Cast Iron Skillets, according to Cooking YouTube

Stainless steel is the ultimate all-purpose cookware. You can use it to sear meat and fish, saute vegetables, boil pasta, simmer sauces, and much more.

Stainless steel is also the best type of cookware for pan sauces. Since it's uncoated, cooking meat in a stainless steel pan creates fond, which is the brown stuck-on bits of concentrated meat flavor at the bottom of the pan.

In fact, a well seasoned cast iron skillet can rival and certainly outlast any non-stick pan.

This is a glass-like coating, and it prevents the metal from rusting and keeps it from reacting with acidic foods, which can happen with traditional cast iron.

Because it’s so thick and heavy and holds heat well, it’s the better option for searing steaks, pork chops, chicken, and other meats.

It’s also better for cooking eggs, pancakes and other delicate ingredients. When cast iron is well seasoned it performs similarly to a non-stick pan.

Lastly, cast iron is ideal for roasting, baking, and frying because it heats up gradually and maintains a consistent temperature over long periods. Because it heats slowly, you’re less likely to burn food.

Stainless steel is more of a go-to everyday type of cookware. It heats fast and evenly and you can use it to cook any type of food, including tomato sauces, soup, and other acidic and liquid heavy meals.

But, since stainless steel pans are made with a highly conductive aluminum or copper core, they heat up fast and evenly.

The water in the stainless steel pan started boiling after 2 minutes and 55 seconds, and the water in the cast iron pan started boiling after 3 minutes and 34 seconds.

Cast iron may not heat up as fast or evenly as stainless steel, but due to its thick construction, it has far superior heat retention.

Don’t get me wrong, stainless steel pans, especially good quality fully clad pans, retain heat well, but not at the same level as cast iron.

After ten minutes, the water in the cast iron pan was 104 degrees Fahrenheit and the water in the stainless steel pans was only 96 degrees Fahrenheit.

Because it’s nonreactive and heats evenly, you can cook anything and perform any cooking technique.

Cast iron is also versatile - you can use it searing, roasting, sauteing, frying, baking, and cooking eggs.

But if you do it the right way, it also creates a slick surface that makes it easy to cook eggs and other delicate foods without sticking.

Because it responds to temperature changes quicker, you have more control over the results.

so now it's time to turn these and just look at that crust absolutely gorgeous this is off the cast iron

now let's check the stainless steel also an absolutely beautiful crust i wasn't expecting it to be that good

you can hear that that's there's a lot of crust that formed on that stainless steel and same with the cast iron i don't know that there's really any difference in the crust here and it's the same on both sides like really really solid crust

it looks like on the cast iron pan we got a pretty good medium rare all the way through

in terms of overall evenness and doneness i'm gonna give that to the cast iron pan and frankly that's actually what i would have expected too with a cast iron pan you have the thermal capacity of that pan really absorbs a ton of energy into it as it's heating up on the grill and it just allows for a more even cooking…

so the taste test on the stainless steel steak absolutely incredible as well a slightly different level of doneness but still we've got that rich buttery beefy texture got the garlic the rosemary the saltiness this is just perfect

the crusts were almost identical it rendered the fat cap just as well

and finally cast iron skillets are almost indestructible it's a tool that you're gonna cherish and pass down to your kids and grandkids

they will definitely outlive you and it's something that you're going to pass down to your kids and grandkids for sure just like a cast iron skillet

european families will often find their grandparents carbon steel skillets stashed away somewhere in the attic

That extra height is really necessary for containing hot oil and food, such as when frying donuts and shallow frying chicken.

but we preferred those with wide broad loops that we could really hang onto, especially when wearing oven mitts

Generally though, we recommend buying a 12 inch skillet if you can. It's always good to have the option of a bigger pan for recipes of different sizes

Another downside, don't expect enamel cast iron skillets to be or become non-stick.

While some manufacturers claim their pans will do this and become more non-stick with use, in our hands-on testing experience, we found that not to be the case.

You also wanna avoid using metal utensils and scraping or banging the pan, you know it's glass, so you gotta be a little bit careful with it.

Most artisan makers will also take the time to hand polish their pan surface, which makes it naturally non-stick much faster than a mass produced pan.

These cast iron pans start out like traditional cast iron, but then they're coated in a glass like vitreous glaze that seals the pan from air and moisture that could cause rust

their enamel coating makes enamel cast iron pans virtually maintenance free. You never have to season them and you can soak, use soap and scrub as much as you'd like.

Okay, that is my buying guide for these wonderful lifetime pans.

As Hannah said, an important feature of cast iron skillets is its natural non-stick ability.

Repeated exposure to smoking hot oil continues to build on this coating, making it more slippery and durable. That's why even though most skillets these days come with a factory seasoning, the surface will become even more non-stick with repeated use.

Its superpower is that it can retain and conduct plenty of heat for deep browning of food.

like regular cast iron, these pans have excellent heat retention, so they'll sear, fry and braise well maintaining the heat you want without undesirable temperature dips as food is added or flipped

Though all of these are gonna sear a great steak.

A thick heavy pan has the mass and density to hold more heat than a thinner pan does, and once preheated will cook more evenly than a thinner and lighter pan

Best of all, you can cook almost anything, even acidic foods that need to be simmered for a long time like a tomato sauce because the enamel seals the cast iron making the pan rust proof and non-reactive.

While both regular and enameled cast iron pans are induction compatible, the smoother enameled bottoms can be a little gentler on glass cooktops

Enameled is for the person that never wants to think about seasoning their pan. Enamel doesn't need it.

When you do need to season it, all you have to do is clean it, dry it, rub it with a thin layer of oil, and bake it in the oven. Although the baking portion takes an hour or so, the actual work you need to do takes less than 5 minutes. It’s not a big deal and it’s not difficult

But the reality is that seasoning isn't just oil; it's polymerized oil that's been bonded to the cast iron. It's hard and tough and as long as the dish soap doesn't contain lye or sodium hydroxide, a few drops won't hurt

I always recommend using a chainmail to clean cast iron, but if you cooked an especially messy meal and chainmail is not doing the trick, mild dish soap is okay

As you can see, the soap didn’t impact the seasoning at all

But flavoring food with a small amount of acidic ingredients, such as a splash of wine, vinegar, or lemon juice, won't cause any issues

If you're not cooking highly acidic foods for a long time, like over 30 minutes, the seasoning should be fine

To prove this point, I squeezed a whole lemon into this cast iron pan and let it simmer for about 4 minutes. After removing the lemon juice and wiping the skillet, you can see that the seasoning wasn't affected at all

One of the reasons I love cast iron is that it retains heat exceptionally well

Once it's fully preheated, it retains heat well, so your food will cook evenly

That may be true, but in my experience, this step is completely unnecessary. If the skillet is well-seasoned and you dry it thoroughly, it shouldn’t rust, and you don't need to oil it after each use

They also gradually get a slick surface patina that releases food easily.

Now, as for the enameled pans, we saw that in recipes that required plenty of fat, like steaks or fried chicken cutlets, enameled pans all released foods well and delivered good browning.

When we made cornbread and flipped over the pans, all the traditional skillets instantly turned out perfectly brown, crisprusted cornbread, but four of the six enamelled models stuck to the cornbread and tore out a chunk of the bottom crust.

Both are going to give you great heat retention and browning.

i highly recommend for all the skillets in this video to at least get 10 inches or larger preferably 12 inch skillets because 12 inch skillets are literally the jack of all trade skillets you can feed a family in a 12 inch skillet

i feel like once you got a cast iron skillet your next logical step is to upgrade to a carbon steel skill

i feel like every kitchen should have at least one stainless steel skillet if you can afford it

here's how I would make a decision between cast iron and carbon steel if you want a pan for burgers eggs potatoes fish and whatever else you want to Brown without sticking I'd go for carbon steel because of its smooth bottom and the comfortable long handle

if you need the pan for cornbread and biscuits I'd go for cast iron since those dishes need straight sides

Cast iron reacts with acidic foods like tomato sauce, citrus fruit, wine, and vinegar. It’s also prone to rusting if you don’t dry it thoroughly after cleaning. Because of that, you need to periodically season your cast iron pan.

so what that translates to is if you want to make italian food or sauce heavy food cast iron skillets and carbon steel skillets aren't really the best for them

well because carbon steel skillets and cast iron skillets are so nonstick it's very rare that you're ever going to be able to have enough fond to make a sauce out of so that could be a big negative so if you're really into making sauces cast iron skillets and carbon steel skillets are not the right skillets for you

but it does stick you don't believe me try making scrambled eggs it can be done you have to put a lot of oil on there and it's a lot more work you have to be very mindful to temperatures

even this 10 inch skillet is still pretty heavy that's probably one of the biggest things that i don't like about cast iron skillets is you do tend to get fatigued

they're much lighter than a cast iron skillet but they're heavy and they develop an amazing nonstick coating

i think for cast iron skillets she doesn't like picking up any of the big skillets and she tends to stay with the smaller skillets because they're really heavy

the cast iron skillet that i showed you in the intro and in the talking head is a 10-inch cast iron skillet i bought years and years ago and i think it was 15 bucks and for 15 bucks it's a hell of a bargain

now i remember before kovid a large 12-inch cast iron skillet can be found on amazon usually at a great sale price of 20 bucks i mean come on 20 for a pro skillet that's incredible

all things being equal I would choose a Chast iron steak

I can tell you one difference between these two products is how the meat sticks this one easily moves around even after I've dropped it right after I've dropped it no matter how long it's been sitting there that's not going to be the case with stainless steel

the concept that it sort of self-releases when it's ready to flip so when this one's ready to flip it will let you know you see it's not moving around in there yet but once it does then we'll flip

one thing I am noticing about the cast iron skillet just a little bit is the oil tends to pull more around the exterior of the pan whereas this stays really centered the oil stays really centered on the interior of the pan

probably is some difference in how they are holding the heat inside of the pan I do think that is occurring this is a thicker pan thicker Skillet here

getting a lot more smoke over here from the cast iron pan but it's not burning

I would say that based upon exterior alone it looks like the cat siren did get a much better crust to it it is uh a a slightly more uniform across the entire steak

start over here on the stainless steel side it's a good steak it really is

so one of the main differences I'm noticing right away because it has a better crust it has a little bit better chew to it something that I consider a little bit more traditional I like that little bite you get on a well crusted steak