I cook on a seasoned cast iron pan on a glass top stove most nights and have never had an issue
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I think the real problem is that covering a stove top in glass is stupid and bound to get broken in normal use with pots and pans. :-/
(Much like the way many cell phones come with glass backs instead of unbreakable plastic or metal. Stupid, because stylish.)
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Cast iron is actually surface porous- the seasoning is oil that soaks into small voids of the top iron a bit before polymerizing, so scouring with chainmail just hits the high spots on the iron, where the food might still stick if at all.
It shouldn’t affect the seasoning really imho.
I use a nonscratch sponge/scrubber thing like on normal dishes myself, with a dedicated handle brush to get off big stuff first, but ive seen how well chainmail works.
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I was thinking of these:
On closer inspection both brands appear to have a patch/layer of stainless exposed along the bottom as a contact patch. Which they seem to downplay pretty heavily.
People get told that a lot. And without experience otherwise can’t judge it.
That said this is a pretty big difference from aluminum or stainless steel jelly roll pans.
When small, even invisible, bits of burnt on oil get removed from aluminum or stainless. The metal underneath does not begin to rust, and that rust doesn’t eat away at the rest of the coating. Additionally we don’t expect those materials to be non-stick. So you aren’t dealing with tiny gaps in the coating, or unevenness leading to sticking.
Regular mild soaps won’t effect it. But dishwasher detergents are also abrasives. And in the past harsh lye based soaps were common/default, and alkalines can be used to remove the season deliberately. Full strength lye is preferred, but even something like baking soda can do a number. (It’s also pretty good for getting the crud off the aluminum baking sheets.)
So it’s true, from a certain point of view.
Cast Iron is rough, not porous. There’s isn’t a microscopic series of holes in the iron the oil can seep through. Like the way oil can penetrate wood to its center.
What’s happening is the polymerized oil is holding onto the rough, varied surface. Pebbling and divots mostly left as impressions from the casting medium. The same way paint sticks better to wood that has been sanded.
The chain mail scrubbers work because they aren’t coarse enough, and the steel used isn’t hard enough to grind off the seasoning. It’s all rounded corners and mild steel at low density.
A harsher abrasive will sand the season straight off. Like if you use a standard green scotch bright pad. Milder, softer scotch brite pads like the ones used on sponges (I believe they’re the blue ones as stand alone) won’t. But they will pull season off carbon steel (agressively). Since carbon steel is spun or stamped, it ends up smother. There is a hell of a lot less texture there for the oil or season to hold onto.
I’ve found the brushes to work better than the chainmail. Lots of bristles packed densely seems to do the job better. And bristles are softer than the seasoning, so no amount of over doing it is going to give you a problem. It’s mostly the carbon steel that lead me there, though. It doesn’t, as a rule, hold season long term.
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https://www.castironcollector.com/myths.php
I realize the way I described porous here was misleading. I never meant to imply oil can actually soak into it like wood- the way I originally described it, I modified to reflect a common view.
Because I work with a lot of old cast iron machinery, I know that cast iron is vibration dampening in large part due to that internal structure holding graphite in a fine matrix. My thinking was akin to that link- the top graphite burns off, creating a finely pitted at microscopic size outer surface.
That is what I was trying to imply soaked up the oil- kinda like water in potholes on a road. Not going all the way through, but laying in fine divots.
You are spot on about surface roughness differences though.
Yeah, it sure is hard to find a photo of the bottom for those pans. Finally found one for the Mauviel:
Still great looking, anyway.
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Thanks for your comment and link (which I watched)
I’m wondering about the cast iron pan fetish here as it would seem to be the least versatile pan, all high heat and great for steaks but not so good when controlling heat quickly and easily, lift a copper pan up and it cools down immediately, an often used correction and a very good connection to the cooking process. For me the cast iron pan is the BBQ in the kitchen, all cooking is tailored to the pan and not the ingredients.
In the link you provided was information around seasoning carbon steel pans, universally used in professional kitchens, seldom seen a cast iron. The Wok is also a tried and true pan, but requires very high heat and fast hand skills, you’d have to have arms like Popeye to stir fry!
I just don’t get the cast iron pan thing.
Yeah, I have a wok made from (what looks like) steel that was spun out into a bowl shape. The seasoning is constantly flaking off.
I live by my cast-iron pans. Pretty much the only pans I use. (got 12" and 10" skillets, a wok (dang is that thing heavy), and a “ribbed” griddle thing. The griddle is a one-horse pony. you can use it to “grill” meats, and that’s pretty much it. but it gets a lot of use from me… (especially good for bacon, since it’s square and lets the grease drip away)
Cleaning is easy, light years simpler and easier then cleaning stainless pans. Most things I cook simply don’t stick at all (including eggs) and a wipe down with a paper towel is all that is needed.
Half the time I don’t really “clean” them right after I use them (covered in baked on grease/oil), but instead scrub them off with a metal scrubber when it’s time for their next use. If I do scrub them down right after use, just wipe dry, and then wipe on a fresh coat of oil before storing.
Pretty much the only thing I don’t use the cast iron for is when I need to boil some water for noodles (or soup).
You’d be surprised how well fried eggs turn out in a wok. (they collect in the bottom to a nice collected round shape, instead of spreading all over the place)
My wife hates the cast iron for some reason though.
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I can’t speak for anyone else, and I’m not at the “fetish” level, but I can tell you why I like cast iron. I like my pans because they’re one of the few things I’ll buy in my life that I know will last as long as I do, and will get continually better with use, but are totally affordable compared to most “high quality” kitchen gear.
I like my big skillet with the lid especially for camping, because I can use it for everything, including baking ala Dutch oven style. I like that I can be kind of lazy and not clean them for a while, and they don’t get ruined.
Finally, I eat healthy but still used to end up borderline-anemic sometimes, so I really like that cooking my food in these pans significantly increases my iron intake.
Oh, and it keeps my arms and grip strong 
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It’s also useful for low heat and anywhere you need stability. Braises and stews, baking. Anytime you need to repeatedly add things to the pans, carbon and cast are traditional for crepes and tortillas for a reason.
You don’t want instant responsiveness, or a pan that cools a lot when the food hits it, for everything.
That same copper pan on my higher heat burners won’t let me simmer without a heat diffuser either. Which I usually use a cast iron pan for.
Plus have you seen what copper pans run these days? I have multiply stainless for thing where I want that sort of control (including copper bottom stainless pans from my mom). But the bulk of our cooking happens in the cast iron.
Woks are also used for deep frying, braising, stewing and steaming. Not all Asian cuisines featuring woks involve the sort of high heat stir frying we see in Chinese cooking. Thai cooking in particular tends to involve cooler stir fries where pastes are cooked down fairly slowly into deeply caramelized, fairly dry glazes. And south Asian versions of the wok are often used to cook flat breads. Come to think of it they’re used for that in China as well like with sesame pancakes and such.
Hell deep woks are the traditional east Asian stock pot.
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I just noticed there was a video linked there on seaoning cast iron and carbon steel pans you must be talking about.
He does do both in that video, but yeah- his cast iron seasoning method is in there too. I’ve never cooked with a true pure carbon steel pan myself.
The biggest deal for me is that I don’t need to worry about scratches ever ruining the pan at all. I hate being delicate when cooking. I’ve got one of those nonstick copper pans that are super sensitive to scratches, so I only use wood or silicone spatulas to cook eggs or pancakes in it.
The cast iron pans I can cook anything in and I don’t need to worry about it getting hurt by getting scratched if I need to use a fork to pull bacon out of the pan.
The other main thing is the heat radiance really is significantly higher than things like stainless steel so you can cook things piled very deep in them quite evenly where this would not work well in something like stainless steel. If you cook enough, you will notice the difference.
I can also throw cast iron directly on a campfire and not worry about the pan delaminating. Many normal pans are not 1 pc- many are two piece, laminated with a high temp bonding agent. If overheated long enough, they can separate. Cast iron is just a big hunk of iron- I can get it red hot and it really will not matter that much. I suppose the seasoning may actually burn out at super high temps if kept there, but basically I can put it on top of a raging campfire and cook very quickly without damaging the pan.
Everything has it’s uses. Nothing is perfect for everything. Other types of pans and materials are good for other types of cooking.
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The bottom isn’t copper probably because it is soft and would get scratched up and worn off easily, especially if used on anything with a grate. Which you wouldn’t have with induction, but they’re not induction specific.
There’s nothing functionally wrong with a conductive, non-magnetic layer between the induction coil and the pot. I just put a piece of aluminum foil on my induction range and was able to use a pot.
The thing is that no one is going to make a stovetop out of non-magnetic steel or aluminum because it will suck a lot of heat out of the pans and will stay hot after cooking longer. And grates don’t cover the induction elements well.
Ceramics or glass are the optimal materials to use given the constraints of price, manufacturing, quality, durability, etc.
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Thanks for your considered response.
I really care very little about how other people cook in a Western domestic way.
Have worked in both high end and very low end kitchens and sharp knives is a subject closer to my heart. Never been in a professional kitchen where cast iron pans are used and this is what I’m finding interesting about this discussion…
A cast iron griddle pan makes sense for high temperature charring of meat and vegetables, very specific, a carbon steel pan is the common workhorse designed for most kitchens, domestic and professional. Teflon and Stainless are more usable as well.
It’s all good to me if it makes cooking enjoyable and everyday life easier!
I’m no high end chef, nor an authority on cooking. I’m a machinist and metalworker before I’m a cook.
I just have conviction in my views. I can be wrong, been wrong plenty, but generally I don’t speak about something strongly unless I have personal experience with it.
I grew up with my dad cooking homefries in cast iron skillets at camp most of my early life, I suppose one reason I like it so much is it reminds me of that when I cook that way. Happier times I suppose.
I have a cast iron griddle I use on the stovetop for bacon and chicken, it works well for cooking quick thick cuts inside off the grill
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All their copper cookware until this special induction-friendly line have copper on the bottom, as do most traditional copper pots.
I am surprised your tin foil experiment worked, as even without ferrous content the alternating field of the stove will generate eddy currents in any conductive material, which in turn should block the field from the materials above.
You can back over cast iron with a truck. Try that with your $400 french copper pan!
All the noise on cast iron (and carbon steel) tends to obscure the fact that this is cheap, and basically indestructible.
For the most part the worst that can happen is needs a re-season.
Traditional copper cookware is copper straight across the exterior. Lined inside with a very thin layer of tin, because copper is so reactive.
My Revereware copper and stainless pans are basically a two ply deely with a thick puck of exposed copper on the bottom. Bonded smoothly to a thin stainless upper.
That copper bottom doesn’t really scratch unless you’re pretty much smacking it with steel. Scouring the carbon off with steel wool definitely leaves a scratched surface but, pretty much the same way it does on the stainless side.
Importantly. Those pans don’t work on induction. Neither do more traditional copper and stainless pans, which is why those two French manufacturers of copper cookware have seperate induction ready products.
Because they’re heavy, clunky, and prone to rust. Carbon steel, which functions pretty much the same, on the other hand is common as hell (and is much more common at home in Europe than cast iron).
Additionally many restaurant blacktops are cast iron, along with a lot of other equipment besides pans. Cast Iron fryers are still somewhat common in some areas of the US.
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Amen to this. Plus it is super-easy to clean. And great for repelling intruders.
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I don’t know, maybe the foil was too thin for eddy currents to form- sort of like how transformers are made of laminated pieces. It depends on the magnetic field: parallel (no eddy currents) or perpendicular (eddy currents form) to the foil.
Anyway, isn’t it the eddy currents that create the heat? As I recall, induction heating could work with any conductive material, but the hob would need to be reengineered and might be cost prohibitive.
But I stand corrected about the bottom of the pan, maybe the thickness of copper would cause problems that foil doesn’t.
