I mean, let's say it was sour kraut Saturday and you just downed a whole litre of the stanky delicious juicy slop. Are you gonna totally destroy that bidet? How do you keep that thing hygienic?
I mean, let's say it was sour kraut Saturday and you just downed a whole litre of the stanky delicious juicy slop. Are you gonna totally destroy that bidet? How do you keep that thing hygienic?
They're good (I personally use them almost exclusively) but they're just pans at the end of the day. Cast Iron Guys act like they're some life changing miracle
Other funny facts about cast iron Redditors:
They overpay for cast iron crap for God knows what reason. They drop $50 on a single raw cast iron item that can be had for $10.
They don't refinish them. The best part of cast iron is a smooth nonstick surface from the seasoning. But you have to sand down the new ones before seasoning because (1) they're a little bumpy from the casting and (2) they're usually treated with a factory seasoning that makes them bumpier. They just dropped $50 and didn't even get the thing they're hyped about.
They use and recommend expensive and brittle seasoning oils that will flake off. They go nuts for raw flax oil. A normal vegetable oil will make a more durable seasoning and not go rancid in a week.
That said, cast iron is basically a white person wok (the best cooking tool on the planet) and woks/proper (cheap) cast iron can eliminate the need for several other pans. They'll also outlive you and not give you Teflon cancer.
Where can you find a good pan? I wanted to buy one and was looking to buy a $50 pan but not sure what to do now after reading this.
Get real sick of Teflons SHIT, the pans last like 2 years before being trash
I have thrifted every cast iron i own.
Of course, that means often times it’ll be a crap shoot
The thrift shop ones are good, they're seasoned already.
Often times not the case, people seem to not know they can reseason cast irons or something
There are a lot of different pans that are good (and not aluminum + Teflon). I assume you're mostly asking about cast iron but I'll also list some others. Here's how I would search for a cast iron pan, in order of preference:
Thrifting/Craigslist. You can get fantastic stuff this way for cheap and it produces slightly less demand so you can also put a microscopic but still real anticapitalist feather in your cap.
Costco often has good deals if you're already a member or know someone who is. There's a two pack that comes with silicone grips for $30 at Costco right now. They look heavy but that can be a good thing.
Lots of places inexpensive cookware is sold or on sale. A 10" lodge is currently $17 new on the Bezos site.
Personally, I don't think there's any reason to ever pay more than ~$15 and if you thrift it should be $5-$10. The latter is the same price as a cheap aluminum Teflon pan, may require a couple bucks of sandpaper (get low grit sandpaper for metal or a metal scrub brush thing) and some elbow grease, and will last you forever.
Other options that are pretty good alternatives to Teflon pans:
Restaurant supply stores have pretty good pans for decent prices. They're usually aluminum but they often sell bare metal ones that you can somewhat treat like carbon steel. I like to weirdly plan for things so I'm avoiding aluminum in case a landlord has an induction range. A "First Street" bare aluminum pan costs $15-$17.
Anodized aluminum are also pretty good. The anodization is kind of non-stick and you can use metal utensils on it. But they tend to be more than $30 per pan so probably best to thrift.
Stainless is nice but you have to learn how to cook with it because it is the least non-stick thing on the planet. There are very nice brands with great thermal control properties that are on my list of things to thrift on the cheap when/if COVID dies down.
Carbon steel can be seasoned like cast iron while being thin and light. Standard woks are carbon steel and you can also get frying pans. Carbon steel stuff tends to cost around $50 new. I don't think there's a very big second hand market for carbon steel woks but if you find one, jackpot! IMO a wok is worth it if you cook a ton of East Asian recipes but otherwise a big $10 cast iron pan will work perfectly well for the same tasks. Carbon steel pans are for cooking nerds with cash or people who need seasoned nonstick, no Teflon, and for whom cast iron is too heavy.
IMO patiently thrifting/craigslisting is the way to go for most things, you get great stuff for very cheap and cookware in particular tends to be a great deal. My local Craigslist has 12" lodges for $10-$15 right now, the brand that sicko Redditors go nuts over for some reason.
PS if you're hardcore you can even restore rusted cast iron that looks like it's complete garbage. Such items should be free. Sometimes it's a lost cause, but usually it comes back like magic by soaking it in something like vinegar and then sanding it.
Hope this helps!
Lodge makes cheap cast iron pans, sold everywhere. Mine are both Lodge. Walmart, if you have no where else to shop.
All it takes is my dad using one ONE TIME lol
Yeah it’s just the pan that gives me a slightly better crisp on meat. It’s not anything spectacular.
I'd say it gives a far superior crisp on meat, but yeah it's just a pan.