Heat cooking oil in the pan until it starts smoking. Hey presto it's seasoned. Tomato will not strip it, nor will soap. Intense scrubbing will.
Cast iron is so easy to care for. Just don't stick it in the dishwasher or let it stay wet after washing.
this post was submitted on 02 Oct 2024
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The best pan is the $20 no name stainless steel pan from a restaurant supply store. Cast iron is for Dutch ovens that need to retain heat for stews and curries and shit. Anyone that genuinely prefers cast iron over stainless just doesn’t know how to preheat a pan and use cold oil. “Oh I want a pan that requires ongoing maintenance, can never be properly cleaned, isn’t actually non stick at all, and weighs 900 pounds so doing any kind of toss is a total pain in the ass”
i tried cast iron pans many summers ago. but i found myself never using it because cooking is already inconvenient enough and cast iron pans just add a whole other dimension of inconvenience. it also makes me nervous that they’re never/rarely ever cleaned with soap and water. it was also very difficult to find consistent instructions on how to care for them and use them safely. so now i just use stainless steel instead.
I'm a stainless steel enjoyer. Get that cast iron and teflon shit out of here.
I find they're the same. You just have to oil them and use them regularly.
wood and stainless steel is definitely the way to go. i don’t understand how nonstick seems to be the norm. are people not aware that the “nonstick” part of their pans is basically just plastic? and that it’s generally a bad idea to cook/eat/scratch plastic things?
Let me add to your comment...
"PFAS filled Teflon shit out of here."
I had a housemate who fried sausage patties and eggs in my cast iron skillet every morning for a couple of years. Gave it a good wipe and that's it. I'd cook other things in it sometimes and wash it up if needed. The seasoning on that thing developed into a deep black that was so smooth you see your reflection in it and you could fry an egg without oil and it came off clean with just a nudge from the spatula. It was beautiful.
We went our separate ways and it quickly degraded back to a more normal "good enough" level of seasoning. It was great, but I'm not frying up a fancy breakfast every morning for it.
My cast iron cookware exists out of survivors bias. Everything else has fallen apart in one capacity or another.
Sure, but everything else has fallen apart because I use them frequently. My cast iron pans sit in the back of the cupboard because it's heavy and things stick, so I might as well use something lighter.
If things are sticking to your cast iron it needs to be better maintained. Properly cleaned and seasoned cast irons don’t stick
The quick and dirty way is to wipe that bitch down with canola oil and bake it on high for about 30 minutes.
I don't even do that any more. I just make sure they pan is oiled and at a decent heat before putting food on it. Putting food on a cold pan will not end well, unless it's really well maintained (and I am very lazy).
Thanks, I'll try it out.
why use a forever pan when you can have forever chemicals?
I never understood fans of cast iron. Its like still using candles for light, sure it gives a warming light, but electricity is cheaper, safer, and quicker to use for light. Same for pans, stainless steel have exactly the same use as cast iron without any of the inconvenience. Sure heating behavior is different, but who cares, you can get to the same results with stainless steel with a bit of experience... If you really want that "hipster cooking" feeling, just use copper, sure its way more expensive and you need to be extra careful, but its still better than to try using cast iron which is a real pain in the ass to use, making cooking twice as long as it should be... And for Teflon... it's shit, weak as hell and will give you cancer. Aluminum is shit too, still better than teflon and at least its the cheapest.
I cook with cast iron almost daily, all I do is scrub it with hot water and let it dry, and it's ready for the next day.
If you're buying modern garbage $10 pans from Dollar General don't be surprised when they're not performing as well as your Cuisinart SS. I have all SS and cast iron, and they both get about equal usage. CI is just better for meats. The higher heat conductivity and even temperature across the surface (with proper time to warm up) is incredibly useful. Searing is unsurpassable with CI. You can be rough with CI and it takes the beating in stride.
SS is better for quick heat and rapid changes in temperature. Boiling water, sauces, roux, etc.
I've had cast iron pans with old dinner remains sat in the bottom for 3 days, it comes off with hot water. And yes I use soap and water. If you use a good oil for seasoning and you set your pan up nicely you don't have to worry about babying the seasoning.
twice as long
If you're using CI for the right use cases it is WAY faster than aluminum. As I said, the heat transfer of iron is extremely good compared to thin walled aluminum or stainless. CI will cook chicken very fast. It's all down to knowing your tools and using them correctly.
I can tap a nail into a wall with pliers, doesn't mean they won't do the job as well as a hammer.
Nothing cooks fried eggs as well as my cast iron pan. Fried eggs, scrambled eggs, french scramble, omelettes, any kind of eggs. Sometimes I use it for sausage too.
I use stainless for everything else.
Yeah, cast iron is a giant pain. I have a relatively heavy steel pan, which is fantastic for cooking anything I would cook on a cast-iron pan because it retains heat well, and it's easier to clean.
Screw cast iron, the only cast iron thing I like is my enamel-coated pot for soups, and that's because it avoids pretty much everything about cast iron except heat retention.
It seems obvious you purchase equipment for restaurants. /s
Quite a hot take there. You ignored carbon steel in the conversation.
A large number of restaurants use rolled carbon steel or cast iron for searing and shallow frying.
Well, I found it to be easier than stainless. I know how to use stainless in theory, but I never managed to use it properly. lol
I realized there's a hipster factor around it but I really find it easy to cook a lot of things without thinking twice. I'm only careful when I clean it.
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