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Ok, honestly, is cast-iron really any better than a non-stick, stainless, copper (anything else?) pan? (lemmy.world)
submitted 11 months ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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To me, someone who celebrates a bit more of the spectrum than most: Metal hot. Make food hot.

Non-stick means easier cleanup, but my wife seems to think cast-iron is necessary for certain things (searing a prime rib roast, for example.).

After I figure those out, then I gotta figure out gas vs. electric vs. induction vs infrared....

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[–] 3 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Next time with stainless try this: bring a little oil to smoke point, wipe the pan dry, back on the heat. Then add cold oil and your food. It's pretty nonstick, but it only lasts for one use.

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  • [–] 3 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    I bet this works nominally better, but I just heat the pan with oil. I can't be arsed to wipe screaming hot oil out of a pan only to reintroduce new cold oil and have to contemplate whether it could possibly make a difference and either feeling like an idiot for blindly following such an absurd direction, or like an idiot for not understanding the scientific grounds for which it works.

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  • [–] 1 point 11 months ago

    Under certain conditions, thin layers of oil polymerize and bond to a surface. It's the same mechanism as cast iron, but smooth stainless steel holds onto the coating more tenuously than cast iron.

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