While buying pan, few questions come to your mind, such as is the pan easy to clean? Will the cooking process be faster with the pan? How is the heat conduction of the pan? Or which pan is best to go with?
Two of the most popular types of pans are stainless steel pans and cast iron pans. When buying the pan, people often get confused about which pan to go for. However, stainless steel pans and cast-iron pans, both can be good investments when it comes to buying a good frying pan because of their pros.
But in some respects, stainless steel pans are way better than cast iron pans. In this article, we will be discussing some major differences between stainless steel pans and cast-iron pans, and why does stainless steel pans beat cast iron.
Stainless Steel Pans Have Better Heat Conduction Than Cast Iron
One of the significant aspects to note when comparing cast iron pan with a stainless steel pan is that stainless steel pan has better heat conduction. While cooking food, proper heat distribution is required to cook food evenly, and this is where stainless steel pans beat cast iron. Why is this so that stainless steel pan has better heat conduction than cast iron?
Stainless steel pans have layers of metal which it is made up. With aluminum as a core, several layers are forming the pan which allows better heat distribution over the surface. Such type of cookware is known as multi-clad cookware, which means having several layers. Whereas, if we heat cast iron, then heat distribution is very slow. Cast iron pans quickly get hot where it is heated, while remaining cold at the places where it is not. Also, you cannot overheat cast iron pans to speed up the heat conduction, because overheating will cause the food to burn. There’s a little you can do to prevent the burning of food while you are cooking using a cast iron pan.
No problem Of Altering Of The Taste Of Food When Cooking With Cast Iron
When you just started cooking, you can never rely on cast iron. Not only for a novice person but also an experienced person in cooking can face the problem of altering the taste of food when cooking with cast iron. So why is it so? Cast iron pans have pores in them which can collect some food which you cooked the previous day.
For instance, suppose you were cooking potato or onion, then some of the ingredients might get collected into the pores of the cast iron pans. These pores in the cast iron pan easily absorb food materials, making it difficult to clean the pan later. Even though you have properly cleaned the pan, the chances are that there might still be some food ingredients left in the pores. When you cook the other day with the same pan having the food ingredients stuck to it, this can alter the taste of the food.
Moreover, when cooking acidic food items such as tomatoes then your food can have a slightly metallic taste. With stainless steel, you will never have such problem. Moreover, stainless steel pans are non-reactive to food items you are cooking, which gives them a plus point when comparing them with cast iron pans.
Stainless Steel Pans Are A Lot Lighter Than Cast Iron Pans
Have you ever seen chefs tossing food with cast iron pan? No, you will never see a chef doing so with. A cast-iron pan is a lot heavier than normal pans. You cannot just go on tossing food with cast iron pans. Also, with such a heavyweight, you have chances of breaking or scratching the glass when cooking over a glass cooktop.
Talking about stainless steel pans, they are light in weight, and you can easily pick them up. Stainless steel pans make cooking easy, and you need not worry about glass cooktop getting scratched or break. If you have the best cookware for induction cooktop, you can cook faster.
Also, with a cast iron pan, you have the risk of breaking the floor if it is made up of tiles. Cast iron pans can easily break tiles flooring if they fall on the floor.
Stainless Steel Pans Are Easy To Clean
Many people don’t like to clean the pans after cooking food, because it consumes a lot of time. Talking, about cast iron pans, it can be a real headache to clean them. Cleaning cast iron pans and taking care of them is a difficult task to do. While cleaning cast iron pans, you have to follow a certain list of precautions, including do’s and don’ts.
You cannot let water sit on the pan for too long, neither you can store dishes in them. If you have some remaining food and you want to store them as it is on the cast iron pan, then it probably won’t be a good option to go with. Cast iron can easily get destroyed if food or water is leftover it for too long. Allowing the water to sit over the pan for too long can speed up the process of rusting.
Cleaning stainless steel pans can be a lot easy task as compared to that of cast iron. You don’t have to follow a certain set of rules while cleaning stainless steel pans. They are easy to clean, and you can store food in them without fear of it getting destroyed.
Searing Is Better In Stainless Steel Pan
In terms of searing, no pan can beat stainless steel pans. While searing in a stainless steel pan, the meat gets stick to the pan giving it a darker color which is good for the meat or whatever you are searing. The natural release of protein from the meat while searing it might not be possible in a cast iron pan. It is so because meat cannot bond with cast iron pan. Whereas, the meat gets brown when searing it on a stainless steel pan which helps release the protein naturally. Heavy-duty sticking of meat is of great advantage, and that can only be possible through stainless steel pan. Cast iron pans do not perform well when it comes to searing.
