5 ms·

Also, cast iron pans leach iron into food, and are therefore an effective way to treat anemia. Any one who needs a small, steady dose of iron can benefit from c

Also, cast iron pans leach iron into food, and are therefore an effective way to treat anemia. Any one who needs a small, steady dose of iron can benefit from cast iron pans.

pphysch 5y ago
OTOH it can introduce dangerous amounts of iron if you cook highly acidic foods in it
- _jal 5y ago
  Your food will taste really gross well before it is dangerous. And cooking acidic foods in cast iron ruins the seasoning, so anyone who uses it regularly already doesn't do that.
- HarryHirsch 5y ago
  Iron toxicity isn't really a thing, uptake is active and tightly controlled in the colon. Copper toxicity on the other hand, when you cook acidic foods for too long in a copper pan, that's a distinct possibility. There's a lesson in that: journals print what people like to read. Everyone with a mild sense of chemistry already knows that you can't prepare tomato sauce or mulled wine in copper vessels, consequently such a paper will be rejected for being plain obvious. Stainless steel on the other hand, that's pleasantly controversial and you can debate about chromium and its oxidation state and essential nature and toxic concentration until the cows come home. That explains the nature of the investigation.
  - nanomonkey 5y ago
    > Iron toxicity isn't really a thing. Haemochromatosis is very much a thing, depending upon your genetics, as there are hereditary traits that will cause some folks to take up iron too readily. As your body doesn't have any means besides blood loss of getting rid of iron, it can ruin your liver and other organs.
  - Cthulhu_ 5y ago
    > Copper toxicity on the other hand, when you cook acidic foods for too long in a copper pan, that's a distinct possibility. I visited a castle once (modern ish) that used to be owned by rich folk who hosted lavish parties, they had a fully equipped French style kitchen, including all copper pans. The tour guide said the cleanup was terrible, especially for things like tomatoes or eggs.
CoastalCoder 5y ago
One time when I was a kid, I put a container of tomato sauce in the fridge, and covered it with aluminum foil. A few days later the foil had holes where it contacted the sauce. I still remember the nasty smell decades later.
- uneoneuno 5y ago
  I have a feeling you made an aluminum / tin battery with the tomato sauce as the electrolyte?
perilunar 5y ago
See also the story of the lucky iron fish: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_iron_fish https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_iron_fish

Also, cast iron pans leach iron into food, and are therefore an effective way to treat anemia. Any one who needs a small, steady dose of iron can benefit from cast iron pans.

pphysch 5y ago

OTOH it can introduce dangerous amounts of iron if you cook highly acidic foods in it

_jal 5y ago
Your food will taste really gross well before it is dangerous. And cooking acidic foods in cast iron ruins the seasoning, so anyone who uses it regularly already doesn't do that.
HarryHirsch 5y ago
Iron toxicity isn't really a thing, uptake is active and tightly controlled in the colon. Copper toxicity on the other hand, when you cook acidic foods for too long in a copper pan, that's a distinct possibility. There's a lesson in that: journals print what people like to read. Everyone with a mild sense of chemistry already knows that you can't prepare tomato sauce or mulled wine in copper vessels, consequently such a paper will be rejected for being plain obvious. Stainless steel on the other hand, that's pleasantly controversial and you can debate about chromium and its oxidation state and essential nature and toxic concentration until the cows come home. That explains the nature of the investigation.
- nanomonkey 5y ago
  > Iron toxicity isn't really a thing. Haemochromatosis is very much a thing, depending upon your genetics, as there are hereditary traits that will cause some folks to take up iron too readily. As your body doesn't have any means besides blood loss of getting rid of iron, it can ruin your liver and other organs.
- Cthulhu_ 5y ago
  > Copper toxicity on the other hand, when you cook acidic foods for too long in a copper pan, that's a distinct possibility. I visited a castle once (modern ish) that used to be owned by rich folk who hosted lavish parties, they had a fully equipped French style kitchen, including all copper pans. The tour guide said the cleanup was terrible, especially for things like tomatoes or eggs.

CoastalCoder 5y ago

One time when I was a kid, I put a container of tomato sauce in the fridge, and covered it with aluminum foil. A few days later the foil had holes where it contacted the sauce. I still remember the nasty smell decades later.

uneoneuno 5y ago
I have a feeling you made an aluminum / tin battery with the tomato sauce as the electrolyte?

perilunar 5y ago

See also the story of the lucky iron fish: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_iron_fish https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_iron_fish