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

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.

I Didn't Think I'd Be Interested In Watching This. I Use To Cook With An Iron Pan. But It Was Interesting! And I Watched It All Thanks So Much. I Feel Like A Better Cook Already!

I think a big reason i like cast irons is that of all the 1000 different ways people care and use them, 990 of them are all working well. Like a old family recipe you can get used to a cast iron pan more then any other piece of kitchenware, other then a knife maybe

If you properly season your pan, and season it regularly, metal utensils are fine just don't bare down with the force of Hercules, and if you don't scrape to hard you'll just be hurting the seasoning cast iron won't be detrimentally effected and your body won't be poisoned like it would with any other non metallic pan, getting iron particles in your food just means extra nutrients, while getting ptfes can mean seriously detrimental health effects.

If you do mess up the seasoning, you just reapply. Which isn't a laborious process. Rub it with oil wipe it away, put it in the oven, let it rest take it out. This whole process is 5 minutes of actual work. You can also repeat this process as many times as you like, which 5 times seasoned pans will stick less than any non-stick alternative.

The only pan in my opinion which rivals cast iron are carbon steel, which use the exact same process for care. Carbon steel are more heat resistant, can be reseasoned while cooking, and are completely safe and are generally indestructable when it comes to physical reactions. The only difference are chemical reactions carbon steel bonds with oxygen easier so rust can become completely bonded to the steel meaning they're technically less durable while cast iron will last lifetimes even in the most abusive. Although both will last lifetimes if mildly cared for.

Also the rust can be taken off with vinegar. Electrolysis is for only the worst cases of rusting.

My parents have a few cast iron items that are used exclusively for camping twice a year at the end of summer. Every single dish that is cooked over the fire is cooked on cast iron with the exception of stew and pasta. When these items are not in use they sit in the garage untouched until we go camping again. We don't "season" them, we cook with them then scrape them with sharp metal spatulas. I don't think any of them have ever been washed with anything more than a damp rag.

I use cast iron pots to bake my sour dough bread. Also, I have an old Swedish oval cast iron pot and it is great for chicken.

Student, please do that! :D

I cut in mine and use metal utensils, 23 years and my pan is still awesome. I've only once done a true season... now I keep 8t oiled and burner season for a few minutes.

With all due respect, the health concerns of Teflon cookware are not overblown. That is because the average American does NOT use moderate heat settings when cooking. People aren't patient enough to cook slowly, so they use high heat which degrades the coating, and then after that people scrub the hell out of rhe coating with scouring pads.

"i use teflon pans!! 😀the health rand safety concerns about them are really overblown. whats not overblown is the environmental hazards of teflon production" lol so theyre a little bad for health and really bad for the environment... then why do you use teflon?? 😭

If your pan gets gunky in storage, you've put on too much oil. Always wipe off the excess! Light specks of flash rust are easy to clean, a gunky pan is not. Just give it a quick stove-top reseasoning after a light scrub and the pan is good to go again.

It is easier and much faster to put on a couple of layers of seasoning on a stove-top. The lengthy oven seasoning process isn't really necessary unless you want to enter your freshly seasoned pan in a beauty contest.

Metal spatulas are great for iron pans.

A well-seasoned pan can handle tomatoes or deglazing with wine just fine. It is however crucial to thoroughly clean it afterwards and not leave any residue in the pan for a prolonged time.

So, what about carbon steel?

Cast iron pans are sexy and that's it...

I appreciate many of your videos and your research that goes into them, but…. WTF did you ignore Carbon Steel pans in this video???????? It’s by far better than stainless or cast iron for every reason you mention. It’s as non stick as Teflon, it holds its heat like cast iron, and it cooks evenly like stainless.

I have a cast iron, carbon wok, stainless cook pan and a non stick pan... Each has it's place and each has it's pros and cons...

the carbon content in the pan is not what makes it black, raw cast iron is basically the same colour as normal steel or iron, maybe just a shade darker, the black colour comes from the seasoning which is a polymerization of oil that you put on the pan, it basically connects a bunch of long strings of oil molecules into a sort of plant based ""plastic"" (extra quotes on purpose)

you are terrible

I use my cast iron skillets daily. I never need to do anything but wash them.

I'd probably only use this for steak and burgers to get a nice crust but otherwise I can't justify using it.

I am sorry, did you just question Teflon-related health problems?

Wow. You can’t be that blind

I don't think he's qualified to tell somebody that concerns around Teflon and health are overblown

Cooking is my favorite hobby. I own a ridiculous amount of cookware. Mostly stainless steel, and cast iron. I have used "Made In" carbon steel, but I have fazed it out. I love my enameled dutch ovens, and they get a tone of use. Most of my cookware was found thrift shopping. I have a couple copper pieces, and I keep (1) Misen non-stick teflon pan around. I have literally never uses the non-stick pan. I am not even sure why I have it. The cast iron by fare gets the most use, and most of the time is the best tool for the job at hand.

I have one large cast iron frying pan and I use it 80% of the time for any frying pan tasks. Cooking eggs or fish in there though is a nightmare. I do really recommend it for pizza! It doesn’t crack like pizza stones do.

This is nonsense. Why are you fucking with the pan at all? Just cook with it and scrape it off after. You need a serviceable spatula. Not really a 14 minute video, is it.

I love my cast iron pan for a variety of reasons. The main one being, it will probably outlast me and I don't have to baby it. I've even cooked tomato recipes on it. Yes, it ruins the seasoning but I can season it very easily. It is non-stick enough when you know how to cook with it (you just need to preheat it). It sears like nothing else. I even make Omelletes on it and they turn out great.

Been 3 year, did that graduate student eventuate?

I love cast iron pans because it evenly heats foods the best! Avoid the rough finished surfaced ones. And try to find a thin-walled, light-weight one, which will be around 3 lbs to save the wrist.

I have used cast iron pans for 25 or more years, now and I have NEVER re-seasoned my pans! Just cooking with them keeps them seasoned! The main secrets:

Never cook acidic foods, like tomato sauce (removes the seasoning)
Never let food sit in them overnight (they can rust)
Never wash the cooking surface with soap (washing the outside with soap is ok), and only use hot water.
Always put them on the stove to dry on low after washing.

If you follow these simple rules, you will have a non-stick pan that lasts your entire life, and never needs replacing.

You can and should season rough/porous interior enameled cast iron like staub(they reccomend it) as opposed to le creuset

I don't have an oven 😢

2% carbon in iron would be steel.

Use tallow to make your pan nonstick. Yes oils like wd40 might work just as well, but we are talking about making food in your pan afterwards.

Most informative cooking video I have seen on the web so far. Ty. Now I know what to do w all those skillets n pots I bought 15 yrs ago

Stainless steel >>

Cast iron is actually a dull gray it's the seasoning that's black. But you only find that out if you messed up

I have cast iron, (Lodge), stainless, (All Clad), enameled stainless, (Le Creuset), and sheet-metal copper-plated (Revere Ware).

I love all of them.

For 10" cooking, I use the cast iron. I use this every day.

For 12" + cooking, I use the All Clad. The All Clad, is lighter, and has the same thermal characteristics as the cast iron.

I have 'ruined' my cast iron several times.

A really bad thing you can do is to take a steel wool pad and make the cast iron all nice and shiny like a mirror. Another bad thing you can do to your cast iron pan is to let it soak in water for a day or so.

However, after re-seasoning, the cast iron works fine. Needless to say, cast iron can take tons of abuse!

I just clean the cast iron with Dawn, then I dry the thing on the stove top on a low flame.

I have cooked several acidic, (tomato) dishes with the cast iron with no problem. However, I would never do a slow-cook with acidic food with the cast iron.

For slow cook, I use the enameled cast iron. In this case it would be using the Le Creuset. The big disadvantage of Le Creuset is the cost. Le Creuset is very expensive.

For large soup stock or stews, I use the el-cheapo stamped-sheet metal 6 quart Revere Ware stock pot.


The best utensil to use on cast iron is a carbon steel spatula. Now contrary to this video post, sharp hard steel tools work exceptionally well on cast iron!

Had a really expensive non stick pan. Did all the cleaning routines etc the manufacturer said, it broke within a year and half. Bought my first cast iron pan recently, won't be chaning old faithful again

The hard sharp tools thing is bullshit, don't gouge it, but you can use metal tools with no problem.

Wtf, get off the fence, that look painful

Carbon is not the reason it is black, sand it it will shine!!

I've had this question forever & I stubbornly don't google it. Why no cast pans with a more rounded side for flipping food ? Is it it the casing process?

My cast iron skillet never goes in s drawer. Always on the stove ready for whatever. Roasted brisket yesterday and then used it to make gravy from drippings. I cook acidic stuff all the time. Metal spatula and wipe down for next adventure

You sound better talking about cast iron then singing “the prayer” with Celine.

Never listen to someone who says never use soap on cast iron.

Ok nice video, but what about carbon steel pans?

"CE", "BCE"... why tf is he using the satan-worshippers' ((✡️)) terms?!

You’re making cast iron overly difficult and it’s not. You CAN use steel and metal on them… get a smooth bottom cast iron from Smithey, Stargazer, Butter Pat, Finex… expensive but worth it.

I don't like the flavor of flex oil, so I would never use it because my food would taste like it. My go-to pan seasoning is clean and not burnt bacon grease. A little goes a long way. I am fortunate to have 100 year old pans that have been machined smooth. They are far superior to pre-seasoned modern pans. Usually, all you need to do to maintain them is to use a metal scraper to get the bits off and then wipe then off with a paper towel. You can also heat the pan up and briefly run hot water on the inside surface. It is easy to burn the seasoning off if you heat the pan up too much and leave it for too long, so never walk away and forget about them. You can always reseason them, so don't throw them away like someone I know. Stainless steel scrubers are a must-have for badly burnt on food. High liquid or high acid foods are a no-no for cooking in cast iron because your food will be discolored and will change the flavor and will strip the seasoning away.

okay I have 3 cast iron skillets and a dutch oven - and I really take it for granted that it's easy to work with bc indeed, I cook all the time, I grew up in a house with ol reliable cast iron that got cooked on all the time. I love my cast iron.