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[BIFL/Cooking] Suggestions for all purpose cookware? (self.food)

submitted 1 year ago by moth to c/[email protected]

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I'm concerned about teflon and other nonstick coatings on cookware, but I find cast iron to be difficult to clean (with most prevailing wisdom seeming to amount to "use olive oil and salt, and leave a layer on there rather than properly cleaning to a truly sanitized surface")

I've investigated many of the leading ceramic cookware and have found that most ceramic coatings degrade very quickly, even if you're diligent with not using metal utensils on them. It struck me then how I haven't really been able to find a cooking pan that's made entirely out of ceramic. Something tells me repeatedly heating and cooling what is essentially a shallow-sided crockpot could be dangerous for a number of reasons, but in theory would such a pan work well for just about any recipe you could throw at it and not have a ton of sticking?

Otherwise, I'm left with carbon steel pans, which I understand are similar to cast iron but have natural nonstick properties and can be fully cleaned. I'm wondering if that might be the best. I'm just tired of not being able to cook a proper sunny side fried egg without it sticking to whatever surface I'm using (and even then, having to apply a lot of fat to have a hope of not breaking the yolks)

This turned into a mini-vent post and I apologize for that; just at my wits end with how many of my dishes are turning out now that I've forgone my nonstick pans! Thanks for reading

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[–] yenahmik 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

My understanding is you can wash cast iron with modern dish soap you just have to dry it very thoroughly to prevent it from rusting.

Directions from a cast iron company on how to clean their product

[–] darrel 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah, it’s fine. The reason soap used to be avoided is because the lye in older soaps would strip the seasoning.

Wash it in soap and water, dry thoroughly, and if you need another light layer of seasoning once in a while (I do it almost every time I cook and clean them anyway) hit it with a thin layer of grape seed or avocado oil, and throw it in the oven to bake that layer of seasoning on.

[–] moth 1 points 1 year ago

The bit about lye makes sense, I'll probably give cast iron another try. May get a carbon steel wok too since I've been making more stir-fry these days

[–] moth 2 points 1 year ago

Thanks for this! I might give cast iron another try

[–] Zebov 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm in the same boat. My wife and kids will be sticking everything in the dishwasher and using metal on it. Butter is way too unhealthy, as is oil, so everything must be nonstick, unless you can use cooking spray. If I say to not use the giant metal ladle because it's metal, they'll just use a big metal spoon ("but you said not to use THAT one"). It's been years. I've tried damn near threats to stay away from my nice stuff, I've tried hiding it, but eventually they find it and use it ("because it's so nice").

So MY mini-vent post is to piggyback off yours - I'm looking for a unicorn.

[–] moth 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This sounds like a nightmare 😭 I'm so sorry! Have you explained to them all of the health risks that have been linked to PTFE and PFAS more generally? And how that risk goes way up when you scratch the surface? Maybe bringing up your kids' future fertility and cancer risk will get them to take it more seriously... It's not just ruining the usable lifespan of an expensive implement (which they SHOULD care about, their lack of regard suggests they don't appreciate the expense that goes into these things)

[–] Zebov 2 points 1 year ago

I have, but you'd be shocked at what you eventually do when you have kids, just worked 10 hours, and need to cook still.