[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.