Why people love cast iron pans (and why I'm on the fence)

[aragusea]

Hey everybody, here's a point I make in the video, but I wish I had made a little earlier on (judging by the comments): The easiest way to maintain cast iron is to cook with it all the time. Our great-grandparents didn't obsess over polymerization blah blah blah. They just cooked in the damn thing. They cooked most meals they ate (unlike a lot of us today), and most of those meals they cooked in their cast iron. Cooking in it constantly will maintain a decent seasoning, and iron pans generally only start to rust if you don't use them. So, as I said, if you're gonna use it all the time, I think cast iron is great. That's why you have people commenting here saying, "I never worry about any of this stuff and my pan works great!" That's probably because they're cooking with it all the time, which is awesome. But if you're not gonna cook with it all the time, I do think there are better options, assuming you can afford them.

[WowplayerMe]

Also, cast iron can make a cartoon character's head mold to the shape of the pan, producing a very comedic effect. This is probably the most important reason to own a cast iron pan.

[VampireGamer]

Another thing to remember is that cast iron is heavy. This means that if someone breaks into your house while you are cooking dinner, you can hit them with a cast iron pan and it will be far more effective then stainless steel.

[sonyacowles]

When spreading the oil, use a coffee filter instead of a paper towel. It spreads just as well, but leaves no paper lint.

[levigoldson]

As someone who has used cast iron pans for 20 years, I can tell you most people shouldn't use them, and he's absolutely right with his conclusion. I got rid of some of my unusual cast iron pans that I had for specific purposes because I just didn't use them enough. They become a huge headache if you leave them oiled and put away for too long. Next level sticky, hard to clean, and hard to work with. Now I have 2 that I use almost daily and it's exactly right for me.

[oogenesis]

i'm anemic and my doctor actually recommended cooking with acidic ingredients in cast iron to take advantage of the iron leaching.

[ipodgeeze]

My mom has some cast iron that came with her family over the Oregon Trail in a covered wagon. We use it for everything.

[NinjaLLR]

I’m a materials science student and my master’s project is next year so I might consider this

EDIT (05/08/21): So many people are asking what's happened but I don't start my next year at uni until October 2021. I am soon to be selecting my master's project but I'm not sure yet if I'll be able to do this project as I need to be supported by an academic. If I'm not able to I may consider trying to do the experiment myself at home though, I'll try to keep ppl updated

EDIT (10/11/21): Sorry, I kept meaning to write an update but I kept forgetting. The bad news is that I decided not to go through with it as a project. The main reasons for this are as follows:
1) I don't know which academic I could go to/if there is an academic available to supervise the project (aside to this if I picked my own project I would likely get less support and therefore my final degree grade would be more at risk).
2) It's not very relevant to my career path I want to go down, and I would like to be able to use my project to help me get a job.

I am still quite interested in this topic though and since this is getting so much attention, I have been thinking about starting a series of YouTube videos following an investigation into this. Only problem with this is I probably won't have the time or facilities to do this sort of thing until I graduate.
Sorry to disappoint everyone :/

[olabondesson]

I am using my grand mother's cast iron skillet almost exclusively for all my pan frying. My dad used it all of his life, and now that he is gone, I am continuing the tradition. It's an amazing feeling to know that I am using the same skillet as two generations back. I also still use my grand mother's set of fine china, but that's a different topic. Love the video.

[ronjenkins]

I don't season my cast iron pans, nor do I hesitate to use sharp implements. I don't avoid cooking acidic things in them or using soap to clean them. Stovetop or oven they are indestructible. They have extended my life, I believe. They are extremely old; in fact I have the 19 cast iron pans that were created by the Noldorin Elven-smiths of Eregion in the Second Age, led by their ruler Celebrimbor. Also I have the master pan that Sauron secretly forged to control all the other Pans. Cast iron my preciousss. Unless you throw them into the cauldron at Mount Doom you literally have nothing to worry about.

[d-fan]

"Graduate student, please figure this out"

Yep, sounds like a university professor.

[aygtets]

I actually find a sharp flat surface to be a great thing to use with cast iron. Even teflon isn't entirely nonstick, and when something does stick you can't easily scrape it off. With cast iron a sharp steel spatula can remove pretty much anything without damaging your pan. In fact, using a sharp flat surface smooths out the surface of your cast iron over time, giving it a much nicer finish.

[Kokoamaya]

"Electrolysis is really popping at this point."

THAT'S a sentence you don't hear every day.

[ZephyrEmbyr]

Here before all the “why I season my cast iron pan, not my steak” comments

[playgroundchooser]

The reason I love my cast iron: it is nearly 130 YEARS OLD!! History being made every time I cook.

[paulgaier]

I keep mine on the stove 24/7 and use it 2-3x a week. The main tricks using cast iron to make it non-stick: Go a little high on the heat. Lay down some oil or butter and as it preheats. Make sure the food being cooked is at *room temperature*. Eggs, steak, burgers, etc. Can't stress this enough. The oil used in cooking your last meal just adds to the patina. My cast iron skillet is tied for first place with my air fryer for my #1 cooking vessel.

[andrew]

They make a really excellent weapon hit people who season their steak, that’s why people love them.

Edit: I mean instead of their cutting board.

[midimusicforever]

I inherited my cast iron pan from my grandfather's older brother when he died, and it wasn't even new when he got it. These things last forever if taken care of.

[Dsky]

Cast iron also cooks meat differently. When i cook a steak in my cast iron, the steak sticks to the pan for the first few seconds and then slowly releases as the fat from the steak is rendered. But because of that sticking, you get full contact between steak and pan. In Teflon pans, little pockets of juice form under the steak where it doesnt have direct contact with the pan and you get a grey spot rather than golden brown

[jvera]

Watching your Teflon video and then this one after made me realize pfas and Teflon coatings are just a modern version of the patina, created from fatty acids by polymerization. However this patina is not only mantained by cooking in oil but it’s components, fatty acids are not an environmental concern, in contrast to Teflon coatings. That makes the case for cast iron for me. There is also carbon steel which is similar to cast iron and can be made thinner and lighter. And I wouldn’t worry with acidic foods, because if you have a good patina then there is no way the acid will go through that and even touch the iron. My grandmother cooks all her life in cast iron, used tomatoes and wine and the pans didn’t corrode. For the same reasons I think PHAs coatings from drying oils can be a very good environmentally friendly replacement for PFAs.