One downside not discussed is their weight. Some people may find them too heavy to carry, and cleaning them is best with a chainmail scrubber, which also requires a little muscle to use.
1. You're showing steel pans in your segment about aluminum pans. 2. At our restaurant, aluminum does stick quite a bit more than steel. 3. More aluminum comes from recycled beverage cans in modern, mid priced pans. 4. When foods start to stick, just add a wee bit of water, wine, or stock to deglaze.
I like to say declaring a best frying pan is like declaring a best hammer. There are different reasons why I might want to use a different hammer based on the attributes of the materials it was made out of. I prefer a wooden handle, but I might want a steel handle depending on the task. I also find having a wooden and rubber mallet around very useful for a lot of the tasks people would use a normal steel head hammer for.
My favorite pan is my 10" cast iron pan I personally sanded down semi smooth and seasoned it several times over with avocado oil then wrapped the handle in leather. It's a really nice pan I put my heart and soul into that I use almost daily. However I would never put eggs or fish in it. Those go, on low heat, in my teflon pan. I will also never use any metal utensil in either my cast iron or teflon pan, so if I'm cooking something I'll be using something like a metal whisk in then I'll use a stainless steel pan.
Today cookware sets are sold in kits where everything is made out of the same materials, but honestly a 8" teflon/ceramic with 10" cast iron and 12" stainless steel is SO MUCH MORE USEFUL than if they were all made out of the same material.
I am not out to defend Teflon, siloxanes, or PFAS. But while there may be some risks to individual cooks/small kitchens that use pans with these compounds, the far greater risk would seem to be to the workers in the factories that make them, and possibly to the communities in which the factories are located. Getting rid of in-use pans, only to replace them with thousands more in society does not seem good ROI. Also, I keep hearing about carbon steel and wish it had been explained.
Besides omitting carbon steel, you are also omitting another variant of cast iron pans: Enameled cast iron.
The enameling process coats the pan at high heat (>1000°C) with a layer of porcelain (or silica glass).
The layer is thin enough to cling tightly to the metal and not be cracked by heat stress (unless crash-cooled with cold water).
An enameled cast iron pan does not need seasoning, does not rust, does not leech anything, keeps heat very well, sears steaks perfectly and is totally safe to use with metal kitchen utensils.
It is stickier than a well-seasoned cast iron pan/pot, but that is taken care of by pre-heating the pan and using a sufficient amount of oil/fat.
And cleaning is as easy as waiting for the pan to cool down and then using whatever scrubber that you want.
The porcelain/glass layer is harder than any plastic scrubber and even steel wool will not scratch it.
I have a pancake castiron that is 80 years old and still works fine. I had to give away the one that was 100 years old because it couldn't be used on my stove, it now living it happy life in a vacation home with a woodstove, giving kids pancakes for dinner.
A very awesome compromise between cast iron and stainless steel are carbon-steel pans. You need to season them like cast iron but they weigh more like a stainless steel pan. You get a little more responsiveness to the heating compared to cast iron, but they also retain heat well as well. Very nice middle ground.
We use cookies, device fingerprinting and cross-device tracking to personalise content, serve targeted advertising, and analyse how you use our site across your devices. By clicking Accept all you consent to the use of these tracking technologies. Your data may be used to build a profile of your interests and show you personalised ads on other sites.
Privacy policy
Comments (20)
Daily Junction discussion mixed with clearly attributed comments from the original video provider.
Join in — free. Comments on Daily Junction are for members, so real names stay rare and bots stay out.
One field. We email you a 6-digit code — no password needed. Your comment is kept while you do it.
Under 13? You’ll need a parent’s OK first — it takes them one click.
One downside not discussed is their weight. Some people may find them too heavy to carry, and cleaning them is best with a chainmail scrubber, which also requires a little muscle to use.
My favorite pan is my 10" cast iron pan I personally sanded down semi smooth and seasoned it several times over with avocado oil then wrapped the handle in leather. It's a really nice pan I put my heart and soul into that I use almost daily. However I would never put eggs or fish in it. Those go, on low heat, in my teflon pan. I will also never use any metal utensil in either my cast iron or teflon pan, so if I'm cooking something I'll be using something like a metal whisk in then I'll use a stainless steel pan.
Today cookware sets are sold in kits where everything is made out of the same materials, but honestly a 8" teflon/ceramic with 10" cast iron and 12" stainless steel is SO MUCH MORE USEFUL than if they were all made out of the same material.
The enameling process coats the pan at high heat (>1000°C) with a layer of porcelain (or silica glass).
The layer is thin enough to cling tightly to the metal and not be cracked by heat stress (unless crash-cooled with cold water).
An enameled cast iron pan does not need seasoning, does not rust, does not leech anything, keeps heat very well, sears steaks perfectly and is totally safe to use with metal kitchen utensils.
It is stickier than a well-seasoned cast iron pan/pot, but that is taken care of by pre-heating the pan and using a sufficient amount of oil/fat.
And cleaning is as easy as waiting for the pan to cool down and then using whatever scrubber that you want.
The porcelain/glass layer is harder than any plastic scrubber and even steel wool will not scratch it.