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Cast iron leet

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Re: Cast iron leet

#81

Post by perlgeek »

Swenrekcah wrote: post #44
jstx1 wrote: post #31

In general I find that cast iron is very overrated. > Here's a list of myths about cast iron skillets: (...) You can't cook with acidic foods (e.g. tomatoes) because it'll destroy the seasoning You might not destroy the seasoning but you will get metallic tastes in your food. I don't get why anyone would pick cast iron over stainless steel for an acidic sauce that needs to be cooked for a longer period of time. Also…

A downside of non-stick pans are the unknown side effects of the non-stick substance used, though.

I might be concerned about teflon and similar non-stick coatings, but not really about ceramics. Humanity has been using ceramics for ages, and we haven't found any adverse affects yet.

Re: Cast iron leet

#82

Post by twawaaay »

flycaliguy wrote: post #64
taywrobel wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually just moved to a house with an all-electric range. We use the wok too often for that, so grabbed a butane burner for ~$50 on Amazon. Can also find them at camping supply stores. The one we got is 15,000 BTU, which is frankly too much. You can find 10,000 or 12,000 BTU options for cheaper, and will probably get some more fine grained control out of it. The butane lasts for quite a while in it for wok use as…

Happy to read this, I’ve been considering this exact arrangement lately. A bunch of things I’ve read say you need 15,000 if you want to get that carmilization on your stir fry’s. I’m also very inspired by this video [1] which shows what appears to be a jet engine under a wok used by a master chef. [1] https://youtu.be/Zj8D5Z5S1D8

You can get more powerful burner but you can also reduce your portions.

I have a carbon steel wok on a typical (here) gas burner (~7k BTU). I can make single portion on it. It requires moving the food around the wok surface constantly to parts that had some time to get hot. Forget about throwing more than one portion into it, it will just start to boil. So the only time I get to use it is when my family is away or when I want to make something for myself at an odd hour but pretty much useless for a meal for my family.

Re: Cast iron leet

#83

Post by jitl »

askvictor wrote: post #22
nicexe wrote: post #7

Cast iron is far from perfect. I use it for steaks because they are hard to sear in other cookware. The cleanup and seasoning processes make cast iron hard to use for anything else. I plan to get a ceramic one (with iron core) but even if it solves the seasoning process and the cleanup process, it isn't the best to sear steaks in it. My point is that each tool has its use and in this specific case, cast iron is not t…

Everything is about compromises. Once seasoned, you don't need to re-season if you follow certain rules. Clean up is pretty easy IMHO; even a little detergent is fine, and you can soak for a couple of hours (just not overnight). Ceramic will apparently wear through the coating eventually. With cast iron you can re-coat (i.e. season), while ceramic you can't. I use cast iron pans for almost everything, the rest is in…

I season my Neoflam “ceramic” pans. Different (lower temp) process than for carbon steel or cast iron, but similarly improves/restores the non-stick coating.

Re: Cast iron leet

#84

Post by twawaaay »

wffurr wrote: post #60
twawaaay wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Carbon steel wok is only viable on a powerful gas stove. Right now where I live there is a campaign to get rid of gas stoves. And the existing ones are far, far from being powerful enough to use wok properly.

Just use flat bottomed pans on an induction stove. Works great.

Carbon steel wok is far superior to any flat bottomed pan for certain types of dishes but you need skill to use it.

Re: Cast iron leet

#85

Post by perlgeek »

sva_ wrote: post #66

I wonder what people are doing to their nonstick pans that they need to throw them out every year? I've been using the same two nonstick pans for years now and can't say I have that problem (I only use wood/plastic on them). I'm still concerned about the chemicals used though.

> I wonder what people are doing to their nonstick pans that they need to throw them out every year?

I had a very high-quality non-stick skillet, only used wood/plastic utensils, and the non-stick coating started coming off after about three years (of pretty heavy use).

I plan to have it refurbished, there are (at least in Germany) services where they sand-blast your skillet and apply a new coating. Seems wasteful to throw away the entire skillet for that.

Re: Cast iron leet

#86

Post by mastazi »

taywrobel wrote: post #13

This does miss one huge drawback of cast iron for cooking some dishes - heat control. Cast iron retains heat like crazy and doesn’t change quickly. Get that thing up to a searing temperature and it’ll be 10-15 minutes before you can get an egg anywhere near it for example. A thinner steel pan will heat up and cool down much rapidly allowing for a lot more control. Luckily there’s a fantastic non-nonstick option for t…

> frankly under-utilized in the western world.

they are not popular at home but, even in the western world, carbon steel pans are the most common type of pan used in restaurants, they are also known as Lyonnaise pans. Recently they are becoming more common and you can even buy them at Ikea: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/vardagen-frying-pan-carbon-stee...

Not only they (carbon steel pans and woks) are faster to heat and easier to control than cast iron, they are also lighter, and another advantage is that they have longer handles that don't heat up as much, which means you can grab them without using oven mitts or handle covers.

Re: Cast iron leet

#87

Post by peatmoss »

f38zf5vdt wrote: post #36
jlkuester7 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The price point of carbon steel pans is about the same as cast iron? My first exposure to carbon steel was a link someone posted out here on HN and the linked pans were $100's (compared to cast iron which are $10's). Maybe I just looked at a very expensive sample..

They are very affordable, but you need to order from somewhere that wholesales to restaurants. https://www.wasserstrom.com/restaurant-supplies-equipment/pa... These pans are pre-seasoned and ready for use.

Side benefit, you get an ergonomic pan. I was gifted a couple a couple of carbon steel egg pans when a friend of a friend closed a restaurant, and I was like, "ah these are pans that need to be comfortable through a shift, not look shiny at Crate & Barrel for amateurs."

I feel like carbon steel is the biggest secret that people outside the restaurant biz are oblivious to. I have cast iron, but my carbon steel gets used much, much more.

Re: Cast iron leet

#88

Post by mastazi »

twawaaay wrote: post #84
wffurr wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just use flat bottomed pans on an induction stove. Works great.

Carbon steel wok is far superior to any flat bottomed pan for certain types of dishes but you need skill to use it.

I think that parent meant flat bottomed carbon steel pans.

Re: Cast iron leet

#89

Post by twawaaay »

mastazi wrote: post #76
twawaaay wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Carbon steel wok is only viable on a powerful gas stove. Right now where I live there is a campaign to get rid of gas stoves. And the existing ones are far, far from being powerful enough to use wok properly.

I use carbon steel pans on a ceramic electric stovetop and they work perfectly. If you don't like Western style pans and you still want to use a wok, then you can get a wok where the centre is flat (many woks are built that way so it should't be too hard to find one), and it will work the same way as the pans I use.

There are multiple issues with flat bottomed wok.

The point of the wok is that the liquid gathers in the centre of the wok leaving the sides with very little liquid on them which helps a lot with browning. You can also throw small amounts of relatively delicate ingredients (like garlic) that will get sauted in deep pool of oil in the centre and then you can add more ingredients and build your dish.

With any flat bottom you give away some properties of the wok, depending on how large the flat part is.

Another nice property of wok is that because of its dome shape it will not deform even at high temperature differentials. Any flat piece of steel subjected to high temperature differentials will deform over time.

Re: Cast iron leet

#90

Post by brudgers »

jstx1 wrote: post #31

In general I find that cast iron is very overrated. > Here's a list of myths about cast iron skillets: (...) You can't cook with acidic foods (e.g. tomatoes) because it'll destroy the seasoning You might not destroy the seasoning but you will get metallic tastes in your food. I don't get why anyone would pick cast iron over stainless steel for an acidic sauce that needs to be cooked for a longer period of time. Also…

What works for me.

I don't use cast iron for boiling, simmering, and otherwise cooking liquids. It's a frying pan for frying.

I use stainless steel sauce pans, pots, etc. for liquids.

I clean the cast iron while it is hot. A lot of food comes off without water, only a little water is required to remove the rest, and the cast iron is mostly self drying. Since I usually use electric burners, I can stick it back on its burner to dry with the burner's residual heat. [1] This is also a reasonable time to oil it.

If something is really stuck, for example if I didn't clean the pan when hot, I heat the pan again and clean it when hot.

Cleaning stainless steel when it is hot is another algorithm that works on my machine.

There's certainly ritual and habit around my use of cast iron but I am not saying you should use cast iron. Particularly since I enjoy the process of using cast iron and you don't.

[1]: on my portable butane stove, I will reignite the flame and reheat the pan if necessary.

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