14 thoughts on “Cast-Iron Pans”

  1. Somewhat related, wondering if you were able to sample a good cup of coffee (or coffee-equivalent) on your recent travels abroad.

    1. They have to be treated reasonably as described in the article, certainly not a lot of effort. They are heavy – mine came from my mother when she decided it was too much for her arthritic hands, it’s roughly as old as I am. Unlike Teflon you can fix a damaged surface and re-season it, then you’re good to go for another decade. You do need to cook with some oil or butter.

      I have never kept a Teflon coated pan more than five years, you can easily ruin the Teflon coating by scratching it or with too much heat.

      1. You can sometimes resurrect a teflon coated pan by stripping the teflon and seasoning like it was cast iron.

  2. All I know is that in a humid environment cast iron rusts, seasoned or no. I can only guess that daily use might be enough to protect it.

  3. Cast iron is all I use for frying and I don’t wash it nearly as much as suggested by the article. I do use a stainless steel pan for roasting spices as the flavors tend to stick around in cast iron.

  4. I literally almost have a ton of cast iron. 8″ – 10″ – 12 1/2″ – 15 1/4″ skillets Plus one deep one for fried chicken. The largest one is used for making apple rolls, a recipe found in a Marlboro recipe book from chuck wagon cook recipes. A couple dutch ovens, a square ribbed grill pan, and two griddles.

    Have used them a lot and the kids argue over who gets them when I am gone…

    1. That sounds like an impressive collection. The article talked about the differences between ones manufactured the old way and the new way, do you have a preference?

      1. Lodge, Wagner and Griswold are the big names. A lot of people say the older pans are smoother, but to me it just seems it is 50 years of seasoning that made it smoother. I have cooked with all three of these and found that as long as they are kept properly seasoned they all worked the same for me. I can cook scrambled eggs in cast with minor sticking with my pans… although for omlets I do you the non stick..

  5. If you have any of the several genes for hemochromatosis ( there are several; 23 and me can tell you) do not use an iron skillet. Those genes, for some reason, are most prevalent among northwest Europeans ( most particularly Scandinavians) and Bantu southern Africans.

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