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I recently bought a new cast iron skillet and it just doesn’t seem to be of the same quality, it’s a lighter colour and doesn’t seem to season as well. Are there different grades of cast iron, or are they just not made like they used to be?
As sibling commenters have mentioned, smooth vs. rough does seem to make a difference.
Source: I have cast iron like these and use it to comfortably cook eggs and food where sticking would be a problem all the time.
Unlike several other commenters here, it absolutely hasn’t seemed like a tool ‘mostly for steaks’. In fact I cook most things in cast iron, carbon steel wok or finally fall back to stainless if neither is appropriate.
Luckily there’s a fantastic non-nonstick option for that too; a carbon steel wok. Amazing tool that is frankly under-utilized in the western world.
J. Kenji López-Alt released a book this year that goes over how to use it in great engineering-focused detail for anyone wanting to give it a shot.
I believed this before reading the article.
Is it commonly accepted wisdom that this is bunk?
The post glossed over this, but it is certainly possible to damage your seasoning, especially if something you're cooking sticks to the pan. However, this doesn't mean you need to do some day-long "reseasoning" process that involves stripping the whole thing and baking it in the oven. Just clean the pan, put some oil in it, put it on the burner, and rub the oil in with a balled up paper towel until it gets hot. Do this after you cook until you build up a good seasoning and then stop. If your seasoning gets damaged for any reason, just rub some oil into it after you cook until it's good again.
The key for me was learning to care for carbon steel woks. It's basically the same as cast iron, but there's a lot less misinformation and internet superstition out there.
> You can't use dish soap on them because it'll destroy the seasoning I believed this before reading the article. Is it commonly accepted wisdom that this is bunk?
prose.sh really is quite interesting, a ssh-based blogging service. I was looking for something like this after reading more about astro.build, since in a way, prose is even more minimalist in that I don't even need to set up my own site, just my markdown files.
Nowadays it’s also much easier than it used to be to buy smooth cast iron, which becomes extremely easy to cook even fairly sticky foods on after just a seasoning or two (e.g. https://fieldcompany.com/products/field-cast-iron-skillet ). As sibling commenters have mentioned, smooth vs. rough does seem to make a difference. Source: I have cast iron like these and use it to comfortably cook eggs and food where sticking…
> You can't use dish soap on them because it'll destroy the seasoning I believed this before reading the article. Is it commonly accepted wisdom that this is bunk?
> You can't use dish soap on them because it'll destroy the seasoning I believed this before reading the article. Is it commonly accepted wisdom that this is bunk?