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Cast iron leet

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Re: Cast iron leet

#151

Post by ronyeh »

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…

Each tool has its own strengths and weaknesses. I have tried them all, including pans with aluminum cores but steel outer layers.

Cast iron is great for searing or for fried eggs or buttery scrambles.

I love my car on steel Matfer fry pan and try to use it as often as possible.

But for acidic or long simmering brown sauces that'll stick and tear off my seasoning, I'll probably teach for stainless steel. Afterward I'll scrape it down and it's good as new.

Nonstick has its purpose. One that I rediscovered recently is very low fat pan frying. Even though all my steel/iron pans are well seasoned, I still need more butter or avocado/grapeseed/coconut/etc oil when compared to cooking on a Teflon pan. If you are trying to cut calories, you'll need to count the additional cooking oil that goes into your carbon steel or cast iron dishes.

Yes, I am aware of the benefits of good fats in my diet. But sometimes you want to track or reduce total kcal consumption, e.g., if you are a weightlifter but aren't currently bulking. Reducing fat intake is the easiest lever, since you want to keep protein intake high, and want to limit carbs.

So yeah. Use the tool you enjoy using. I've seen Chef Jacques Pépin beat an omelette in a Teflon pan with a metal utensil, so who am I to judge???

Non-stick : JavaScript / Python

Cast Iron : C

Carbon Steel : Go

Stainless Steel : Java

Re: Cast iron leet

#152

Post by happyopossum »

talkingtab wrote: post #41

Sorry to be skeptical, but are the links affiliate links? Added to that question is the question of the quality of the article. While I agree completely with the main point about using cast iron pans, I think the post glosses over some issues. To be clear I own two cast iron skillets and NO non-stick pans. But it ain't as easy as the post makes it. "Easy to clean" with a scrubbing net is misleading because it is only…

> Sorry to be skeptical, but are the links affiliate links?

Err, why are you asking us that when you can simply look at the links yourself? (Since the very presence of your question could taint the author’s post, I will tell you - they’re not. Affiliate links contain a tag=xxxx parameter).

Writing a multi-paragraph rant based on an easily debunked suspicion isn’t a great idea.

Re: Cast iron leet

#153

Post by teekert »

runnerup wrote: post #102
teekert wrote: post #50

I also don't use teflon and have been buying these (and some plate steel pans): [0] [0]: https://www.greenpan.nl/ (sorry Dutch website, but if you search for greenpan on amazon you will also find these pans)

GreenPan falls under the “ceramic” nonstick category. When I looked into this category 2-3 years ago most of the pans had Teflon or other fluorinated compounds (Teflon-like) as the final coating on top. I’ve seen greenpans perform about the same in terms of non-stickiness and durability as regular nonstick pans. In light of https://www.leafscore.com/eco-friendly-kitchen-products/why-... and my own personal experience…

Thanx for this reply, til. I really wonder what their tech is, one of my fav pans is a greenpan and it can get very hot with no issues and has been surviving my dishwasher for 2 years now. But this does smell fishy indeed.

Re: Cast iron leet

#154

Post by happyopossum »

westcort wrote: post #109

Tupperware MicroPro with the eterna coating has been great for me. I can make a roast in 20 minutes, lasagna from scratch in 15 minutes, etc. The coating is a lot more durable than conventional coatings and there is no indoor air pollution, like with my gas stove. The technology is better than the old way of cooking. It is so much more convenient, in fact, that I wonder if there was a campaign against microwave cooki…

> I can make a roast in 20 minutes

No. No you cannot. You can cook a cut of meat commonly called a ‘roast’, but you sure as heck aren’t actually getting all of the culinary results of roasting.

Re: Cast iron leet

#155

Post by thfuran »

tekacs wrote: post #12

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…

$150 for a cast iron pan is nuts.

Re: Cast iron leet

#156

Post by happyopossum »

gorgoiler wrote: post #96

I read somewhere that iron and steel expand at a microscopic level, when heated, such that you can fill these small holes up with oil and get a non stick cooking surface. Whenever I’ve washed up an iron pan I always put it back on the heat with some oil. You can literally see the water bubbling out of the surface as the pan gets hot and the water boils off.

> You can literally see the water bubbling out of the surface as the pan gets hot and the water boils off.

That’s not what’s happening - there are no ‘microscopic’ gaps that water is getting in to, iron is too dense for that.

Re: Cast iron leet

#157

Post by waynesonfire »

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…

> you need to dry it perfectly every time or it rusts very easily.

I just put a little evo on a paper towel and apply it all over the pan.

Re: Cast iron leet

#158

Post by JshWright »

perlgeek wrote: post #14

> 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?

If (modern) dish soap washes your seasoning off, it wasn’t seasoning, it was just grease and grime stuck to your pan.

It is true that dish soap used to be much more aggressive, and those soaps can cause issues for pan seasoning (and also for your skin…), but those soaps haven’t been sold (in any meaningful quantity) in decades.

Re: Cast iron leet

#159

Post by JohnHaugeland »

> These are all demonstrably false. Once a pan is seasoned, there's not much you can do to mess up the seasoning -- in my experience.

Having destroyed the seasoning on a great many cast irons, this is a remarkable sentence to me.

Re: Cast iron leet

#160

Post by dontlaugh »

horsawlarway wrote: post #106
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…

Personally - I find carbonsteel pans are basically my favorite ever. Slightly heftier than stainless and much easier to season. I have a set of stainless (relatively nice triple clad Cuisinart) and I still much prefer the carbon steel pans. It's essentially what cast iron pans would be if we had better manufacturing techniques, and they work really well. Backing up though - I would 100% take cast iron over just stain…

Agreed. I use carbon steel for eggs and similar, they retain seasoning much better than stainless steel.

I also use cast iron for other things though. They have different strengths.

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