8 ms·

Youll probably want stainless steel or enamled cast iron for anything with fond. Anytime you are cooking something acidic, tomatoes, vinegar, wine. I try not

by basch 5y ago

Youll probably want stainless steel or enamled cast iron for anything with fond. Anytime you are cooking something acidic, tomatoes, vinegar, wine. I try not to deglaze meat brownings into sauce in cast iron. A stainless steel dutch oven is a great universal pan as well. For a "first pan" I'd probably suggest tri ply stainless over cast iron. The main thing I like about cast iron more is the pan temperature not dropping when I put something on it, so its great for reverse searing baked steaks inside the house. Most other things I find functionally equivalent in stainless and cast iron, including browning meat before I cube it or break it apart. (brown cuts of meat and ground meat whole!) https://www.target.com/s/tri+ply+clad?Nao=0 https://www.target.com/s/tri+ply+clad?Nao=0 https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=tri%20ply%20clad https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=tri%20ply%20clad

tekchip 5y ago
I'm going to second this. I don't understand why people keep buying cast iron when steel has the same core traits(durability primarily) but so many more upsides. Thinner, lighter, heats faster. Steel is where it's at IMO. Enameled for anything acidic otherwise your seasoning is gone.
- basch 5y ago
  >otherwise your seasoning is gone. And iron leached into whatever your eating. I know thats considered in the myth category, but I have at least one dish Ive prepared that ended up tasting pretty metallicy. Could be expectations manifesting reality. I think people get turned off to steel when they put a new pan on the stove, dont let it heat up, bake something to it, and its an arm and a leg to clean the first time. Unlike nonstick, it has a bit of a learning curve. Cast iron doesnt show stains the same way, and you can use a chain mail scrubber. Scratching steel does slightly change its nonstick properties, so dont use steel wool.
- fancifalmanima 5y ago
  I have a cast iron skillet and a stainless steel skillet, and I almost always use the stainless. The cast iron almost always only comes out when I need a second skillet. When I'm searing something, I even prefer that it sticks slightly more to the stainless as it typically releases when it's done anyways -- and my anecdotal experience is that I get a better sear from the surface of the meat sticking to the skillet more firmly.
  - basch 5y ago
    Agreed on the stick, I prefer it. Cast iron gives additional radiant heat because it's black, so if I am cooking steak in the oven I pretend like it gives me more uniform temperature increase than depending on conductive and convective heat. If I am browning meat and not baking it after, Ill use steel. I like cast iron for potatoes too. Hashes. Not sure why. Holds temp better?
ska 5y ago
> Anytime you are cooking something acidic, tomatoes, vinegar, wine. I try not to deglaze meat brownings into sauce in cast iron. I wouldn't simmer an acidic sauce in cast iron for hours, but this is poor advice. Deglazing will not damage the seasoning on cast iron pan once it is properly seasoned (and maintaining that is easy, contrary to lots of what you hear). Unlike to your experience, I don't find them functionally equivalent for a number of things, which is why I have both (and enamel cast, much better than almost all clad steel dutch ovens that aren't really expensive, as most of them don't clad far up the sides)
- basch 5y ago
  I've had one dish, with multiple deglazings, that tasted funny after. Ill admit it may have been in my head, or the pan was light on seasoning. Tasted almost like the metallic taste of Hoegaarden. I have both, and I use 5-ply fully clad more than I use cast iron. My 9 qt is bottom clad only, but the lack of clad up the sides hasnt been an issue. The bottom surface is hot which is what needs to be hot on the stove. The sides arent getting hot spots in the oven, during brazing and stews. https://www.calphalon.com/cookware/cookware-by-product-type/individual-cookware-pieces/dutch-ovens/select-by-calphalon-stainless-steel-5-quart-dutch-oven-with-cover/SAP_2067143.html https://www.calphalon.com/cookware/cookware-by-product-type/...
  - ska 5y ago
    YMMV obviously. I've got a 12" cast skillet that has had literally many hundreds of deglazings done in it, never once an issue. I suspect mostly when people have a taste issue in a cast iron pan it's because they've read nonsense about never using soap on it or whatever, and haven't cleaned it properly. I did once ruin a seasoning making a tomato sauce, which was a way to learn about acidic interactions - but that was over hours. FWIW I had a 5 qt like that calphon but found I was always using my enamel cast one instead, so gave it away. One thing I really like about the cast iron skillit is you can treat it roughly and use it anywhere. Mines been in fire pits, on bbq, stovetop, oven, even a bread oven. Handles temperature changes without issues (unlike enamel and some clad) is unbeatable to sear things. Doesn't care what tools you use in it. Nonstick property is pretty good (better than steel pan, worse than teflon) and will still be pretty good in 20 years.
rstupek 5y ago
Professional cooks swear by carbon steel pans and they're surprisingly not that expensive.
- AdamN 5y ago
  Yeah I bought one during lockdown and it's great and lower-stick than stainless steel. Better in every way basically.
- ska 5y ago
  Professional cooks use a ton of stuff, and not all of it would be what they choose at home. Carbon steel is great, requires a little upkeep, but part of what makes it great is how it works with a really high heat source; the stoves in a restaurant behave very differently than your home one. An extreme case of this is woks. There is very little you can do at home to reproduce the effect of an 80k BTU burner and a carbon steel wok.
  - greyhair 5y ago
    I agree, 15k BTU is not 80k, but with a little patience on preheating (I don't have waiting customers) I still enjoy working in the wok I own. Also, it is not a restaurant sized wok, but for flash frying chopped food, or getting a nice quick sear, it works great.
    - basch 5y ago
      not a perfect solution but, https://www.wokmon.com/ https://www.wokmon.com/
moshmosh 5y ago
I put quite a bit of effort into doing things "right" when I tried to board the cast-iron train. Pan was pre-seasoned, but I did one of those elaborate multi-step seasoning rituals online, using the expensive oil they recommended and everything, just in case. Horrible, smoke all over the house, smelled for a couple days. Everything sticks anyway, like I've never seen on any other kind of pan. Suitably-gentle cleaning (according to cast iron fans online) takes forever because there's so much crap on it after every use. Re-seasoned it again after a bit, thinking I'd screwed up. No improvement, everything sticks. My wife refuses to cook with it at all, and I'm pretty sure just seeing it in the drawer annoys her. Oh, and if a tomato or anything else somewhat-acidic touches it then the entire dish will taste like blood. So that's fun. It's alright for cooking steak (preheating for a few minutes on high is a must, though, it's gotta be terrifyingly hot or everything will stick, including steak), and if I drown things in scorching-hot oil or fat (say, from bacon) they they don't stick much, but that sure isn't healthy. The pan has zero inherent non-stickness, only what it acquires from whatever lake of oil I put in it.
- AuryGlenz 5y ago
  They never get as non-stick as a Teflon coating, but over time they’re usable for pretty much everything. Screw babying it. Get a chain mail cleaner for it (and you definitely can use soap), use the pan often and especially when you’re doing something oily, and soon enough you’ll use it a lot.

by basch 5y ago

tekchip 5y ago

I'm going to second this. I don't understand why people keep buying cast iron when steel has the same core traits(durability primarily) but so many more upsides. Thinner, lighter, heats faster. Steel is where it's at IMO. Enameled for anything acidic otherwise your seasoning is gone.

basch 5y ago
>otherwise your seasoning is gone. And iron leached into whatever your eating. I know thats considered in the myth category, but I have at least one dish Ive prepared that ended up tasting pretty metallicy. Could be expectations manifesting reality. I think people get turned off to steel when they put a new pan on the stove, dont let it heat up, bake something to it, and its an arm and a leg to clean the first time. Unlike nonstick, it has a bit of a learning curve. Cast iron doesnt show stains the same way, and you can use a chain mail scrubber. Scratching steel does slightly change its nonstick properties, so dont use steel wool.
fancifalmanima 5y ago
I have a cast iron skillet and a stainless steel skillet, and I almost always use the stainless. The cast iron almost always only comes out when I need a second skillet. When I'm searing something, I even prefer that it sticks slightly more to the stainless as it typically releases when it's done anyways -- and my anecdotal experience is that I get a better sear from the surface of the meat sticking to the skillet more firmly.
- basch 5y ago
  Agreed on the stick, I prefer it. Cast iron gives additional radiant heat because it's black, so if I am cooking steak in the oven I pretend like it gives me more uniform temperature increase than depending on conductive and convective heat. If I am browning meat and not baking it after, Ill use steel. I like cast iron for potatoes too. Hashes. Not sure why. Holds temp better?

ska 5y ago

> Anytime you are cooking something acidic, tomatoes, vinegar, wine. I try not to deglaze meat brownings into sauce in cast iron. I wouldn't simmer an acidic sauce in cast iron for hours, but this is poor advice. Deglazing will not damage the seasoning on cast iron pan once it is properly seasoned (and maintaining that is easy, contrary to lots of what you hear). Unlike to your experience, I don't find them functionally equivalent for a number of things, which is why I have both (and enamel cast, much better than almost all clad steel dutch ovens that aren't really expensive, as most of them don't clad far up the sides)

basch 5y ago
I've had one dish, with multiple deglazings, that tasted funny after. Ill admit it may have been in my head, or the pan was light on seasoning. Tasted almost like the metallic taste of Hoegaarden. I have both, and I use 5-ply fully clad more than I use cast iron. My 9 qt is bottom clad only, but the lack of clad up the sides hasnt been an issue. The bottom surface is hot which is what needs to be hot on the stove. The sides arent getting hot spots in the oven, during brazing and stews. https://www.calphalon.com/cookware/cookware-by-product-type/individual-cookware-pieces/dutch-ovens/select-by-calphalon-stainless-steel-5-quart-dutch-oven-with-cover/SAP_2067143.html https://www.calphalon.com/cookware/cookware-by-product-type/...
- ska 5y ago
  YMMV obviously. I've got a 12" cast skillet that has had literally many hundreds of deglazings done in it, never once an issue. I suspect mostly when people have a taste issue in a cast iron pan it's because they've read nonsense about never using soap on it or whatever, and haven't cleaned it properly. I did once ruin a seasoning making a tomato sauce, which was a way to learn about acidic interactions - but that was over hours. FWIW I had a 5 qt like that calphon but found I was always using my enamel cast one instead, so gave it away. One thing I really like about the cast iron skillit is you can treat it roughly and use it anywhere. Mines been in fire pits, on bbq, stovetop, oven, even a bread oven. Handles temperature changes without issues (unlike enamel and some clad) is unbeatable to sear things. Doesn't care what tools you use in it. Nonstick property is pretty good (better than steel pan, worse than teflon) and will still be pretty good in 20 years.

rstupek 5y ago

Professional cooks swear by carbon steel pans and they're surprisingly not that expensive.

AdamN 5y ago
Yeah I bought one during lockdown and it's great and lower-stick than stainless steel. Better in every way basically.
ska 5y ago
Professional cooks use a ton of stuff, and not all of it would be what they choose at home. Carbon steel is great, requires a little upkeep, but part of what makes it great is how it works with a really high heat source; the stoves in a restaurant behave very differently than your home one. An extreme case of this is woks. There is very little you can do at home to reproduce the effect of an 80k BTU burner and a carbon steel wok.
- greyhair 5y ago
  I agree, 15k BTU is not 80k, but with a little patience on preheating (I don't have waiting customers) I still enjoy working in the wok I own. Also, it is not a restaurant sized wok, but for flash frying chopped food, or getting a nice quick sear, it works great.
  - basch 5y ago
    not a perfect solution but, https://www.wokmon.com/ https://www.wokmon.com/

moshmosh 5y ago

I put quite a bit of effort into doing things "right" when I tried to board the cast-iron train. Pan was pre-seasoned, but I did one of those elaborate multi-step seasoning rituals online, using the expensive oil they recommended and everything, just in case. Horrible, smoke all over the house, smelled for a couple days. Everything sticks anyway, like I've never seen on any other kind of pan. Suitably-gentle cleaning (according to cast iron fans online) takes forever because there's so much crap on it after every use. Re-seasoned it again after a bit, thinking I'd screwed up. No improvement, everything sticks. My wife refuses to cook with it at all, and I'm pretty sure just seeing it in the drawer annoys her. Oh, and if a tomato or anything else somewhat-acidic touches it then the entire dish will taste like blood. So that's fun. It's alright for cooking steak (preheating for a few minutes on high is a must, though, it's gotta be terrifyingly hot or everything will stick, including steak), and if I drown things in scorching-hot oil or fat (say, from bacon) they they don't stick much, but that sure isn't healthy. The pan has zero inherent non-stickness, only what it acquires from whatever lake of oil I put in it.

AuryGlenz 5y ago
They never get as non-stick as a Teflon coating, but over time they’re usable for pretty much everything. Screw babying it. Get a chain mail cleaner for it (and you definitely can use soap), use the pan often and especially when you’re doing something oily, and soon enough you’ll use it a lot.