Marks caused by food salt are actually corrosion marks as, in direct contact, salt attacks stainless steel. These marks are permanent and cannot be removed. Yet, they don’t spoil food suitability of the utensil or its thermal properties.
To avoid stainless steel corrosion, salt the cooking water once it is boiling.
Stainless steel is a material resistant to scratches; as a result, you can freely use metallic utensils within stainless steel cookware. Nevertheless, if the inner surface of pans was scratched, food suitability of the utensils as well as their cooking properties would not be affected.
Should your de Buyer stainless steel pan be covered with a non-stick coating, avoid using metallic objects or sharp-edge utensils.
Multi-layer material spreads heat homogeneously and regularly all over the utensil. Heat from the cooktop is immediately distributed by the multi-layer material, and the whole body heats up at the same speed. The heat distribution created inside the recipients by this homogeneous heat spreading makes the utensils perfectly adapted to reduction cooking. Finally, the material great reactivity enables to perfectly control the cooking environment.
The sandwich base spreads heat homogeneously and regularly all over the bottom of pans. Heat is distributed from the bottom towards the top of the utensil and this heat distribution is ideal for immersion cooking and steaming
Priority, Appety and Primary utensils are equipped with a stainless steel tube handle that is designed to evacuate heat and that remains cold when used on the hob. As a result, you can use the utensils of these 3 ranges safely, without getting burnt.
Twisty utensils are equipped with a removable bakelite handle that doesn’t heat up on the hob.
Affinity and Milady utensils are fitted with ergonomic handles made of cast stainless steel. Very comfortable and robust, they heat during long cooking and in case of direct exposure to a heating source. As a consequence, it is necessary to handle the utensils with a protection such as gloves, oven gloves or kitchen towels.
Mandolines
A mandoline is a cutting utensil that is essential to kitchens:
- Mandolines enable to slice, cut into Julienne or into diamonds, small or large amounts of fruits and vegetables fast.
- Easy to use and safe thanks to the pusher that equip all de Buyer mandoline models.
- Mandoline blades enable precise and neat cuts.
Mandoline blades are extremely sharp. To guarantee a safe use, it is necessary to use the pusher provided with each mandoline. Jam the fruit our vegetable to cut between the pusher and the mandoline. Then, slice or cut into pieces safely.
A V blade is perfect to cut fruits or vegetables as well as products with a soft flesh and a thick or hard skin (for example: tomatoes, kiwis…). The blade penetrates the fruit or the vegetable without crushing it while preserving its flesh composition, and enables to make fine and neat slices.
A straight blade has the same use as a kitchen knife. It is ideal to cut firm fruits or vegetables, but it isn’t suitable for tomato cuts and slices.
Stainless steel mandolines are designed for a professional use. Stainless steel is a solid material that resists perfectly to frequent and intensive uses. It is also very easy to clean and enables perfect hygienic conditions.
Plastic mandolines are thought to be used by the general public. Extremely simple to use, they are also easy to clean and to handle since plastic is a light material.
As for all knife, blades wear out over the uses. De Buyer sharpener specially designed for mandolines blades will enable you to restore and preserve their sharpness.
Should the blades be defective because of many uses, you can buy them individually at our retailers’ and replace the old ones, except for V blades as they are directly integrated into the frame of the mandolines and cannot be changed.
In order to meet the demand of consumers and users we decided to make it possible to use several sizes of Julienne blades with the same mandolin. That’s why the chariot has to remain a little higher above the tray when making the small julienne, which involves this remaining waste. This stems from the safety system of the chariot (sliding on the rail) that we put in place to avoid you any injury. In order to guarantee the sliding of the chariot above the blades (and therefore above the largest blade) without damaging them we needed some space. That’s why a thin sole remains.
