I see no need to own a cast iron pan

[Rambunctious]

Have you ever had a steak cooked in a very hot cast iron pan with all of that seasoned and oiled metal searing the steak and flavoring it at the same time and then cut a chunk of butter and put it on the steak to finish it.... melt in the mouth goodness...

 

[Leo123]

Then WHY don't you still have it?

Who throws away a perfectly good fry pan?

Many people are turned off by cast iron after a while because of the weight. Especially those suffering from arthritis.

 

[progressive hunter]

Have you ever had a steak cooked in a very hot cast iron pan with all of that seasoned and oiled metal searing the steak and flavoring it at the same time and then cut a chunk of butter and put it on the steak to finish it.... melt in the mouth goodness...

View attachment 844090

gonna do some buttered and smothered pork chops tomorrow,,

 

[progressive hunter]

Many people are turned off by cast iron after a while because of the weight. Especially those suffering from arthritis.

if you play it right you never have to lift it off the stove,,
my big 15" seldom leaves the stovetop,,

 

[Leo123]

For me 90% of the time the dishwasher is fine, otherwise just let it soak in water for awhile then come back later with BKF. Meanwhile there are people in here talking about scrubbing cast iron with salt after every use, then oiling it.


Regardless it is a fact that a clad stainless steel pan distributes heat far better than cast iron.

From SeriousEats:

The Theory: Searing steaks and frying potatoes requires high, even heat. Cast iron is great at searing steaks, so it must be great at heating evenly, right?

The Reality: Actually, cast iron is terrible at heating evenly. The thermal conductivity—the measure of a material's ability to transfer heat from one part to another—is around a third to a quarter that of a material like aluminum. What does this mean? Throw a cast iron skillet on a burner and you end up forming very clear hot spots right on top of where the flames are, while the rest of the pan remains relatively cool. The main advantage of cast iron is that it has a very high volumetric heat capacity, which means that once it's hot, it stays hot.

In thermal images of different pan materials you can see how cast iron and carbon steel are much hotter exactly where the flame is, and much cooler where it isn't:


View attachment 844081

That only applies when you first put the pan on the burner. You should always heat the pan before cooking. If you want a good sear, put the pan in a 500 degree oven to preheat it. You should never throw cold oil into a cold pan and then heat it up to do any kind of decent frying.

 

[Leo123]

Have you ever had a steak cooked in a very hot cast iron pan with all of that seasoned and oiled metal searing the steak and flavoring it at the same time and then cut a chunk of butter and put it on the steak to finish it.... melt in the mouth goodness...

View attachment 844090

What is the herb? Thyme?

 

[westwall]

We have several. I have one Dutch oven that is over 100 years old. We still use it.

 

[Muhammed]

I use cast iron skillets because they heat more evenly.

More evenly than what?

I have no idea why people say cast iron frying pans heat evenly. They heat very unevenly due to the laws of physics.

Just how unevenly? I just did an experiment to find out with real numbers. I greased down my 12 inch cast iron pan with a light coat of clarified butter and heated it until I noticed that it was smoking. Then I took some readings with my infrared thermometer.

It was just 361 degrees on the cooking surface close to the edge and 548 degrees in the middle.

That's a 187 degree difference.

Sorry, but I'm NOT going to heat my beloved expensive 12 inch stainless steel pan to 548 degrees for a comparison.

 

[progressive hunter]

More evenly than what?

I have no idea why people say cast iron frying pans heat evenly. They heat very unevenly due to the laws of physics.

Just how unevenly? I just did an experiment to find out with real numbers. I greased down my 12 inch cast iron pan with a light coat of clarified butter and heated it until I noticed that it was smoking. Then I took some readings with my infrared thermometer.

It was just 361 degrees on the cooking surface close to the edge and 548 degrees in the middle.

That's a 187 degree difference.

Sorry, but I'm NOT going to heat my beloved expensive 12 inch stainless steel pan to 548 degrees for a comparison.

the difference comes when it holds the heat more evenly than a thin steel pan that cools off much faster,,

cast iron just needs slight adjustments to keep the heat distributed,, a steel one needs constant adjustments to keep it distributed,,

 

[Leo123]

More evenly than what?

I have no idea why people say cast iron frying pans heat evenly. They heat very unevenly due to the laws of physics.

Just how unevenly? I just did an experiment to find out with real numbers. I greased down my 12 inch cast iron pan with a light coat of clarified butter and heated it until I noticed that it was smoking. Then I took some readings with my infrared thermometer.

It was just 361 degrees on the cooking surface close to the edge and 548 degrees in the middle.

That's a 187 degree difference.

Sorry, but I'm NOT going to heat my beloved expensive 12 inch stainless steel pan to 548 degrees for a comparison.

That sounds more indicative of the size of your burner how it's constructed etc. Also when cooking, the food itself can influence the heating pattern. When I cook in my iron pan, it seems to cook very evenly and the heat is much more steady than stainless steel. Also, as I mentioned, I would NEVER put cold butter, clarified butter or oil in a cold pan and THEN heat it up. You do realize that the oil plays a part in the cooking process?

 

[toobfreak]

I see no need to own a cast iron pan​

Actually, to chefs, cast iron is the indispensable tool for many jobs because unlike other skillets,. the higher the heat the better it cooks and it cooks evenly without hot spots. It is also very low maintenance.

 

[WinterBorn]

Nothing compares to cast iron. A well seasoned pan will make cornbread even better! And frying anything is better.

 

[Leo123]

the difference comes when it holds the heat more evenly than a thin steel pan that cools off much faster,,

cast iron just needs slight adjustments to keep the heat distributed,, a steel one needs constant adjustments to keep it distributed,,

Good point, there are a lot of variables. Just putting a cold pan on a burner and observing heating patterns doesn't prove much, IMO. Cast iron pans may heat unevenly at first but you really need to bring it up to heat and the differences in heating patterns may actually buffer the overall heat of the pan. IOW the heating will moderate itself instead of heating/cooling quickly in a stainless steel skillet. In fact, they put thick bottoms on more expensive stainless steel pans for this very reason.

 

[AveMarica]

salt and oil takes about 3 minutes and its ready to go,,of course there are a lot of things you d.ont want to cook in cast iron,, but it my go to for most things,,

Salt and oil for 3 minutes is more than I spend cleaning a stainless steel pan under worst case. Obviously 3 minutes isn't a big deal, but let's not pretend it is easier to care for cast iron when you're using salt and oil after every use.

Have you ever had a steak cooked in a very hot cast iron pan with all of that seasoned and oiled metal searing the steak and flavoring it at the same time and then cut a chunk of butter and put it on the steak to finish it.... melt in the mouth goodness...

I have! I've also eaten a steak cooked in a very host stainless steel skillet with all the oiled metal searing the steak. I don't need the pan to give flavor to my food, that is what prep is for.

Then you can make a pan sauce by deglazing by adding wine and shallots to the fund, reducing, then a pat of butter to emulsify. Risky move on cast iron, since scraping fond with something acidic like wine might mess up your pan's seasoning.

 

[AveMarica]

That only applies when you first put the pan on the burner. You should always heat the pan before cooking. If you want a good sear, put the pan in a 500 degree oven to preheat it. You should never throw cold oil into a cold pan and then heat it up to do any kind of decent frying.

The laws of physics apply during the entire cooking process, cast iron does not heat evenly like clad stainless steel. Nobody is suggesting throwing cold oil in a cold pan.

the difference comes when it holds the heat more evenly than a thin steel pan that cools off much faster,,

Cast iron holds more heat since more thermal mass, but it doesn't do it evenly. If you put a cast iron pan on burner with an inch over overlap your pan surface will be significantly cooler on the edges, even after an hour. A clad stainless steel pan will be closer to even, including up the sidewalls.

 

[AveMarica]

Actually, to chefs, cast iron is the indispensable tool for many jobs because unlike other skillets,. the higher the heat the better it cooks and it cooks evenly without hot spots. It is also very low maintenance.

This is incorrect, there are many (most?) professional kitchens that don't have any cast iron because it is heavy, takes a long time to get to temp, and not responsive to heat changes. Cast iron doesn't cook as evenly as stainless steel, that is a myth that people just keep repeating despite countless examples proving otherwise.

Professional kitchens are more likely to have carbon steel and aluminum pans, not cast iron.

 

[Cellblock2429]

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.

/----/ You can soak them. Then wipe it down with a paper towel. To prevent rust, just wipe with a little vegetable oil.
A family member leaves the dirty pan on the stove with grease on it. When he heats it up, it sanitizes the pan. I think it looks disgusting, so I do wash mine, dry it on a hot stove, and then it's good to go.

 

[Cellblock2429]

This is incorrect, there are many (most?) professional kitchens that don't have any cast iron because it is heavy, takes a long time to get to temp, and not responsive to heat changes. Cast iron doesn't cook as evenly as stainless steel, that is a myth that people just keep repeating despite countless examples proving otherwise.

Professional kitchens are more likely to have carbon steel and aluminum pans, not cast iron.

/----/ Professional kitchens are all about speed and efficiency. A family member is a professional chef. There is no cast iron in the restaurant, but he has several at home he regularly uses.

 

[JohnDB]

Stainless steel "sandwich metal" bottom pans have a very small window of temperatures that food will not become literally glued to the bottom of the pan. (Which have to be scrubbed out later)

Cast iron pans have a larger window of non-stick temperatures to operate within. The polymerization of various oils provides the non-stick surface inside the pans. These heavy pans tend to hold the heat longer and are capable of searing meats without a huge heat loss from the cold food placed in them.

However, the drawbacks extensively mentioned have not covered the warping or cracking that can come from cast iron abuse.

Also....a new cast iron pan these days requires a LOT of work to prepare for cooking. The inside needs to be ground Smooth in some fashion to remove the casting surface silicone laden metal to open the pores and provide a smooth surface to cook eggs and pancakes on.

 

[AveMarica]

/----/ You can soak them.

Directly from the Lodge website:


Can I soak my cast iron pan?

No! Soaking cast iron in water is a recipe for rust. If you need to remove sticky or stubborn stuck-on food, use a nylon scrubbing brush or a pan scraper and rinse under warm water. Be sure to thoroughly dry your pan.