Why don't more people cook with cast iron, /ck/?

Mooooom! How many times do I have to fucking tell you?!

A better question would be "why do people continue to cook with cast iron"

There's so much misinformation out there about cookware, it boggles the mind

Aluminum is OBJECTIVELY the best material for cookware when all real-world factors are considered. Everything cast iron can do, aluminum can do better, except on cost, and let's be honest, if you can't afford a $200 pan you should maybe stop eating fucking McDonalds every day

High maintenance cooking equipment.
People are lazy and don't want to season and keep in good condition.

If you're serious about cooking, you use them. If you're not, you don't.

>>7555671

Same reason more people don't cook in general. We live in an age where people generally spend less time in the kitchen.

Asking why people don't cook with cast iron is like asking why people don't make their own meals at night.

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>>7555683
This.

You don't see cast iron pans in commercial kitchens, except when they're used as serving platters for tex-mex fajitas. Cast iron is for people who want to stock their home kitchen with equipment that can double as a conversation piece.

>>7555683
aluminium? you best be joking. aluminium pans are usually cheaper and can't be used on induction stoves.
also you use a pan that best suits what you are currently cooking. i agree that you should never cheap out on pans though.

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Cast iron is a pretty cool guy. Eh cooks real good and doesn't afraid of anything

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>>7555708
No, it's more like asking people why they don't attempt to survive on hardtack and mead like in the good old days when we didn't have all these modern problems like the smart-phones and the cars that don't weigh 7,000 pounds and men got drunk on the way home from work so their knuckles didn't hurt when they beat their wives and what's the deal with coach seats anyway? Flying isn't classy like it used to be *tips fedora*

>>7555683
Aluminum can't retain heat worth a damn

>>7555712
The fact that $30 beater pans from the restaurant supply shop and $300 mirror-finish faggy fry pans from Sur La Table are both made of aluminum should tell you something. It tells you that engineers know aluminum is best.

People cling to cast iron because they erroneously assumed that grandma knows best about cooking technology.

You probably print your emails.

>>7555718
No it isn't

>>7555725
watttttttttt

cast iron for heat retention, has different cooking properties entirely from aluminum... get your head outta your ass

>>7555720
What do you mean by "retain heat"? Heat is, by definition, a transfer of energy. So if you are saying that cast iron is really fucking terrible at transferring energy to food (as a piece of cookware would be expected to do in order to do its job), then you would be right.

>>7555736
You mean cast iron for taking 5 minutes to reach cooking temperature, and then having cold spots like crazy unless you move the pan around constantly. Yeah, sounds awesome!

I only own one pot and one pan.
They are both cast iron.

I've always been very poor, so cookware that doesn't damage easily is best for me.

Due to this I can cook anything using cast iron, but then I have very simple tastes.

>>7555744
>Heat is, by definition, a transfer of energy.
In thermodynamics. In this context it means holding its temperature. You lose dude pack up and go.

>>7555766
>googles furiously
>n-no but what I meant was... no fair ur cheating!
I hope you enjoy cooking everything inside an oven, because that is literally the only place a cast iron pan doesn't perform like dogshit.

Feel free to google more before your next reply, you might succeed at sounding less ignorant.

>>7555754
I cook everything in mine too. I don't have any problems with it all.

>>7555718

This is a food and cooking board. What the fuck are you even doing here?

>>7555785
tumblrites go everywhere they're not welcome, worse than fucking stormfags

>>7555785
Unlike certain dirty neckbeards, I don't have a misconception that "nobody cooks anymore" so I don't need to cling to anachronistic cooking gear as part of some kind of ridiculous role play. I cook, obviously more than you, in a wider variety of styles, because I have the tools for it, and I recognize the situational advantages of each.

You probably will think I am "trolling" or something, so feel free to disregard this preposterous shitpost.

>>7555793
>so feel free to disregard this preposterous shitpost.

will do :)

>>7555778
I use mine for things like steak and blackening meats, in other words, for things that require it to be preheated for a very long time to a screaming hot temp. I don't see how anyone could argue it's superior to aluminum for basically anything else

>>7555800
Same here. That and no-knead bread, and some oven roasting where I care more about the shape and size of the pan (I have a small dutch oven, a very large enameled french oven, and a large skillet). Sometimes though I just use the huge aluminum roasting pan because it's bigger than anything else I have.

For almost everything else, especially stovetop stuff, there's stainless lined aluminum or copper, or the teflon lined aluminum fry pan for eggs.

Some of these neckbeards are probably getting the idea that I hate cast iron. I don't, I just find it funny how they think their attempt at using the wrong tool for the wrong job makes them "real cooks".

>>7555806
>(I have a small dutch oven, a very large enameled french oven, and a large skillet)

>>7555683
>why do people continue to cook with cast iron

man you like to undermine your own bait lol

>>7555785
>gets butthurt when someone points out that there is no good reason to use equipment that you need to heat at high temperatures with oil for hours before using and repeat this every few weeks and make sure not to cook with alcohol or vinegar incase the seasoning comes off and you have to do it all over again

cast iron is shit.

>>7555806
Cooking has been mainstream far longer than science, which I think is why pseudoscience and myths are absolutely prolific throughout cooking literature.

Like the heat-retaining thing, some "facts" are completely the opposite of what's true. When "leading authorities" or good cooks or whoever spread the misinformation, though, it's no surprise people believe it

>>7555812
You're right, I misconstrued op's post as "why don't more people use cast iron on the stovetop"

My opinions only sound like bait because you were raised by white trash and you're the only one in your family who ever figured out how to cook anything without burning your trailer to the ground. Needless to say the idea that a person could have multiple pieces of cookware and cook more than just hamburgers and steaks at home must sound like something a fictional movie character would do.

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>>7555821
>My opinions only sound like bait because you were raised by white trash and you're the only one in your family who ever figured out how to cook anything without burning your trailer to the ground. Needless to say the idea that a person could have multiple pieces of cookware and cook more than just hamburgers and steaks at home must sound like something a fictional movie character would do.

>>7555818
the seasoning is polymerized so using wine or tomatoes or whatever wouldn't hurt anything, the whole "don't use acidic ingredients in cast iron!" thing is a meme and isn't scientific at all

>>7555822
I come from a family of good cooks. Home cooks (parents were university professors when I was born, now retired in one case and business owner in another case). But home cooking was normal to me growing up.

I'm familiar with people like you, smug and arrogant in your ignorance, because I had a roommate like you in my student days. Just frying an egg without breaking the yolk is license to act like you're the new Ferran Adria.

>>7555674
It's funny because for me it was the other way around. I'd scrub my mom's cast iron to the bone. Then again she'd leave water in them "to soak" until they were fucking rusty. She never seasoned them and she never corrected anything I did.

>>7555711

you updated your talking points, i see

cast iron is used extensively in southern restuarants as a matter of routine and in literally every "cajun" kitchen

>>7555725
>engineers

engineers are a professional class of autists. nothing they advocate is anything but autism squared, divided by autism and taken to the autism exponent.

aluminum is dogshit compared to steel and iron, or even stone.

>>7555844
>cast iron is used extensively in southern restuarants
That's because southern cooking consists of exactly four ingredients: chicken, pork, oil, and cornstarch, and exactly one method: deep frying. You don't really need to be too picky with the thermal properties of your container when you're deep frying. The oil takes care of all that.

Occasionally you eat soggy ruined greens drenched in lard and salted beyond belief, doused with a generous amount of tabasco sauce to make it palatable, when it's new years and your doctor told you to Finally Be Healthy(tm). But, again, temperature control isn't that big a deal. Might as well be an oil drum.

>>7555712
>can't be used on induction stoves
>induction

we're on /ck/ not /casuals/

>>7555844
>claims engineers are autistic
>every single piece of tech he uses was made by engineers
Top kek, social sciences really are cucks after all

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>>7555689
>high maintenance
Just toss it in the dishwasher like me, nice and clean!

>>7555865
RRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

>>7555844
SHUT THE FUCK UP cast iron is literelly only used by gay weeb's who cant understand how to cook like a real man!

>>7555748
>cold spots
what. I use cast iron on a glasstop electric stove and with the heatring on the pan the bulk of the iron doesn't even touch the surface yet it heats very evenly. it takes a lot longer to heat up than a thing telfon pan but that's the pint you dumb idiot. long time to heat up long time to cool down so you can retain high high for searing.

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>>7555833
>I'm familiar with people like you, smug and arrogant in your ignorance, because I had a roommate like you in my student days. Just frying an egg without breaking the yolk is license to act like you're the new Ferran Adria.

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>>7555865
>people staying over for a few days
>I have a shower, one of them cooks themselves steaks
>come out of shower just as they clean up
>takes pan off heat, still screaming hot/smoking
>put's it in the sink under running cold water
>grabs detergent and squirts it all over the pan

>>7555717
Chad is a pretty cool guy. Eh washes anon's cast iron pan and doesn't afraid of anything.

>>7555883
You're saying I think you had a white trash roommate in college? Ok, maybe you did.

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>>7555671
Hello
I use a cast iron skillet when camping. I have a thick welding glove I use to grab the handle when I need to. I can stick that fucker pretty much in a fire to cook shit. The trick is to get 2 pieces of fire wood off to the side and move the pan back and forth from the fire to sitting it on the wood. (this guy in the video has some nice flat rocks) The pan retains the heat long enough to continue cooking shit while it's off the fire. Wipe that fucker out with paper towel and it's good for the next job. I don't see why you would use one any other time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQfDmW1Nodk

>>7555825
Except you can literally taste the iron in your food when you cook acids in a cast iron skillet, even on a well seasoned one

>>7555886
so how did you dispose of their bodies?

>>7555671
this picture makes my sinuses dry

>>7555683
literally the worst choice you couldve made. hilarious. talks about misinformation LOL

>>7555800
3ply Al pans are pretty nice, and no you dont have to buy the meme clad the ones that come in a big box from wallyworld are just as good

>>7556252
you are tasting carbon

>>7555778
I'm an engineer but if you wanna be a sore loser that's fine by me.

>>7555819
>Like the heat-retaining thing
Heat up a cast iron pan and an aluminum pan for 20 minutes of time at the same tempersture. Take it off the heat and wait 5 minutes then touch them. See which one is hotter.

>>7555819
>Like the heat-retaining thing
Heat up a cast iron pan and an aluminum pan for 20 minutes of time at the same tempersture. Take it off the heat and wait 5 minutes then touch them. See which one is hotter.

>>7555821
I find myself agreeing with your opinions on appropriate technology in these threads, but never comment on your posts because you come off as the worst type of entitled. You always digress into assumed ad hominem insults to degrade and put down those that disagree with you beyond the extent of making your point.

It's tactless - and low class, really. Even for the internet. It makes you come off as self-conscious about something.

https://www.centurylife.org/heat-retention-myths-and-facts-does-cast-iron-hold-heat-better-than-clad-is-clad-better-than-disc-base-at-retaining-heat-longer/


There, now you can stop arguing.
Cast iron is memetier
Steel pans usually have an aluminum layer for heat transfer and casual aluminum pans have iron/steel core for induction.

>>7555671
It's 2016, use a COATED cast iron pan, you get the same heat distribution and 10 million% less cleaning / maint time. You are literally stuck in the stone age if you use an actual cast iron pan.

>>7556439
its people like you that convince me that about 80% of people that browse ck have literally never cooked in their life. cast irons heat properties arent even up for debate. the relevance of those properties can be discussed sure.

>>7556443
maintenance is a non-issue. this is a cooking board

>>7555671
I don't know. Cast iron isn't for all applications, but for some it's indispensable. I couldn't imagine cooking my fresh caught fish in anything besides my cast iron or grill. Same with steak. Homemade cornbread? Can you even do a decently cooked one outside of cast iron?
Making stir-fry in cast iron? uuum no. Unless its a cast iron wok.

>>7556454
wrong as fuck.

>>7556452
continuing on this. im actually confident in accusing people that theyve never cooked before. its such a massive paradigm today that people are completely unfamiliar with any form of self reliance, but feel entitled to speak like mr. bignuts over the internet because their reputation isnt on the line anymore

>>7556459
yea, cooking is work. if you think upkeep and rigor of any form is a factor, i would doubt your ability to speak on the subject at all

>>7556452
>cast irons heat properties arent even up for debate

That's what we're saying you absolute nigger.

It conducts heat like shit compared to clad/steel and aluminum.

>>7556465
basically saying rigor is a factor is like saying cost is a factor in what the best X is. "thats not the best car because its too expensive". your subjective ability to aquire the car doesnt affect the objective properties of the car itself

>thinks cast iron is goat

uh why don't you go look up solid copper or solid silver pans

fucker get off the cast iron train, the pans are shit and more trouble than they are worth; that's why you never see them on any respectable cooking show or mentioned by any chef that hasn't been paid off to endorse them.

>>7556476
>>7556476

thats not how pan consideration works. cast iron doesnt immediately apply high heat to cooking surfaces no, it takes time to heat up to the necessary temperature. that being said, the time it takes to reach that temp is also a non-issue, as 1: once you reach that temperature, the conduction qualities are now irrelevant unless you need to specifically cool your food in the pan quickly or slowly and 2: all pans, of all metals, require prep heating. all youve done in this case of choosing pans over conduction qualities, is save a few seconds in heating

i cannot express how relevant the heat retention qualities of cast iron are. first off, using depreciative heating is so important for so many foods, where you heat the pan, then take off the heat and use the slowly cooling pan itself to cook the food, and not constantly applied heat.

the properties concerning the release of heat are also a factor, but a more niche one that should be discussed on an individual basis. such as many would use stainless steel over cast iron for cooking fish, but cast iron over SS for cooking steak

>>7556494
no one is saying cast iron is bad, they are saying you don't need a non coated cast iron pan.... a coated cast iron pan has the exact same heat distribution and is a fuck load easier to maintain. stop shilling.

>>7556503
>SHILLING
>CAST IRON

>>7556503
if you cant use steel wool on your totally no stick pans (teflon), you fucked up somewhere

>>7556505
yes you are shilling cast iron pans which cost a shit load compared to coated cast iron; stop.

>>7556512
literally nobody youve ever met has bought cast iron new. lmao

>>7556494
Look your precious heat retention is the same as clad plans so basicly you're wasting several minutes of your life waiting on pans to heat up.

The only reason people like cast iron is because they're cheap,durable and the biggest reason is because they're casual as fuck to cook with. The surface and the shit conduction qualities means food heat up slower and gives you more time to react.

Complete memetier casual faggot cookware

>>7556527
implying you would ever be able to distinguish between casual and professional in your life.

>y-yes i can

if the word "meme" is in your vocabulary, professionalism is not

>>7555671
I have some cast iron pans but clueless how to use them properly, everything seems to stick on it no matter how much I stir and oil the pans

>>7556538
>non fact based reply

Nigger says what?

Cast iron is worse in every aspect and only liked by casuals because it's easier to not fuck up.

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>>7555683
>Aluminum is OBJECTIVELY the best material

enjoy your future alzheimer's

>>7556551
still cooks it better so yes it's objectively better

>>7556558
>I-i didn't need my memory in ~30 years anyway!

topkek

>>7556559
Irrelevant to the subject.

>>7556570
>muh mildly "superior" cooking pan is worth having Alzheimer's when I grow old!

>>7556559
If I'm alive in 30 years then something has gone horribly, horribly wrong.

>>7556579
>I-I don't care about growing old I hope I die young anyway!

so much deflection from the aluminum shills ITT

>>7556581
This is my first post in this thread I don't actually give a fuck about your autistic frying pan wars.

>>7556574
>may
>possible
>could be

Irrelevant

>>7556588
how much is the aluminum industry paying per post? I kinda want to get in on it.

>>7556443
>the same heat distribution
so it's still shit, what's the point

>>7555671
Because non--stick pans, and being able to clean them.

>>7555744
What is 'specific heat capacity'?

>>7555717
Where is the after?

>>7555793

If you think the only reason people use cast iron is "as part of some kind of ridiculous role play", you admit to such a minimal level of understanding about cooking in the kitchen that I will gladly disregard your preposterous shitpost.

>>7555818
>gets butthurt when someone points out that something worthwhile in life requires the presence of effort and maintenance.

Yep, so butthurt.

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>>7555683
>Aluminum is OBJECTIVELY the best material for cookware

Enjoy your Alzheimers.

>>7556356
Not him but there are many types of engineers. Many who never touch on thermodynamics or quantum mechanics. Unless you majored in engineering physics I doubt you actually have a clue about thermodynamics.

>>7556783
the level of physics that we are touching on here is literally high school level. its actually applying optimal cooking ware to food thats difficult. basically, is there ever a more correct way of preparing a food, and which pan provides that, and under what circumstances. if 2 share the same traits under different circumstances, what should be chosen when, and why.

basically, food has no verified successes. the only truly verifiable preparation is when you are trying to copy something, and you must use technique to replicate it. otherwise, because of the unfalsifiable nature of food, debates like this can churn on forever with nobody compelled to actually take the burden of proof

>>7556789
Basically you don't know shit and you call yourself an engineer because you studied high school physics. Do you perhaps live in Africa?

>>7556793
im not him fuckwit, and yes, this is literally highschool physics. also, nobody is an "engineer". to be considered an engineer you must pass exams, and anyone that passes their exam must be called an X engineer. 'engineer' by itself means literally nothing

>>7556793
and before you say that you already mentioned this, 'engineering physics' means even less. i believe this is called fluid mechanics

I love my cast iron wok..... It's survived many years both out field for work, camping and home.

It's fucking dinged to shit and the handle turned to shit (big piece of cast iron burns the hand without a towel) but it's still with me and isn't going anywhere.

Fuck I love my wok.

i don't use cast iron because no one in my immediate family ever used it, or knows how to use it.

the idea of cookware that retains a "coating" and you're supposed to not clean it with soap and water is utterly mystifying and disgusting to me.

my only conclusion about this issue, is that it's the cooking equivalent of people using vinyl records.

>>7555671
the fuck is cast iron doing in the dishwasher????????????

>>7556314
anon is correct on this one

>>7555717
Maybe he puts that whole mess in the oven?

>>7555671
Because nowadays you rarely find cast iron cookware being sold as widely as aluminum.
You may want to replace that pan too, doesn't look like you've been maintaining it properly at all.

>>7555711
>You don't see cast iron pans in commercial kitchens, except when they're used as serving platters for tex-mex fajitas. Cast iron is for people who want to stock their home kitchen with equipment that can double as a conversation piece.

Let me explain something to you and a lot of other niggers, okay?

A samurai sword in the hands of a fucking buffon who doesn't know how to use it is nothing but a conversation piece, but you put that sword in the hands of a master and it can do beautiful things that the buffoon couldn't even imagine.

Same thing with cast-iron. You might not know what the fuck you are doing with them and so for you, aluminium might be best. That doesn't mean that there aren't masters in this world who could show you what cooking was all about if you shut your trap long enough to learn.

And if your idea of an expert cook is the people who make tex-mex fajitas at Chilis, that explains perfectly why you think you know how to cook even though you don't know what cast-iron is for.

>>7555725
>People cling to cast iron because they erroneously assumed that grandma knows best about cooking technology.

People like you erroneously assume that everything invented pre-1999 is completely fucing retarded, because wisdom didn't come into the world until you were born, and when you die, wisdom will die with you.

YOUR grandma might not know jack shit about cooking, that explains a lot about you, but my grandma would make the best cook you've ever heard of look like a fucking retarded child in their own kitchen.

I bet you spend all kinds of money on iron supplements. No, wait, you're not that smart, I bet you just plain don't get enough iron in your diet and that's why you're cranky all the time.

>>7556558
Kid, slow down and think about the stupidity you're fucking spouting here.

Iron is good for humans, aluminium is toxic to them.

WHAT. THE. FUCK. What would you do if I told you uranium pans are twice as good as aluminium?

Rush out and buy you some uranium pans, 'cause you're one dumb fucker.

>>7557018
i love cast iron, but thanks for making its users look like weabs

a fucking samurai sword analogy. uses the word buffoon. my god

>>7556789
I guarantee the guy who wrote this can't even make scrambled fucking eggs.

>>7555683
>OBJECTIVELY the best material for cookware when all real-world factors are considered
What real-world factors do you speak of?

>>7557042
What kind of pleb words am I supposed to use to fit in with you and your little monkey friends?

Do you realize that I am not a fucking retard like you, and I'm not trying to sound like everybody else in the retard herd?

I remember your kind from school when I was forced to actually sit next to you and be educated in the same room as you as if we were equals.

We weren't equals then, and we've only grown further apart since.

I consider you to be a completely different species than myself.

>>7557026
>hi everyone I'm 12!
My grandmother was born in 1923. All Clad style cookware has been available since the 70s and has only gotten more common as patents expired

>>7557059
browses 4chan

>>7557061
A genius and an idiot both read the same book.

Did they?

>>7556551
Some people figured out how to line metal with other metal, it happened in the 20th century though so I'm afraid it's inconsistent with your old time hardtack cosplay

>>7557010
>replacing a cast iron

I didn't even fall for the cast iron meme but atleast I know you can reseason them until oblivion.

>>7557018
>>7557026
>>7557038
Bad bait samefag

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>>7556390
Do you heat your pan, turn off the stove, and then start cooking?

>>7557106
many very basic dishes call for depreciative heat.

>cant cook eggs

>>7555671
>cast iron
>not stainless

Lmao

Gordon Ramsay uses stainless

>>7557386

Yeah, look at that nice cast iron he's using to cook eggs.

>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUP7U5vTMM0

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>>7555886
get fucked

>>7555711

>You don't see cast iron pans in commercial kitchens,

you're talking complete bollocks, commercial kitchens fucking love cast iron.

>>7557395
>on the heat, off the heat

>>7555683

lol, not all of us are so poor we have gas or electric ranges. Induction master race reporting in.

I dont use cast iron because its a pain in the ass to clean

>>7557846
Isn't it nonstick when seasoned?