Most of this is true, I’ve never used cast iron in my life
I bought a $20 cast iron pan at target, I season it like once a year. I just wash it and make sure to dry it, I’m sure this is against the rules. Seems to work fine for me though. I wouldn’t say it’s nonstick but it’s mostly fine.
A $20 Teflon pan would be flaking and unusable, so for $20 it’s a good deal.
I bought those cheap marble coated pan, now entering 2 years of frequent use, other than tiny bit of degraded non-stick capability, it works just fine, didn’t even chip. I bought an expensive teflon once, it only last around half year before it start chipping. Teflon is just bottom tier coating now.
I also own a cheap cast iron skillet, cook with it frequently, wash with soap and only heat dry it, didn’t even bother with seasoning after washing, it now has a nice, smooth patina on it that mostly non-stick. I genuinely don’t get why people always baby a cast iron, it’s a hilux, not a cybertruck.
to answer your question, I’ve heard it described as half hobby/half pan. And quality can vary on the finish. Mine required a full restoration after a potato took the seasoning with it. Since then, low maintenance.
I have a cast iron griddle that I use once a year at my mom’s house. I leave it in the outdoor grill when I’m done using it and don’t even clean it. The next time I go to use the grill, I take out the cast iron griddle and just leave it out in the elements and it rusts like crazy.
Then, the day I’m ready to use it again, I scour the shit out of it, heat it up to 500-600°, throw some oil on it like a greased up whore, and get the lowest quality seasoning on it.
Then I use it to grill some ears of corn so they don’t turn black from the soot of all the wood I burn to heat the outdoor grill. Once the corn is done cooking, I close off the grill and tell the cast iron griddle to go fuck itself.
Maybe it’s .ml? I see shit, whore, and fuck (as in poop[s•••], sex worker[w••••], and sex[f•••], in case they get censored)
Do test cast iron pans for lead please. Even cheap ones from Target (especially cheap ones)
I looked up “lead testing” and my state, and was directed to their health department’s recommendations for both lead in homes and for child care center testing. They have links to several labs with kits that get mailed to you, typically you swab or take a sample, then mail it back to the lab. There are also in home test kits for lead on sites like Amazon that process immediately (have a color change when lead is present iirc), idk how accurate those are but could be at least a good starting point for some items.
The FDA bans lead in cookware: https://blogs.edf.org/health/2023/08/15/fda-says-cookware-that-exhibits-any-level-of-leachable-lead-upon-testing-is-prohibited/
Although I’m a little surprised it took until 2023 to make this happen. In any case, stuff bought at retail should be fine. I’d be very surprised if Lodge cookware–what Target usually sells–ever had lead in it.
Amazon stuff, though? That place is a leaky sieve of Chinese goods that wouldn’t normally be allowed.
There was lead in literal food on shelves. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/recalled-lead-tainted-applesauce-pouches-stayed-on-dollar-tree-shelves-for-weeks-fda-says
Really think about supply chains and products and the benefits that China or hostile nations may have to send poison to the US (instead of bombs). People assume these products will be safe but we have modern day examples where they clearly aren’t, no matter what the laws say. The law doesn’t matter if it isn’t enforced. Items can be swapped or mislabeled. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/temu-toxicology-test-concern-as-lead-is-found-in-an-item-sold-on-the-site/XL5OYZ6JWJEQFAHEVK6GZUMIGY/
It’s fine and good to wash cast iron - particularly if you had something corrosive in there. Don’t do it in the dishwasher (change in heat can be bad for it - same reason not to machine wash kitchen knives).
People who say washing your pan will remove the seasoning have not properly seasoned their pans or see food residue washing out and think it is the polymerized oils bonded to the metal that are washing out. If that’s the case, they are washing way too aggressively.
There used to be some truth to the advise of not washing cast iron because those old-fashioned soaps had lye that could break down the seasoning. So I guess if you like to use boutique soaps you should be mindful if they contain lye. But if you’re just using dawn dish soap like probably 90% of everybody, go to town, you’re not going to remove seasoning with dish soap
Don’t these pans last like generations, being passed down? I doubt your grandma and her grandma were bothering to apply 8 coats of flaxseed oil and heating it up to 1000 degrees and the pans would still perform as expected for ages
Has anyone outside of a commercial kitchen ever actually destroyed a stainless steel pan though
Yes.
Apparently you can’t hear up tortillas in them without it forever getting scorch marks. I suppose only thing I haven’t tried is using a machine sander on it to try to remove it.
Are those scorch marks an issue beyond aesthetics though? (Genuinely curious, not judging)
Barkeepers friend (powdered metal and glass polish/cleaner, typically comes in a cannister) will get that off with a little bit of elbow grease.
Half the pans I’ve bought i got at a thrift store for like a buck because people thought they ruined them with a little bit of scorching., and I’ve gotten some nice stuff.
Really? It sounds like you’re burning your tortillas, or your tortillas don’t have enough oil/fat in them.
Reject tradition. Embrace forever chemicals.
BerlingerHaus uses some kind of artifical stone instead of teflon. I’ve only got a grill pan so far but it’s easier to use and to clean than teflon. Surely wherever you are has something similiar?
Enameled cast iron is definitely a thing, our le cruset Dutch oven is a work horse
some kind of artifical stone
Ceramic - similar to glass in that it’s made by melting sand (tiny stones)
My pans are ceramic, they’re great nonstick pans. Usually any patina of burn-on is easy to clean off with some barkeeper’s friend. Everything else comes off in cooking. Still wouldn’t use metal utensils on it though as at the end of the day it is still just a coating and scraping it will degrade my pan. But they’re still like new a couple years after buying them and they’re very aesthetically pleasing pans to boot. And no pfas to my knowledge.
One of them is an aldi find, safe in the oven up to 450°
The other one is just a t-fal frying pan with a plastic handle. So not oven safe at all.
No, not normal ceramic. It has non-stick properties (imho superior to Teflon).
There is nothing wrong with putting cast iron in the dishwasher. I do it all the time.