[pmulard]

I cook eggs on cast iron without them sticking, but it requires maintenance on the seasoning. The trick is to use some butter when cooking with eggs, and they slide right off. A quick wipe with a paper towel and the pan is clean (leaving butter residue helps keep it oiled for next time).

Cast iron is a pain to clean if you burn food and the burnt pieces stick, but the investment into learning how to cook with it is worth the reward imo.

[acomjean]

We've been using carbon steel pan. Its like cast iron but much lighter (not light though). They look kinda narly, but you get used to it.

You "season" from time to time (oil high heat) but we haven't in at least 6 months and use that thing at least 6 times a week. Easy to clean too.

This article kinda give the details. (you have to dodge a modal and click "read more"...sorry)

https://www.cooksillustrated.com/equipment_reviews/1623-12-i...

[ska]

You don't really have to do much of anything to maintain a cast iron seasoning either, unless you are cooking in it in ways that strip what's there.

I probably don't do anything at all 29 out of 30 uses or more. The other 1 gets a thin swipe of oil while drying under heat and that's it.

[aceazzameen]

+1 for carbon steel! We switched our teflon pans to carbon steel about 5 years ago. Mostly because I was tired of replacing scratched Teflon every so many years (cost and waste) on top of the health implications. We own cast iron too, but the carbon steel and stainless steel pans do the bulk of our cooking just because they're lighter.

It's one of my fav kitchen purchases. The only annoyance was getting the beeswax off the pans on the first day.

[i_am_proteus]

The trick seems to be too use several carbon steel pans when necessary. One thing you can do in teflon that you can't do in steel is fry up yer veggies and yer meat in the pan, then crack the eggs in, stick-free.

So, use two pans, one foot the fillings and a fresh one for the eggs, adding the fillings once the eggs hit the oiled pan. Afterwards, neither needs more than a rinse out.

[idiotsecant]

Carbon steel works great! The first time I used it I was kind of shocked that such a simple solution isn't the standard way it's done. Cast iron can be a little bit inconvenient due to the weight but carbon steel is literally no different from cooking in a teflon pan, you just clean it different.

[stjohnswarts]

cast iron is better at searing in my experience. I mostly use my hexclad for stuff that requires up to medium heat, but for searing and blackening stuff, nothing works like my cast iron skillet that I preheat in the oven to 450 for the sear.

[Robotbeat]

What toxic chemicals are produced by heating oils at high heat for seasoning?

[cudgy]

Aren’t most common vegetable cooking oils already toxic due to the source product being soaked in solvents during manufacturing process?

My understanding is that you want to buy cold expressed oils to avoid these nasties.

[SnowHill9902]

Epoxides and aldehydes mainly.

[WaxProlix]

Idk what it is but clicking 'read more' doesn't show the results of their testing; it's still blurred.

[acomjean]

The testing results are hidden, but there is more info on the pans generally. They’re a subscription site, and mine lapsed. I have their cookbooks though.

[shadowtamperer]

Totally unrelated, but a Firefox extension called bypass paywalls clean is great for avoiding this

[discordance]

Does Firefox filter BPA and PFOA/PFAS? - sweet!

[rootw0rm]

yep, and it works on Android with Firefox nightly

[14]

The thing you need to be careful with using a cast iron pan is to not go too high heat. Since they can withstand a higher heat from other pans there is a risk when doing so as it creates a carcinogenic compound.

There's some concern that because cast-iron pans can sustain high heat, they may produce chemicals known as heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are linked to an increased risk of cancer. These chemicals form when meat, including beef, pork, fish and chicken, are cooked using high-temperature cooking techniques, like pan-frying and grilling over an open flame, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Not sure how much the increased risk is but just something to consider.

[Robotbeat]

Indeed. Any kind of burning or charring of food is causing really complex chemistry, and with organic molecules will likely produce aromatics, etc. (benzene is the prototypical aromatic and is present in cooking oil fumes: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4029104/ ). I think about this a lot when we’re cautioned about the presence of extremely minuscule amounts of industrial chemicals, some of the same that are present in charred food.

[14]

What I find odd is usually our bodies are extremely good at warning us of a lot of dangers. Things that are bitter don’t eat. Things that smell very fowl maybe don’t want to eat. But barbecued food smell and taste so good with a slight char on the outside. Our senses let us down if they truly are bad for you.

[Robotbeat]

They’re not very bad for you, though. (Compared to, say, salmonella, as the other person said.)

The dose makes the poison.

[tedunangst]

Well, they're better for you than salmonella.

[krrrh]

The most important thing I learned about cast iron is that the idea that you have to baby it is a hold over from the days when soap had lye in it. Today’s dish detergent is fine and won’t damage your seasoning, neither will basic green nylon scrubbing sponges. I was almost despondent about my carefully seasoned pans not delivering until I really went to town on them and removed the dull layer of burned on material and got them back to a shine. Now the eggs slide off.

[stouset]

Yep. Your cast iron will straight up work better if you thoroughly clean it with detergent and manual scrubbing, thanks to removing the rough and/or sticky surface layer of partially-polymerized fats and oils.

This in no way damages your seasoning.

[peeters]

The biggest thing to remember after washing with detergent and water is the same thing to remember after just rinsing: dry it thoroughly. The easiest way to do that is to wipe it down with a towel and/or leave it on the heat for a bit. Then apply a bit of oil.

[shaklee3]

you need to heat the oil so it polymerizes and creates a strong nonstick bond. if you simply wipe it with oil when it's hot it will get sticky and not season properly.

[nfhshy68]

Soap can still ltake a decent chunk out. I use a chainmail cloth with warm water to scrub cast iron, doesn't work off any seasoning.

[nonrandomstring]

Learning to "proof" steel is something worth spending time on.

I was taught by a Chinese room-mate at college who showed me how to prepare a wok.

- 1. Heat the thing up as HIGH as it will go, till parts of the base glow red if you can. Gas is better than electric heat.

- 2. splash a little vegetable oil in and swill it around to cover all the surface. It may ignite, ignore the short lived flames, but brush it around with a paper towel so that the carbonised film covers the surface with a black layer.

- 3. Add some fine salt. Use the paper towel to rub it around until a shiny and slightly bluish and rainbow colour carbon later coats the surface.

This will be as good as any teflon for a few cookings.

[Robotbeat]

Heating edible oils to very high heats does tend to produce harmful chemicals as well.

EDIT: For example: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4029104/

[buildbot]

Right, but unlike fluorinated compounds those toxins can be broken down by your body and flushed out (I could be wrong?). For example, alcohol is pretty toxic to us.

[lr4444lr]

Aren't they polymerized into the metal, though? I don't think they come off that easily, barring steel wool or something extremely abrasive.

[sa1]

I don't think chemicals in Teflon come off any easier, but they still do.

[nfhshy68]

Reckons main issue is that it degassed the chemicals into the air. With most range hoods just recirculating the air you're basically getting a face full of it every time you cook.

[sa1]

Isn't it the same issue with oils and high heat during cooking and seasoning?

[lr4444lr]

Doesn't Teflon degrade due to the high Temps? I really don't know that much about it, but it's just the opposite with cast iron seasoning: heat hardens.

[sa1]

We were talking about scrubbing. For heating, lots of carcinogenic compounds are released during the process of seasoning, and I don't see why the same wouldn't continue to happen at high heats afterwards(happy to be corrected). Hardening and releasing dangerous compounds aren't mutually exclusive.

[fencepost]

I believe the seasoning instructions for Matfer carbon steel pans involve cooking a mixture of potato peels and salt with a bit of oil until crispy (while moving constantly), which seems to do a pretty nice job of starting the seasoning on those.

[rayiner]

I do the same except I use ghee. My grandparents all lived to their 80s in Bangladesh and at this point I’m just trying to do what they did instead of trusting western science. (Aside from vaccines put the pitchforks away.)

[whatshisface]

It's not that Western science doesn't work, it's just that it has been tasked with selling pans rather than not giving people cancer.

[tptacek]

What does using ghee in a cast iron pan have to do with western science? Any fat in a cast iron pan will work.

[rayiner]

It doesn’t. That’s the point.

[stjohnswarts]

butter, good tallow (non hydrogenated) and ghee are all fine. Neither is better than the other.

[kampsduac]

Look into Oeufs Brouillés (French Scrambled Eggs) for cooking on stainless steel. Low heat and constant whisking - the eggs are so fluffy and delicious! And cleanup is easy.

[harikb]

Do you use a gas powered stove? My friends won't stop sending me links to articles detailing the cancer causing bad stuff in the natural gas stoves :o

If not, are there good electric stoves that work with hard cast iron pans?

I have seen the mess heavy cookware creates on those glass top cooktops - old style coils seems to be best for those.

[Jach]

I've been experimenting with a plug-in induction cooktop with my cast iron pan, overall I like it quite a lot and I can picture a dream house for me having both induction and gas. I still prefer gas (and have been using a butane camping stove rather than my rental's crappy electric, which is relegated to long-cooking things like boiling or steaming) but induction is easier to keep clean. I've been keeping the glass from scratching by putting a layer of baking/parchment paper between it and the pan, and that makes things even easier to clean since I can just toss the paper when it has too many grease splatters. I also tried one of those silicone pads but I think the weight+heat of the cast iron caused it to start melting, so far my friend's use of non-cast iron pans with the silicone pad hasn't been a problem.

[bckygldstn]

By mess do you mean scratching the glass surface? My ~$15 lodge cast iron has been fine on the electric stovetops in my last 3 apartments. They weren't super high quality cooktops either: the last nonstick pan I owned scratched the crap out of one of them in a matter of days.

I don't move the cast iron pan around a lot when I cook, but they're too heavy to do that anyway really, and unlike some thin stainless pans they don't warp so won't "walk" around the surface.

[scythe]

>I have seen the mess heavy cookware creates on those glass top cooktops - old style coils seems to be best for those.

I have successfully removed the cast-iron crud from a glass-ceramic cooktop using a paste of 91% rubbing alcohol and baking soda. You can speed up the process by scraping with the back of a knife a few times first. Overall, it's not slower than cleaning the grease traps on a coil stove.

[dmix]

I used a big cast iron pan on an electric stove for years. It takes a while to heat up but not to the point where it’s a large burden.

I just love cooking everything with it, including eggs.

[squeebie23]

The weight of the cast iron also helps even out cooking on electric stovetops since they cycle the heat on and off.

[njarboe]

Unfortunately with electric stovetops, pans only get heated under the electric source. I love my large cast iron frying pan but only getting heat in the center makes cooking with it a pain/doesn't work well. Gas stoves don't have this problem as the heat from the burner rises up and around the pan heating it all up.

[zwily]

Induction, on the other hand, works great with cast iron.

[munk-a]

We've got a glass top electric stove and regularly use cast iron pans with no real noticeable damage - I'm not certain where you got that impression.

[aceazzameen]

We have a GE electric glass top stove which works fine with our stainless steel, carbon steel, and cast iron cookware. My only complaint is I prefer the control and instant heat of a flame over an electrical burner. Electric is slower to heat up, and retains its heat after its off compared to a flame. But I adjusted and got used to it.

[petre]

> If not, are there good electric stoves that work with hard cast iron pans?

Induction works great. You onnly need gas for wok. It also doesn't become dirty like a resistive stove but you do have to be careful not to drop the skillet onto the glass.

[elil17]

I have never had an issue using caste iron on my glass cooktop.

[pmlnr]

Induction works exceptionally well with cast iron, but not with carbon steel.

[ubercore]

Why do you say it doesn't work well with carbon steel?

[krageon]

It works well (I use carbon steel on induction daily).

What the poster may mean is that a carbon steel pan must be heated slowly (i.e. on half power) until it is all the way hot. Then you can use a higher power setting if you want. If you don't do it this way supposedly the pan warps, but I haven't been brave enough to test whether or not that's really true.

That said, heating on medium until it's hot takes a few minutes at worst. I don't really see what the big deal is.

[Robotbeat]

I actually wonder if the charred food contains just as toxic of chemicals? Heating edible oils above 200C and/or for prolonged periods produces transfats, for instance, and there is extremely complex chemistry going on in the burnt portion of foods (or really any substance containing a kind of organic molecule).

[CrHn3]

It is my understanding that heating edible oils will not produce trans fats unless there is a catalyst to donate hydrogen, a vacuum and a prolonged period of time longer than average cooking times. It is unlikely that a person cooking at home will create trans fats.

Different oils have different smoke points, and heating an oil beyond that smoke point can polymerize the oil and produce free radicals.

Charring foods can create heterocyclic amines, which are associated with cancers.

[MorrisMinor]

Liquid oils contain cis double bonds that will isomerize to trans when heated (no H required). Short cooking times will minimise this, or you can use a saturated fat like butter.

[cassepipe]

Yes but you can always avoid them unlike "forever" chemicals leaked by your non-sticky pan. They're called forever chemicals because they never break down. I don't think charred food can contaminate your food and drinking water.

[keester]

I have no trouble at all cleaning cast iron skillets as long as I put it under some water while it's still hot and give it a little wipe. Doesn't seem to affect the seasoning either ..

[munk-a]

Putting a bit of water (or other liquid) in hot pans is a generally good idea to turn your fond into a sauce anyways - it's a technique called de-glazing[1].

You should avoid putting some cookwear directly into cool water though - the temperature shock can cause cracking and other damage if it's coated. I don't have a great rule of thumb for this, you should just double check any advice you can find specific to your cookwear.

1. https://www.bonappetit.com/story/what-does-deglaze-mean

[stjohnswarts]

that's the key, take it out immediately using HOT water from the tap to clean it out works great. Even when cold though it's not that hard to clean with a plastic or wood scraper if it's properly seasoned.

[Doxin]

Protip for cleaning food gunk that doesn't want to go: boiling water. It's impressive how much stuff just sort of... falls away if your water is real hot. I use a dish brush to get the stickier stuff. If it's being stubborn I just dig in with a metal spatula. Haven't noticed any adverse effects yet.

[ornornor]

My only problem is making sauces and tomato based dishes. In both cases the sauce penetrated the pan (and sticks). Tomato anything is also problematic because it’s acidic and doesn’t do the cast iron or carbon steel pans any favor. Would love to hear a workaround if anyone knows one though because I want to ditch the Teflon oan.

[martingoodson]

I use a stainless steel pan for sauces. Sauces start with a base of onions, garlic etc which is not prone to sticking on stainless steel.

If I need to fry some fish or steak, I use my cast iron frying pan.

[christkv]

I find boiling the pan helps unstick stuff

[BenFrantzDale]

Also: chainmail scrubbers are amazing. I can’t recommend them enough.

[stjohnswarts]

just don't scrub hard with them, they absolutely will remove/scratch up your seasoning. had to re-season a pan recently because my roomie doesn't understand you need to preheat cast iron to pretty hot before you cook a bunch of cheese and egg omelets in it. He felt guilty and went to town with the chain mail scrubber when you just need to gently scrub with it.

[krono]

Just scrub with a bit of salt and a paper towel when it's still warm and rinse with a bit of cold water.

[aceazzameen]

Yep! A small amount of thick kosher salt and a paper towel is all I ever need if something sticks to a cast iron or carbon steel pan. Do it while it's still hot and it's easier. And if it's stainless steel, I boil some water with a drop of dish soap and baking soda. Whatever is stuck lifts off by itself.