331–337 of 337 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
I guess if you cook once every few months, that might be a concern.
Thin layer of oil out in the open goes bad quicker than oil closed in a bottle.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
If you're cleaning it hard enough to remove the brown/black layers that form near the bottom - you're cleaning way too much, and never letting it build up a layer of seasoning.
Despite the claims that modern soap won't hurt, I find it varies tremendously by brand. So I don't use it.
I literally just drop about a tablespoon of salt into the large skillets, and wipe out with a paper towel while it's hot still.
The egg pan gets a light scrub with a non-scratch sponge, and that's basically it.
Also - I'm in no way affiliated, but this is basically the best cleaner for cast iron you can get: https://www.amazon.com/Ringer-Original-Stainless-Cleaner-Pat...
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…
So another interesting thing about nonstick pans: if you brown things in them, the fond sticks to the food, not the pan. Now obviously you can't get a super hard sear on teflon, but you can brown things, and I find it can give more control on delicate stuff like fish. Also re oil, a great tip is to oil the food not the pan along with using nonstick too. Oh, on that famous Pepin video (which is the one that taught me…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I found a hoard of old unused sad cast iron pans at my wife’s grandma’s place. Putting them in the electric oven and running a self-clean cycle completely stripped them down to bare metal. From there, they were seasoned from scratch and have been in service for a decade now.
How bad was the smoke
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Oh yeah i forgot to mention uneven heat distribution too. I don't really mind using a small dishtowel to move the pan so that lodge is probably fine. i'm sure there are some designs that don't get the handle hot either though i haven't researched that much at all since i'm happy with my stainless pan for 99% of my pan cooking.
Yeah if you wanna drop some extra cash for the most endgame pan of all, Solidteknics sells excellent $109 "wrought iron" pans — carbon steel material, but in a single cast so there are no rivets — that more lightweight than Lodge and have long handles that don't (apparently) get hot. Lodge is pretty good though IMO.
The handle does get hot, but it takes a LONG time. I can easily cook a couple eggs, or make a few grilled cheese sandwiches without any problem.
Cooking a whole batch of pancakes is too long through - I need sleeve/glove after about 25 minutes. Even then, though - it's not "burn me" hot, it's just uncomfortable to hold for more than a few seconds.
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 did once melt the hood of a gas grill by putting a piece of steel in it. Held heat so well the cover and front of the grill warped.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
While that is generally the advice, in my experience you're much better off treating them somewhat carelessly. The main thing is to not clean them too much, and to not let them stay wet. The seasoning happens with regular use. With a new pan you want to let it stay on the heat a bit after use so the oil has some time to stick to the pan properly. After the third or fourth time using it it should start getting pretty anti-stick, until then just use a metal spatula to dig stuff out of the pan.