To me, someone who celebrates a bit more of the spectrum than most: Metal hot. Make food hot.
Non-stick means easier cleanup, but my wife seems to think cast-iron is necessary for certain things (searing a prime rib roast, for example.).
After I figure those out, then I gotta figure out gas vs. electric vs. induction vs infrared…
It lasts forever, you wont scrape whatever “non-stick coating” they use off. If you want a pan that will outlive your grandchildren and is permanently non-stick once it’s seasoned, for most things a cast iron is perfect. If you have that, some pots of various sizes, and a wok, youre set.
I prefer induction or infrared stovetop. We dont need to burn more gas.
You can absolutely scrape the seasoning off a cast iron pan through aggressive use of metal utensils, but you can also re-season it by applying a little cooking oil and getting it hot for an hour or so.
You also don’t have to worry about getting Teflon flu if you overheat the pan. The worst thing that can happen is that you ruin your pan, not that you poison yourself.
Imo, the main advantage to cast iron vs literally everything else is how you can abuse it as long as the one rule you follow is to clean it after use.
Teflon and other nonstick coatings are too easily damaged by things like scrubbing pads or metal utensils.
Cast iron don’t give a single fuck.
Teflon will eventually flake off even if babied. The problem is thermal stress between the aluminum and Teflon. Repeated heating and cooling will eventually cause it to fail.
Non-stick chemicals have been historically poisonous, don’t know about the modern stuff though.
Also, cooking with cast iron increases iron intake.
Non-stick is teflon. Not harmful unless you burn it (at over 300°C).
Not sure why you are down voted, you are right. Teflon molecules are really long chains, your body doesn’t interact or store it, you just shit it out as it entered. The issue is the molecules used in it’s production, that are dumped in rivers and end up everywhere.
Yea, and if you burn them they break down into shorter molecules that accumulate in the liver or something.
Would be surprised how many people used scratched Teflon pans. I watched one friend of mine put the empty non-stick pan with no oil or anything on maximum heat to “pre heat the pan” before adding oil. Very sketchy.
Cheap “modern” stuff? Still toxic. Though there are plenty of coatings that are less toxic and more robust. Not to say any, including a seasoned cast iron pan, are abuse-proof. Use metal utensils on anything, and you will damage any coating.
Yeah, PFAS or forever chemicals like Teflon are not all equal. The bigger “fluffier” molecules can pass through the body way easier than the smaller ones.
If people are in the US they should check their drinking water first since that’s the majority of PFAS that stay in the body weirdly enough.
Cast iron can take a fair amount of abuse.
The method some people use to clean super stuck on bits it literally a square of chain mail. I just use salt, I don’t think the chain mail works that well.
Stiff handled brush cleans them right quick.
Yeah, grandma’s been sending me those ‘good luck’ chain mails since the nineties, and I’ve still not seen any luck at all.
I use a metal spatula on my cast iron all the time.
There’s no [edit: manufactured, not easily replaced] coating on cast iron (unless enameled)
You seasoning is a coating
Yes there is, it is polymerized fats and oils that build up over time.
Technically the truth, but using a metal spatula will not have much impact.
I’ve got a super thin metal spatula, with the perfect amount of flexibility, and I’ve been carrying it with me from place to place for decades. It is absolutely my favorite kitchen utensil. I know it didn’t cost much, but I’ve never found another one as perfect for my needs, so it is priceless to me.
I use it on everything, even when it says no metal utensils. I’m just really careful with it. I love the thinness of it, and how it slips right under the edge of anything. Trying to catch the edge of an omelette with a thick plastic spatula is infuriating.