I see no need to own a cast iron pan

[AveMarica]

There are a number of reasons:

• You can easily transfer food from stove top to oven (sear to roast)
• Multiple cooking styles: Sear, Fry, Roast, Bake, Broil, etc.
• Awesome Heat retention
• Heat distribution
• Seasoning adds flavor over time
• Seasoning provides the non-stick surface
• Easy to clean with water / brush (no soap)

A stainless steel pan transfers from stove to oven, does all those cooking styles, has awesome heat retention, much better heat distribution, can also be nonstick, and you don't have the limits that are placed on cast iron for acidic foods. If you do a slow braise in something acidic (like vinegar based adobo or a wine based sauce) you'll have a metallic taste in your food and wreck your seasoning.

I'm not sure I want my pan to add flavor to my food, I can add any flavor I need to in preparation so I'd rather have the choice.

Food tastes much better in a cast iron pan. If you wash it, you really destroy it. I had a cast iron pan for years. Water never touched it.

Why would food taste better in a cast iron pan?

 

[AveMarica]

After each use, I rinse it with water, dry it, apply a thin coat of oil and get it up.

That's the other issue. It can't go in the dishwasher, it can't be soaked, it can't even be washed and just put on a drying rack. Oiling after each use or applying kosher salt with oil just sounds like more maintenance.

 

[1srelluc]

They are worth having just to make cornbread or skillet bread in.

 

[AveMarica]

They are worth having just to make cornbread or skillet bread in.

Good point, it is my understanding that cast iron (and enameled dutch ovens) make better bread-type things than stainless steel.

 

[EvilCat Breath]

A stainless steel pan transfers from stove to oven, does all those cooking styles, has awesome heat retention, much better heat distribution, can also be nonstick, and you don't have the limits that are placed on cast iron for acidic foods. If you do a slow braise in something acidic (like vinegar based adobo or a wine based sauce) you'll have a metallic taste in your food and wreck your seasoning.

I'm not sure I want my pan to add flavor to my food, I can add any flavor I need to in preparation so I'd rather have the choice.


Why would food taste better in a cast iron pan?

I don't know. I have cooked in every conceivable pan and pot. What's cooked in cast iron is just better. I have only had one frying pan and an aebelskeiver pan. Both now gone in th dimness of time.

 

[Rambunctious]

You can cook over an open flame.... I take my cast iron pans camping...

 

[Rambunctious]

Try cornbread in a cast iron pan and you will never use another pan for that....

Cast Iron Skillet Corn Bread

Get Cast Iron Skillet Corn Bread Recipe from Food Network

www.foodnetwork.com

 

[excalibur]

washing them doesnt destroy them,,

Fact.

 

[AveMarica]

I don't know. I have cooked in every conceivable pan and pot. What's cooked in cast iron is just better.

I've eaten plenty of meals prepared in cast iron pans, and didn't notice some magical flavor imparted by the vessel.

 

[fncceo]

 

[EvilCat Breath]

I've eaten plenty of meals prepared in cast iron pans, and didn't notice some magical flavor imparted by the vessel.

Okay.

 

[progressive hunter]

That's the other issue. It can't go in the dishwasher, it can't be soaked, it can't even be washed and just put on a drying rack. Oiling after each use or applying kosher salt with oil just sounds like more maintenance.

that means its easier to take care of not harder,,

 

[excalibur]

Ditch the water. Use oil and kosher salt.

I wash mine with a liquid castile soap formulated for cast iron (also carbon steel). Dry with a paper towel and then place on a turned-on burner for 3 minutes to drive all moisture away. After it cools down a quick rub with some avocado oil on the inside.

 

[Foxfyre]

It seems cast iron has had a resurgence in popularity and some folks are borderline cult-like over it, but I've yet to have anyone give me a good reason to own one instead of stainless steel. They are heavy (I like to flip food), take longer to heat up, aren't responsive, react with acidic ingredients, and you can't just soak the pan to clean later since it will rust out. I don't get the appeal.

Actually I think it's part what we grew up with, part culture, a great deal of preference. But I do love my cast iron skillet for doing things like steak--sear it thoroughly on both sides and it transfers to the oven to finish. I now air fry our steaks if it's just the two of us which is even easier--actually we have steak very seldom these days--but the cast iron does do wonders especially if you're cooking three or four steaks.

I season mine with flax oil and they stay smooth needing only a quick rinse and dry to maintain.

And they do bake cornbread like no other cookware in the kitchen can do.

But where the culture comes in, those of us who grew up with them would miss not using them. But you really can manage just fine without one and I agree they are really heavy and do require certain care that other cookware does not.

So I say do what makes you happy and otherwise don't worry about it.

 

[miketx]

That's the other issue. It can't go in the dishwasher, it can't be soaked, it can't even be washed and just put on a drying rack. Oiling after each use or applying kosher salt with oil just sounds like more maintenance.

BE sure to change the oil in it every 3000 uses.

 

[progressive hunter]

out of the ten or so cast iron items I have including 2 dutch ovens and a few pots my 11" square and 15" round are my favorite and spend most of their life on top of the stove,,

 

[EvilCat Breath]

I wash mine with a liquid castile soap formulated for cast iron (also carbon steel). Dry with a paper towel and then place on a turned-on burner for 3 minutes to drive all moisture away. After it cools down a quick rub with some avocado oil on the inside.

That's one way. I either wiped mine out with paper towels and oiled it with olive oil. Or if it needed a scrub, used oil and kosher salt. Wipe it out real good. Then a finish with a spread of olive oil.

 

[Leo123]

I use cast iron skillets because they heat more evenly. I have not had any bad chemical reactions and mine are well seasoned (oiled) and really don't need much of a wash. I basically just rinse them and when I'm done put another coat of oil on them. Sometimes I will heat the pan a bit before oiling it before I put it away. I will agree that they are very heavy though, and that's a 'no go' for a lot of folks.

 

[Natural Citizen]

...my 11" square and 15" round are my favorite and spend most of their life on top of the stove,,

Yup. Same here. Except both round .

 

[Leo123]

Food doesn't stick to a regular (no non stick) pan IF you heat it FIRST....Then quickly put in oil followed by food. Learned that from a Chinese chef cooking in a Wok.