Cast iron vs carbon steel vs mild steel etc.

[worth1]

I had a brain storm on the way to work today.
There has been discussion here and on videos about carbon steel skillets.
I've talked about the amount of carbon in the skillet and if it even matters.
Can it just be regular mild steel?

Here is the deal with this.
The more carbon in steel the less conducive it is.
The less conducive it is the better the chance of hot spots on the surface of the skillet and the longer it's going to take to evenly heat up.
Not all cast iron is alike by any stretch of the imagination.
So what is the difference and how would you measure it without heating it up on a stove.
I came up with the idea of using my multi meter set on olms.
This measures the resistance in metal and anything else that conducts electricity like salt water or even dirty or muddy water.
Even wet wood and damp soil.
So that's what I'm going to do.
Measure resistance to see which type metal conducts heat better.
Results will be posted here.
The experiment my prove nothing but I haven't seen anyone do it.

[pepperhead212]

So how does the amount of carbon in the steel affect its "rustability". I know carbon steel rusts easily, and some faster. Seems to me more carbon would make for slower rust, since there would be less iron to oxidize.

[worth1]

So how does the amount of carbon in the steel affect its "rustability". I know carbon steel rusts easily, and some faster. Seems to me more carbon would make for slower rust, since there would be less iron to oxidize.

There isn't enough difference in the percentage to matter in one or the other to make a lot of difference.
Cast iron is 2% or higher in carbon.
Anything under is carbon steel to mild or low carbon steel.
I've seen cast iron flash over in rust right before my eyes when all the oil was stripped off of it.
And that depends on humidity as well.

Next the carbon in carbon steel or cast iron in a nutshell is graphite.
Graphite conducts electricity.
Carbon without graphite will not conduct electricity.
And that gets complicated.
Carbon or graphite will not rust.
Thank God for that or we would rust.

My few experiments here on the job with my wanky meter leads show no difference in resistance in short distances between mild steel and carbon steel or magnesium aluminum alloy.
Everything is reading basically the same.
I have no doubt that cast iron would read the same as well.
Now if we had one several hundred feet across you would start picking up a huge difference.

But my electrical experiment isn't all telling because I know aluminum will conduct heat way faster than steel or cast iron.
Cast iron being the worse.

I have to use basically the same amperage to tig weld aluminum as I do steel because aluminum dissipates heat so fast.
Even though aluminum melts around 1200 degrees.
Aluminum pots and pans aren't pure aluminum but close enough.

[worth1]

So what's the big deal with carbon steel pans.
1 they are thinner and lighter.
The thinness let's them heat up faster.
Cast iron has to be thicker because it will crack easier.
So it in turn is heavy as well.
I've read that carbon steel pans are up to or around 3MM or 1/8th thick.
Some less I suppose.
Now here's the kicker.
I can buy a 12 inch steel disc 1/8th thick for around 18 dollars or so on line.
I can get one made locally for probably the same price.
But I wouldn't be losing much of anything in weight.

[worth1]

Web restaurant store has genetic carbon steel pans for really cheap.
They are 1/6th thick and have riveted on handles.
Others are way more expensive and a little thicker.
Some welded and some rivets.
One is 3/32 thick.
So here's what that looks like in real time.
From thin to thick.
Obviously a pan of the same size not counting handle will weigh twice as much at 1/8th as it will at 1/16th.
Next.
The idea that you can tell the difference in weight between cast iron and steel with everything else being equal is practically impossible.
1 cubic foot of cast iron weighs 491 pounds.
1 cubic foot of steel weighs 490 pounds.

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[Shule]

What I would love is a carbon steel frying pan with a carbon steel handle (no wood or other materials), so I could bake and fry. I have a carbon steel wok, but it has wooden handles. Our seasoned cookie sheets are likely carbon steel (they're not cast iron).

One reason to use carbon steel over cast-iron and vice versa is that it imparts a different taste to the food. That's one reason I got my wok.

[worth1]

@Shule
Web restaurant store has a whole slew of carbon steel pans from inexpensive to really expensive.
My main goal here it to try and find what makes one so much more expensive other than brand and country of manufacture.

[worth1]

I just measured the thickness of my Lodge 10 inch cast iron skillet.
The thickness on the bottom is roughly 3/16th.
The same on the sides.
Now ask me how I measured the thickness of the bottom of the skillet.
Did I cut it in half or drill a hole?
No.
I ran s straight edge across the top and set my calipers on the top of the straight edge and measured down to the bottom of the skillet.
I then zeroed out the calipers because I didn't care what the measurement was nor did I want to do the math.
I then measured from the top of the straight edge to the surface the skillet was sitting on.
Bingo the measurement was 3/16th of an inch.
Easy.

Next my favorite skillet I've had for years is a magnalite skillet.
It is about 3/16th thick as well but the sides slope out farther.
The inside cooking surface is basically the same as the Lodge at around 8 inches.
The magnalite weighs 2 pounds 8 ounces.
The lodge weighs 5 pounds 7 ounces.
Buy hitting tar on the scales while the magnalite is on and then setting the Lodge on I get 2 pounds 15 ounces or basically a 3 pound difference in weight.
That's a lot of difference.
This is also why I love the magnalite skillet so much.
Not only does it heat more evenly it is also 3 pounds lighter.
A whole skillet+ lighter and one heck of an egg cooker.

I have not convinced myself that a thicker carbon steel skillet is going to do as good or better.
My wife got this magnalite set back in around 1983 or so for around 100 dollars or maybe more on sale.
Don't really remember what she paid but I was floored and I know it was at least 100 dollars.
Came with two skillets.
One Dutch oven.
One sauce kettle.
And one mini sauce kettle.
An astronomical price at the time.
Y'all have seen them all in action.
They're around 41 years old and had the devil used out of them.
Sadly they don't make them anymore but you can find them on eBay.
They're the magnalite GHC anodized magnesium aluminum alloy.

[Harry Cabluck]

Doss! Thanks for all the research. Hope that you are doing well.

[worth1]

Doss! Thanks for all the research. Hope that you are doing well.

You're welcome.
Out of all this research one thing I've discovered is cheap induction burners ruin pans.
The actual spot on the surface that heats up the pan is really small.
If you heat up a small area on a surface you will warp the surface and it won't come back many times.

And it's not just induction burners either.
When heating up any kettle or pan you need to do it slowly so the heat has time to move to the rest of the pan or kettle.

This is especially true with enameled cook ware as you can actually crack the enamel.
I haven't seen it but it has to be true.

Lodge has started putting a reverse surface on the bottom of their carbon steel skillets saying it will come back to flat.
This isn't possible and the hump in the middle of the skillet actually gets worse.
I suppose that depends on what kind of burner it's on.


Now back to more important research.

[pepperhead212]

That "hump" in the pans, to supposedly flatten out, once heated up, has been around for decades, with many brands, and it was mainly a reaction to the old electric burners, which would cause a lot of cheap (and maybe some not so cheap!) pans to warp, when used on high. I remember (sometime in the 70s, I think) when those "sandwich" bottoms of Cuisinart pans came on the market (I still have one of those hanging on my wall - more of a casserole pan), the bottoms were flat as could be (I'd hold a ruler against them, and they were perfectly flat), and would not warp, and later, the better "tri-ply", and now some with even more layers (with higher prices, of course!), work even better, and I have not had any warp. I remember giving those pans with the sandwich bottoms I had to friends and family, because that gas on my range, with the high flames, would go past the sandwich part of the bottoms, and burn food on the thin SS part! In lower gas, and electric, this never happened, and they are still performing for them, to this day. And that individual induction burner, that I use a lot, once I turn on my AC, has never ruined any of the pans, and, surprisingly, it will heat water up slightly faster than the gas on those high heat burners (20k btu/hr).

[worth1]

I have several tri clad kettles that I use liquids in and just turn on whatever I want.
The big ones I fill with water to boil and put on high.

[worth1]

Okay this thing is massive 17 inches and (only 400 dollars).
I know because I have the Lodge 17 inch one I paid less than a 100 dollars for.
The Smithy weighs 9.5 pounds and my Lodge weighs 13 pounds.
3.5 pounds difference.
When you get this big what's 3.5 pounds.
https://smithey.com/products/party-pan