Not sure if this has been asked before or not, but I've

>>8731918
Upsides: Your eggs don't stick 20% of the time.

Yeah that's it, I'm out of pros and cons.

>>8731921
Eggs stick 20% of the time? I've never encountered this.. Does it only apply to old/beaten up pans?

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>>8731924
>Beating up a 7lb piece of iron

It retains heat by being a huge chunk of metal and sears the shit out of food which is sometimes desirable.

If anything I'd be careful to make sure you don't drop your skillet and break your foot

>>8731918

pros:
cheap
retains heat well, leading to a good sear
the surface can be replaced if it chips, so you don't need to dump the pan once the coating fails like you have to with teflon and ceramic

>>8731937
I was more asking if eggs sticking to non-cast-iron pans was an issue that occurred in older pans, because I never have issues with eggs sticking
How often is this heat retention necessary? I've never run into issues with a flame not being able to keep up with heat loss that's mattered for anything I've cooked. Why would heat retention ever cause an issue unless you were working with a tiny flame?

I'm generally not too anal about things like this, but I refuse to cook steak on anything else, cast iron provides the heat, my nonstick would catch fire.

>>8731921
BS, if you have an even halfway decent seasoning on the pan eggs will never stick.

One of the main upsides of cast iron is that it is made entirely without harmful chemicals and will leach none into your food, and literally lasts forever if taken properly care of. And it is great for searing stuff, of course.

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>>8731950
Of course you can cook on any pan but the cast iron fully heated isnt going to loose heat like that 2mm thick aluminum pan once you drop a piece of refrigerated product on it.

You can cook a steak on a nonstick but to get a good sear your steak will be overdone

>>8731918
>recently
>literally one of the oldest types of cookware
Anon...

>>8732022
I never said it was a new thing, just the level of interest in it seems to have jumped recently, which is why I thought it could be the new ("new") cookware meme

>>8731918
Full disclosure: I am a cuck for cast iron cookware.

Now that that's out of the way, cast iron cookware is only half of the equation for a superior cooking experience. The other half is cooking over an open flame. Gas or wood are equally magic - electrical element stoves just don't cut it.

A properly seasoned cast iron pan will last forever. Your childrens' childrens' children will sing songs of praise about your legendary kitchen exploits around an altar dedicated to your cast iron relics.

>>8731918
That's a shit trend that's lasted for literally hundreds of years, son.
>why not just buy a non-stick pan?
Because even if you bought the highest quality non-stick for a hundred bucks, you'd still need a new pan in 5-10 years.
A 10" Lodge is $20 and will last your entire life.
You wipe it out every now and then. Don't let water sit in it. It's not that fucking hard to take care of. If it was good enough for your great-great-grandparents' slaves, it's good enough for anybody.

>>8731969
Actually searing in a thin pan is easy if you have an electric stove. The pan gains heat from the thick heated plate it's say on as quickly as it loses it, it's almost like cooking directly on the stove top with no pan. I cook all my steaks like this and I get a good sear.

>>8731918
Kyle please go to bed

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>>8732153
Conversely, even if you autistically massaged flax seed into the pores every day while singing "John Henry", teflon still does 100x a better job at nonstick. Modernity: 1, Ludites: -10000
>>8731918
The upsides are heat stabilization (sometimes temperature swings are very bad, especially with baking and quickbreads). Unfortunately some tards who think they were born in the wrong decade mistook it for a nonstick pan and waste millions of hours on the internet raging at each other over whether their magnetite is correctly de-ionized as per Sheryl Can'ters Instructions (PBUH). They are the vinyl and tubes retards of cooking. They want you to think they're eccentric geniuses for spending too much time trying to get their obsolete thrifted garbage to work as well as a newer thing, but really they just don't know how to prioritize.

>>8731918
I've been using mine for about 2 years now. If cooking at high heat and oiled, a lot of food won't stick, but bits of it will. It's nowhere near as nonstick as a teflon pan; if I try to sear fish on it tiny bits of the fish will come off.

However it is nonstick enough so that washing that stuff off is very easy. It doesn't need frequent conditioning if you treat it right and don't let it rust. You can wash it with soap, just don't let it sit wet. Finally if you really like steaks and can't use a grill for some reason, it's worth it; teflon pans are shit for steaks.

idk about cast iron but my wok is now non stick. cast irons always seemed like a meme to me, what pros does it actually have?

>>8732513
It never warps.

>>8732515
neither does anything decent quality, but you're right, if all you've got is $15 then cast iron is your least worst option

>>8732515
i mean sure, but even my thinnest wok hasnt warped, nor have my teflon pans (they only lasted 8 years though, but didnt need maintenance and i treated them like utter shit).

>>8731918
They're cheap (you can even get a vintage one for 20-30 bucks), they last forever, they're easy to clean (a lot of the time I just wipe it out and that's it, and don't even use soap). The non stick properties make it easy to clean and good for cooking lots of things, although I still break out my nonstick for hashbrowns, fried rice, and pancakes.

It's kind of a midway point between a nonstick pan and a stainless steal pan. It has some nonstick properties, and can brown and sear food easily.

My ten inch griswold is my most used pan. A lot of the time it doesn't even leave the stove top.

That said, you can live without it. So don't get one unless you really want it

>>8732533
Wooks are round. They deform all over as you heat them, but it doesn't matter. Making something that keeps perfectly flat is a different problem from keeping something approximately round. If your aluminium pans are still flat after eight year you are at the extreme end of the bell curve. Congratulations.

>>8731965
>cast iron is that it is made entirely without harmful chemicals and will leach none into your food

guess what? it does leech chemicals into your food.
it leeches iron into your food. Not a bad thing but it will make some foods look dark

>>8732189
>teflon still does 100x a better job at nonstick
Diminishing returns. Checkmate, atheists.

>>8732546
>you can even get a vintage one for 20-30 bucks
yeah, from a retard that doesn't know what they sell for.
that or it will look like it's been used as a boat anchor

>why not just buy a non-stick pan?
The surface of these pans is carcinogenic.

>What are the upsides?
It's the best way to cook thick steaks. Other than that, stainless steel provides 90% of the benefits and none of the downsides.

>>8732588
>or it will look like it's been used as a boat anchor

I had to laugh because there is a hipster shop down the street, literally call "Boat Anchor Cast Iron."

Its two bearded, flannel wearing fuck ups in a shop... Looks like a jewelry store. Instead of a gemologist in the back working on jewelry, one of the hipsters is in there with a grinder resurfacing a lodge.

The front of the shop is refinished, restored, and unrestored antique and new cast iron.

Nothing in the store costs less than $350 bucks.

>>8732588
looking at ebay now I'm surprised at how much some are selling for, but there's still some in the 20-30 dollar range. I got mine for like 25 at a flea market. that was probably 6 years ago

You can put it in the oven because the handle isn't made of plastic shit

>>8732627
that's another good one. You can roast things in it, you can use it as a drip pan, you can bake cakes in it, some people use them to create steam in their oven for bread baking

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>>8732638
>bread baking
that's what I like it for
if you make a boule like pic related on a flat stone the dough is going to flatten out and grow outwardly in all directions, but the rim of a pan is the perfect little guide to make it spring mainly upwards

>>8731924
no, he probably just didn't season it right

>>8732533
A good Wok is made of high carbon steel, makes it very hard to warp. Also the shape helps it reject heat quickly. Usually into the food.

you can get a cast iron pan hot as fuck

>>8732189
>implying vinyl doesn't sound better that digital

>>8732627
>>8732638
>>8732664
If you're making cornbread in anything other than a cast iron skillet then you're doing it wrong

>>8732861
Southern buttermilk biscuits do very nicely in them as well. Get a better rise than cookie sheets.

>>8732533
>Teflon
How does it feel to be a cuck

I thought cast iron was kind of a meme until I moved into this place where someone left their cast iron pan behind so I started cooking with it. Best steaks and chops I've made without a grill. Main downside I see is that it can scratch the glass cooking surface. Haven't tried it for low-med heat things like eggs or hashbrowns, but that's what non-stick is for.

>>8731918
>Is this a new trend that everyone is getting memed by
>cast iron
>new
I don't understand this. My family has been using cast iron for years. I currently own a cast iron my grandmother used.
If anything this "no stick" teflon bullshit is a fucking meme. Literally a pan coated in toxic chemicals that chip off in your food and kill pets in your home if heated too high.
I'm really starting to think it's just Dupont doing some major shilling that convince people to buy that bullshit.

>>8733764
This. I haven't owned a teflon pan in years, use exclusively cast iron, stainless and enamelled cast iron dutch ovens. Cook omelettes or eggs over easy perfectly fine.

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>firefighter for five years
>transfer from a newer station to the oldest station in the state
>they have a cast iron that even the oldest guy remembers being there when he was a rookie
>it's been used so much that it's practically a mirror smooth surface
>is amazing to cook on
>it's used 3 times a day, every day
>by my estimates, it's been there for over 40 years

Cast iron is the ultimate in cooking paraphanelia.

>>8732618
Man you can get decent cast iron for 20 and less at Walmart, fuck your hipster vintage

>cast iron techonology has not changed in the last hundred years

>>8732603
>carcinogenic
Are you able to elaborate on this? How could reliable studies have figured this out, yet they're still on the market?
>>8733764
This one I have heard of. I have a friend who can't use teflon because his birds could die. Literally thought it only applied to birds, though. I gotta look into this one a little more

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>>8732852
Don't forget your crystals.

>>8734241
>Cast iron is the ultimate in cooking paraphilia
No argument there.

>>8731918
I make surly eggfort king sandwiches every weekend in my cast iron skillet.

>heat butter
>roll melted butter around bottom and sides of pan
>beat up 2 eggs
>pour eggs on hot skillet
>put bread in and flip to cover both sides with wet eggs
>eye the camera suspiciously
>flip entire works after egg hardens enough to do so
>season inside of sandwich appropriately
>close up sandwich
>plate
>eat
>wipe out cast iron with paper towel
>done

No maintenance whatsoever after initial seasoning is established.

What's so special about Le Creuset, by the by? My friend has an entire set of them, and they always go for quite a bit of money.

>>8734354
Nothing. They're French, they're pretty and they're worth whatever people choose to pay for them.

>>8732546
>It has some nonstick properties, and can brown and sear food easily.

This.

And you can throw them in the oven, on a grill, in a fire, it doesn't matter. People fear cast iron because of the weight, the requirement to season before use, and the maintenance.

Maintenance is easy, though, as after I'm done, I put it under the sink under water, use a scrubby sponge to take out anything that sticks, dry it, heat it, apply a light coat of oil, and it's done.

The degree of non-stick is directly proportional to the amount of fats you're using to cook. More fats means less stick, while less will give you a nice sear with some fond remaining to use for a sauce.

I think every kitchen should have some stainless for acidic shit that needs a good simmer, some carbon steel or cast iron for searing, and something non-stick for delicate shit like eggs / fish.

>>8732189
I would rather have a pan which lasts longer and gets better.

>>8731918
Personally I mainly use mine for eggs, pork chops, and steaks. Sometimes I'll saute some veggies in it but not often.

I still spray it down with Pam when I make eggs because Im paranoid but steaks and chops I just chuck on with a little olive oil.

It's a meme but cast iron isn't necessarily bad. Just don't use it for everything and you'll be fine.

>>8732664
Do you cover the dough initially with another pan or foil, or put the dough in the pan- in the oven- and take out 40 mins later

>>8731918
Cast irons can get a lot hotter than non-stick pans. The also last literally forever, and are cheap. Non-stick pans warp and also start to fume their coating on high heat. Cast iron is good for deep frying, sauteing, searing, pretty much everything. The only thing I dont cook in them are eggs. I have two non stick pans that I use mostly for eggs or pancakes.

>>8734354
>What's so special about Le Creuset

The name.

It's a status symbol for people that have money to burn.

>>8731918
>Heating it up after every use to evaporate water so it doesn't rust?
And that's when I knew u were baiting.

>>8734299
On the manual of my non-stick pan it says if its heated too hot the coating can begin to fume up which can be toxic to sensitive people and will be extremely toxic to some exotic birds. Made me laugh a little when I read exotic birds.

>>8732164
>What weights more
>This piece of two pound metal
>Or this piece of 15lb metal

>>8734454
Thats not true at all. Le creuset is a cast iron with a ceramic coating thats very durable. You can cook acidic things in it like tomato sauce and not worry about it reacting with the iron. They are expensive partly because of the brand but mostly because they are extremely well made. The other stoneware are nice too but thats more of a rip off.

>>8734473
I have a staub and I agree with the other guy. It's a status symbol. If you're cooking tomato sauce or something like that, the heat stability of the cast iron is basically irrelevant, what matters more is heat distribution, which you get with stainless lined aluminum.

Where enameled iron is nice is bread. But then again, so is bare cast iron.

The main reason for buying french enameled iron is so you can serve your bœuf bbbbœurgouignon sur la table mit ein vin rouge en el estilo autentico di Frankreich, oh you've never beeeeen? For aesthetics it's a clear winner. For cooking purposes, it's a solution looking for a problem.

>>8734465
>>8734465
most people do not have as pets, the common flying out door rodents of the bird world , so the term exotics would infer the parrots ,macaws, and other bird that cost a fortune to posses and care for........hence the warning not to kill them by introducing indoor smog into their environment..

I managed to warp and ruin my best cast iron skillet. Some research has revealed that due to cast iron's poor thermal conductivity, my electric stovetop heated the bottom of the skillet too fast before the heat could migrate to the top and caused warpage. Now it won't lay flat.

I think it's worth reminding people that cast iron is not indestructible.

>>8734828
What the fuck do you cook on, a dwarven forge?

>>8734523
I can see where you are coming from but the enameled staubs are only slightly cheaper than the Le creuset. A 7 quart is $350 while a 7 quart le creuset is $390.

>>8734523
Also you can still get a better sear on any meat you will be braising in a tomato based sauce in an enameled cast iron.

>>8734852
I'm not sure what you're trying to say here. Did you assume I was claiming staub is some kind of bargain-basement cookware? I only mentioned it because technically I do not have le creuset. But for purposes of discussion it's the same thing: status symbol cookware.

>>8734859
>Also you can still get a better sear on any meat you will be braising in a tomato based sauce in an enameled cast iron.
Not really, what you get is hot spots and cold spots. I've entirely stopped using the staub for pre-browning when making stews. That's what the thick aluminum pan is for.

>>8734861
I'm not sure what you are trying to say either. They are similar priced but you hate on the Le Creuset because its french? I thought your entire argument was that its overpriced and only for brand recognition?

>>8731918
It's hardly a trend. I have a pan that my great grandparents got for their wedding in the early 1920s that I use all the time.

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>>8734841

>>8734861
I see now status symbol cookware, I misread your post. You can achieve similar results in cheaper priced cookware sure, but in my experience enameled cast iron is all around great.

Also hot and cold spots? I thought the entire point of cast iron is that it holds its heat and distributes heat very evenly as opposed to other metals.

Any large unseasoned ones? I'd like to season it myself.

>>8734871
What? I don't hate Le Cresuset or Staub. I hate the French? I'm a huge Francophile. Where are you getting all this?

>>8734905
It holds its heat, holding =\= distribution. Kinda the opposite in fact, if a piece of metal holds heat well, it's not going to give it up to the adjacent piece of metal

>>8735158
Holy shit dude how retarded are you?
Please never post here again

>>8736231
Great contribution. As we would expect from a cast iron fanatic

>>8736235
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_equation
Stop being stupid anon

>still getting rused by cast ironfag in 2017

>>8736241
>https://en.m
Get back to me when you can afford a computer

>>8736231
Except he's right, mongoloid.

Cast iron has shit heat distribution but great heat retention. It WILL develop hot spots, which is why some sources (like America's Test Kitchen) recommends preheating it in the oven.

>>8736276
Get back to me when you can do some basic math and physics faggot

>>8731921
Wrong. My eggs never stick on my cast iron pans, just add a little bit of butter or oil.
>>8732153
10" lodge cast iron pans are around $15 last I checked, Made in USA too.
>>8732189
Wrong. My eggs don't stick and I cook 2 of them in my cast iron pan daily, just add a little butter with a high fat content, none of that fake butter air blown crap super markets sell.

>>8734241
>the same cast iron for forty years
>in the oldest firehouse in the state
That sounds comfy as fuck.

If you can put eggs on a teflon pan and not ingest 50 calories of butter

>>8734311
Just

>>8732515

This isn't true, heating it too high too fast will warp cast iron; Induction stove tops will do this

NEET's will argue about anything.

Instead of being a bunch of autistic gooks, accept that different types pans do different things better than others. In my kitchen i have;

>Good quality thick aluminium non stick pan, with a metal handle. The best for eggs, fish, caramel, poaching etc.. anything fragile or likely to break up. Can be used in a medium oven no problem. Currently 3 years old and the non stick is still very good, when it starts to peel i'll bay £40 to replace it, its worth far more than that in time and effort saved.

>Thick unlined aluminium pan. Very good for curries and searing meats to make a pan sauce. Aluminium spreads heat better than most other materials, short of copper. Full metal handle. Must be at least 10 years old now and still good as new, if a bit scratched.

>Stainless steel pan. Good for most frying and acidic pan sauces. Easy to care for and durable. Good for ribs and chops.

>Carbon steel pan(s) Best imo for searing meats. I have several in different sizes depending on what i'm going to cook. Dont use a larger pan than necessary. Carbon steel and cast iron aren't actually that good at spreading the heat about, larger pans tend to have cold spots unless well heated. Pans are now black with seasoning. Try to only use wood or plastic on them. Nothing acidic for too long.

>Cast iron skillet. A lodge one, cost around £40 from amazon. Seems nice but i don't use it often. Use it mostly for hob to oven cooking and roasts. Also looks nice when taken to the table on a wooden serving board.