Cast iron cookware, good or bad?

thegreatmcgonigal · Cast iron cookware, good or bad?

I really liked all my cast iron cookware, but I've been reading about how much iron it puts into your food. Some people may need extra iron, but many people definitely don't need extra heavy metals in their body. This local doctor on his newsletter recommends stainless steel cookware only. Thoughts? Did The Bear have anything to say about this?

Glennart

I know Ray Peat says not to use them due to the iron.

adwred

I would use cast iron over teflon any day of the week. But then as a woman, I lose iron every month. I don't like some things cooked in cast iron, though, as it can impart a taste (like eggs). I do love stainless steel for cooking, particular if there is a layer of copper beneath the steel for more even heat distribution.

Galeron

Yeah, I like those coppery stainless steel pans as well, but haven't been using them lately.

I personally have become VERY fond of slicing my meat and placing it along with suet chunks in a bamboo steamer and steaming my meat over low steam slowly, like the Chinese. If I cook it good and slow and evenly, it comes out wonderful, and with probably less amine development versus frying or sauteing - no charring or overbrowning or overcooking. We have a great oriental market here that sells a lot of oriental cooking supplies, and can pick one of these up on the cheap.

Plus, I've found it to be easier clean-up, and a really great way to produce a good meal quickly.

Avalon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cast_iron_cookware

There's the idea not to cook acidic foods in cast iron- like tomatoes for example. Otherwise I love the pans I own. Even if I don't use them as often as I used to.

Best wishes,
Avalon Happy

Glennart

BTW I just started donating blood and my ferritin levels was 130 ng/mL.

Healthy levels in sweden are 30-200 ng/ml. Tthe nurse gave me iron pills (that I threw in the trash can outside of the clinic).

It will be interesting if I can reduce my levels with donations every third month. The main reason for my donation is that I eat so much red meat that it's probably a good idea to get rid of some of that iron. People back in the stone age probably bleed alot more than people during our age...

Plus I get a free t-shirt every time!

Laibach

Avalon

cabalco

I have a cast-iron pan and would never use a teflon pan. The taste of the cast-iron pan is much better and the meat does never burn. Otherwise i started to cook my meat just in water the last time, which seem to be better for the nutrients in the meat. The heat is only 100 degrees celcius although 80 degrees would perhaps be better so i experimented a bit with "low-level-long-time-cooking" in the oven at 80 degrees, which gives a nice result too. Parasites get killed, vitamins stay intact, enzyme perhaps too, meat does not dry out (but you have to make sure that the meat does not get over 85 degrees, otherwise it will dry out).

Galeron

Glennart

Galeron

Oh, OK. With your level, it seems that you shouldn't have much difficulty in recovering on your own just by your diet, especially assuming your high red meat and animal food intake in general. I would have made the same decision, especially since they can cause gastric upset! Shock

thegreatmcgonigal

I found this in "Bear's Words of Wisdom" above:

"Cast iron makes meat taste like rust. Everything sticks. I use the incredible Danish Scanpan Ceramic Titanium, the only true non-stick non-plastic cookware. It cannot be scratched by metal, and neither fat nor water sticks to it. It is as different from any other cookware as a Farrari is to a broken tricycle. Teflon sucks, it is easily damaged and quickly deteriorates no matter how expensive the brand. Stainless is a poor conductor, and everything sticks. "

There's very little in that paragraph that I agree with.

cabalco

Galeron

I heavily seasoned my pan, but steaks would still stick. I never seemed to get it to a point where it was not a bit of a pain to cook with.

ecrivain

I love my cast iron pans and use them every day. They're well-seasoned with lard. I don't have too many problems with food sticking.

thegreatmcgonigal

Properly seasoned cast iron is almost as nonstick as PTFE teflon (which includes, I believe, Mr Bear's Scanpan), and it doesn't emit poison gas if you forgetfully leave it on a lit burner. Nor does it make food taste rusty. He must have been using a rusty old iron pan.

If some of you guys are having trouble with cast iron, look up how to season and use it properly. There's plenty of online info, like on the Chowhound cookware board.

My concern with cast iron is the iron that gets into the food when you cook on it, otherwise I love it.

cabalco

I do not think the iron gets into the food. There should be a fat layer on which the food is cooking otherwise it burns. You can make some roasted potatoes on the highest heat, so that the potatoes get black and burn for about 20-30 minutes. After this process just throw the potatoes away, wish the fat away with a newspaper and let the pan on the rest heat. After this process nothing should burn anymore. I do this always with refined coconut oil, every 2-3 weeks.

thegreatmcgonigal

Cabalco - I don't understand your roast potatoes method of seasoning cast iron. Where does the fat come from?

It seems that a lot of iron gets into the food. See here:

http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/2378.html

cabalco

Put some coconut fat (works best with refined, the non refined gives an ugly taste to the pan) in the pan, turn on the highest heat and cut some potatoes in it. Let them burn for 20-30 minutes, it gives a lot of smoke so open your windows. You have to let the fat burn into the pan, after some times you will get a layer. This layer protects the meat from burning. I think lard is not the best choice for an iron pan. Better are clean fats like coconut fat and concentrated butter.

thegreatmcgonigal

I've found coconut oil to work well seasoning cast iron and touching it up, but I never heard of the potato part. What are the potatoes for?

Did you see the chart that I linked to? According to that, cast iron adds a lot of iron to food cooked in it.

cabalco

I do not know exactly why to use the potatoes but i can say it works. Yes, i have seen the chart but i have no discomfort with the iron. However, when you are afraid of the iron than search for alternatives Wink

http://www.skeppshult.com/en/faq/#a8

I think it is perhaps better to ingest some iron than other chemicals from teflon, steel or other chemical loaden pans. Ceramic could be an alternative.

thegreatmcgonigal

Cabalco - It says you're in Poland. Is the potatoes and oil thing the way they season cast iron over there?

thegreatmcgonigal

Interesting link. I guess those Swedish cast iron pots and pans are what they sell over there. Here it's Lodge, the only cast iron cookware company still in business in the USA. There used to be many. Also, the old time cast iron, like those made by Wagner and Griswold - many still in daily use after a century or more - were polished much more smoothly than the modern stuff, including your Swedish pans, judging from the pictures on their website. Some people polish the pans on their own.

http://www.lodgemfg.com/

I love cast iron cookware. It's just that I was concerned about ingesting iron.

cabalco

Plasma

i have had problems keeping my Ferritin level up... it now maintains around 60-70 which i think is good. maybe i should start using cast iron more.