Cast Iron vs Enameled Cast Iron: Which is Better? | Gear Heads

Should you get a traditional black cast-iron skillet or a colorful enameled one? Depends on how you use it.

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0:00 - Intro
1:04 - Buying guide
1:30 - How cast iron pans are made
2:12 - Lodge
2:54 - Smithey
3:50 - Le Creuset
6:30 - Which should you buy?
8:40 - What to look for when buying
10:38 - Cast iron maintenance
13:55 - Outro

[paullukis]

One day my bones will be dust, but my Lodge pan will still be making eggs and bacon.

[Thi-Nguyen]

My mom’s cast iron skillet is so old we don’t know the brand. It came from my adopted grandmother who was born in the late 1890s. It was passed down to her from her mother who got it from HER mother. It goes back four generations from my grandmother’s mother. That should make it close to if not 200 years old today.

[kenchester]

My wife uses a Lodge 10 inch cast iron skillet. I have a 120 year old Erie 10 inch. Recently I found 5 cast iron skillets at the dump needing cleaning they ranged in size from 12 inch to 6 inch. I soaked them in a 5 gallon bucket of water with a can of Red Devil lye mixed in over the following couple weeks with some wire brushing, they were clean. I wore two layers of chemical gloves while cleaning the pans. Then I seasoned them with peanut oil. The results were outstanding, now we have a portfolio of cast iron skillets to use.

[jstones]

honestly, save the enameled for your dutch ovens and use a combination of cast iron and high quality 5 ply or more stainless steel for everything else

[jpe]

For those who worry about damaging glass induction cooktops with cast iron pans: put a silicone baking sheet down on the cooktop, and cook on that. The silicone is good to like 600°F, and the induction magnetic fields can still easily reach the pan.

[krumbergify]

Thank you so much for this! I regularly oil my cast iron pans, but I used to do it when they were cold! Putting the oil on when they are still hot makes a world of difference! They are really non-stick now!

[jpiazzola]

I have Lodge and Staub skillets. I love both but making tomato sauce definitely calls for the Staub with the glass glazing. Seasoning the Lodge can become an obsessive activity and be a lot of fun. I've stripped and reasoned mine just for fun sometimes. I also have a 100 yr old skillet that belonged to my mother, which was purchased at Montgomery Ward and is as good as new. In those days mass produced skillets were polished somewhat so this one is considerably lighter than modern day Lodge skillets. It's a smooth as glass and my go to pan for a lot of things. I love it and am very sentimental about it. I'm 82yrs old so almost as old as the pan but not in near as good shape 😂😂😂

[philoctetes_wordsworth]

5:46 As I understand, the crazing occurs when the enameled cast iron is heated too quickly. Le Creuset instructs that one never, ever start them on anything but medium.

[Quekens]

I love my 10 in lodge pan. I bought it brand new a couple of years ago and after using metal utensils on it almost every day - it’s really smoothed out! I have found that using coffee filters to oil them up after a wash/dry is helpful since there’s minimal lint and it’s super cheap. Another helpful tool is Lodge’s rust remover eraser, it helps so you could tackle small rust spots instead of stripping the whole pan. 🍳

[jimglatthaar]

As someone who has been cooking with cast iron for over 12 years, and who has a large number of vintage (of varying weights and sizes), modern and artisan pans, I agree with some of your recommendations. I have found that both lighter vintage and artisan pans, when properly used, produce a good sear and even browning equal to that of heavier cans but are easier to cook with. I use the reverse sear method for cooking a steak and frequently use a vintage Griswold skillet for the task.

I don't recommend using flaxseed oil as, over time, it tends to flake off and ends up in cooked foods. I prefer using Grapeseed or Avocado oil to season. I have even made my own seasoning paste with a combination of high heat oils and locally sourced beeswax, which gives artisan skillets a darker, more black seasoning layer than the bronze color the artisan skillets, and even some old vintage skillets, come in.

[pennylehrer]

Great info on cleaning and maintaining. I use traditional. Bought it at a thrift store and using over 50 yrs!!

[kimarmstrong]

I love my Le Creuset, but we use my grandma's cast iron skillet EVERY DAY! ❤ Good job, Val!!

[karenroot]

My favorite cast iron skillet is a 14 inch Wagner Ware my mom left me! It makes the Best fried potatoes and onions! The absolute Best pineapple upside down cake!!

[louisel.sinniger]

I have 3 lodge pans and I love them. When I have to cleans some tough gunk I soak the pan with really HOT water, let it sit for no longer than 10 minutes, scrub with (your winning scrub sponge) and that’s all there is to it. I dry the pan right away, plus let the pan air out for a few more minutes then season lightly. So far so good. Thanks

[ronalddevine]

I inherited my aunt's chrome plated cast iron pans that she bought in the early 1940s. They are priceless.

[gigivarnum]

If you need to strip all the seasoning off, you can spray your pan with yellow cap Easy Off oven cleaner (Mr. Muscle in the UK), and wrap it up in a garbage bag for a few hours or up to overnight.

The active ingredient in oven cleaner - sodium hydroxide (also called lye or caustic soda, depending where you live) - has a very high pH, and will dissolve fatty acids - even polymerized ones - into soap and glycerin molecules. Fun fact: the legal definition of soap is "the alkalized salts of fatty acids". A soak in Easy Off will essentially turn the seasoning on your skillet into soap.

Since humans are also partially comprised of organic fats, be sure to wear kitchen gloves when handling a pan coated in oven cleaner, and avoid inhaling any fumes. Unlike in actual soapmaking, not all the sodium hydroxide will be catalysed during a soak with a chunkily-seasoned pan. Even though Easy Off only contains 2.5-5% sodium hydroxide (about the same percentage used in lye baths for traditional pretzel- and bagel-making to raise the pH of the dough's surface which accelerates browning, and in certain professional hair relaxer treatments, as well; MUCH lower than the 25-50% solution used for saponification, or the 100% pure crystals sold as drain cleaner at your local hardware store), you probably don't need or want to give your hands an inadvertant chemical peel to accompany your freshly cleaned skillet!

[TheMrFarkle]

I never had a problem with cast iron, including my grandmother's lightweight skillet (80 years old). Then I bought a carbon steel pan. I never could season it to be non-stick, no matter which method I used. I tried more than 15 times. I finally found that it cooked pretty well at no more than medium-low. I stick with my small cast iron skillets almost all the time. Such is life. I love ATK, Cook's Country, and the Gear Heads!

[SB-xzkz]

I have a almost 100 year old Puritan non enamelled cast iron Dutch oven and cook everything in it, even things that “shouldn’t be done” in it. Haven’t had any problems. Wouldn’t want an enamelled Dutch oven only because I’d always be worried about chipping. All my cast iron has been in the family for 4 generations now and wouldn’t trade it for anything.

[yb]

Enamel lasts many years, cast iron lasts many generations.

[TheCharleseye]

As someone who owns (what many would consider) a lot of cast iron, let me add some perspective. When she says it will take longer to make a Lodge nonstick than it does a Smithey, that's true. However, it's not $150 worth of time. The fastest I've ever made a Lodge nonstick was a week. The slowest was two months, because I didn't use it as often. I have a Lodge 10" comal that was completely hydrophobic within three weeks. It's still one of my favorite breakfast pans. I got a Smithey to the point of nonstick within three days, once. Considering I'll have these pans the rest of my life and pass them on to my children, the time difference is nothing. Smithey makes a great pan but I wouldn't bother spending the money on one unless you happen to have expendable income. There isn't a single thing I can cook on a Smithey that I can't cook on a Lodge.

As for enameled cast iron, it has its place but not as a pan. An enameled dutch oven is an amazing tool and I highly recommend one for every kitchen. However, you have to be much more careful with them. If you scratch the seasoning on a regular cast iron dutch oven or pan, it heals itself while you cook. If you scratch an enameled dutch oven or pan, it's ruined and you have to throw it out.

Edit: Also, you almost never need to re-season cast iron, if you're cleaning and storing it properly. If the seasoning starts to look uneven, you have an excuse to make something like a batch of skillet cornbread or a skillet pizza. Your seasoning will even out and you'll have a delicious treat. Otherwise, just cook with it. Our ancestors didn't spend time dithering over slight imperfections in their seasoning and many of their pans are still around today. I know. I've had a bunch of them.