I honestly cannot understand the appeal of non stick. Cast iron is so much simpler and the food comes out better. And the pans are indestructible and cleaning is so much easier (just wipe usually). I have three cast iron pans with which I cook for large numbers of people regularly and I'm flabbergasted when I visit other people's homes and find endless stacks of speciality pans. What are people possibly using these for?
Eggs and egg dishes (e.g. pancakes) mostly. No other pan works as well. Washing after cooking is also very quick and easy. Perhaps you've never used a non-stick pan that was maintained correctly, i.e. never overheated, stirred only with silicone utensils, and washed by hand using only non-scratching sponges. Most non-stick pans I've seen owned by other people have been in poor condition. If you think cast iron makes better food you probably use it for searing, which should never be done with non stick. And many people falsely believe wooden utensils are incapable of scratching non-stick pans.
That non-stick spray PAM is straight out, unless maybe you're huffing it. For eggs & pancakes I find that cast iron is responsive enough to temperature changes when used with induction, and that butter works to prevent sticking just fine.
You can make a case for eggs (although I don't like the way they come out this way) but this is a weird health argument for sweet pancakes which usually contain sugar and are drenched in syrup or chocolate spread. Also if you're making eggs and bacon, just use the bacon grease for the eggs?
I used to be like you until I lived with my mother then saw first-hand problems from her point of view.
Things like the weight of the cast iron means lifting it with wrist, cleaning it (in the sink). Other things like making it easy to cook proteins. Seasoning and maintenance.
I love my cast iron, but usually choose a nonstick for eggs and crepes/pancakes in the morning.
- I tend to re-season my cast iron every time I use it and it’s a chore to do this for my early morning meals.
- Non-stick is just more non-stick, with cast iron I am constrained to using a certain heat and/or fat content to create the non-stick property which I might not want for a certain dish.
You really do not need to re-season them every time! Just using the pan with some oil is enough. If you clean it later with water, you can add a little oil afterwards and clean it with a paper towel, that's enough. Takes almost no time.
But I have to agree that non-stick pans are even more non-stick. That's why it took some convincing here to not buy new ones in my home.
That’s the kind of re-seasoning I mean: first I dry it (paper towel), then wipe with oil (more paper towel). It’s more work than cleaning a nonstick by hand and produces more waste.
Oh, okay! I see it as less work, since the whole part of using soap and rubbing the fat away properly doesn't happen. Plus it's just a drop of oil and two paper towels. You can use a cotton towel to dry it and move down to one paper towel.
But I just wanted to make sure you don't re-season it with the whole procedure, like oil, potato peels and salt fried for a long time. Because that would be definitely a lot of work each morning ;)
> You can use a cotton towel to dry it and move down to one paper towel.
You don't even need the entire paper towel. During the Hamas attacks last year I was unable to leave to the store for quite some time and began seriously reducing consumption in the house. Half or even a quarter paper towel is enough.
And even that doesn't need to be thrown away - the paper towel is still clean for purpose of reoiling the pan the next day if you absolutely need.
Nice. Also, adding oil each time after cleaning is also not necessary, especially after cooking with enough of it and if that went well (though I do it most of the time as well).
Cleaning cast iron is quick and (so to speak) dirty. Use a dish brush and running water to remove food waste, and scrape it with a metal spatula if there's sticky bits, then a quick wipe with paper towel to block rust. Hey, presto! Ready for the next round. No muss no fuss.
Yep, I ditched my "non stick" and all plastic utensils over a decade ago. It's just never seemed right to me to cook with plastic and I don't understand how other people can do it.
Erm, sure? Cast iron takes a little while longer to heat up because it's heavier, but it retains heat well once hot. It's even better on induction. I cook mostly in cast-iron and carbon steel and haven't ever had a gas stove. (Like a lot of kitchen wonks, I keep a cheap non-stick pan around for eggs and pancakes, and basically nothing else.)
You can heat it with anything.
Remember. It is just steel!
Almost indestructible, can use anything to clean it, and if you mess up, you can heat it, wash it, and re oil again.
