Thinking about buying Cast Iron Frying Pans

October 15, 2020 3:36 PM

I would like to get into Cast Iron frying pan cooking. I have done a lot of online research and wondering if its worth it...

I haven't used a cast iron fry pan for cooking since I was a kid and my mother had one. Thinking about picking up a couple of sizes of cast iron cookware (fry pans) to use. I have done a LOT of research on this - some people seem to say just use it as you would a regular fry pan (wash after use with light dish soap) and other websites are dedicated to special soaps are treatments to use after each use. Once site recommended treating (coating) the pan after use and drying it upside in the oven on low heat for an hour... Sounds like too much work for me!

I just want to know if its worth it!?

Thoughts? Recommendations??

posted by konaStFr to Food & Drink (45 answers total)

I tend to agree wit Adam Ragusea. I don’t use mine all that often.
posted by kevinbelt at 3:38 PM on October 15, 2020

There’s a ton of cast iron takes in this recent mega-thread, mostly re: cleaning, alternatives, and advantages.
posted by migurski at 3:50 PM on October 15, 2020 [1 favorite]

For years I rarely used anything else and I still use mine quite a lot, although I finally got some good nonstick and it has been sort of a revelation.. Don’t pay a fortune for it, that’s silly. I think I got mine for free via apartment kitchens and/or various relatives and friends - cast iron did not used to be prized at all and I suspect the fashion is fading. It’s not magic. It’s not complicated. It’s good solid reliable cookware you can take camping or clonk a burglar with. I ignore most if not all the hype and nonsense. Your grandmother used one and didn’t have any special expensive stuff to clean it with. Just don’t use soap - at all, no soap of any kind - and dry it really well and it will be fine. Pour some hot water in when you’re done cooking, scrape up the bits with a spatula, wipe it out, hey presto it’s clean. I dry mine on a gas burner. They’re pretty indestructible even if they get rusty and they do, sometimes, if you don’t use them regularly. You can always save them by scraping and reseasoning. They are better on gas than electric.

What are they good at? Frying things - when you want a lot of oil, use cast iron. Things brown well in them, like home fries or hash. Things you want to put in the oven, like frittatas. Cornbread. They hold heat, which can be handy when you want it to cook a little more. But again, they’re not magic.
posted by mygothlaundry at 3:53 PM on October 15, 2020 [6 favorites]

Spend $20 on one and see which camp (love/hate) you fall into. Alternatively, try enamelled cast-iron, which is more expensive but also more forgiving.

We have a set of Lodge cast iron frying pans (~$30 for the set) that get arguably more love than the other fancy stuff (Le Creuset, Demeyere). Rinse with hot water after cooking then dry well.

What I love about cast iron is that it is fabulously nonstick and also that it adds a bit of iron to my diet.

Cast iron is a no-brainer once you reject Teflon for environmental reasons, and for the toxic smoke it generates at high heat. Note that they've now reformulated it and rebranded as various "ceramic" or "Teflon-free" compounds, but they are still fluorinated and still toxic.
posted by dum spiro spero at 3:54 PM on October 15, 2020 [5 favorites]

I use mine all the time, but for a kind of random array of tasks. The main thing I use it for is to reheat store-bought tortillas. Heating them up in a cast-iron pan is the best method I've found so far to do that. I also make pizza in my cast-iron skillet, and it works great for that. I don't find it to be that much of a pain to clean or season, but I'm pretty haphazard about it. I usually rinse it out with warm water and scrub it with a clean dishcloth unless it seems kind of gross, in which case I wash it with soap and wipe a little oil on it.

I vote you get one cast-iron skillet, maybe a nine-inch one, and see how you like it. I wouldn't get a full set until you've tried out one size.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 3:55 PM on October 15, 2020 [3 favorites]

I like carbon steel pans (like this) as a lighter-weight compromise between cast iron and stainless or non-stick pans.

It's still "raw" and needs to be seasoned, but it's much lighter weight than a cast iron pan so you can flip an omelet. And once seasoned, you get that same non-stick performance with high-heat searing & oven-proof use as a classic cast-iron pan.

As for care - I just give mine a quick rinse and scrub while it's still hot after cooking. Or I use dish soap if it's particularly greasy, and sometimes when very lazy I've been known to put it in the dishwasher (gasp!).
posted by jpeacock at 3:58 PM on October 15, 2020 [2 favorites]

Cast iron pans have become this slightly bizarre and contentious topic over the last few years (just see this recent thread as evidence).

I wouldn't overthink it too much, I have a Lodge pan that I got for $30 that I love (and there are those who tell you that Lodge sucks because ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) and then I have the refurbished hand-me-down from my grandmother that I also love.

Do you find cooking fun? Then just get a pan and try it. I love making cornbread, personal pizzas, bacon, tortillas, hash browns. I make a great roast chicken with caramelized leeks or just throw some stuff on it and then put it on my grill just for the hell of it.

So I guess, yes, it's worth it.
posted by jeremias at 3:58 PM on October 15, 2020 [1 favorite]

I agree, get one to try and see if you like it. Once they are seasoned, you can use soap (within reason, don't strip and scrub the poor thing). If you somehow mess up and remove the seasoning, you just reseason, the cast iron won't be hurt.
posted by Dip Flash at 3:59 PM on October 15, 2020

I have two lodge cast iron frying pans (a 5"(TINY) and a 'normal' 10" skillet") and I use at least one of them near daily (on an induction stove). Neither cost me more than $20 and work just fine.

I am not precious about them. I season once a year? every other year? I cook acidic things on them. After cooking, I throw in enough water to cover the bottom, turn up the heat for a min to get off any burnt/dirty bits off, and then let cool enough to touch before washing with regular hot water. I use soap, but don't scour with soap. If they look a bit dry, i just make a note to make a batch of bacon soon.

There IS a learning curve (i'm still working on my stirfry not sticking and occasionally an egg does stick a bit), but I do enjoy cooking and baking with them.


The tiny one is perfect for 2 eggs and for that alone it is worth it. The smaller pan handle does heat up way faster than the bigger one. The 10" one is pretty much good for 90% of my cooking for 2-4 people.
posted by larthegreat at 3:59 PM on October 15, 2020 [2 favorites]

Mine was purchased at a secondhand store, so I was able to get it inexpensively. I take the low-maintenance route with it: I never use soap, just rinse and dry immediately afterwards. I am not fiddly with anything, and it matches my lazy/dirtbag style. Had it for about 10 years, and so far so good.
posted by sugarbomb at 4:04 PM on October 15, 2020 [3 favorites]

I would say go for it, if you're curious, but start with a single pan. A quality cast iron frying pan is actually a very affordable cookware option -- the Wirecutter's recommended cast iron pan (Lodge 12-inch) costs $40, while their recommended aluminum skillet is $130 and dutch oven is $70. If you're curious about cast iron cooking and can afford $40 to satisfy your curiosity, that doesn't seem like a bad investment even if you decide you don't like it after all.

More-expensive cast iron and special delicate cast iron soap probably is a rip-off, though. You can clean it fine with dry paper towels, fresh (never-soaped) sponges, tap water, and a dishtowel to dry it off so it doesn't rust.
posted by clair-de-lune at 4:05 PM on October 15, 2020

I have a large flatish one, that I inherited, good for pancakes, and regular deep frying pan, a small oval one, a mid-size wok and a largeish dutch oven. Can you tell I like cast iron?
They're all great, especially for dishes that go from the range to the oven. (recipe: sear boneless chicken thighs on range with a bit of salt and lemon, transfer pan to oven at aprox. 170 C, leave for 45 minutes, enjoy).
The dutch oven is amazing for boeuf bourguignon and for chili adjacent things that take 5 hours to cook. Also, bread. The wok is great for stir-frying. Don't use very high heat, heat them slowly.
Don't believe the hype. You can use a little bit of soap, just not a lot, and not every time. Dry them immediately, always. Put on a little bit of light cooking oil to keep them rust free. If they do get rusty or sticky, scrub them with steel wool or rock salt, oil them and put them upside down in the oven for 1 hour. You don't need to do this each time you use them.
posted by signal at 4:05 PM on October 15, 2020 [2 favorites]

And, I agree with everyone saying to stay cheap. I've been using the same two basic Lodge frying pans for at least two decades and they are fine.

Keeping cast iron seasoned is a lot easier if you cook meat with some regularity, and harder (but not impossible) if you are a veggie-only household.
posted by Dip Flash at 4:06 PM on October 15, 2020 [3 favorites]

We ditched all our nonstick for cast iron years ago, and I don’t think it’s much trouble at all! I use dish soap on mine sometimes, and a chain mail scrubber for really caked-in stuff, and let it air dry. Occasionally we get rust spots and then I’ll scrub and reaseason those. I admit I’m not as meticulous cleaning black cast iron pans as the shiny or light-colored pans where you can see the ghosts of burned food FOREVER, so I don’t spend as much time washing my cast iron either.
I have expensive old stuff like Griswold and cheap new Lodge and the difference is minuscule. You should just get a cheap new Lodge (or even cheaper, a thrift store cast iron pan) and try it out for a bit. I mainly use a 9” and a 5” skillet.
posted by music for skeletons at 4:06 PM on October 15, 2020 [1 favorite]

Yeah, I'm in the "don't overthink it" crowd. I have a bunch of skillets, from cheap Lodge ones to ancient Griswolds that were my parents', to a couple of Field skillets that were a birthday present. I use and love them all. I tend toward rustic or Southern cooking styles, and if you like that kind of cooking, you can use the skillet for everything- pies, biscuits, greens, eggs, whatever.
posted by Maxwell's demon at 4:07 PM on October 15, 2020 [3 favorites]

It's just a tool. It works well for some things, not as well for others. It doesn't compare to a real non stick pan, if you want non stick. But they're pretty simple. I use soap all the time, and it doesn't seem to have any negative effects. Once in a while shit happens, and I'll find myself wanting to season it again. But it's not all that often. Some people like the process and ritual of stuff like cast iron cookware and carbon steel knives, but I'm not one of those people. If it's the right tool to use, then that's what I use, from a choice of stainless, aluminum, nonstick, carbon steel, and enameled cast iron. But to someone like my Mom, cast iron is basically a boat anchor. So, yeah just buy one, a cheap one, and give it a spin. Even if you don't care to use it for everyday cooking, you might find it's well suited for the occasional specialty recipe.
posted by 2N2222 at 4:20 PM on October 15, 2020 [1 favorite]

We have a griddle, and 10", 8", and two 5" pans. The griddle is used for French toast and pancakes (almost every weekend). In the 10", I deep fry (iron is so massive it counteracts somewhat the heat fluctuations of our electric stove top), use as a second griddle, and use as the pan that goes in the oven (steaks, Dutch baby, fritata, corn bread). The two smallest pans are for individual fritatas, melting butter (the residual heat of the oven warming up can be enough to melt a stick of butter), a single scrambled egg. The middle pan is used for larger pancakes and crepes, especially if I need two pans going at once.

We clean by bringing salted water to a fast boil, IMMEDIATELY draining the boiling water, rinsing with a little cool water, and scrubbing with a brush or sponge. Back on to the still hot burner to air dry and prevent rust.
posted by JawnBigboote at 4:27 PM on October 15, 2020

Reading about seasoning is way harder than seasoning. Once in a while on a weekend morning when you’re hanging around the house you notice it needs seasoning so you swipe some oil on it (flax seed oil is good but canola is fine too) and stick it in the oven. After a while you take it out. Done.
posted by HotToddy at 4:36 PM on October 15, 2020 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Seconding the above suggestions to just buy one and try it out. To start I recommend a 10" or 12" pan, or a Dutch oven - depends on how you're most likely to use it. Don't spend a bunch of dough on one thinking it'll be worth it, at least not until you've tried it for a while. Lodge is fine, and just FOLLOW THE PERFECTLY LEGIT INSTRUCTIONS it comes with regarding usage.

The advantage to cast iron is that although it's really slow to heat up compared to other pans, once it's hot it holds on to that heat well because of all that heavy mass. ALWAYS give it adequate time to heat up completely, like 5-10 minutes, before trying to cook with it.

My experience as a long-time cast iron pan user:

Great for searing a steak, or long/slow oven cooking, or frying something in oil, or as someone mentioned making pizza. No advantage to using it for sauteeing, and it's not very good for cooking eggs until it's well-seasoned which will take months or years of repeated use (depending on how often you use it). It's also good over campfires, as someone else said - but only if you're car camping! I'd hate to haul the heavy buggers in a backpack...

Supposedly you can wash a "properly-seasoned" pan using soap, but I never do. I have one of these I use to scrape any bits off then dry it well.

After EVERY usage/cleaning:
- Stick the pan on medium to med-hi heat until it's truly dry and warmed up (say 8 minutes)
- Drizzle in about a teaspoon (NOT a Tablespoon) of oil
- Using a dry paper towel or rag, spread around the oil to completely coat the inside of the pan so you can just barely tell there's any there. Don't fall prey to the temptation to glug a bunch in! A little dab'll do ya.
- When the oil starts to smoke, turn off the burner and leave the pan there to cool before putting it away

Ideally, the above will slowly build up a durable smooth layer of seasoning, filling in the pebbly texture. More expensive pans have had the pebbly texture already removed, so a truly non-stick surface happens quicker, but you pay an arm and a leg for the privilege.

Seasoned cast iron shouldn't ever get rusty if you're taking decent care of it, but if it does then just scrub it well with soap and hot water, then immediately dry it well then go through the re-seasoning process (again, see the instructions that came with the pan). Seriously, bare unseasoned cast iron will start to rust again within a couple minutes.

Cast iron pan care isn't especially difficult or finicky, but - like high-carbon steel chef knives - it HAS to be done.
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:37 PM on October 15, 2020 [2 favorites]

Oh man, skip buying new cast iron. You can get very nice and SMOOTH interior pans for CHEAP. Fellow MeFite, mudpuppie, chose some eBay auctions to pick up pans for me so I skipped choice paralysis. Further, many antique stores and yard sales have nice vintage cast iron. Brands to look for are Wagner, Griswold, and Pilgrim. But judge the pan on evenness on a flat surface; seasoning and smoothness. There is something just great about a multi-decade old pan chugging along.

But blue carbon steel pans are cheap and nice, too. They work great. Same routine with heavy cast iron. You must season but they are legit useful.

My life is damn simple, that if I cannot rinse it out with hot water and a quick swipe of a sponge then I just heat some water in it to deglaze the hard bits. Seriously, well-seasoned cast iron is NOT delicate but robust in handling things.
posted by jadepearl at 5:12 PM on October 15, 2020 [1 favorite]

I am 100% team cast iron but the downside is the heft of it. If you are slight, have arthritis, etc., maybe not for you. Even the Hulk won’t be flipping pancakes or omelettes in one (he’s be strong enough but too angry). They’re great for frying and sautéing, but I personally would not braise or stew in one.

Professional cooks use carbon steel because they’re lighter and it’s more practical to have a multitude in the kitchen. If you have access to a restaurant supply store you might want to try that. Use and care is much the same as cast iron. They look like crap and will never be an heirloom but they’re pretty good too.
posted by sjswitzer at 5:16 PM on October 15, 2020

We (nearly) exclusively use them, on gas and induction stoves, for almost everything. We take very poor care of them and they are great. After cooking, I'll do a quick clean and dry and I would any other dish, except that I dry a little more thoroughly, and try to clean it when hot. Anything sticky I rub out with one of these. Cooking bacon once in a while is basically all we do for seasoning.

Out of the three main ones we use, the oldest flea market one is by far the thinnest and lightest. The newest one is maybe 15 years old, I think the oldest is at least 50.
posted by true at 5:22 PM on October 15, 2020 [2 favorites]

I almost exclusively use mine to sear salmon/steak or char corn for salads. Even within this very limited sphere, I’m very glad to have it!
posted by cakelite at 5:31 PM on October 15, 2020 [1 favorite]

I got a ruler, and mine is actually a 10 inch, not a 9 inch.

Trick to dry it after you wash it: turn on the stove and stick the pan on the burner for a minute or so. All the water will evaporate, and then you have a dry pan. Cool it down for another minute or so, and you can put it away.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 5:35 PM on October 15, 2020 [1 favorite]

People overthink it, in that same tendency that audiophiles need gold-plated cables, or I only cook with Himalayan pink salt, or whatever.

Here's a minimalist setup. There's an 8 inch Lodge that spends its whole life sitting out on top of a cold stove burner, being all black and oiled.
When I need to make something hot, I throw it in that pan. Leftover slice of pizza? Hot cheese and crispy crust. Can't be bothered to make a real dinner? Throw some veg and leftover chicken and cold rice and stir it around. Tortilla heater. Grilled cheese maker. Pork chops in applesauce. Breakfast potatoes. Whatever. When you're done, you just give it a rinse and a quick scrub with a metal scouring tribble, then wipe it with an oiled paper towel and put it back on the stove.

I have saucepans for liquids, and one small nonstick exclusively for eggs. Everything else, where I just need a hot flat thing to stir ingredients around in, just goes in The Pan.

I bet if I put my cookware away, though, and was taking the time to choose between several sets of cookware? I might do things differently. But an indestructible pan taking up a burner and waiting to sizzle whatever you drop on it, is handy, and may lead you to question why you spent all that money on a 12-piece set of Calphalon or whatever.
Your style may vary.
posted by bartleby at 5:37 PM on October 15, 2020 [6 favorites]

Another vote for this thing for cleaning. Otherwise try it. Get a cheap one and cook some stuff.
posted by pyro979 at 5:38 PM on October 15, 2020

Fan of cast iron and in agreement with everyone above.

I wanted to add that while I never use soap on my pans I also don't see any reason to either. If something does manage to get stuck you can scrub the heck out of it with plain water and a regular metal dish scrubber. (like this but I get them 3 or 6 for a buck depending on size at the dollar store).

And if you clean it immediately after use it'll dry practically instantly from retained heat. Tiny splash of oil and wipe with a cloth and you're done.
posted by Mitheral at 6:16 PM on October 15, 2020 [3 favorites]

I do not mean to offend people by saying this, and I'm willing to stipulate that I'm an epicene epicure with strange health problems that cause me to have issues no one else should waste time worrying about or catering to, but I think food cooked in cast iron tastes faintly rancid, and that the pans smell rancid when you heat them, and that the problem cannot be resolved because the seasoning process itself is responsible for it. The smell seems to me to be worst with polyunsaturated vegetable oils and least with animal fats.

So I use a collection of old copper sandwich Cuisinarts and Corning Vision glass pans. The glass pans can be scratched with abrasive cleaners, but they're more scratch resistant than stainless steel or cast iron, it's just more obvious when you do it. And they are the least reactive with food of any pan I'm aware of.
posted by jamjam at 6:20 PM on October 15, 2020

I have a newer Lodge pan with a pebbled surface. It's good cause it's quite large, so nice for a big stirfry or something, but it's thick and weighs a lot. I have my Mom's cast iron pans, notably a skillet that is fairly thin and has a ground (spun) surface. I use it all the time and find it a pleasure to use and not hard to care for. The ground surface is pretty non-stick.

Cast iron can pick up flavors so I wouldn't leave it in soapy water or put it in the dishwasher. I do not season it. If it seems dried out, or has rust spots, I make bacon or something with a lot of fat, and it's fine. I use those metal scrubbies Mitheral linked, dish detergent if needed, no big deal.

I have gotten good cast iron at thrift shops, cheap. I got the twin of my favorite one, so, yay, I have a spare. You could keep an eye on craigslist or fb marketplace. The rest of my pots are Revere stainless with copper bottoms that I've had forever. I'd rather spend on quality ingredients than expensive cookware. There are some people making what look like nice cast iron pans, but they are hella expensive, and I probably wouldn't.
posted by theora55 at 6:32 PM on October 15, 2020

Detergent is the enemy of cast iron.

I clean my own collection of new Lodge and random second-hand-shop pans with hot water, very occasionally assisted with a bit of light scrubbing from a stainless steel scouring pad if something has managed to stick; then dry them on the hotplate; then, if surface patches appear that aren't the nice shiny black I want, drop maybe quarter of a teaspoon of cheap vegetable oil into the pan and rub it down with a paper towel while it's still hot.

Takes me less time to do this than to clean any other pan I've ever used. Oily used paper towel gets thrown into the wood heater for fire starters.

Because they do end up with a light film of oil all over, I store them hung by their handles so they don't greasy-up my kitchen drawers.
posted by flabdablet at 6:53 PM on October 15, 2020

Start with a couple Lodge skillets and a chain mail scrubber. I started with a 10” and a 12” that came in a set. I later added a smaller skillet (for making a couple eggs) and a round griddle, and a cast-iron pizza pan. But just start with a couple Lodge skillets, and some chain mail—less than $100 all-in, and they’ll last a lifetime.

When your pans are new, you’ll need to add more fat to the pain (oil or butter) than you normally would, to keep food from sticking. Once the seasoning builds up, you won’t need as much, but I still use more oil or butter in a cast iron skillet than I would on a nonstick.

(Maybe it’s not as good for me to use the additional fat, but I figure the Teflon chemicals can’t be good for me either. I’ll stick with the fat.)

For cleaning, it’s not as hard as they say. Use the chain mail and some water to rinse the pan and scour off any bits that get stuck, then wipe the pan clean. If the pan still seems a little greasy afterwards, that’s good! If it looks dry, put a little bit of oil, and rub it in with a paper towel.
posted by vitout at 6:58 PM on October 15, 2020 [1 favorite]

I keep a Lodge griddle/grill pan on two of the burners of my stove full-time and have for several years. The griddle side is great for the things that I make all the time for my three boys. Pancakes, quesadillas and burritos, fried eggs. Don't overthink seasoning-- if I notice that the pan is sticking a bit (after toasting quesadillas without oil, for example), I'll swipe some oil over the surface while the pan is hot, and it's good to go again. I usually wipe it off with a hot wet dishcloth when I'm done cooking, and leave it to dry on the burners. Easy, and for me, worth it!
posted by weezetr at 7:00 PM on October 15, 2020

My fam has used cast iron my whole life, so I think it's worth it to spend any amount of money you want, but that said, my two favourite cast iron pans: I found one in a thrift store, and one literally buried in a field - so, if the amount of money you want to spent is $2.50, you can also end up with some pretty nice pans!

I cook hot, with lots of butter and oil which keeps my pans well seasoned, and I wash my pans with soap every time. I dry them on low flame on my stove. I don't have a real strong opinion if what everyone else is doing is wrong, but my way works too!

one caveat on the "worth it" I just thought of - I love my cast iron on the gas stove I have now, and on an exposed electric element stove too, but we have had a glass-topped electric and an induction stovetop before, and I rarely used the cast iron on those ones - way too slow to heat up on glasstop, and overheated the induction often. So it might depend on your stove!
posted by euphoria066 at 7:13 PM on October 15, 2020 [2 favorites]

Here are two recipes I cook frequently in my cast iron skillet: Roasted Garlic Focaccia and Pan Pizza. Great results and it isn't hard at all to keep the pan clean and seasoned.
posted by mmascolino at 7:17 PM on October 15, 2020

I'm pretty strong for a woman, and it takes me two hands to lift my 12" cast iron pan. I certainly cannot move it around to swirl oil or (ha!!!) flip food the way I do routinely with every other pan. I'd be curious how many of the self reported cast iron enthusiasts are women.

The only advantage of the thing is that it does retain heat well. So if you want to use it instead of a griddle, like to sear meat, it's good. But is it any better than my scanpan, that heats up in half the time, sears the meat just as well, weighs a fraction of the iron one, and has a stay-cool handle? No it is not.
posted by fingersandtoes at 7:58 PM on October 15, 2020

I would say go for it, if you're curious, but start with a single pan.

Yep also on team "Try it." I have three cast iron pans of varying sizes and they are my main pans. You can often find cast iron pans on sale on Amazon or the like, or sometimes you can re-season ones you find at a thrift store though I would not start there. My opinions are not strongly-held here on the topic but as someone who uses mostly cast iron when I'm at home.

- they are heavy so just make sure you are ok with that
- I don't cook meat much at home but make a lot of stuff with oil/butter and have no issue keeping them well-seasoned
- the "they heat up and STAY HOT" thing is no joke, so if you're used to other kinds of pans, you may need to correct for that. Also unlike some other pans, the handles get hot af so you may need a different pot holder than you are used to
- it's nice that you can also bake in them (I make dutch pancakes a lot)
- I reseason mine if they seem like they are getting messed up (or rusty, which has rarely happened) but otherwise I mostly use a scrubbit and hot water and rarely soap but I don't feel like it will kill the thing. I definitely don't oil it after every use.

In short: people's opinions on this stuff can sometimes be a "brand differentiator" for people who are blogging about it, but otherwise find something that works for you. There are ways to do it in a low-intensity way so you can see how you like it.
posted by jessamyn at 8:27 PM on October 15, 2020

the handles get hot af so you may need a different pot holder than you are used to

This sort of thing works well or if you can sew you can convert a cheap set of cloth pot holders into many handle covers with minimal effort. The advantage to the latter is you can make them so they fit nice and tight and don't slip off easy.
posted by Mitheral at 8:42 PM on October 15, 2020

After years of using hand me down garbage pots and pans, I bought two big cast iron pans a few years ago. I wish I'd done it sooner. Note, though, that I grew up in a very traditional southern cooking household with a mom and two grandma's who used nothing else. I knew the drill with seasoning, care, and use (and the most important lesson in my book is that cast iron isn't for cooking styles that have you tossing things about in the pan... you basically out stuff in it and let it sit, stirring and flipping as little as possible without burning things). I'm also vegan and don't like cooking with oil, though, which tends to go against the grain of common cast iron cooking knowledge. No matter what, cornbread cooked in cast iron is always gonna be better than any other way of making cornbread.

I bought mine from a used cookware shop in San Francisco. $100 for the pair. Money well spent.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 8:51 PM on October 15, 2020 [1 favorite]

I had my great-grandmother’s cast iron skillet for years, and I really miss it. Perfect for any kind of fried potato dish, also great for baking cornbread. It got lost in some move or other.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:08 PM on October 15, 2020

It's worth trying it out just so you can respond from experience when everyone won't stop talking about how great they are. Strongly suggest buying a used one, or a cheap one if you can't get used, at least until you know whether you like it.

No, I don't like cast iron at all, despite really wanting to, for many reasons that weren't apparent until trying it out for myself.
posted by randomnity at 9:48 PM on October 15, 2020

If you buy cast iron make sure you examine the inside surface and confirm that it has actually been polished. A cast iron pan is first cast and then the inside is ground so that it is much smoother than the outside. However in recent years a lot of cast iron is being sold without that initial grinding. If you have a pan that has not been ground you can still use it but you will not get the wonderful non-stick properties of a cast iron pan. Using it for things like baking cornbread in the oven will require you to use a brush and much scrubbing to clean it.

They sell those dud pans in a lot of places - most recently I saw some miniature ones that were sold as gifts with cookie mix in a bag inside the body of the pan. Since the inside was not polished the cookie you made was going to be either extremely greasy or stuck on hard. Pans like these are often sold in stores where people make impulse purchases and then eventually turn up in thrift shops.
posted by Jane the Brown at 6:57 AM on October 16, 2020 [1 favorite]

I'm with team try it. Like bartleby, I have a 10-inch pan that just lives on the top of our stove, and we use it for most anything you'd fry. We do have a griddle, a dutch oven with feet for a campfire, and two smaller frying pans in cast iron, but honestly 95% of the time we use the one that lives on the stove. All of these are Lodge. The default pan is after 10 years completely smooth on the bottom from the built up seasoning but the others are still pebbly. So, trying it can be a relatively low-cost investment.

Also, I have rambled about easy seasoning before--seasoning and cleaning cast iron doesn't have to be difficult. Even lazy people like me do it!
posted by past unusual at 7:06 AM on October 16, 2020

We keep ours on the stove and literally use it 2x a day. We do have other pans for when we cook complicated meals, but use the cast iron more than anything else. We don’t eat meat so I don’t even wash it every time, but when I do I just use hot water and a chainmail scrubber, then dry it on low heat (and sometimes add a drizzle/swipe of oil, yes).

Definitely don’t buy more than one to start. I’m an avid cook as are many of my friends (who also use their cast iron daily), and we all have one large cast iron.

I got mine for $5 at a garage sale and stripped and re-seasoned it, so it’s not like this is an expensive experiment!
posted by amaire at 7:12 AM on October 16, 2020

A different perspective: here in Continental Europe, we mostly either have enameled cast iron or carbon steel pans, "raw" cast iron is actually a bit hard to source. I have both, and they have their uses, but I have almost completely stopped using teflon or ceramic coated pans during the last decade, for both health and environmental reasons.
I have inherited a lot of enameled cast iron from my gram, most at least 50 years old, and it is all still in excellent condition.
The pricey enameled pots and pans can go in the dishwasher. I usually don't put them in there, but it is good to know. Carbon steel needs to be seasoned and hand-washed just like cast iron, but as several have said above, it is easier to handle because it is lighter. With both types of cookware, one thing I relish is that you can take them from the stovetop to the oven. And of course roast chicken cannot get any better than when made in a sizzling hot iron or steel pan.
Wether it be cast iron, enameled or carbon steel, this all lasts forever. I'm not sure, but I think one of my inherited pots goes all the way back to my great-grandmother, I know for sure that it is at least 70 years old. Which is worth thinking about when you buy. I know my kids will cherish my pots when they take over. I still have teflon for egg dishes, and they rarely last for more than a decade -- at most. Ceramic lasts a bit longer, but not significantly.
Recently, I've begun buying copper pans at flea markets and garage sales. They are replacing all steel pans that I used for making sauces before. But that is the next step ;-)
posted by mumimor at 8:04 AM on October 16, 2020

I'm another fan of old cast iron and carbon steel pans, but not of the newer Lodge-style. Both the weight and non-machined surfaces of the newer cast iron are dealbreakers for me. The nubbly surface doesn't get as slick, and the weight is just ridiculous, especially compared to old cast iron. I don't understand why they don't go the extra step of machining it. Even if it added some to the price, the product would be much better for it. I use my carbon steel pans all the time and love their versatility and (relative) light weight. I feel the same way about the vintage Griswold pan I got at a flea market, but the prices have long since gone up enough on vintage cast iron that I'm not really sure it's worth it. So I'd say definitely go for it, but hold out either for good vintage polished cast iron or get yourself some carbon steel.
posted by lhputtgrass at 1:55 PM on October 16, 2020