Re: Best frypan for frying in ?

[Guest guest]

I used to use cast iron pans all the time but I put them away a long

time ago for stainless steel. The waterless stainless steel people at

the craft shows changed my mind when they wiped them and wiped off

black stuff! I didn't want to ingest that! What is that black stuff

anyway? I just bought an enameled stock pot and look forward to using

it this week.

~Del

> I've got several enameled cast iron pots - they do not cook the

same and sit

> in my cabinet getting dusty. But you may be right that the other

is not

> good for you - I don't know for sure on that.

> RE: Best frypan for frying in ?

>

>

> -

>

> Certainly from a convenience and ease-of-cooking perspective,

cast iron is

> best, but I think the drawbacks -- the layer of oxidized fat

caused by

> seasoning, and the extra iron added to food -- are too serious,

so I

> prefer

> enameled cast iron, even though it looses the non-stick quality.

>

> >I don't think anything compares either to cooking steaks,

hamburgers or

> >frying. They hold heat much better and more evenly.

>

>

>

> -

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 11/18/03 1:30:58 AM Eastern Standard Time,

BrenRuble@... writes:

> I suspect when people started tossing their cast iron cookware aside for

> teflon is when we had to start fortifying everything with iron!

Actually I think that was when they started taking iron out food ;-) (i.e.

refining flour).

I get lots of iron, but don't consider pans a good source of it.

Chris

[Guest guest]

ROFL........

well how many centuries did ppl cook with cast iron and were healthy as ?

_____

From: BrenRuble@... [mailto:BrenRuble@...]

Sent: Tuesday, 18 November 2003 4:29 PM

Subject: Re: Best frypan for frying in ?

I suspect when people started tossing their cast iron cookware aside for

teflon is when we had to start fortifying everything with iron!

[Guest guest]

- I'm in the same boat as you, except I just bought a

cast-iron pan.

It was $9.99 at Target for a 11 " or 12 " cast iron pan. I was a little

hesitant to buy it because it was medium gray and I thought all cast

iron pans were black. I guess iron really is gray to start out with.

Anyway, the pan is great, and I did in fact season it with lard! The

label said " don't use margarine or butter, oil only " but I said screw

that, I'm not letting oil touch this--after all, the " seasoning " is

mostly grease that coats the pan and lard will stand up to heat

without going rancid longer than anything. (It wasn't actually lard

lard, it was bacon drippings, which I collect and put into a container

and keep in the fridge...so " smoked lard " .)

Anyway, I scoffed at the seasoning instructions (put in oven at 300?

degrees for an hour) and just fired up a burner on my gas range. Well

after about 5 minutes the thing smelled REALLY bad. I don't know if it

was just the lard or just the bare iron reacting with the flame, but

it smelled almost chemically. So I took it off the burner and put it

in the oven (later) and it fared better. Just a hint of that bad

smell. Now it's still grey (although darkening a little) and it smells

fine when I cook with it.

Beware these things are VERY HEAVY. I lift weights and had trouble

holding up the pan in one hand and tilting it to pour off

juice...couldn't hold it there for more than a few seconds. Well, it

will strengthen my wrist muscles to pump iron.

I also saw the pre-seasoned cast iron pans (at Bed Bath & Beyond) and

also stayed away from them. I'm positive they use non-animal oil, in

this day and age (sad as it is). They were more expensive too. The

only thing they had going for them was a little handle diametrically

opposite the main handle, which is handy given the weight (two hands

would be much easier). Look for a non-seasoned cast-iron pan with that

kind of handle.

Thanks to the others who posted about the ribbed cast-iron pans for

searing meat. They had those at Target too, so I'm going to go back

and pick up a second for $9.99....

Tom

> > Lodge cast iron ribbed pan. They are very inexpensive. I think I

paid

> > around $15 for mine. I put it in the oven to warm it first then

put it on the

> > stove top on a high setting. Toss the steak on it, salt and

pepper the top side

> > and cook it until it gets the charcoal/black ridges on the down

side (about a

> > minute or so) flip it to the other side then finish it in the

oven. You get a

> > steak that's similar to that of steakhouses. Seared on the

outside, while

> > pink in the middle.

>

> I looked at this pan at the store, and it was pre-seasoned. I

waited to buy it

> because I was nervous what they preseasoned it with. Does anybody

know?

> All the cast-iron stuff also said to only use veg. oil to season

with. Why is this?

> I would think lard would work better, and not smoke when you heated

it high.

> Would olive oil work? or would it make everything taste like olive

oil? Thanks

> for any info you guys can give me... I really want to switch over to

cast iron.

> And not just because teflon may be dangerous. You just can't get a

good sear

> with non-stick, and I find that no matter how careful I am, I can't

keep my

> expensive non-sticks from getting scratched and deteriorating. (I'm

not the only

> one who uses them...:-) )

>

>

[Guest guest]

How do you like the Scanpan? Does it heat evenly and cook well? Is it

truly non-stick? I just checked their website and it sounds pretty

neat. Must be light, with the aluminum and titanium, unless there's a

high proportion of ceramic in the pan.

Tom

> Cast iron is what we use. We also use Scanpan which is a titanium pan.

>

> Elainie

[Guest guest]

The layer of oxidized fat (although if you don't use vegetable oils,

I'm not sure how oxidized it gets) is very hardened and probably

doesn't leach into the food any more than synthetic non-stick

materials leach into food, which is very little. Probably on the order

of milligrams. Secondly, that layer of grease is in between the iron

and your food. I wouldn't worry about the iron.

I did just buy a cast-iron pan and the food has a hint of iron, which

actually tastes good. Maybe it would taste bad it my body was

overloaded on iron...

Tom

> -

>

> Certainly from a convenience and ease-of-cooking perspective, cast

iron is

> best, but I think the drawbacks -- the layer of oxidized fat caused by

> seasoning, and the extra iron added to food -- are too serious, so I

prefer

> enameled cast iron, even though it looses the non-stick quality.

>

> >I don't think anything compares either to cooking steaks, hamburgers or

> >frying. They hold heat much better and more evenly.

>

>

>

> -

[Guest guest]

--- In , " Tom " <cassiusdio@g...>

wrote:

> - I'm in the same boat as you, except I just bought a

> cast-iron pan.

>

> It was $9.99 at Target for a 11 " or 12 " cast iron pan. I was a

> little hesitant to buy it because it was medium gray and I thought

> all cast iron pans were black.

I think the chemical coating they put on the cast iron pans

to keep them from rusting while on the store shelf tends to

make them look grayer. I'm not sure though.

> I guess iron really is gray to start out with. Anyway, the pan

> is great, and I did in fact season it with lard! The label said

> " don't use margarine or butter, oil only " but I said screw that,

They're actually only precluding butter or margarine because

those contain water and non-fat solids which will splatter

and burn, not because they're particularly opposed to solid

fats being used for seasoning.

> I'm not letting oil touch this--after all, the " seasoning " is

> mostly grease that coats the pan and lard will stand up to heat

> without going rancid longer than anything.

There's probably little oxidized fat left in the seasoning,

if any. The seasoning is made up of _carbonized_ fats and

other substances from the food cooked in the pan. Remember

that steel is iron with carbon added. You're creating your

own little non-stick alloy on the surface of the pan.

> Anyway, I scoffed at the seasoning instructions (put in oven at

> 300? degrees for an hour) and just fired up a burner on my gas

> range. Well after about 5 minutes the thing smelled REALLY bad.

> I don't know if it was just the lard or just the bare iron

> reacting with the flame, but it smelled almost chemically.

Many manufacturers coat their iron pans with a chemical

sealant to protect them from moisture, and thus rusting

while on the store shelf. The instructions usually warn

you to thoroughly scrub this coating off before attempting

to season them. This may be what was stinking.

The easiest way I've found to season new pans is to start

out using them for deep frying only. I leave the fat in

the pan after the frying is done, and until the next time

I use it. I only pour it out when the fat becomes too

dirty and damaged for any further use. Even then, I only

wipe it out with a paper towel, without any water, and

certainly never any soap. After two or three months of

being used this way, it's well-seasoned and ready for other

uses.

[Guest guest]

> What does " fauna from heaven " mean? Do you mean it tasted

> something like meat or poultry?

I think the phrase should have been " manna from heaven, " a biblical

reference.

Lynn S.

garden variety pagan who knows a number of sacred texts...

-----

Lynn Siprelle * Writer, Mother, Programmer, Fiber Artisan

The New Homemaker: http://www.newhomemaker.com/

Siprelle & Associates: http://www.siprelle.com/

People-Powered ! http://www.deanforamerica.com/

[Guest guest]

UGH. That's what I feared--a chemical coating. Well, I did clean well

with soap as directed, but it still smelled awful. The label mentioned

nothing about a coating. It stopped smelling after the second or third

heating.

Come to think of it, I've had a few minor headaches the past week

since I started using the pan...who knows?

Thanks for the info, . That's very interesting about carbonized

fats...I'll have to read up on that!

Tom

> > - I'm in the same boat as you, except I just bought a

> > cast-iron pan.

> >

> > It was $9.99 at Target for a 11 " or 12 " cast iron pan. I was a

> > little hesitant to buy it because it was medium gray and I thought

> > all cast iron pans were black.

>

> I think the chemical coating they put on the cast iron pans

> to keep them from rusting while on the store shelf tends to

> make them look grayer. I'm not sure though.

>

> > I guess iron really is gray to start out with. Anyway, the pan

> > is great, and I did in fact season it with lard! The label said

> > " don't use margarine or butter, oil only " but I said screw that,

>

> They're actually only precluding butter or margarine because

> those contain water and non-fat solids which will splatter

> and burn, not because they're particularly opposed to solid

> fats being used for seasoning.

>

> > I'm not letting oil touch this--after all, the " seasoning " is

> > mostly grease that coats the pan and lard will stand up to heat

> > without going rancid longer than anything.

>

> There's probably little oxidized fat left in the seasoning,

> if any. The seasoning is made up of _carbonized_ fats and

> other substances from the food cooked in the pan. Remember

> that steel is iron with carbon added. You're creating your

> own little non-stick alloy on the surface of the pan.

>

> > Anyway, I scoffed at the seasoning instructions (put in oven at

> > 300? degrees for an hour) and just fired up a burner on my gas

> > range. Well after about 5 minutes the thing smelled REALLY bad.

> > I don't know if it was just the lard or just the bare iron

> > reacting with the flame, but it smelled almost chemically.

>

> Many manufacturers coat their iron pans with a chemical

> sealant to protect them from moisture, and thus rusting

> while on the store shelf. The instructions usually warn

> you to thoroughly scrub this coating off before attempting

> to season them. This may be what was stinking.

>

> The easiest way I've found to season new pans is to start

> out using them for deep frying only. I leave the fat in

> the pan after the frying is done, and until the next time

> I use it. I only pour it out when the fat becomes too

> dirty and damaged for any further use. Even then, I only

> wipe it out with a paper towel, without any water, and

> certainly never any soap. After two or three months of

> being used this way, it's well-seasoned and ready for other

> uses.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Tom-

Scanpan is the very nicest teflon pan you could ever get -- it heats

evenly, you can use metal utensils because of the titanium, etc. But it

still has just about all the drawbacks of teflon.

>How do you like the Scanpan? Does it heat evenly and cook well? Is it

>truly non-stick? I just checked their website and it sounds pretty

>neat.

-

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 11/18/03 11:40:35 PM Eastern Standard Time,

liberty@... writes:

> There's probably little oxidized fat left in the seasoning,

> if any. The seasoning is made up of _carbonized_ fats and

> other substances from the food cooked in the pan. Remember

> that steel is iron with carbon added. You're creating your

> own little non-stick alloy on the surface of the pan.

What is a " carbonized " fat? I guess I haven't gotten that far in orgo yet.

Chris

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 11/19/03 10:12:21 PM Eastern Standard Time,

liberty@... writes:

> nything organic, when burned at sufficiently

> high heat, leaves mostly carbon as a deposit.

> When I read your question though, I wondered

> if there wasn't something other than what I

> was talking about, known as " carbonized fat " ,

So then it's not so much that the fat has become " carbonized " as the fat has

left carbon in another form? Like, dehydrogenated then?

Chris

[Guest guest]

>

> What is a " carbonized " fat? I guess I haven't gotten that far

> in orgo yet.

Anything organic, when burned at sufficiently

high heat, leaves mostly carbon as a deposit.

When I read your question though, I wondered

if there wasn't something other than what I

was talking about, known as " carbonized fat " ,

and if I wasn't using the term incorrectly.

So I did a google search and I'm glad I did,

because in the process I came across a very

informative article about seasoning cast iron

at http://www.melindalee.com/Cast-Iron.html .

It seems that I was wrong about there being no

difference between solid fats and liquid oils

for seasoning. Apparently liquid vegetable

oils _are_ better for this purpose. Here's a

quote from the page

" Rub a relatively thin coat of oil all over the

piece with the fingertips. Animal fats are not

really suitable, as the carbon formed is usually

quite soft, not nearly as hard as vegetable oils. "

There's alot more other detailed information

about seasoning and using cast iron pans on the

page too.

[Guest guest]

-

This strikes me as highly improbable, since cast iron cookware was being

seasoned and used long before vegetable oils were widely available.

>Animal fats are not

>really suitable, as the carbon formed is usually

>quite soft, not nearly as hard as vegetable oils. "

-

[Guest guest]

>

> So then it's not so much that the fat has become " carbonized "

> as the fat has left carbon in another form?

Yes, that's _my_ understanding, but I thought you were

the chemist here. I think saying " carbonized fat " is

like saying " fossilized dinosaur " . The fossil's not

really a dinosaur anymore, just minerals in the shape

of one. I assume that carbonized fat is likewise

completely, or at least mostly, carbon without any

actual fat left.

> Like, dehydrogenated then?

Well, as I understand it, it's not a fat of any sort

anymore, hydrogenated or otherwise.

[Guest guest]

--- In , Idol <Idol@c...>

wrote:

>

> > " Animal fats are not really suitable, as the carbon formed

> > is usually quite soft, not nearly as hard as vegetable oils. "

>

> -

>

> This strikes me as highly improbable, since cast iron cookware

> was being seasoned and used long before vegetable oils were

> widely available.

That only means that cast iron was probably _originally_

seasoned with solid fats, or whatever fats people were

using, not that it was the _best_ thing with which to

season them. Although olive oil may well have been the

first fat to go into iron pans in some places. The way

of doing something discovered first, doesn't often turn

out in the long run to be the best way of doing it. As

I understand it, it's purely a matter of chemistry. If

the page I cited is correct, then burning vegetable oils

results in a harder and smoother layer of carbon for

seasoning pans than burning solid fats does. Also note

that since the fat is reduced to nearly pure carbon, any

concerns about consuming one type of fat or another don't

really come into the picture. Don't think of the fat being

used for this purpose as a food.

[Guest guest]

Considering how often a skillet / frypan is used in the kitchen I

can think of few things worse than vegetable oils and iron oxide as

the base used to cook on.

DMM

--- In , " wtsdv " <liberty@p...>

wrote:

> --- In , ChrisMasterjohn@a...

wrote:

> >

> > What is a " carbonized " fat? I guess I haven't gotten that far

> > in orgo yet.

>

> Anything organic, when burned at sufficiently

> high heat, leaves mostly carbon as a deposit.

> When I read your question though, I wondered

> if there wasn't something other than what I

> was talking about, known as " carbonized fat " ,

> and if I wasn't using the term incorrectly.

> So I did a google search and I'm glad I did,

> because in the process I came across a very

> informative article about seasoning cast iron

> at http://www.melindalee.com/Cast-Iron.html .

> It seems that I was wrong about there being no

> difference between solid fats and liquid oils

> for seasoning. Apparently liquid vegetable

> oils _are_ better for this purpose. Here's a

> quote from the page

>

> " Rub a relatively thin coat of oil all over the

> piece with the fingertips. Animal fats are not

> really suitable, as the carbon formed is usually

> quite soft, not nearly as hard as vegetable oils. "

>

> There's alot more other detailed information

> about seasoning and using cast iron pans on the

> page too.

>

>

[Guest guest]

>

> Considering how often a skillet / frypan is used in the kitchen I

> can think of few things worse than vegetable oils and iron oxide as

> the base used to cook on.

But again, unless you fear getting a " homeopathic " dose

of vegetable oil or iron oxide, you're not likely to get

a significant amount of either one. What you're in fact

getting is _carbon_, the same substance you get in much

larger amounts when cooking over a camp fire or charcoal.

Although, unless your eggs, or whatever, are coming out

black, or even just grey, you're getting no significant

amount of that either. Keep in mind too, that ancient

pottery used for frying, or even the flat stones that were

propped over a fire for the same purpose, would have quickly

develop a similarly carbonized surface.

[Guest guest]

While this may or may not be theoretically true. It seems that

since there are clearly choices that do NOT present ANY downside

such as I have mentioned that simple avoidance of said materials

would be simple and wise. If a pan were made of cyanide or botulism

and there were a proven and reliable way to neutralize their effects

so one may use said pan I'd still probably avoid such a pan anyway.

Why court a problem that can be completely avoided with total ease.

Considering that this is a tool that has my food in it every single

day I'd prefer to simply use one that has no downside no matter what

I do to it.

DMM

> >

> > Considering how often a skillet / frypan is used in the kitchen

I

> > can think of few things worse than vegetable oils and iron oxide

as

> > the base used to cook on.

>

> But again, unless you fear getting a " homeopathic " dose

> of vegetable oil or iron oxide, you're not likely to get

> a significant amount of either one. What you're in fact

> getting is _carbon_, the same substance you get in much

> larger amounts when cooking over a camp fire or charcoal.

> Although, unless your eggs, or whatever, are coming out

> black, or even just grey, you're getting no significant

> amount of that either. Keep in mind too, that ancient

> pottery used for frying, or even the flat stones that were

> propped over a fire for the same purpose, would have quickly

> develop a similarly carbonized surface.

>

>

[Guest guest]

-

Regardless of whether or not the layer is mostly pure carbon, I'm sure

there are still plenty of impurities, and I'm sure a little of the coating

is absorbed into every meal.

>Also note

>that since the fat is reduced to nearly pure carbon,

-

[Guest guest]

>

> While this may or may not be theoretically true. It seems that

> since there are clearly choices that do NOT present ANY downside

> such as I have mentioned that simple avoidance of said materials

> would be simple and wise. If a pan were made of cyanide or

> botulism and there were a proven and reliable way to neutralize

> their effects so one may use said pan I'd still probably avoid

> such a pan anyway.

I don't really see there being any down sides to cast iron.

I've never heard that a trace amount of iron oxide was harm-

ful, and almost everyone occasionally fries with vegetable

oil of some sort, if only olive oil. Although even if one

uses only solid fats, those aren't 100% saturated fat either.

There's a fraction of fats in them no less damaged at frying

temperatures than vegetables oils. Refer to our discussion

of the liquid fraction of ghee, and that about the practice

of hydrogenating grocery-store lard, (commercially) necessary

for that small fraction of the lard that isn't already naturally

saturated. The amount of damaged fat from this source alone

is astronomically larger than the few molecules of oxidized

fat that might linger in the surface of the pan from seasoning.

> Why court a problem that can be completely avoided with total ease.

> Considering that this is a tool that has my food in it every single

> day I'd prefer to simply use one that has no downside no matter

> what I do to it.

But which kind of pan would that be (I'm sorry if you already

mentioned and I didn't notice)? People worry about tin from

tin-lined copper pans, nickel from stainless steel pans, lead

from ceramics, and teflon goes without saying. Also, besides

the teflon, most of these other materials, and enamelled metal

as well, create problems with sticking. What do you use, stone?

[Guest guest]

-

>I've never heard that a trace amount of iron oxide was harm-

>ful,

Excess inorganic iron is clearly linked with heart disease.

>and almost everyone occasionally fries with vegetable oil of some sort, if

>only olive oil.

So what? Almost everyone regularly eats hydrogenated oils.

>Although even if one uses only solid fats, those aren't 100% saturated fat

>either. There's a fraction of fats in them no less damaged at frying

>temperatures than vegetables oils.

This is just an argument against using seasoned cast iron at all.

>But which kind of pan would that be (I'm sorry if you already

>mentioned and I didn't notice)? People worry about tin from

>tin-lined copper pans, nickel from stainless steel pans, lead

>from ceramics, and teflon goes without saying.

Enamel works very nicely for almost everything, though not, I admit, for

scrambled eggs.

-

[Guest guest]

--- In , Idol <Idol@c...>

wrote:

> -

>

> >I've never heard that a trace amount of iron oxide was harm-

> >ful,

>

> Excess inorganic iron is clearly linked with heart disease.

That's one for you then, but how much iron is excessive,

and are iron pans really the source of it? People have

been using cast iron for centuries with no apparent

problems.

> > and almost everyone occasionally fries with vegetable oil of

> > some sort, if only olive oil.

>

> So what? Almost everyone regularly eats hydrogenated oils.

My point is that someone who even occasionally frys with

vegetable oil, gets astronomically more damaged fats than

could ever be got from the seasoning on a cast iron pan,

and so shouldn't worry on this point. Though see below

about solid fats as well.

> > Although even if one uses only solid fats, those aren't 100%

> > saturated fat either. There's a fraction of fats in them no

> > less damaged at frying temperatures than vegetables oils.

>

> This is just an argument against using seasoned cast iron at all.

No, if anything it would be an argument against cooking

with _fats_ at all. The damage to the small unsaturated

fraction of solid fats mentioned here happens in any kind

of pan. So if one does fry with solid fats, and isn't

concerned about consuming the small amount of damaged

fat which that entails, then it makes no sense that they

would fear the few molecules possibly left over from the

vegetable oil used for seasoning, which happened, depending

on how long one has owned the pan, often years before.

> Enamel works very nicely for almost everything, though not, I

> admit, for scrambled eggs.

Well that's good for you then if you like enamel. I hate

it. It chips far too easily and then you get all kinds of

iron oxide, unless the food in it is constantly monitored

and kept moving, it sticks and burns almost instantly, and

it's not heavy enough for even heating and thus the proper

cooking of many sorts of things. If you can make it work

for you though, I'm glad to hear it.

[Guest guest]

If we were discussing a pan that was used 3 times a year your points

would be well taken however at least in our house this is the MOST

used pan every day. I see no reason to for there to be ANY downside

at all for the most popular pan in the house regardless of how

small. There are plenty of other " bad " things we cannot control.

Using a 100% safe piece of cookware daily is one of them.

Vegetable oil compared to the amount of pufa in butter or lard or

coconut oil is an absurd comparison.

We as a culture have MASSIVE overexposure to Iron from all of the

mandated " enriched " foods. Few if any modern westerners are in need

of any more iron. Excess iron is a great way to rust.

DMM

> >

> > While this may or may not be theoretically true. It seems that

> > since there are clearly choices that do NOT present ANY downside

> > such as I have mentioned that simple avoidance of said materials

> > would be simple and wise. If a pan were made of cyanide or

> > botulism and there were a proven and reliable way to neutralize

> > their effects so one may use said pan I'd still probably avoid

> > such a pan anyway.

>

> I don't really see there being any down sides to cast iron.

> I've never heard that a trace amount of iron oxide was harm-

> ful, and almost everyone occasionally fries with vegetable

> oil of some sort, if only olive oil. Although even if one

> uses only solid fats, those aren't 100% saturated fat either.

> There's a fraction of fats in them no less damaged at frying

> temperatures than vegetables oils. Refer to our discussion

> of the liquid fraction of ghee, and that about the practice

> of hydrogenating grocery-store lard, (commercially) necessary

> for that small fraction of the lard that isn't already naturally

> saturated. The amount of damaged fat from this source alone

> is astronomically larger than the few molecules of oxidized

> fat that might linger in the surface of the pan from seasoning.

>

> > Why court a problem that can be completely avoided with total

ease.

> > Considering that this is a tool that has my food in it every

single

> > day I'd prefer to simply use one that has no downside no matter

> > what I do to it.

>

> But which kind of pan would that be (I'm sorry if you already

> mentioned and I didn't notice)? People worry about tin from

> tin-lined copper pans, nickel from stainless steel pans, lead

> from ceramics, and teflon goes without saying. Also, besides

> the teflon, most of these other materials, and enamelled metal

> as well, create problems with sticking. What do you use, stone?

>

>

[Guest guest]

what kind of Pan do u use DMM?

does it make any diff if your steak is on the pan no more than liek 3

mintues ?

( making it VERY rare )

_____

From: Dr. Marasco [mailto:mmarasco@...]

Sent: Friday, 21 November 2003 7:33 AM

Subject: Re: Best frypan for frying in ?

If we were discussing a pan that was used 3 times a year your points

would be well taken however at least in our house this is the MOST

used pan every day. I see no reason to for there to be ANY downside

at all for the most popular pan in the house regardless of how

small. There are plenty of other " bad " things we cannot control.

Using a 100% safe piece of cookware daily is one of them.

Vegetable oil compared to the amount of pufa in butter or lard or

coconut oil is an absurd comparison.

We as a culture have MASSIVE overexposure to Iron from all of the

mandated " enriched " foods. Few if any modern westerners are in need

of any more iron. Excess iron is a great way to rust.

DMM

> >

> > While this may or may not be theoretically true. It seems that

> > since there are clearly choices that do NOT present ANY downside

> > such as I have mentioned that simple avoidance of said materials

> > would be simple and wise. If a pan were made of cyanide or

> > botulism and there were a proven and reliable way to neutralize

> > their effects so one may use said pan I'd still probably avoid

> > such a pan anyway.

>

> I don't really see there being any down sides to cast iron.

> I've never heard that a trace amount of iron oxide was harm-

> ful, and almost everyone occasionally fries with vegetable

> oil of some sort, if only olive oil. Although even if one

> uses only solid fats, those aren't 100% saturated fat either.

> There's a fraction of fats in them no less damaged at frying

> temperatures than vegetables oils. Refer to our discussion

> of the liquid fraction of ghee, and that about the practice

> of hydrogenating grocery-store lard, (commercially) necessary

> for that small fraction of the lard that isn't already naturally

> saturated. The amount of damaged fat from this source alone

> is astronomically larger than the few molecules of oxidized

> fat that might linger in the surface of the pan from seasoning.

>

> > Why court a problem that can be completely avoided with total

ease.

> > Considering that this is a tool that has my food in it every

single

> > day I'd prefer to simply use one that has no downside no matter

> > what I do to it.

>

> But which kind of pan would that be (I'm sorry if you already

> mentioned and I didn't notice)? People worry about tin from

> tin-lined copper pans, nickel from stainless steel pans, lead

> from ceramics, and teflon goes without saying. Also, besides

> the teflon, most of these other materials, and enamelled metal

> as well, create problems with sticking. What do you use, stone?

>

>