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Cast iron leet

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Re: Cast iron leet

#231

Post by spfzero »

poulsbohemian wrote: post #186
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.

> where I live there is a campaign to get rid of gas stoves. I'd be very interested to hear from the serious home cooks on this issue, as well as the perspective of professional chefs. While I consider myself an advanced home cook, I've come to the conclusion that I'm not limited by going electric only - it's the heat, not the flame that matters for most of what I do. For those cases where I really do need flame (roa…

I've cooked on both, many years on each and I'm an every-day kind of cook. In my experience, gas is better. Heats up faster, reacts much faster to control input, and by looking at the flame under the pan I can adjust exactly, and quickly.

I have not cooked on induction though, which might be a big improvement over the electric ranges I've used.

Another thing about gas ranges that is purely mechanical, is that I can slide pans around to get them off the burner when I need things to cool down fast and I don't want to turn the flame completely off. I have come to really rely on this. The electric ranges I've used have a glass top and it will get scratched up if you slide the pan around.

Re: Cast iron leet

#232

Post by smarks »

na85 wrote: post #173
moistly wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find that the eggs get sucked into the motor, gumming it up beyond repair. It’s better to use a drill with an abrasive disc.

I use gluten free cast iron orbital sander for maximum smug.

It’s no good unless it’s organic.

Re: Cast iron leet

#233

Post by the_third_wave »

SeanLuke wrote: post #79
the_third_wave wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The seasoning has no problems with acidic foods, you do not get a metallic taste units you leave the food in the pan overnight. Once seasoned it does not rust easily but even if it does this is not a problem, just clean it with some cooking oil and use it and the rust is gone. Clean it while warm and it'll dry by itself. Use some fat and your food won't stick - you need fat anyway. No problems with overheating plasti…

> The seasoning has no problems with acidic foods, you do not get a metallic taste units you leave the food in the pan overnight. Epicurious's taste tests indicate that the proper figure is 30 minutes.

This is not my experience, it probably depends on the resilience of the seasoning. I use these things every day with either olive oil or butter so the seasoning get a reworking nearly every day - I have 4 different skillets in regular use so there tends to be a day or 2, 3 between each use per item. It takes a night in the scullery for that irony taste to develop.

That said I don't mind the fact that some iron makes its way into our food. I mainly cook vegetarian/pescetarian because my wife does not want to eat meat ever since she saw some practice in a slaughterhouse at age 16. This means it is harder to make sure our food contains enough iron. One of the ways of achieving that is to use cast iron cookware when cooking acidic foods. The longer the food is in the pan, the more iron makes its way into it. Eventually this leaves that metallic taste but that takes quite a while in a well-seasoned pan.

Re: Cast iron leet

#235

Post by mgaunard »

Caring for cast iron or carbon steel is fairly difficult and not something most people actually want to do.

In practice hard anodized aluminium is the best compromise for people that aren't cookware geeks.

Re: Cast iron leet

#236

Post by mgaunard »

poulsbohemian wrote: post #186
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.

> where I live there is a campaign to get rid of gas stoves. I'd be very interested to hear from the serious home cooks on this issue, as well as the perspective of professional chefs. While I consider myself an advanced home cook, I've come to the conclusion that I'm not limited by going electric only - it's the heat, not the flame that matters for most of what I do. For those cases where I really do need flame (roa…

The main advantage of gas is that it heats up the pan from the sides as well, not just the bottom.

Some might consider it inefficient and a waste of energy, but it makes seasoning pans much easier.

Re: Cast iron leet

#237

Post by lowbloodsugar »

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…

>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.

So, er, don’t do that? Nice thing is, for that price, I can buy more than one pan!

And unlike other pans I can get it up to a searing temperature with enough heat storage that it actually sears.

All that being said, yeah, nonstick pans for $80 that only last a year? Ok. They are worth it. So we have both. Yes and a wok.

Re: Cast iron leet

#238

Post by [deleted] »

mgaunard wrote: post #235

Caring for cast iron or carbon steel is fairly difficult and not something most people actually want to do. In practice hard anodized aluminium is the best compromise for people that aren't cookware geeks.

[deleted]

Re: Cast iron leet

#239

Post by lostlogin »

teddyh wrote: post #203
shadycuz wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

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

Boiling water with salt in it works well, and seems likely to be what OP means. Even boiling water works great.

I suspect a degree of sarcasm just wooshed over me.

Re: Cast iron leet

#240

Post by copperx »

frazbin wrote: post #150
frazbin wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just make sure it's PFAS free and not just PF(X) free for some X; 3M is hell bent on getting this shit into your system

e.g. some of the 'copper coated' stuff that is 'PFOA' free

It's the same idiocy we have to endure with BPA-free plastics.
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