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Cast iron leet

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Re: Cast iron leet

#191

Post by qbasic_forever »

One thing I've recently discovered with my cast iron pan (now 20 years old!) is cooking pan pizza at home with it. I follow the America's Test Kitchen recipe here and it comes out unbelievably good, just like Pizza Hut from the 80s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-srfPL5CWZs

It's super trendy to obsess over getting the hottest pizza oven--something that gets up to 800 degrees, etc--so you can get super authentic restaurant pizza at home. That's great and a fun hobby for some folks I'm sure, but a cast iron pan with a long overnight fermentation of the dough is a game-changer for from scratch pizza for me.

Re: Cast iron leet

#192

Post by UpstandingUser »

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…

Cast iron's real strength is the huge amount thermal mass and the relatively low rate of heat transmission. You preheat it, throw whatever you're cooking in it and the residual heat alone will brown it perfectly, even a huge slab of meat. It holds tons of energy and releases it relatively slowly. Steel pans will sometimes have all the heat sucked out of them before you're done searing (lower thermal mass, higher transmission) and it doesn't come out right, especially if you have a low output stovetop because it can't keep up with the cooking and maintain proper temperature.

Cast iron is kind of the opposite of a wok, which is made so you get about as close as you can to cooking with the flame and no residual heat from the cooking vessel. Note that woks are designed to be cooked on crazy output stoves that you don't really see in Western homes. This allows you to sear with much more control of the thermal transmission at the cost of a blazing hot kitchen and a hefty gas bill.

Re: Cast iron leet

#193

Post by [deleted] »

qbasic_forever wrote: post #190
throwaway892238 wrote: post #187

Anodized aluminum is non-stick, non-reactive, lightweight, can be cleaned as normal, requires no seasoning, is scratch-resistant, and heats very quickly.

Aluminum, even anodized, will definitely stick to food. Most anodized pots are treated with a teflon nonstick interior though and its color is very similar to the grey color of the anodization. You do have to be careful about scratching anodized stuff too. The anodization will scratch and flake off if hit with hard material like steel. But again it's usually not anodized material directly in contact with the cooking…

[deleted]

Re: Cast iron leet

#194

Post by martingoodson »

randallsquared wrote: post #179
martingoodson wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you’re doing it wrong. It’s very easy to renew the seasoning and it doesn’t retain smells.

It's definitely possible I'm doing it wrong. There are so many reasonable-sounding articles I've read over the years about smoke points and food-safe flaxseed oil and temperatures and ventilation so you can season for H hours for each seasoning coat... When everything is working, cast iron seems great: quick brush off, slight bit of oil to rub in while it's still warm, done. When a spot of rust appears, or large spot…

If my seasoning is getting a bit thin I just smear on some oil in a thin layer and heat at high temperature for about 3 minutes and that’s it. I never have any rust spots because I always dry it after use.

I don’t find it very high maintenance at all.

Re: Cast iron leet

#195

Post by novok »

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…

We used cast iron for quite a while. It wasn't that non stick for things like eggs, was way more annoying to clean properly and get all the cooking residue of food that got stuck on the pan, and was too heavy and after months of use never really developed that 'seasoning'. And we babied it a lot, with special brushes, avoided acidic foods and lots of soap in cleaning it. It was annoying. So eventually I just got the triple clad cuisinart you had and I find the stainless steel way nicer and easier to clean.

Re: Cast iron leet

#196

Post by novok »

ta988 wrote: post #119
brudgers wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 'f' in 'teflon' is the F from the periodic table. Florine is remarkably not inert. Teflon is a relatively stable Florine compound. But as you say, it can destabilize when the pan is used within a few sigma of ideal cooking temperature.

There is no FL in periodic table. And Teflon is not as stable as believed.

He said 'F', not 'FL'. It is on the periodic table: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorine

Re: Cast iron leet

#197

Post by bch »

southerntofu wrote: post #170
ronyeh wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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'l…

Too bad the Rust pan has not been invented yet, with zero-cost abstraction enabling lightweight non-stick cooking on bare metal ;)

With the right (lack of) attention, cast iron can evolve to rust. After enough time, you'll never cook with it and have things stick (you'll also simply never cook with it).

Re: Cast iron leet

#198

Post by honkycat »

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…

Wow I haven't read such a confidently wrong post in a while.

> You might not destroy the seasoning but you will get metallic tastes in your food.

I cook sauce in mine and it doesn't taste metallic.

> Also not mentioned downside of cast iron - you need to dry it perfectly every time or it rusts very easily.

Absolute horse apples. I treat my pan like garbage and give it a wipe ONCE and it never rusts.

It is fine preferring one type of pan over another but you are saying patently untrue things here.

Re: Cast iron leet

#199

Post by throwaway892238 »

qbasic_forever wrote: post #190
throwaway892238 wrote: post #187

Anodized aluminum is non-stick, non-reactive, lightweight, can be cleaned as normal, requires no seasoning, is scratch-resistant, and heats very quickly.

Aluminum, even anodized, will definitely stick to food. Most anodized pots are treated with a teflon nonstick interior though and its color is very similar to the grey color of the anodization. You do have to be careful about scratching anodized stuff too. The anodization will scratch and flake off if hit with hard material like steel. But again it's usually not anodized material directly in contact with the cooking…

Looks like you're right; they used to not add coatings back in the day, but now they all seem to have them, even if they don't point it out in the product details.

Re: Cast iron leet

#200

Post by qbasic_forever »

throwaway892238 wrote: post #199
qbasic_forever wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aluminum, even anodized, will definitely stick to food. Most anodized pots are treated with a teflon nonstick interior though and its color is very similar to the grey color of the anodization. You do have to be careful about scratching anodized stuff too. The anodization will scratch and flake off if hit with hard material like steel. But again it's usually not anodized material directly in contact with the cooking…

Looks like you're right; they used to not add coatings back in the day, but now they all seem to have them, even if they don't point it out in the product details.

Yeah aluminum is still great, it's actually a lot better than cast iron for heat distribution. Thick aluminum stuff in particular is amazing in my experience. I have an anodized aluminum sauce pan that is a perfect rice cooking pot--it heats up and boils water super fast, retains heat well, and nonstick interior is great for rice. Still looks as nice and clean as the day I bought it 15 years ago too.
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