To me, someone who celebrates a bit more of the spectrum than most: Metal hot. Make food hot.
Non-stick means easier cleanup, but my wife seems to think cast-iron is necessary for certain things (searing a prime rib roast, for example.).
After I figure those out, then I gotta figure out gas vs. electric vs. induction vs infrared…
We were told that the teflon coating is “inert”, implying it’s harmless. But, now we have microplastics in every cell in our body, of which, teflon is one. I’m not sure that chemically inert equals harmless.
Cast iron is great once you learn to cook with it. Food does stick sometimes, even in a “seasoned” pan. But, it’s not a big deal. Also, you can clean and polish it with power tools, if you need to. It’s virtually indestructible.
Induction stoves? You WILL break the glass, and the glass is expensive to replace. If I got electric, I’d go with an old-school coiled heating element type, literally buy an old, used stove, because new appliances are crap construction quality. You can get them refurbished, and they’re easy to fix if anything goes wrong–very simple machines.
If you choose gas, you NEED good ventilation, a hood that vents to the outside. At least, you need to open a window while you’re burning the gas.
Here in Germany everyone is using radiant heat or induction cooktops. I’ve never broke the glass or seen that anywhere. Don’t know what you’re doing with it.
I wonder if cast iron pans are the culprit becuse they’re heavy as fuck. But I haven’t heard of people breaking the glass either
You sure have to be a little more delicate with a heavy cast iron on glass than if you had a gas stovetop. But that comes pretty automatic if you understand that different materials have different strengths and you don’t have think too much about it.
I wouldn’t necessarily trust them to live long in a high traffic restaurant kitchen.
The best argument against Teflon has absolutely nothing to do with cooking with it and everything to do with how it’s manufactured. The chemicals used for manufacturing are incredibly bad for every part of the environment, have been proven over and over to cause cancer and are impossible to contain. Of course there are good arguments against using it for pans as well, but nobody ever listens to those, I’ve tried.
Asbestos is chemically inert.
Anyone who uses that as a claim of safety is not only brainless trash, but stupid too.