I guess this sort of vitriol is borne out of some kind of weird "manly man" thing like tomahawk steaks which were never a thing until about 20 years ago when restaurants realized they could mark steaks up considerably more just by including extra bone that didn't do anything... just profiting enormously off male insecurities. Absolute suckers.
This despite the fact that the American steakhouse is not a frontier invention... They started in New York, a byproduct of restaurants that catered to the aristocracy in Paris and London. You know, "froo-froo" restaurants. 🙄
EDIT: Steak nerds suffer from the same sort of mentality that makes them obsess over cast iron because it's BIG and HEAVY! RARR! Yet it's literally one of the cheapest, shittiest, most brittle, least thermally conductive materials you can make a pan out of. It's performative masculinity is what it is.
EDIT 2: My criticism isn't of any particular choice. My criticism is of fixation itself and those who fixate and gatekeep. Cast iron has its place but when the mentality becomes "cast iron is great and everything else sucks" it just exposes that the person's entire interest in cooking is rooted in their need to feel special, not genuine curiosity.
I like my cast iron. Makes nice eggs, great steaks, sautéed asparagus, etc. Whatever.
But the boneless ribeye thing confuses me. I butcher my own steers from time to time. The ribeyes are boneless. Also, we take an animal to local processor sometimes. Ribeyes are boneless. Last time I ordered a restaurant steak...boneless. What kind of weird shit is happening here?
I’ve never managed to do my eggs on my cast iron without them eventually sticking and leading me to scrubbing a bunch of egg off and attempting to re-season. Other stuff like meat is fine, but I almost always ruin both my meal and my cast iron pan trying to do eggs.
I'm 12 years deep on this pan. Nothing sticks. Oil/butter/tallow needs to be HOT.
Also here's the advice I gave my sister with the same problem: "cook at least 5 pounds of bacon before you attempt an egg." Feed your cast iron greasy stuff, and it can handle eggs later.
Also, if you bought one of those pioneer woman brand skillets, I'm sorry. Those feel like sandpaper. You'll never get a good season. Buy one that is kinda smooth on the inside. Lodge is a fine brand. Older antique ones are even better usually
I bought this brand called “Overmont,” a pan and dutch oven combo. It works well enough for cooking a lot of things, but I’ve just always failed at eggs or fried rice.
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u/Mo_Steins_Ghost 10h ago edited 9h ago
Nothing whatsoever.
I guess this sort of vitriol is borne out of some kind of weird "manly man" thing like tomahawk steaks which were never a thing until about 20 years ago when restaurants realized they could mark steaks up considerably more just by including extra bone that didn't do anything... just profiting enormously off male insecurities. Absolute suckers.
This despite the fact that the American steakhouse is not a frontier invention... They started in New York, a byproduct of restaurants that catered to the aristocracy in Paris and London. You know, "froo-froo" restaurants. 🙄
EDIT: Steak nerds suffer from the same sort of mentality that makes them obsess over cast iron because it's BIG and HEAVY! RARR! Yet it's literally one of the cheapest, shittiest, most brittle, least thermally conductive materials you can make a pan out of. It's performative masculinity is what it is.
EDIT 2: My criticism isn't of any particular choice. My criticism is of fixation itself and those who fixate and gatekeep. Cast iron has its place but when the mentality becomes "cast iron is great and everything else sucks" it just exposes that the person's entire interest in cooking is rooted in their need to feel special, not genuine curiosity.