/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>4810297
>non-stick cookware

If I wanted cancer, yes then these would be fine

Because I'm not dumb enough to take slow poison. Because most non-stick is thin and fragile. Because most non-sticks have shitty plastic handles I can't throw in the oven.

I bought a CI skillet the other day, and I was really excited to try it. It doesn't seem nearly as novice-friendly.

Heat retention, you dumb polack

>>4810297
Non-stick can't get hot enough without letting off toxic fumes.
Non-stick can't hold heat in like cast-iron can, due to material specific heat.
Non-stick that doesn't cost a lot more than cast-iron is shit that will peel off into your food in 3-4 years, while the cheaper cast-iron lasts for fucking ever.
Non-stick by its nature cannot make a good sear like stainless or cast-iron can, which is the point of a lot of forms of frying.

The biggest advantage of non-stick is that you can make eggs and similar in it with very little effort. Also, if you don't mind your cookware being utter shit that falls apart, it's really cheap and easy to find.
A very small advantage is that if you are absolutely incompetent you won't burn food to the pan as easily. Also, they are simple to clean.

It's a question of proper seasoning. A well seasoned cast iron pan is as nonstick as teflon.

Also, I bought my own skillet many years ago on the flea market - a like new Le Creuset for around $7. I still laugh at that one

>>4810331
You bought a quality Le Creuset for $7? I hate you.

>>4810337

Must have been a pretty old one too, it is without the emaille coating the Le Creusets have nowadays, just bare cast iron. The former owner probably didn't know about a thing about cooking with cast iron and seasoning and never used it again after the first time it messed up his steak, lol.

I'm not usually that lucky though ...

>>4810297
Cast iron is perfectly fine non-stick cookware.

>tfw I just got 2 cast iron skillets today passed down from my grandmother.

Cast Iron is just an all around solid performer. I love my old Lodge, and my girlfriend's mom just bought me one for Xmas. I can't fucking WAIT to get my grandmother's irons though. You best believe that's the first thing I'm calling dibs on when she dies.

Those things are over 80 years old and have been seasoned perfectly since the day they were bought. Fucking. Amazing. I miss coking on those fuckers.

my baby

>>4810498
looks like shit

>>4810498
Nice, how many inches?

>>4810504
>pic

everything has been said already. main points being not giving you cancer, and heat retention. cast iron is just god tier, and I don't understand any of the hate it gets here. I will never use nonstick.

>>4810402
>I miss coking on those fuckers.
>coking

MFW unfortunate typo.

>>4810498
Looks pretty good.

What is a good cast iron pot for a beginner like me to cop off ebay? No more than $100 and big enough for me to cook some nice steak pls.

>>4810522
Damn. I remember when my grandmother would choke me on cast irons.

>>4810536
> 100 usd

Cast iron is like 20 bucks.

>>4810633
More like 10USD but still I do not understand why people love these things so much or why they would ask for suggestions. It's not something anyone should think this much about

Walmart sells them for freaking cheap

>>4810536
Every cast iron ever made is under $100

Whenever it's talked about, people say washing a cast iron pan is like a fucking holocaust happening right before their eyes.

Whats the problem with it? Like what if my steak or chicken or whatever leaves to must juice behind and creates and gross glob of shit on my pan.

Why would I want that their next time I go to cook?

>>4810705
Give me your pan.
You are dishonorable.

>>4810705
If people have properly seasoned their cast iron, there's nothing wrong with using a little soap on it. I wash mine with soap, and it's perfectly fine. But then, all my cast iron has tough as nails seasoning on it, it looks like ebony, because I've been using them for years. The problem is when people let soap and water sit on the cast iron, or scrub the seasoning off with a scouring pad or something like that. That's a bad thing.

>>4810705
Just wash them no problem in doing so

>>4810297
holy shit I have this pan.

Best pan ever to have a nice taste blending between pasta and sauce.

my food keeps sticking although I've tried using it several times. this is my first ever cast iron skillet (lodge), can somebody help me with this?

>>4810969
Probably needs to be seasoned. This hippie chick seems to have the method down: http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/

>>4810383
know that feel bro

feels good man

>perfectly fine
>if you overheat it you fuck up the surface and get toxic fumes
>if you graze it with metal it instantly forms gashes the size of the grand canyon and stops being nonstick

>>4810969
it's because its a lodge, check the surface you see its not smooth but rough which means it to going to be a good pan

>>4810969
dont use the oven method
I find it easier to just do it on your stove top

Heat your pan on a low-medium flame
keep wiping oil on it with a paper towel
do like 5+ layers each time

After a few times you will notice a difference

Do a layer everytime after you cook and clean it

>>4811016
THIS! FUCKING. THIS!!!

you can all stop the muhseasonings baaaaawfest over your washed pans.

sometimes, you just have to wash your iron with soap

i have one cast iron skillet that is use every day.. steaks, fish, chickens, vegetables .. it's just the right size and shape for almost anything

i use bacon grease or butter... heat pan until smoking; wipe entire cooking surface; add more bacon grease/butter; wipe entire cooking surface; repeat as needed

i am an oldfag.. this pan was in my family for a long as i remember.. when i moved out finally, about 25 years ago, i took the pan with me.. the cooking surface is smooooooooooth. i can easily cook eggs in it

>>4811016
>>4811073
That only works when the pan has been seasoned before and needs a touch up. Otherwise, you need to do it for 3 hours at 300F otherwise you end up with just burn black instead of magnetite black.

>>4811096
i do this all the time and it's fine.

lol @ 3 hours.

fine. do what you want

The only thing I ever use non stick for is eggs. Might as well just call them egg pans.

>>4810705
If you keep washing it every time, it's no wonder shit keeps sticking. Use coarse salt as an abrasive, rub it around with paper bag scraps. Excess moisture removed, excess particles removed, sanitized, surface rubbed smooth, fills in any potential cracks (invisible) of the seasoning after cooling/heating with salt, preventing moisture accumulation during storage.
Seriously people, do this. It will make your cookware and wallets happy.

>>4811131
And this is why Iron is not a popular choice for cookware anymore

Its old-fashioned tradition carried over from the hillbilly days of america.
Back then, one of those was all families had for cooking. It was dependable and trustworthy.
Old habits die hard.
People who still use them are usually the types who think black cats are bad luck, voting actually does anything, and that women should be anywhere other than the kitchen raising their children.

Theres nothing wrong with non stick pans. People are just retarded and fucking backwards when it comes to things.

>>4811135
It's just because no one wants to care for anything. You treat it right, it has combinations of qualities no other cookware has, and is cheap.
Also, why would rubbing it down with salt be a negative for people? Because it takes a couple minutes as opposed to 1 minute flat? If that's the logic, never use an oven. Microwaves are far superior.
Or did I miss something?

>>4811131
In a proper seasoning, the oil has polymerized into a hard varnish. Nothing short of letting it sit in something acidic will strip it, and a brief exposure to soap won't hurt it.

>>4811138
If you sear steak in non-stick, you're not qualified to judge other people's "backwardness."

>>4811145
If the cookware was worth a damn in the first place, you shouldn't have to do all that bullshit to it just to keep using it normally.

>>4811138
>women should be anywhere other than the kitchen

You want high divorce rates? I sure don't they should stay in the kitchen

>>4811145
Cleaning cookware should be efficient as possible and Iron is not some people like doing at all. That is why it was phased out many decades ago when affordable steel pots came into the market. It's sound logic no wants to use them anymore

>>4811138
How often do you replace your non-stick pans? Or do you just keep using them when they look like this after the same amount of cooking that might cause you to freshly season an iron one 4 or 5 times?

>>4811150
Not all pans have a non-stick but do not have the same upkeep of Iron

>>4811159
Not everybody uses non-stick

>>4811150
you're missing the point
if you can't cook something on your seasoning without stuff sticking horribly every time, kyour seasoning is not proper, you keep washing it every time when it's not proper to begin with, and your seasoning will not develop, and it's a cycle.w

>>4811165
I was responding to someone who was talking about non-stick being the non-retard solution as opposed to cast iron, which, in itself is ridiculous.
But, not that I care
people can be fucking stupid all they want. I'll stop trying to help

>>4811166
You do this. >>4810985 Once. Normal cooking does not polymerize much, if any, of the oil, and keeping rancid oil in your pot doesn't help it become seasoned.

>>4811151
If I had to stop and sand and polish and varnish my goddamn wooden spoons every few months, i'd probably toss them away.

I have nothing against cast iron, I just don't feel like I should have to go through all that shit in this day and age.
If there was a guy I could call to do that shit for me.. sure. Sign me up.
But other than that.. i'm just too goddamn lazy to rub my pan with oil and salt and all that just to make some eggs.

>>4811172
and you people wonder why no one with working knowledge sticks around this place

>>4811170
Oh then never mind

>>4811116
>fine. do what you want

Oh, I will.

>pic from old cast iron skillet I got today at a thrift store for $2

I love cast iron, but my wife screwed up and thought getting a flattop stove top would be cool. Im afraid to scratch the shit out of it with cast iron.

>>4811205
Glass is harder than iron
It should be fine

>>4811213
I might try, those stove tops are a pain in the ass to keep clean. Seems after every use I have to polish it.

>>4811205
Then you are screwed or you can try out carbon steel seasoning

>>4811220
I do not recommend this at all my smartass friend though it would be a good idea manage to scrape the top coating and needed a replacement unit.

>>4811224
Thats no fun, those tops cost a hefty amount.

>>4811233
They do and replacement units cost more than the actual unit which is kinda funny. On top of the labor costs needed to replace as well. Also the recycling costs because what are you going to do with a non functional top

>>4810297
>when we have perfectly fine non-stick cookware?
But it's not the same. They cook food very differently.

>>4811013
Wut. Old cast iron used to be smooth and lighter. Newer cast irons are heavy and bumpy as shit which is why it takes forever to season. That's why people are having so much trouble making their cast iron nonstick nowadays. When people are praising cast iron, they are thinking of their grandma's cast iron not the current stuff which sucks.

>>4811290
This, and also the fact that /ck/'s diet and range of cooking habits are both very restricted. Notice how we dump hot sauce on everything, and how we're experts in recreating fast food dishes at home? That pretty much points to cast iron cuisine. Nothing wrong with that in moderation but I'd be worried if you told me that you thought you only needed a cast iron pan and nothing else. Yet that's something you see on /ck/ all the time.

>>4811290
i read somewhere the bumps help the seasoning stick
not sure if bs or not

>>4811290
Not all of them are the same you know and those bumps are defects when it was being built. You can easily speed up the aging process by leaving it out in the open

>>4811303
It adds a bit more friction to the thin film of season

>infinitely better heat retention
>costs fractions of what non-stick pans do
>will last way longer
>not poisonous

>>4811544
>implying every pan is a non stick pan

>>4811547
OP was comparing them to non-stick
but anyways, cast iron costs less than most pans of any variety anyway

>>4810297
Because my non-stick can't retain nor tolerate enough heat for muh steaks and muh chicken.

>>4810498
I remember when my cast iron looked like that.
>and then I cooked with it

>>4811544
You forgot
>can actually tolerate high heat
>can go in the oven
>produces godly sear on meats and the like

>>4811173
You sound like you're going to be working in a position with no power and no freedom, coming home to mediocre food and an average wife, every night until you retire, and die alone, never having lived.

Buy cast iron, anon.

>>4811290
yea but OLD old cast iron is machined to have small pits so you could "season" them with oil

>>4811691
>godly sear
oh yeah. Made some green chili with chicken in my cast iron dutch oven, the chicken seared perfectly, shit was so good and so fucking easy to make

>>4810519

You forget the biggest point:

Even if well-treated the coating of a non-stick pan will wear off after a few years.

A cast iron pan can simply be reseasoned. It's not uncommon that such pans last for generations.

>>4811724
No, the old cast iron skillets were sand cast then machined smooth. They'd have spiral tool marks, but they were not pitted on purpose. Griswold and Wagner Ware both machined the insides of their cookware so it was as smooth as possible. Their skillets are also thinner than modern cast iron skillets. Seasoning is a chemical reaction that produces black rust (magnetite) which is then coated with a fat to prevent further oxidation. Thus, there's no pitting needed to make it happen.

This is why Lodge skillets with their sand cast interior surface are often times more difficult to season properly. You can season them well, but when you start to use them all those bumps create areas of high stress when you use your spatula on them. As a result, the seasoning wears out on those bumps creating a broken seasoning. A little extra care must be taken in keeping modern cast iron skillets properly seasoned.

>>4811988
No. No it doesn't take extra work. No. It isn't as complicated as you claim.
Stop stop stop fucking it up. If you had actual hands-on experience you wouldn't be so opinionated. It's easy to season a Lodge and if you have problems with its seasoning, you are a buffoon. Quit over-thinking it.

>>4812033
I own about 2 dozen cast iron skillets both antique and brand new. I know exactly what I'm talking about. Seasoning is easy for both antique and modern cast iron, but as I said, you have more maintenance with newer skillets due to how bumpy they are.

>>4812035
I own 4 dozen heritage skillets.

>>4810402
>I can't fucking WAIT
>when she dies
>i'm calling dibs

i hope your granny buries her pots and pans with her

>>4812043
And yet, you don't know how the seasoning on modern skillets works when compared to the older ones.

>>4812312
Yeah, seriously. What the fuck, >>4810402? I've got roughly half a million dollars coming to me when my grandparents die and I hope I don't see that money for a long time because I love my family.

>>4810297
>perfectly fine non-stick cookware
Keep on telling yourself that.

Everyone has said all the salient point already but there's nothing to be lost by hammering the point home. Cast iron beat the pants off most "non-stick" stuff:
>near-equal or equal non-stick performance
>often at a lower price point
>nearly impossible to damage irreparably (while a single incident can ruin a PTFE-coated pan)
>with longevity it can't dream of matching

Stack the pluses and minuses of each type and the advantages of cast iron hugely outnumber those of your standard non-stick pans, and that's even IF you buy that Teflon type coatings are safe to use to begin with.

Shout out to carbon steel and the Mineral B pans too, which are equally viable choices today.

Can I use a green scouring pad on mine when I burn food onto it, or do I have to restart the seasoning all over again? I used the salt method, but there are still black spots where I cooked the bacon.

I want to see you try to cook cornbread in a non-stick skillet.
Go ahead, try it.

>>4811096
>magnetite black
Magnetite is not present on most seasoned cast iron cookware, it is a red herring in the cast iron community to even mention it in normal circumstances.

It is very difficult to produce and NO normal seasoning operation OR subsequent use will make a layer of magnetite on a pan.

>>4811988
>Seasoning is a chemical reaction that produces black rust (magnetite) which is then coated with a fat to prevent further oxidation.
Oh you again.

If you tried this you'd know the magnetite thing is BS: don't grease the pan and then put it through the heating cycle. Now post back with photos providing proof of how quickly that black oxide layer develops...

I'll save you the trouble, your pan simply won't turn black. It just doesn't happen. Oiling it doesn't magically make magnetite appear either.

>>4812665
Course you can m8. The salt thing is for people who are stuck in the past or don't know any better.

You want to be careful scouring the surface when the seasoning is new, but after it is fully developed it is **impossible* to scour it off with a nylon scrubbing pad when removing burnt-on crud. I can scrape the working surface of my skillets full force with the edge of a steel spatula and the seasoning isn't damaged.

>>4812675
>I want to see you try to cook cornbread in a non-stick skillet.
Go ahead, try it.

Daaaaaayyuummm! Where I'm from thems fightin' words!

>>4812676
http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/02/black-rust-and-cast-iron-seasoning/

You should probably do more research before sperging all over your keyboard.

>>4813360
>sheryl canter
>sperging

Pick two. Might want to put some ointment on those seeping pustules in your neckbeard.

I just striped an old no-name #8 skillet and reseasoned it using Sheryl Cantor's flax oil method. I've never reseasoned a cast iron skillet before and I'm sold on the flax oil. After 7 super thin coats, my fried eggs slid off and the pan cleaned up with just a quick wipe with a paper towel.

Also, Dutch Pancakes:

http://seattletimes.com/ABPub/2008/05/07/2004393530.jpg

I've got a couple small cast iron pans that were made in China ... I'm a bit dubious because of the shit they've pulled (quality control-wise) with sheetrock, toy cars, etc. Is Chinese cast iron safe to use?

Hello friends,

I am interested in getting some cast iron cookware. However I make a lot of chilis and tomato sauces with long cook times, at least 5 hours and sometimes overnight. I imagine cast iron cookware is a poor choice for this? What would you guys buy instead if you need a large, multiquart pot?

>>4813663
enjoy your solid lead pan

>>4813670
I have some thin, shitty steel pot I use for stuff like that, but there's gotta be something better out there.

>>4813663
>>4813674
Melt it down. Make bullets. Sell to /k/. Buy new pot.

>>4813670
Cephalon Anodized pot.

I don't know how much mine holds, more than a gallon but I paid about eighty for it, more than seven years ago, and it doesn't have scratches yet. Currently it's holding some rather random chili.

>>4813670
You want an enameled cast iron dutch oven.

>>4813670
Most of my cookware is enameled cast iron. Even heat distribution of iron, but safe to use with sauces and acids and slow cooking.

>>4813676
>>4813681
>>4813682
>>4813683
Thank you for your help!

>>4813683
>enameled pots
>good

Literally every culinary school book and other high-end cooking book I've ever seen says you shouldn't use those at all.

>>4813706

Relax nigga, I'm not trying to start a cooking school, goddamn.

The first time I saw a cast iron pan was at a friend's house. It was really bumpy from what I recalled. I also noted how black it was and thought it needed cleaning. He just dumped it in the sink and filled it with water afterwards.

Didn't know you needed to care for this pan. Thanks /ck/. Might consider buying one in the future.

>>4813706
They'd rather you not use them in a professional setting, because of the risk of the enamel chipping and coming off in the food.
In addition, the bonding material can be toxic, so that's another risk if it chips.
They're just fine in a home setting.

>>4813716
He's right enameled sucks. One tiny chip and the entire thing starts cracking up over time. That's why enameled shit is rarely passed down generation to generation.

>>4813706

Julia Child would like a word with you.

>>4813360
>You should probably do more research before sperging all over your keyboard.
Yeah, you should. Just because you own a good collection of pans doesn't mean you know jack about the science of the subject.

I'm familiar with both of the key pages on the Sheryl Canter site (including the one you didn't link to where black rust isn't mentioned until the comments). I'm also familiar with casting and oxide formation, which you clearly are not. Posting a single link to a non-scientific page in no way backs up your case. If you did some actual research you'd know that this:
>Magnetite is not present on most seasoned cast iron cookware
is absolutely correct.

How so? Because oxides begin to form on cast iron at temperatures IN EXCESS OF 550°C... take a moment to convert that into your beloved Fahrenheit... your oven get that hot? I didn't think so.

You could have found source references on oxide formation yourself in only a couple of minutes of searching so really there's no excuse for this except wilful ignorance. Now please do everyone here a favour and shut it about the magnetite every time a thread on the subject comes up.

>>4813384
Exactly.

I can assure you and anyone who has doubts, while other oils do work an oil that naturally wants to dry and form a film (like linseed) is the ideal candidate for seasoning cast iron.

>>4814294
lol but dude, you are incorrect. You've been proven incorrect already. Read the link, try it yourself. It is really easy to do and you don't even need to use any oil or lard at all.

>>4814164
On top of this the chips can end up in food, the bonding material that attaches the enamel to the metal is toxic, and once there's a chip it's a great place for bacteria to grow.

>>4811173
Okay, I fucking live in Eastern Kentucky and my entire family for my entire life uses cast iron, I use it everyday for basically every single meal... I've got them in different sizes and a deep one for frying but seriously, I don't do anything special to them. I get on here and read about seasoning them and what not, but I've never done it. I don't like non-stick because it's cheap, and I do put my pans in the oven and I don't want a melted handle. I make breakfast, desserts, bread, whatever in it and I've had them all for like 10 years now. If one of them was to ruin or something (I'm not even sure how), I could easily go to a flea market or a local shop and buy them for next to nothing. So for me, it's better than buying shit-tier non-stick and have to replace it.
Btw, cobbler in a iron skillet is the best you'll ever have.

If there's a little rust on a part of a skillet, is it still usable? Or throw it away?

>>4810985

$17/17oz flaxseed oil ... dayum!

>>4811290

Confirming this.

This is my grandmother's old Wagner cast iron skillet. It's got the O mark on the back, which Google tells me means it was made before 1922. It's extremely smooth and light compared to the modern stuff.

>>4814577
dont throw it away. if its just a little bit hit it with some steel wool or high grit sandpaper until its just bare metal, then reseason it. if the whole thing is rusty take it somewhere to get sandblasted then immediately reseason it.

>>4814532
Using cast iron is enough to keep it seasoned. These people just don't actually cook very often.

>>4814577
check the procedure here:
http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/perfect-popovers-and-how-to-clean-reseason-cast-iron/

you probably don't need to clean it as hardcore as she did, but it's a good description of the process

>>4811290
Yes that's true, but what's a modern cast iron user to do?
We're stuck with the hand we've been dealt i.e. rough surface new model Lodge stuff ... do we just season the best we can and accept never having a true glassy surface?
Or eventually will that rough surface smooth out and get glassy?

>>4814627
Do what I do. Buy old skillets at antique stores and yard/garage sales.

>Or eventually will that rough surface smooth out and get glassy?

In 5-10 years of hard cooking maybe.

why do people make cast iron into a rocket science?

you wash it with soap and water

>muh sanitary practice

then you lube it up with some oil after your done.

Its not that fucking hard.

>>4814627
http://youtu.be/IJQX5Bt5oec

I'm an apartmentfag with only an electric stove. Will these be ok on electric coils or do they need flame?

>>4814964
They will work.

>>4810297
because teflon sucks and i don't like eating even a percent of a percent of poison that rubs off into my meals. NO THANKS.

I really don't understand what people are talking about "all this upkeep" of cast iron. My father gave me one that was in poor condition when I moved away for college. All I had to do was cook bacon in it a few times and leave the grease in the skillet until I came home for supper.

Now I don't even really cook bacon in it anymore unless someone else wants bacon. I don't use soap in it, only scrub it with a copper pad.

I can even cook scrambled eggs in it easily without having them stick..just melt a little butter or spray some non-stick oil in the pan.

There is no meticulous upkeep needed for cast iron skillets, you don't need to wipe it with lard every time you cook with it.

>>4814627
Buy antique stuff. It's cast iron, not a TV. Anything with a Wagner or Grisworld logo and a heat ring (or hell, even a no name with a heat ring) that sits flat, doesn't have bright orange rust, and doesn't have an cracks can be reseasoned easily and last another 100 years.

Alternately, you can pay the mark-up for Iwachu stuff (ie. http://www.amazon.com/Iwachu-410-555-Iron-Omelette-Medium/dp/B00CL8Q9PY ), which uses higher grade ore (which is what the old US stuff used that allowed it to be thinner while being just as strong and having better heat retention) and a polished finish. You do have to be willing to pay premium cookware prices to go that route, though.

>>4810322
I was going to reply but this reply has all the facts already.