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Can You Use A Cast Iron Skillet On An Electric Stove
Cast iron skillets are a versatile cooking tool that can be used on a variety of cooking surfaces, including electric stoves. When using a cast iron skillet, it is important to be aware of the stove’s heat settings and to use a stove mat or heat diffuser to prevent the skillet from overheating.
Of course, one of the easiest ways to use your cast iron pan or pan safely on your glass-top electric cooker is to keep it completely clean. If you are concerned whether or not you can cook with cast iron on a glass top electric stove, keep reading. If you have ever made the transition (whether unwillingly or willingly) from gas ranges to electric glass top stoves, then you may have been told the unfortunate news that you cannot cook with cast iron anymore.
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By now, you know it is safe to use cast iron cooking equipment on electric or induction stoves that feature a glass cooktop, if you are careful. Since induction ranges have glass cooktops, all of the safety precautions that we talked about in this guide are applicable.
Yes, those skillets or pans will work with any electric cooker; such as a glass-top or induction cooktop. It is easy enough to use the cast-iron cookware on traditional electric or gas ranges, as the burners are raised from the surface. There is another way to keep an electric stove free of the cast-iron hazard, by using a induction burner or heat diffuser; and placing your skillet on top of that.
If you are considering these things, cast iron heat diffusers may help to eliminate some headaches when using your cast iron pan on your glass-top electric stove. A cast iron heat diffuser, such as this one, can take away some of the heat problems caused by glass top electric stoves. Heat diffusers are tough, and will keep your cast iron pans from damaging the surface of your glass range.
| Benefits of using cast iron skillet | Drawbacks of using cast iron skillet |
| Keeps food hot and warm for an extended period of time. | The surface of cast iron cookware gets extremely hot, so use an oven mitt to avoid getting burned. |
| Cast iron cookware is durable and versatile and can be used for cooking, searing, roasting, baking, and frying. | If you place hot cast iron in cold running water too quickly, it may crack. |
These days, cast-iron pans, such as the Uno Casas, are pre-seasoned, so that the exterior surface is smooth, ready for use on the glass rangetop. It seems pretty basic, but do not dangle your pan over your glass cooktop–that is the best way to prevent damage. If you are landing those pans on the glass or induction cooktops with rough force, there is the potential for the glass top areas to get cracked.
The chances of cracking a glass-top are low, as long as you are careful when placing a pan on a burner, keep your pan in the same spot, and inspect it before you begin cooking. A smooth bottom on your cast-iron pan is more important when using an induction cooktop, as the electrical energy will not be evenly distributed across the pan. Electric ranges are prone to scratches, so be sure to raise the pan up from the range rather than drag.
Even if you lower the heat on your electric stovetop to keep the cast-iron skillet from heating up too much, the skillet will still keep heating up. That is why, after preheating the pan to get the cook started, be sure to reduce the heat. Leaving your skillet over a burner at a low temperature for several minutes can make sure that any residual moisture is evaporated.
The wash helps to remove any oils or residue from the bottom of the pan, which may cause it to carbonize while heating up on the glass stovetop. Leftover food or cooking residue on the bottom of cast iron pans will scratch glass stovetops, and carbon that builds up as it warms can stain paint around the burners.
Especially with a darker skillet used for higher-heat cooking, it is easy to miss bits of burned-out food, or drippings on the sides. The downside to such pans is the metallic taste that can come off of the spots that are not well-seasoned on the pan.
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This is especially important if you are using older cast iron pans or pans, as they will have a much uneven surface area (which is why we have already recommended updating!). Using regular teflon skillets may impact your health, so if you are looking to upgrade to a cookingware option that has the same nonstick benefits without any of the health risks, cast iron skillets and pans are the way to go. Cast iron may sound like an intimidating surface to cook on, but it actually, with the right attention and care, can make for an excellent replacement for the chemical-laden Teflon skillets currently taking up the majority of kitchens today. Yes, you can use cast iron on an electric coil-over stove; but, it will badly burn off on the outside, lower parts of your pan.
While on gas ranges, most heat is lost around the sides of the pan, less heat is lost on coil-style cookers. A gas stove may blow cold, but an electric stove provides a constant source of heat. All the electric-stoves come with one awesome feature: You control heat temperature, unlike a gas-stove.
While both gas and electric ranges get pretty hot, controlling temperature is a lot easier with gas. This is because electric stoves with ceramic burners are infamous for creating hot spots, with no uniform distribution of heat. This is why it is important to dry out the pans on any kind of cooker; it does not matter whether you are using a coil-type burner or gas. Instead of a heating element and passing the heat over the skillet, induction cookers direct electrical energy to the skillet, which then warms up.
Induction cooking uses a surface covered in copper coils that conduct alternate electrical currents, creating a magnetic field, so only certain pans–cast iron included–are compatible with these types of cookers. In the case of induction electric cooktops, the glass-ceramic covers a type of electrically-coilled burner that you might recognize from older ranges.
One of the most common questions we receive from conscientious, like-minded readers is whether or not it is OK to use cast-iron cooking vessels on their glass-ceramic ranges, be they conventional (radiant) electric or induction. Fortunately, we are here to tell you (with expert advice from one major cast-iron brand) that it is actually OK to use your favorite Dutch ovens, pans, and other cast-iron skillets on your glass-top stovetops – just a few warnings. This post will cover a few concerns newcomers to the cast-iron scene may have about cooking with cast-iron, such as whether or not cast-iron is safe on an electric griddled stove, and other related questions. Use your cast iron cooking tools with proper care and consideration, and you really should have no problems.
There is little point in cleaning and thoroughly scrubbing your cast iron every day before you begin cooking, if you are going to overlook the glass-top range that you are really cooking on. You are already going to incur the significant expense of replacing an aging electrical or gas rangetop with a new glass-top one, so in the long run, spending a little extra on upgrading your cookware is also worthwhile. Keep in mind, as mentioned earlier, your cast iron skillets take a lot of time to cool once they get hot.
Does cast iron scratch glass cooktop?
As the manufacturers explained, putting cast iron on an electric stove is not a good idea. Cast iron will almost certainly scratch glass or ceramic stove if dragged across it. Cast iron is not only significantly harder than glass, but it can occasionally acquire burrs and jagged edges.
How to protect a glass top stove from cast iron?
Cast iron is abrasive and weighty, so dragging it across the glass surface may result in minute cracks that eventually cause the stove to break. Therefore, to avoid breaking the glass, carefully raise the pots or set them down on the burner. Doing so will avoid damage.
Why are electric stoves better?
Gas stoves are 40 percent more energy efficient than electric stoves, which are 74 percent more energy efficient. This indicates that while utilizing electric stoves, 74% of the energy is delivered to the food, compared to 40% when using gas burners. As a result, anticipate electric cooktops to cook food faster.