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I've also slowly shifted to cast iron and stainless steel cooking ware, but they are objectively more effort to clean and maintain properly than anything with "

I've also slowly shifted to cast iron and stainless steel cooking ware, but they are objectively more effort to clean and maintain properly than anything with "teflon" or other similar coating. Burning in the patina and keeping it intact is more effort and requires people being more aware about what they are doing when washing dishes.

Jedd 5y ago
> I've also slowly shifted to cast iron and stainless steel cooking ware, but they are objectively more effort to clean and maintain properly than anything with "teflon" or other similar coating. I do not believe this is true. I started cooking with various cast iron pans about a decade ago - initially I was dubious, and it took longer to season in the Lodge than the Le Creuset (both around the 20cm size, normally used on gas). Now they're equally seasoned, and cleaning is typically some hot water, ideally the same night they were used, maybe a very mild detergent, with a nylon scrubbing pad. If I don't get to them until the next day, I may need to run some hot water over them for five minutes, but that's rare. OTOH I've got a number of non-stick coating woks, that I treat with great care, but are (in the same time period) looking a bit crusty / scratched, despite only using silicon / plastic / wooden utensils, and never running them above a medium heat. That is, treating them much more cautiously than I treat the cast iron. Granted, I don't do, say, omelettes in a cast iron -- but herb encrusted meat, at very high temperatures, which would challenge a non-stick (teflon or similar) takes about 30s to clean out of the cast iron if I get to it later that night.
- freeflight 5y ago
  > maybe a very mild detergent If you gonna do dishes, most people gonna use dishwasher soap, particularly if somebody is doing the dishes who doesn't even have a clue about seasoned pans. But afaik that's a big no-no as it will also wash away to seasoning, that's why usually dry methods like rubbing baking soda/coarse salt are recommended to clean nasty spots without destroying too much of the patina. Add in the oiling requirement, once finished with cleaning, and that's already two steps required that most people who are only casually into cooking don't really know about. > I was dubious, and it took longer to season in the Lodge than the Le Creuset Ain't the Lodge one supposed to be pre-seasoned? At least that's what mine said, I still seasoned it.
  - inyourtenement 5y ago
    Honestly, all those rules about caring for cast iron are kind of nonsense. I clean mine with dish detergent all the time. I'll oil a pan before storing if it doesn't get used often, but for frequently used pans, the cooking process is enough to keep them seasoned.
  - MegaDeKay 5y ago
    Soap does not harm a properly seasoned cast iron pan. https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-buy-season-clean-maintain-cast-iron-pans https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-buy-season-clean-maintain...
aimor 5y ago
How much effort does it take? I got a lot of misinformation about how to maintain an iron skillet. Internet cooking blog trolls had me convinced I should never use soap or else I'd have to scrub it down to bare metal, soak it in oil, and bake it at 500 to restore that precious nonstick coating. Turns out that's bunk and all I needed to do after cooking was wash it, dry it, and spread a little oil over it.
oofabz 5y ago
I cook in titanium pots. They are marketed to ultralight hikers, and are mostly too small, but you can find ones large enough for kitchen cooking. It's easier to clean than iron or steel, but not as easy as teflon. The nice thing is, unlike coated pans, you can use copper wool on titanium.

Jedd 5y ago

> I've also slowly shifted to cast iron and stainless steel cooking ware, but they are objectively more effort to clean and maintain properly than anything with "teflon" or other similar coating. I do not believe this is true. I started cooking with various cast iron pans about a decade ago - initially I was dubious, and it took longer to season in the Lodge than the Le Creuset (both around the 20cm size, normally used on gas). Now they're equally seasoned, and cleaning is typically some hot water, ideally the same night they were used, maybe a very mild detergent, with a nylon scrubbing pad. If I don't get to them until the next day, I may need to run some hot water over them for five minutes, but that's rare. OTOH I've got a number of non-stick coating woks, that I treat with great care, but are (in the same time period) looking a bit crusty / scratched, despite only using silicon / plastic / wooden utensils, and never running them above a medium heat. That is, treating them much more cautiously than I treat the cast iron. Granted, I don't do, say, omelettes in a cast iron -- but herb encrusted meat, at very high temperatures, which would challenge a non-stick (teflon or similar) takes about 30s to clean out of the cast iron if I get to it later that night.

freeflight 5y ago
> maybe a very mild detergent If you gonna do dishes, most people gonna use dishwasher soap, particularly if somebody is doing the dishes who doesn't even have a clue about seasoned pans. But afaik that's a big no-no as it will also wash away to seasoning, that's why usually dry methods like rubbing baking soda/coarse salt are recommended to clean nasty spots without destroying too much of the patina. Add in the oiling requirement, once finished with cleaning, and that's already two steps required that most people who are only casually into cooking don't really know about. > I was dubious, and it took longer to season in the Lodge than the Le Creuset Ain't the Lodge one supposed to be pre-seasoned? At least that's what mine said, I still seasoned it.
- inyourtenement 5y ago
  Honestly, all those rules about caring for cast iron are kind of nonsense. I clean mine with dish detergent all the time. I'll oil a pan before storing if it doesn't get used often, but for frequently used pans, the cooking process is enough to keep them seasoned.
- MegaDeKay 5y ago
  Soap does not harm a properly seasoned cast iron pan. https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-buy-season-clean-maintain-cast-iron-pans https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-buy-season-clean-maintain...

aimor 5y ago

How much effort does it take? I got a lot of misinformation about how to maintain an iron skillet. Internet cooking blog trolls had me convinced I should never use soap or else I'd have to scrub it down to bare metal, soak it in oil, and bake it at 500 to restore that precious nonstick coating. Turns out that's bunk and all I needed to do after cooking was wash it, dry it, and spread a little oil over it.

oofabz 5y ago

I cook in titanium pots. They are marketed to ultralight hikers, and are mostly too small, but you can find ones large enough for kitchen cooking. It's easier to clean than iron or steel, but not as easy as teflon. The nice thing is, unlike coated pans, you can use copper wool on titanium.