this post was submitted on 02 Sep 2024
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Deficiencies (mander.xyz)
submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

My iron pan might very well be lighter than your stainless, it's actually quite flimsy. I guess technically they should be called steel pans because it is steel, as in iron alloyed with carbon but not so much as to make it cast iron, it just isn't stainless.

That said yes stainless is also a proper thing they are very capable when it comes to searing in the flames of hell, but generally more for when you want things to stick and then deglaze. I'd go nuts making eggs in one.

This "you can't even clean it" -- it gets heat-sterilised every use. Patina isn't dirt same as any other protective/functional coating isn't.

Also stainless might have similar iron advantages as non-stainless pans. I repeat: You're not my enemy. People can also keep their enamel pans (old or the new-fangled non-stick ones), very useful if you want to e.g. boil tomato sauce for a while. It's Teflon I actually have an issue with.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

Oh I'm not worried about microbes. I'm worried about a gross greasy film that I'm not allowed to remove. If it gets on your clothes it can be a real pain, and sometimes you need gasoline to clean it off your hands.

As for eggs... I go crazy trying to make eggs in any pan at all without lots of oil lol. I've never used a pan, no matter what it's made out of, where eggs wouldn't stick. At least, when it inevitably sticks, i can go ham scraping a stainless steel pan.

And yeah we're together in wanting teflon pans dead.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

You are absolutely allowed to remove it, you just have to replace it. The correct thickness is "try to wipe it all off with kitchen tissue", it really shouldn't be a grease hazard to clothes.

Also washing up liquid should do the trick.

Eggs pretty much work like meat when it comes to stickiness, just with an even tighter window when it comes to right temperature and it's even more important to let the thing be for a while before attempting to move it.

Also, yes, scraping. I use a burger flipper spatula which practically has a knife edge at the front. Ideally though things should be moving when you shake the pan, that is, loosen on their own.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

You're motivating me to start looking into pans again. The only one I have is a warped The Rock ceramic non-stick pan (that absolutely does stick) and it has basically the disadvantages of Teflon (although I don't think it's actually Teflon) without the advantages.

I've wanted a quality, rivet-free, stainless steel pan for a long time. Maybe it's time, instead of waiting for my crap pan to finally die.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

Ceramics can take plenty of heat, the non-stick isn't stellar but it's there (and probably better or worse depending on manufacturer). And you can reduce tomato sauce in it without killing the patina because there is none. If the anti-stick properties degrade sodium percarbonate should fix that, stripping oil and polymerised oil and everything out of the microstructure. It's basically good ole enamel but with rougher surface. Kind of like those fancy lotus effect sinks.

If your go-to is stainless then I don't think there's real advantages, if you want a second pan then I'd go with iron for actual anti-stick, and do those tomato sauces in stainless.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

As for the "you can't clean it" it's BS in and of itself. I use a chainmail scrubber to remove the big stuff, then soap and one of those green scrubbers to get it good and clean. The trick is, no matter how you clean it, you need to dry it COMPLETELY (I use paper towel) then oil it immediately. Doesn't take much oil either, maybe a drop about the size of a nickel for a 12" skillet. My wife has alpha-gal syndrome, so all cookware needs to be thoroughly cleaned with soap and water, no exceptions.

Once you get a good seasoning set in, it's almost indestructible, unless you seriously mistreat it... and even then it's fixed pretty easily with an SOS pad, oil, and an hour or two in a hot oven.

My cast iron is more non-stick than any so-called 'non-stick' pan I've had, and I have one of those The Rock pans. I think the only caveat is you have to get a decent one. Anything made in China is no good (nothing necessarily about the casting or finish of the pans themselves, they just have very low quality iron); I personally buy Lodge, but there are a few other good brands to look in to.