I see no need to own a cast iron pan

[Leo123]

Obviously not.


I never said that. Obviously, your comprehension is very poor too.

Gee, I bet you also think that grilling food on a big outdoor grill is a terrible way to cook too, despite legions of fans of outdoor cooking!

How can you possible get good food cooked there much less seared properly when the heat over an open spit with charcoals and fire is the ULTIMATE uneven heat???





View attachment 848686

Early on I said cast iron heats more evenly at which point 'Ave' jumped my shit. Later I corrected that to cooking evenly but Ol' Ave is like a dog with a big stinky bone.

 

[toobfreak]

Early on I said cast iron heats more evenly at which point 'Ave' jumped my shit. Later I corrected that to cooking evenly but Ol' Ave is like a dog with a big stinky bone.

Cast iron is a different type of heat than SS. While the SS pan TRANSMITS the heat from the burner quickly and directly much like a ceramic cooking surface by what is in contact with it, a cast iron pan is a HEAT CAPACITOR; it first absorbs heat from the stove, stores it up, then re-radiates it into the cooking area, making the SS pan more of a CONDUCTIVE heat whereas the iron skillet is a RADIATIVE heat. This has a direct effect on the cooking PROCESS of the food.

Stainless produces a cooking SURFACE whereas cast iron creates a cooking ZONE. That is partly why SS can burn so easily.

Any chef worth his salt knows there is much more to cooking than just static temperature, but how the heat is APPLIED to the food; while the iron is resistant to quick change and radiates at the food from all sides, the heat of a thin steel pan is much more contained right at the surface where the food touches it.

This may seem like a technical difference to the novice thinking that "heat is heat," but it is a nuance that is better appreciated as a chef's skills grow.

 

[AveMarica]

Facts =

"The thermal conductivity of cast iron is 52 Watts per meter-Kelvin (W/m K), compared to 54 W/m K for carbon steel, 237 W/m K for aluminum, and 413 W/m K for copper (via Engineering Toolbox).

In other words, cast iron is 4 1/2 worse at conducting heat than aluminum, the most prevalent choice of metal for ceramic and non-stick cookware, and 8 times worse than copper, the metal of choice for some of the highest-end cookware manufacturers in the world."

 

[toobfreak]

Facts =
"The thermal conductivity of cast iron is 52 Watts per meter-Kelvin (W/m K), compared to 54 W/m K for carbon steel, 237 W/m K for aluminum, and 413 W/m K for copper (via Engineering Toolbox).
In other words, cast iron is 4 1/2 worse at conducting heat than aluminum, the most prevalent choice of metal for ceramic and non-stick cookware, and 8 times worse than copper, the metal of choice for some of the highest-end cookware manufacturers in the world."

You really are an idiot.

 

[AveMarica]

The fact is, you first claimed cast iron is cooler at the perimeter then you showed a picture of a cast iron pan cooler in the middle.

Nope. Are you really this dumb?

A cast iron pan on an electric burner will be cooler on the edgs.
A cast iron pan on a ring heat source (gas, induction) will be cooler in the middle, and depending on size of burner on the end too.

 

[AveMarica]

You really are an idiot.

Yes, you are embarrassed because you came charging in here declaring that cast iron heats evenly.

Here, eat some more crow:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/food/2001/04/04/cast-iron-clinic/247e7db7-375b-49f8-8c69-9485cf9f4418/

"Many books attribute that ability to the "fact" that cast iron is a good conductor of heat. But the truth is exactly the opposite. The reason it holds its heat so well is that cast iron is a relatively poor conductor of heat: one-third as good as aluminum and only one-fifth as good as copper."

 

[AveMarica]

I've never read anywhere that says cast doesnt hold even heat.

Nobody said it doesn't hold heat. Cast iron holds heat well, and conducts heat poorly. It doesn't heat evenly on a stove burner.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

Yes, you are embarrassed because you came charging in here declaring that cast iron heats evenly.

Here, eat some more crow:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/food/2001/04/04/cast-iron-clinic/247e7db7-375b-49f8-8c69-9485cf9f4418/

"Many books attribute that ability to the "fact" that cast iron is a good conductor of heat. But the truth is exactly the opposite. The reason it holds its heat so well is that cast iron is a relatively poor conductor of heat: one-third as good as aluminum and only one-fifth as good as copper."

Cast does hold heat evenly.
It may take a bit longer to reach temp but once it does it stays hot longer.

 

[AveMarica]

Gee, I bet you also think that grilling food on a big outdoor grill is a terrible way to cook too, despite legions of fans of outdoor cooking!

Well what do you know, toobfreak has decided to invent something new that I think. You sure do great arguing with straw men that you manufacture, against actual people not so much.

How can you possible get good food cooked there much less seared properly when the heat over an open spit with charcoals and fire is the ULTIMATE uneven heat???

Hah learn the difference between radiant heat versus conductive heat. I keep forgetting incredibly naive you are.

 

[Concerned American]

Nobody said it doesn't hold heat. Cast iron holds heat well, and conducts heat poorly. It doesn't heat evenly on a stove burner.

So don't use it if you don't like it. You're obsessed over a stinking pan and you probably don't cook. SMFH.

 

[AveMarica]

Cast does hold heat evenly.
It may take a bit longer to reach temp but once it does it stays hot longer.

It stays hot longer, it doesn't heat evenly. See picture after 30 minutes on burner of temperature difference on different parts of the pan.

 

[AveMarica]

So don't use it if you don't like it. You're obsessed over a stinking pan and you probably don't cook. SMFH.

Thank you for the permission to not use a cast iron pan. So far nobody has given me a reason to.

How am I the one obsessed when you guys are replying just as fast?

I do cook, but I see you have fallen to the Village Idiot (tm) technique of making accusations to compensate for inability to make an argument. I get it man, you're another person who thinks the laws of physics change on your stove.

 

[Concerned American]

Thank you for the permission to not use a cast iron pan. So far nobody has given me a reason to.

How am I the one obsessed when you guys are replying just as fast?

I do cook, but I see you have fallen to the Village Idiot (tm) technique of making accusations to compensate for inability to make an argument. I get it man, you're another person who thinks the laws of physics change on your stove.

Run along troll. I haven't spent the better part of a day obsessing over how someone else cooks.

 

[toobfreak]

A cast iron pan on an electric burner will be cooler on the edgs.
A cast iron pan on a ring heat source (gas, induction) will be cooler in the middle, and depending on size of burner on the end too.

So, you are in effect admitting that cast iron gives you another degree of control in your cooking that steel and aluminum don't have.

 

[toobfreak]

Yes, you are embarrassed because you came charging in here declaring that cast iron heats evenly.

Which it does. It resists changes in heat, so tends to stay at the temperature it is even if the skillet is tipped away from the heat for a few moments, cold food is added or even removed from the heat! But your burned out braincells cannot distinguish from even heat over TIME vs. even heat by AREA. You deserve your YouTube videos.

Here, eat some more crow

Not if it was cooked by you. Moron, now you are going back repeating old points already disproven, explained or conceded! You are are a FUCKING A-HOLE.

 

[toobfreak]

Well what do you know, toobfreak has decided to invent something new that I think. You sure do great arguing with straw men that you manufacture, against actual people not so much.

In other words, you have no answer for how grilled food on a charcoal spit can be so good if your theory of uneven cast iron heat is actually true. Grilled food actually DEPENDS on the unevenness of the heat, a dynamic used as an asset to cooking by good cooks, not panned like you try to do.

Hah learn the difference between radiant heat versus conductive heat. I keep forgetting incredibly naive you are.

HEY ASSHOLE, I just explained all that a few posts above. You are such a fucking dimwit, you don't even read nor realize what the other people are posting here.

 

[Concerned American]

you have no answer for how grilled food on a charcoal spit can be so good

Nor why fajitas are served sizzling at your table on a cast iron vessel that holds heat. He's a troll that is looking for validation.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

It stays hot longer, it doesn't heat evenly. See picture after 30 minutes on burner of temperature difference on different parts of the pan.

It'll heat evenly given time to reach the proper temp.
I do a lot of Dutch oven cooking when we camp and in the backyard.
It does things you cant do with with a stainless pan.

 

[Leo123]

Nope. Are you really this dumb?

A cast iron pan on an electric burner will be cooler on the edgs.
A cast iron pan on a ring heat source (gas, induction) will be cooler in the middle, and depending on size of burner on the end too.

V

It stays hot longer, it doesn't heat evenly. See picture after 30 minutes on burner of temperature difference on different parts of the pan.

You’re

It stays hot longer, it doesn't heat evenly. See picture after 30 minutes on burner of temperature difference on different parts of the pan.

Your example shows 140 degrees F cooler at the edges of a cast iron pan. That may be technically true however, that is really not much of a heat difference when cooking especially when one uses a cooking medium like oil. To me, the heat retention makes it easier to control the cooking especially when frying. The internal temperature of what you are cooking is most important, IMO.

 

[toobfreak]

that is really not much of a heat difference when cooking especially when one uses a cooking medium like oil. To me, the heat retention makes it easier to control the cooking especially when frying. The internal temperature of what you are cooking is most important, IMO.

Don't confuse AvaMaria with actually thinking about the cooking or the food! Notice that he has not presented a single thing he tried cooking in an iron skillet that didn't turn out great, instead, all he talks about is YouTube videos and infrared pictures designed to show the smallest differences as bright differences in color shading!

Funny that there are SO MANY iron skillets available, selling well and so popular with so many!

He thinks rapid heating or even temp across the bottom is key to good cooking, ignoring the fact that the best foods are usually cooked quite crudely, emulating cooking over an open fire.

That rapid heating of a clad skillet may save a bit of energy, but it actually pulls heat from the center toward the sides where then, the heat raises up the wall of the skillets to waft upward into the room away from the food, whereas, the iron skillet collects heat, stores it, then re-radiates it in from all directions AT the food creating a heated air zone inside the skillet which cooks the food almost as much as the skillet itself.

Good cooking isn't based on EFFICIENCY, it is based on GENTLENESS and CONTROL.