Has cast iron just been dethroned as the premier tough, non-stick cookware?

I was in a store walking past the skillets and my eye caught this skillet being made by Ninja. Or rather it caught a rather large number it did not expect to see printed on a skillet. 30,000. 30,000 what, you might ask? DEGREES! I can hear the infomercial now:

"Are you tired of food sticking to your pans? Are you tired of spending hours soaking and scraping gunk off your pans? Do you cook at temperatures THREE TIMES HOTTER THAN THE SURFACE OF THE SUN?!?! Well, have I got the pan for you...!"

Now what is says, or at least the presentation, is a bit ambiguous. There is the phrase, "30,000F won't stick, chip, or flake" which implies it can handle such temperatures during use. Up above in a different box, it says, "The difference is in the degrees [max manufacturing temperature]" This might vaguely seem to imply that 30,000F is only the max achieved during manufacture. The brackets make no sense. Flippant use of capitalization. Combining the two statements could have simply avoided any confusion, but for some reason they chose not to do so. Hmmm.

It's perplexing. How would one cook at 30,000 degrees? What adjustments would need to be made to ingredients? And cooking time? If I were to cook a hamburger, would I even be able to flip it quickly enough after placing it in the skillet before the first side burned? Would it even stay in the skillet? Would it be launched into orbit? Or perhaps explode? Would it explode into a pink mist or ash? Wait...we can't flip or stir anything because there are no 30,000 degree spatulas, spoons, etc. The radiant heat coming off the surface would almost certainly ignite anything it was directed at within at least a hundred yards, including yourself. It would also be a blinding blue beacon like having a lighthouse in your kitchen while trying to cook. I presume the heat would ionize the air into a plasma withing a radius of at least a few yards. Where do I get a stove that could reach such temps? How energy efficient could it be? I'm guessing not very.

Aluminum (from which it is made) melts at about 1200F. ???

It's tough to find them saying anything useful about the product, but I did find this:

https://www.ninjakitchen.com/page/neverstick-cookware wrote:Super-heated at 30,000°F, plasma ceramic particles are fused to the surface of the pan, creating a super-hard, textured surface that interlocks with our exclusive coating for a superior bond. The result: NeverStick® pans that won't stick, chip, or flake.

LOL! Further proof that marketing has no connection to reality. Sex it up boys! We need more zeroes!

"Has cast iron just been dethroned as the premier tough, non-stick cookware?"
Not in my kitchen. Cast iron's weight, while it has become difficult for me to manage, is irreplaceable, for many things - like cornbread, a dutch oven for camping, and as far as searing, it holds the heat so well - because of its mass - that multiple steaks can be seared, rapid-fire, a quality which I've never found in any other pan.

BUT! Carbon steel is amazing, when you want most of the awesomeness of cast iron, including ease of care, without the weight. My sister gifted me with my first Du Buyer carbon steel pan almost 20yrs ago - a crèpe pan. I fell in love with it, and we have now added several sizes of skillets to our collection. I'm still hoping for a couple sizes of sauce pans, the paella pan... Ok - the whole gamut. Lodge is making them now, too, but I've not seen the finish, so I'm not sure whether I'd recommend them. The Du Buyer is not cheap, but I think they're much less expensive than LeCruiset's cast iron, and about on par with Lodge's cast iron so... Much easier on the hands and upper body, too.

Maybe some people will look at that teflon coated pan and ask themselves, "Where does the nonstick stuff go if the pan is heated to 900 degrees?"

It's just another aluminum pan with a some new wording used in marketing.

This article from the Food Network sing the praises of this cookware:

It Checks a Lot Of Safety Boxes

If you’re worried about chemicals in your cookware, rest assured that most nonstick is made without teflon (PFOA) these days. This Ninja set is PFOA-, PFAS-, cadmium- and lead-free.

Since this set has many benefits of stainless steel, nonstick and cast iron, it’s a great set for anyone who is looking for a complete refresh

The downside:

Unlike other nonstick cookware, this set is designed to withstand metal utensils including spatulas, spoons, whisks and tongs without risk of scratching or ruining the nonstick finish. The only appliances Ninja recommends you avoid with this cookware are knives (it’s never safe to cut your food while it’s still in the pan), forks or electric mixers, as these can damage the nonstick finish.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/how-to/packages/shopping/product-reviews/ninja-foodi-neverstick-cookware-review

I want to see a hamburger launched into orbit!

Remember the thing "Will it blend?" What about "Will it fly?"  

Do it Jordan, you know you want to...  :D

FWIW, my camping kit is always looking for a lightweight fry pan that is less evil and quite durable, and yet easy to clean in the field. This is all in the context of cooking real food as opposed to relying on fast food slop while I'm on the road. Does this gear have "tailgate chef" potential?

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:FWIW, my camping kit is always looking for a lightweight fry pan that is less evil and quite durable, and yet easy to clean in the field. This is all in the context of cooking real food as opposed to relying on fast food slop while I'm on the road. Does this gear have "tailgate chef" potential?

The carbon steel does.  

Me cooking with this pan at 30,000 degrees F:

Pearl Sutton wrote:I want to see a hamburger launched into orbit!

Remember the thing "Will it blend?" What about "Will it fly?"  

Do it Jordan, you know you want to...  :D

If launched like a frisbee, many things are possible. Ha!

Pearl Sutton wrote:I want to see a hamburger launched into orbit!

Remember the thing "Will it blend?" What about "Will it fly?"  

Do it Jordan, you know you want to...  :D

not quite a hamburger

Jordan: that was amusing! I like the snap lid, worked well.!
Next they need to send a mix you'd put in an ice cream churn up, if it's coming down frozen anyway. Might as well get something down that is great to eat frozen!

:D

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:FWIW, my camping kit is always looking for a lightweight fry pan that is less evil and quite durable, and yet easy to clean in the field. This is all in the context of cooking real food as opposed to relying on fast food slop while I'm on the road. Does this gear have "tailgate chef" potential?

These pans are in about the thirty dollar range, so for me that might be a bit pricey for camping. I would prefer ruggedness and low price in case of damage. Using it "on the road" by my definition where I would have a safer setup in a vehicle, not cooking over a wood fire, might be a good idea, especially if it doesn't need oil to cook and keep it in good shape.

I've never met a non-stick coating that remained non-stick. Maybe this is different. I do notice the label says it stays non-stick after three years of "simulated use," and that they compare it to the competition's pan of three years of ACTUAL use, lol.

Carla Burke wrote:... as far as searing, it holds the heat so well - because of its mass - that multiple steaks can be seared, rapid-fire, a quality which I've never found in any other pan.

Yeah, but have you ever seared a steak on 30,000 degrees? I bet you could just stack a dozen or so on top of one another and sear them all at the same time, lol!

I have a few steel pans, and I have not been overly impressed. But these are not modern expensive ones that chefs use. They are old ones people used who could not afford cast iron, or for camping and such. I have found they are several times more difficult to season than any cast iron I've ever used. The latest one I bought is much thicker than most I've seen, and I expected it to be better. It seems to be nearly impossible to season. I've never seen anything like it. And steel really wants to rust, much more than cast iron. I believe the new expensive ones are made from custom alloys to be best suited to the task.

I like Revere Ware stainless steel. Much lighter than cast iron, does not rust, ever, and almost indestructible. It isn't as non-stick as whatever that stuff modern pans are coated with, but I'm fine with being careful not to burn stuff and the extra effort needed to clean it when I do.

I'm talking about when it was made in Illinois or New York. Mine mostly came from junk stores and yard sales and some of it is easily 100 years old.

Jordan Holland wrote:

Carla Burke wrote:... as far as searing, it holds the heat so well - because of its mass - that multiple steaks can be seared, rapid-fire, a quality which I've never found in any other pan.

Yeah, but have you ever seared a steak on 30,000 degrees? I bet you could just stack a dozen or so on top of one another and sear them all at the same time, lol!

I have a few steel pans, and I have not been overly impressed. But these are not modern expensive ones that chefs use. They are old ones people used who could not afford cast iron, or for camping and such. I have found they are several times more difficult to season than any cast iron I've ever used. The latest one I bought is much thicker than most I've seen, and I expected it to be better. It seems to be nearly impossible to season. I've never seen anything like it. And steel really wants to rust, much more than cast iron. I believe the new expensive ones are made from custom alloys to be best suited to the task.

John has seared at 2,000°F, but, considering iron melts at 2,800.4°F, I'm pretty sure their add is... false advertising, lol. And, since my carbon steel & cast iron would both be in puddles (that I wouldn't want to step in!), long before they'd reach that 30,000 mark (would the stuff just evaporate, by then???), I'm not torturing my steak, like that. I'm a 'the-redder-the-better' kind of gal!

Yet it is oven safe to only 500f.   This raises all sorts of questions. Assuming the problem is the handle, won’t the burner at 30,000 convey enough heat to melt it?

Carla Burke - we bought the Lodge in 8 and 11 inches 2 years ago. I had heard that the finishes were less than optimal and sure enough, they were rougher than the premium pans. However, because we were prepared for this, we did some polishing prior to seasoning. The results we very good. We still use at least one of the pans daily.
The difference in price point makes the Lodge a better buy, IMO.
My cast iron skillet I now use mainly for baking

Looks like cast anodized aluminum to me. They are definitely durable, but the non-stick properties of the anodized surface do eventually start to fade.

I think I've lived too long.

The number of pans I've seen that promise to never chip their coating ... ever... never ever fail... only to falter once they get into a real kitchen.  

I even invested in a pot a few years ago - it had thousands of hours of testing with a hammer and temperature and well all sorts of science.  It chipped on the first use.  

By this stage in my life, I'm starting to feel that the only truely non-stick pans are ones that don't claim to be.  Stainless steel (so long as it still has the factory finish - that means no metal utensils, no salt in cold water, nothing harder than a cloth for cleaning, nothing that will scratch or pit the factory finish) and of course, cast iron which simply gets less sticky the more bacon we cook in it.  

I mean....what can stick to a pan that's been vaporized?

r ranson wrote:... and of course, cast iron which simply gets less sticky the more bacon we cook in it.  

Hmm. So the solution is to fry more bacon? That would seem to solve multiple problems at once. Stacking functions!

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:

r ranson wrote:... and of course, cast iron which simply gets less sticky the more bacon we cook in it.  

Hmm. So the solution is to fry more bacon? That would seem to solve multiple problems at once. Stacking functions!

Frying more bacon is ALWAYS the solution, lol!

Maybe 30,000° is the temperature at which the metal atoms were made from smaller atoms.

My basic approach to new pans that promise non-toxic, non-stick attributes is to wait 3-5 years to see how they hold up in real use by thousands of people. The product is usually off the market by then. If not, then it might be worth considering but for now the cast iron and stainless steel will have to keep doing their job.

If the marketing approach promises lots of things that it doesn't have like PFOA, cadmium (really?), then I wonder what it DOES have that they aren't mentioning.

"Has cast iron just been dethroned as the premier tough, non-stick cookware?"
Not in my kitchen

Not in mine either!  Besides, it's true, the more bacon you fry, the better the pan becomes!