Eater's Complaints

J

Jennifer_A_Temple

New member
My spouse complains he can taste the cast iron every time I cook! Does anybody else get such complaints? I'm getting a bit ticked with my hubby! (I do not taste anything wrong) I told him I'd rather taste iron than eat the cancerous material that comes out of Teflon, (His favourite pan)
 
Either: The pan is not well-seasoned, the iron is reacting to certain foods, and he has hypersensitive tastebuds?

or: He has a predisposed mindset that he's going to taste iron so he thinks he does?
 
or possibly rancid oil... that can impart a taste and smell... either a strong metallic taste/smell or fishy smell... usually happens with dutch ovens that have been stored with the lid on... and having been oiled, but not heated to the point of being dry/seasoning... and not used very frequently.
 
The above information is very plausible, and its true. You could always use enameled CI. I Guess?
 
SeanD said:
The above information is very plausible, and its true. You could always use enamelled CI. I Guess?
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He never complains when he cooks steak in the caste iron pans. The oil is always fresh and If I need to use enamelled I'll just revert to stainless steel but I am convinced it's all in his head. He is fine with CI when he uses it, even though I was the one to teach him how! He used to start with an unheated pan and complained that every thing sticks in CI, I finally convinced him too heat the pan first and he has been using the CI ever since. He does scrambled eggs, fried chicken, burgers & steak in CI. If I do the same, he can "taste the iron".
 
I would say its all in his head then. If he can cook and its fine, he must be saying you dont know what youre doing. I mean no harm by that, but thats how I would take it if my wife was the same. We cook every day in CI, even tacos and such, acidic foods, and I have never had the iron taste. Tell him to do all the cooking then, jk...lol
 
SeanD said:
I would say its all in his head then. If he can cook and its fine, he must be saying you dont know what youre doing. I mean no harm by that, but thats how I would take it if my wife was the same. We cook every day in CI, even tacos and such, acidic foods, and I have never had the iron taste. Tell him to do all the cooking then, jk...lol
Click to expand...

I’m thinking of secondly agreeing with the above. Very few things I do without cast iron. No one has ever said anything than wow that was good.

Wish you luck on changing hearts and minds.
 
Cook one of his favorite dishes in the cast iron pan and when finished cooking slide it onto the Teflon pan....present it to him before putting it on his plate and see if he says anything. Commonly known as the bait and switch theory....
 
My Wife will say something if the pan has not been seasoned enough.
How I tell if the pan is well seasoned is to fry a egg ans see if the bottom has picked up any black.

She uses only Cast Iron to cook on now that I figured out how to get and keep a good seasoning on them.
 
Well, this thread's from past September so I guess the question has been settled, but in cases like this I like to eliminate subjectivity, if possible.

In one test, cook one egg in CI, another in Teflon, don't tell him which is which and see which one he likes best.

But more telling, cook two in CI but tell him one was done in Teflon and let him tell you how much more he liked the one done in Teflon before you tell him both were done in CI...

I saw that trick done with a banana, where people were given one half of a banana and told it was organic while another half of a banana they were told was non-organic. After they raved about the organic half over the other, it was revealed that they were both halves of the same banana... perception is reality...

Have a good one.
 
This is an OLD thread but didn't want to start a new one....

Looking up on Mr Internet on whether cooking in cast iron adds iron to your diet has been a topic of a lot of discussion. Many internet posts say it does. I think if your CI is properly seasoned, it won't. Seasoning supposedly keeps the food away from the raw iron. OK, maybe trace amount of iron will seep through the seasoning. One of my cousins said her father (my uncle, of course) taught her that cooking in CI is definitely a source of iron for the blood. I respectfully disagree.

One of my worst disasters was corned beef, cabbage and red potatoes for St Patric's day in a CI DO. Cabbage turned dark and tasted metallic. I thought the DO had enough seasoning but I guess I was wrong. I splurged and bought a LeCreuset DO for future use and it has worked fine. Had to buy some plastic utensils to protect the enamel but that's OK. In the past, our family almost always cooked chili, spaghetti sauce and others in a CI DO without any discernible metallic taste. Or maybe I just didn't recognize it.

Any thoughts?

FWIW...I still cook 15 Bean soup, Gumbo, Red Beans & Rice in a regular CI DO. I have a dedicated CI pot for Jambalaya. I also cook mixed veggies (no tomatoes) in a CI skillet as well as refried beans (involves bacon). Scrambled eggs with onions, garlic and bell peppers are done in a CI skillet, my answer to losing a co-worker's wife's Friday burritos during Covid. Also cooked sliced par-boiled potato slices with some olive oil and seasoning in a CI skillet. All delicious.

Refried beans in CI are the trinity. Then added to a SS stock pot with the beans and chicken stock..

One more thing...
One-pot meal with meat, beans, etc, similar to chili but not chili is also great. Learned that from my sister being a Girl-Scout. And living on weekends on a boat with a 2 burner stove.
 
There is such a thing as a "super taster". The 300 world wide master wine sommelier likely posess this trait as did Robert Parker of the Wine Advocate. I was once at a tasting where we tested for this trait. 6 of us were given a piece of paper soaked with a bitter liquid. I chewed mine up but 2 people spit it out immediately. Guess I should start drinking plunk!
 
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