On Thu, 13 Sep 2012 09:49:48 -0400, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:
>Professional cooks do not use cast iron or non stick, instead they use
>carbon steel pans, they're light weight and can be seasoned exactly
>the same as cast iron... carbon steel pans are available in far
>greater diameter than cast iron... I've seen 24" carbon steel fry
>pans. I own one piece of cast iron, a gingerbread house mold, but
>it's more of a novelty, was used maybe a half dozen times some 40
>years ago. Someone gave me a set of cast iron cookware, I used the
>large pot once and tossed the entire set in the trash. The correct
>nomenclature for cast iron is crap iron. There are many brands,
>here's but one:
>
http://cutlerycuts.com/steel-pans.htm
The web site talks about two types of steel pans, black ("sometimes
called blue") and carbon steel pans. You favor carbon steel over cast
iron pans partly because of their lighter weight. Their "10-1/4"
heavy duty carbon steel frying pan" is said to weigh 4 lbs., which is
what my Lodge 10" cast iron pan plus 1 oz. weights.
Their black pan 10-1-1/4" pan is much lighter, however, weighing only
a couple ounces under 2 lbs.. Is the "carbon pan" as a "heavy duty"
pan extra heavy or is it maybe that the lighter " black(blue)" pan is
also made of carbon steel? The site doesn't seem to claim any
difference in "un-stickiness" between the carbon and black(blue) pans.
I could go for a light, non-stainless steel pan over a cast iron pan
if it only merely matched the cooking qualities of a cast iron pan.
RK