Anyone try to physically polish cast iron? My Lodge pans are well seasoned but still have a rough surface area that can cause bits to catch.
Vintage cast iron pans have a smoother surface
Cooking and bird safety
31–40 of 231 posts
Re: Cooking and bird safety
#32Since a few years, I do own only iron pans. Teflon for home use as pans was a ridiculous idea: you need to take care of it and it will wear out after some time and needs to be replaced. Iron pans need very little care and get better with age. What is the point?
It's super non-stick. I know you're going to rebut with saying that iron pans are too, and I'm sure they are, but most people don't want to put in any level of the effort needed to make iron pans as non-stick as teflon. A lot of people care only a mild amount about cooking, and don't want to invest the time to know how to properly use a cast iron or a carbon steel (which I have and only seldom use). They'd rather get…
This. I absolutely hate cooking. With a passion. I don't want to spend time on it.
I wish it was possible to buy decent home cooked food for a reasonable fee :(
We can outsource pretty much everything else that's a chore. I drop my washing in a bag to be ready for a tenner tomorrow. Groceries can be delivered for cheap.
But delivered or takeaway food is generally very expensive and not very healthy. It's still viewed as a luxury.
There's just no benefit to cooking for a single person and I just hate doing it so much. So I get implements that make cleanup as simple as possible. Like the non-stick pans.
It's very different for someone who would view coming as a hobby and takes pride in it.
Re: Cooking and bird safety
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's super non-stick. I know you're going to rebut with saying that iron pans are too, and I'm sure they are, but most people don't want to put in any level of the effort needed to make iron pans as non-stick as teflon. A lot of people care only a mild amount about cooking, and don't want to invest the time to know how to properly use a cast iron or a carbon steel (which I have and only seldom use). They'd rather get…
Hm. My cast-iron skillet I've used for 20 years doesn't stick. Ever. If there's a little stuck-on stuff on the bottom after use (should have put a little wine in there, gotten that flavor back into the dish, oh well) then a Scotch-brite bad and 30 seconds fixes it.
My cast iron is 4 years old and every time I use scotch-brite on it, I have to spend hours stinking up my house with flaxseed oil to reseason the pan because scotch-brite makes little dots of shiny iron show up.
Re: Cooking and bird safety
#34Since a few years, I do own only iron pans. Teflon for home use as pans was a ridiculous idea: you need to take care of it and it will wear out after some time and needs to be replaced. Iron pans need very little care and get better with age. What is the point?
I use steel or iron where possible but fish… it’s just impossible. I have some nice greenpans for that but those are also controversial.
Re: Cooking and bird safety
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's super non-stick. I know you're going to rebut with saying that iron pans are too, and I'm sure they are, but most people don't want to put in any level of the effort needed to make iron pans as non-stick as teflon. A lot of people care only a mild amount about cooking, and don't want to invest the time to know how to properly use a cast iron or a carbon steel (which I have and only seldom use). They'd rather get…
Hm. My cast-iron skillet I've used for 20 years doesn't stick. Ever. If there's a little stuck-on stuff on the bottom after use (should have put a little wine in there, gotten that flavor back into the dish, oh well) then a Scotch-brite bad and 30 seconds fixes it.
> If there's a little stuck-on stuff on the bottom after use (should have put a little wine in there, gotten that flavor back into the dish, oh well) then a Scotch-brite bad and 30 seconds fixes it.
For people seriously care about cooking (perhaps you're one of them), this is non sticking.
For a lot of people this is the definition of sticking.
Re: Cooking and bird safety
#36Anyone try to physically polish cast iron? My Lodge pans are well seasoned but still have a rough surface area that can cause bits to catch.
I would like to know as well. A 12" Lodge skillet costs $30 [1]. A mirror-polished 12" Lodge skillet costs an eye-watering $250 [2]. Even if this is a special case, what is it about the polishing process that adds $100 or more to the base cost? I'd be interested to hear from anyone in the know. ---------------------------------------- [1] https://www.lodgecastiron.com/product/round-cast-iron-classi... [2] https://www…
Dont do this.
Get a carbon steel pan instead. Same material as wok's, and they will take a seasoning.
I like the BelleVie, because it hits the mark on cost/quality, but you have to be accepting of a slightly uneven seasoning, or strip them once a year and start over (spring cleaning project).
Re: Cooking and bird safety
#37Stainless steel with some basic seasoning every once in a while (oil, high heat, it’s easy to do) has done me well for a long time. I do keep a non stick around just for eggs though, hard to beat.
I’m not sure you can really season stainless steel? It’s not porous
Re: Cooking and bird safety
#38> Unattended cookware that overheats—or cookware that’s heated up without anything added to the pan—can release fumes that are toxic to birds
So, it's not Teflon. It's burning your pan
(I wouldn't recommended breathing that in neither. And I would definitely not recommend you put your pan in the fire without any thermal load)
Re: Cooking and bird safety
#39Since a few years, I do own only iron pans. Teflon for home use as pans was a ridiculous idea: you need to take care of it and it will wear out after some time and needs to be replaced. Iron pans need very little care and get better with age. What is the point?
I received a granite pan recently and I can't recommend it enough. It doesn't stick and contains no teflon or any other such material.
I thought those pans that are marketed as "granite" with a speckled pattern where just PTFE coated aluminium, is this something different?
Re: Cooking and bird safety
#40Stainless steel with some basic seasoning every once in a while (oil, high heat, it’s easy to do) has done me well for a long time. I do keep a non stick around just for eggs though, hard to beat.
I really love eggs, but they’re really high in cholesterol. It’s better to skip them, sadly.
I wouldn’t normally offer unsolicited advice like this, but this is a thread about optimizing for health/safety. If you’re going to avoid teflon, you should probably avoid eggs too.