Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Cast iron leet

erock.prose.sh

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

201–210 of 337 posts

Re: Cast iron leet

#201

Post by bch »

perlgeek wrote: post #81
Swenrekcah wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> Humanity has been using ceramics for ages, and we haven't found any adverse affects yet.

Ceramic glazes have been problematic [0].

[0] https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/12/08/563808879/ca...

Re: Cast iron leet

#202

Post by amluto »

perlgeek wrote: post #81
Swenrekcah wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> Humanity has been using ceramics for ages, and we haven't found any adverse affects yet.

Porous ceramics can easily breed bacteria, good and bad. And glazes on ceramics can contain all kinds of delightful compounds that can leach out. You certainly don’t want to eat or breathe unfired glaze.

As for ceramic nonstick cookware, I’m not convinced that such a thing exists. I think that “ceramic” coatings are actually sol-gel, and I can’t find a straight answer as to what is in them. They do advertise that they are fluoropolymer-free, and they seem to be stable to rather higher temperatures than PTFE.

Re: Cast iron leet

#203

Post by teddyh »

shadycuz wrote: post #133
brudgers wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

When I have really stubborn stuck items to my cast iron. I boil salt in it.

What stovetop can reach 1465 °C (2669 °F)?

Re: Cast iron leet

#204

Post by mastax »

I like using cast iron pans for searing meat since they have a large thermal mass and you can get them ripping hot without damaging them. Being able to put them in the oven is also nice for meat and such. I also use them on the grill sometimes e.g. for making fajita veggies without smoking up the house.

I often want to de-glaze the pan after cooking the meat to make a pan sauce. I have had issues sometimes if the sauce is too acidic the seasoning starts flaking up.

I don't understand how people cook eggs in cast iron. I have an antique cast-iron pan with the smooth surface and a pretty good seasoning but it's not even as nonstick as my crappy old ceramic non-stick pans. I do like my eggs to be very soft and delicate but maybe its okay for crispy fried eggs.

Overall I think it's worth having one since they're cheap, even though they're only really great at a few things.

Re: Cast iron leet

#205

Post by twobitshifter »

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…

For sauces I would suggest an enameled cast iron pot that won’t rust and can handle acids.

Re: Cast iron leet

#206

Post by krzyk »

jitl wrote: post #139
evolve2k wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My friend is a chef and looking after their pans properly also involves wiping them down with oil before storage, not sure I’m up for that level of pro maintenance.

It takes 2 seconds to wipe the inside of a pan with an oily cloth

But oil goes bad after some time (I think the proper term is oil goes rancid).

I stopped using my pans that required oil because of that.

Re: Cast iron leet

#207

Post by SergeAx »

UpstandingUser wrote: post #192
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 tran…

I thought about challenging you with writing a thermal energy transfer equation, but will stop at writing two constants: heat capacity of cast iron vs stainless steel: 540 vs 500 J/(Kg*°C). So just buy a stainless steel cookware 7.5% heavier than cast iron - and you are all set.

Re: Cast iron leet

#208

Post by renlo »

SergeAx wrote: post #207
UpstandingUser wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 tran…

I thought about challenging you with writing a thermal energy transfer equation, but will stop at writing two constants: heat capacity of cast iron vs stainless steel: 540 vs 500 J/(Kg*°C). So just buy a stainless steel cookware 7.5% heavier than cast iron - and you are all set.

Aren’t cast iron skillets usually made heavier though? Ie, sure heat capacity is similar per kg but if one is almost always 2-3x heavier than the other then it’s going to retain more heat

Re: Cast iron leet

#209

Post by timecube »

SergeAx wrote: post #207
UpstandingUser wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 tran…

I thought about challenging you with writing a thermal energy transfer equation, but will stop at writing two constants: heat capacity of cast iron vs stainless steel: 540 vs 500 J/(Kg*°C). So just buy a stainless steel cookware 7.5% heavier than cast iron - and you are all set.

Good luck finding a stainless steel pan that even weighs as much as a cast iron, let alone more.

Re: Cast iron leet

#210

Post by balfirevic »

SergeAx wrote: post #207
UpstandingUser wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 tran…

I thought about challenging you with writing a thermal energy transfer equation, but will stop at writing two constants: heat capacity of cast iron vs stainless steel: 540 vs 500 J/(Kg*°C). So just buy a stainless steel cookware 7.5% heavier than cast iron - and you are all set.

I think it's just that cast iron pans usually come heavier. My relatively heavy 28 cm stainless steel pan (Ikea Sensuell) is 1.7 kg, while my 29 cm cast iron is 3.1 kg.

I wish there were heavier and affordable stainless steel pans for searing, as I can just chuck those in the dishwasher.

Post reply on HN