I mean… I’ve been scouring cast iron at thrift shops for ages.
I’ll probably catch flack for it, but I polished off the bottom so as to be better for my induction cook top. I feel like cast iron+induction was a match made in heaven (though I did have to relearn some old habits, like most people I used the flame height to estimate heat into the pan. Now, it’s quite a bit more consistent, but also a bit more… technical.)
polishing the bottom isn’t hard. an orbital sander, a particulate mask (yes. you need it.). work through the grits. You can do it by hand if you really want to, and you probably don’t need to go beyond “fine” grits. (though I took it to extra fine and then hit it up with green buffing compound because… “oooo shiny.”…)
Why would removing the seasoning improve the performance of cast iron on an induction stove?
Polymerised oil in no way interferes with a magnetic field. The cast iron heats up from the inside out, just the same.
Or did you just do it to keep your stovetop clean?
My griddle, due to the edge on it, doesn’t sit flush on my stove, there’s about half a centimeter air gap. Yet, because induction is just a powerful switching magnetic field, it heats up just the same. It just needs to be close enough to the electromagnet below the stove surface.
No it won’t. Induction stove tops are ceramic. Ceramic on mohs scale is “hard as fuck”.
Unless you have rocks (or salt crystals) stuck in the seasoning, neither polymerized oil nor any metal is hard enough to scratch it. They literally can’t.
That would be like a metal knife scratching a glass cutting board, which famously can’t happen, and is the reason why glass cutting boards are a terrible, knife destroying, idea.
Unless you have rocks stuck in the seasoning, neither polymerized oil nor steel is hard enough to scratch it. They literally can’t.
this is not actually true. There’s still wear to the harder material. The harder material still wears over time, though less so. also: from proline:
One of the most common causes of scratches on induction cooktops is rough-bottomed saucepans and skillets. If you are using a pot or pan that has a rough surface on its base, it may cause scratches on the cooktop.
Most manufactures will also recommend not using rough bottomed pans. (or placing something under it like a cotton pad/cloth), it’s literally one of two warnings against cast iron (that, and weight.)
Also, part of why that is, is that the rough surface does trap things (like carbonized foodstuffs.) which act like grit. a polished surface is much less likely to trap such things.
and again, it makes the shake-pan-to-stir thing (like you see for stir fries or flipping omlettes and pancakes) easier with cast iron.
Well yes, but that’s the kind of unavoidable material wear that any interacting materials made of molecules experience. The fact remains that softer things cannot scratch harder things, except in the sense that they can wear off molecules, which you might eventually notice under a microscope.
To get visible scratches, you’d need to drag something made out of equivalent or harder material than the ceramic, along its surface. Most notably in a kitchen, that can be any crystal food ingredient, like salt.
Hence I do keep my stuff clean, because a single salt or sugar crystal between pot and stove can produce the kinds of scratches you can’t unsee. And as a fine powder it can work as that grit, turning the surface cloudy.
It’s not the roughness of softer materials that can cause scratches, but the fact that harder things can end up between the two. And that’s when rough things “may” cause scratches.
As for the improvement in movement, I’m sceptical. One of the properties of a smooth extremely hard surface, is that other, softer things slide along it just about the same, because the surfaces cannot interact. Think of the way you can slide a knife along glass, sideways, frictionlessly, because there is nothing for it to cath on. I don’t really notice a difference between my scanpans and cast irons, aside from the weight.
If you did, you may have had some trace amount of harder material in there, as that would have then been interacting with the ceramic, causing friction.
I picked some thrown away pans (luck), and I’m pretty sure they are getting ground once the weather gets a little better, so I can do it outside. (They were not well taken care of, someone soaked them in a bubbling fish tank or something)
I mean… I’ve been scouring cast iron at thrift shops for ages.
I’ll probably catch flack for it, but I polished off the bottom so as to be better for my induction cook top. I feel like cast iron+induction was a match made in heaven (though I did have to relearn some old habits, like most people I used the flame height to estimate heat into the pan. Now, it’s quite a bit more consistent, but also a bit more… technical.)
polishing the bottom isn’t hard. an orbital sander, a particulate mask (yes. you need it.). work through the grits. You can do it by hand if you really want to, and you probably don’t need to go beyond “fine” grits. (though I took it to extra fine and then hit it up with green buffing compound because… “oooo shiny.”…)
Ah, ruining cast iron for other people, how evil!
Ahahah!
(You know what I meant!)
I’m confused.
Why would removing the seasoning improve the performance of cast iron on an induction stove?
Polymerised oil in no way interferes with a magnetic field. The cast iron heats up from the inside out, just the same.
Or did you just do it to keep your stovetop clean?
My griddle, due to the edge on it, doesn’t sit flush on my stove, there’s about half a centimeter air gap. Yet, because induction is just a powerful switching magnetic field, it heats up just the same. It just needs to be close enough to the electromagnet below the stove surface.
The bottom of the pan is usually rough, and it’ll put scratches in the ceramic cook top over time.
Polishing that out and re-seasoning helps prevents that. It also allows you to do the pan-shake-stir thing more smoothly.
(You can also go the non-ferrous thin stuff approach.)
Cast iron needs to be seasoned; if you’re getting it used I’d recommend stripping it down and redoing it.
No it won’t. Induction stove tops are ceramic. Ceramic on mohs scale is “hard as fuck”.
Unless you have rocks (or salt crystals) stuck in the seasoning, neither polymerized oil nor any metal is hard enough to scratch it. They literally can’t.
That would be like a metal knife scratching a glass cutting board, which famously can’t happen, and is the reason why glass cutting boards are a terrible, knife destroying, idea.
this is not actually true. There’s still wear to the harder material. The harder material still wears over time, though less so. also: from proline:
Most manufactures will also recommend not using rough bottomed pans. (or placing something under it like a cotton pad/cloth), it’s literally one of two warnings against cast iron (that, and weight.)
Also, part of why that is, is that the rough surface does trap things (like carbonized foodstuffs.) which act like grit. a polished surface is much less likely to trap such things.
and again, it makes the shake-pan-to-stir thing (like you see for stir fries or flipping omlettes and pancakes) easier with cast iron.
Well yes, but that’s the kind of unavoidable material wear that any interacting materials made of molecules experience. The fact remains that softer things cannot scratch harder things, except in the sense that they can wear off molecules, which you might eventually notice under a microscope.
To get visible scratches, you’d need to drag something made out of equivalent or harder material than the ceramic, along its surface. Most notably in a kitchen, that can be any crystal food ingredient, like salt.
Hence I do keep my stuff clean, because a single salt or sugar crystal between pot and stove can produce the kinds of scratches you can’t unsee. And as a fine powder it can work as that grit, turning the surface cloudy.
It’s not the roughness of softer materials that can cause scratches, but the fact that harder things can end up between the two. And that’s when rough things “may” cause scratches.
As for the improvement in movement, I’m sceptical. One of the properties of a smooth extremely hard surface, is that other, softer things slide along it just about the same, because the surfaces cannot interact. Think of the way you can slide a knife along glass, sideways, frictionlessly, because there is nothing for it to cath on. I don’t really notice a difference between my scanpans and cast irons, aside from the weight.
If you did, you may have had some trace amount of harder material in there, as that would have then been interacting with the ceramic, causing friction.
I picked some thrown away pans (luck), and I’m pretty sure they are getting ground once the weather gets a little better, so I can do it outside. (They were not well taken care of, someone soaked them in a bubbling fish tank or something)
Blasphemy!
I would never do it to my grandma’s old cast iron. (“Oh you like cast iron?!? Here have all of mine!!”… turns out grandma didn’t buy the cheap stuff.)