Try Faux Cast Iron

It might surprise many consumers to know that imitation cast iron is a real thing. There are pots and frying pans that look like cast iron and have excellent thermal properties in spite of being made of synthetic material. To someone used to the benefits of cooking with heavy but conductive iron pans, the idea of using Faux Cast Iron might seem horrible, but it is a viable option with some real benefits.

The first point is that the synthetic material used in imitation cast iron pans is not toxic. Synthetic does not necessarily mean a petroleum-based polymer, just that the resulting compound does not occur naturally. In this case, the material sets so hard that high temperature does not degrade it, and the byproduct is nontoxic even if it does flake.

There are even several different materials that are used to make faux cast iron. The first is a combination of wood particles and resin that sets hard and is considered green because it recycles a byproduct of timber milling. The second is melamine, which can also be turned into resin but has the unique property of breaking down into nitrogen rather than something toxic when excessively heated.

All this science still leaves in question why imitation iron pans are preferable to the real thing. The advantage of cast iron is that it holds a lot of heat because of its mass and it can be heated to very high temperatures. This is great for steak, but a melamine pan can also get much hotter than boiling water and still keep its integrity. This is fine for bacon and biscuits.

A big advantage of imitation cast iron pans is that they very much do cook but are much lighter. These pans might be as light as a tenth of the weight of real cast iron of the same dimensions. This is a huge saving when the person who has to lift the pan is not very strong or whenever the pan is being hung as a decoration. The hanger does not have to be very strong if the pan is actually lightweight.

The cooking properties of melamine resin are different than iron. It does not hold as much heat, but it warms up and provides a steady trickle of heat. This might actually be preferable for surfaces that ideally are not scorched by heat such as fish and buttered toast. Whatever your tastes, this type of cook pan looks very good but is much easier to handle than heavy iron.