You don’t want to let cast iron stay wet, it’ll start to rust. Also, you don’t need to worry about scratching it, there’s no non-stick coating. Instead you season it by getting it really hot and wiping some oil on it.
I wash mine with a little dish soap and then heat it up to dry.
just looked up cast iron, seems like there’s a whole ritual you need to do to create an “oil coating” before even using it the first time. Like there’s specific steps to heat, oil, cool down, and so on.
Seems like a lot of work for a pan, is it really worth it? Is there any advantage to using cast iron or is it just for aesthetics? And why is it so damn expensive?
Yes, you have to season it when you first get one but after that I only do it once in a while, the coating tends to build up with use.
To me, it’s worth it. The alternative is buying non-stick pans where you can’t use metal utensils and when the coating starts to wear you might as well throw it in the trash and buy another one. Cast iron will last pretty much forever if you take care of it. Also, they tend to be very thick and heavy so they heat evenly.
I like the “thick and heavy and heat evenly” part.
I use an induction cooktop and it’s DESTROYED so many of my pans and pots. Because the heat is super concentrated in the middle and the pan is so thin, at best it’s always burn in the middle, at worst the whole bottom literally arcing up so the pan is not “flat” anymore, super frustrated to use.
You don’t want to let cast iron stay wet, it’ll start to rust. Also, you don’t need to worry about scratching it, there’s no non-stick coating. Instead you season it by getting it really hot and wiping some oil on it.
I wash mine with a little dish soap and then heat it up to dry.
just looked up cast iron, seems like there’s a whole ritual you need to do to create an “oil coating” before even using it the first time. Like there’s specific steps to heat, oil, cool down, and so on.
Seems like a lot of work for a pan, is it really worth it? Is there any advantage to using cast iron or is it just for aesthetics? And why is it so damn expensive?
Yes, you have to season it when you first get one but after that I only do it once in a while, the coating tends to build up with use.
To me, it’s worth it. The alternative is buying non-stick pans where you can’t use metal utensils and when the coating starts to wear you might as well throw it in the trash and buy another one. Cast iron will last pretty much forever if you take care of it. Also, they tend to be very thick and heavy so they heat evenly.
I like the “thick and heavy and heat evenly” part.
I use an induction cooktop and it’s DESTROYED so many of my pans and pots. Because the heat is super concentrated in the middle and the pan is so thin, at best it’s always burn in the middle, at worst the whole bottom literally arcing up so the pan is not “flat” anymore, super frustrated to use.
It sounds like cast iron would work well for you. I have a wok with a flat base that must be 1/2" thick.
The other positive about cast iron over non-stick… No forever chemicals getting cooked into your food.