What's the difference between an iron pan and a cast iron pan?

Jim Gordon, >55 years' cooking experience. What else can you do that is as satisfying to so many of the senses, your own and others'? I avoid most single-use equipment and don't believe in using matched or bad knives. And if you cook, you get to decide what's for dinner, and maybe somebody else will clean up.

The most important difference is how the pans get their shape.

Wrought iron (normal flat sheet of iron)

A pan that is simply described as iron might be smelted and then poured into a lump (or "pig") of iron that is re-melted with other chemicals, poured and rolled ("wrought) into a flat sheet of iron, heated to make it malleable, and then hammered or pressed (again, wrought) by a stamping machine into the shape of a pan.

Cast iron (alloyed with carbon)

Alternatively, the pig iron might be re-melted, alloyed with other forms of iron, and poured ("cast") into a mold to make a cast iron pan.

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Fritz Feger, Slow Food type, equipment geek

Written Jun 23, 2012

Wrought iron (doesn't meat cheap); Key benefit of wrought iron = finest cookware can be produced without any coating

Possibly "iron pan" without "cast" does not refer to cheap pressed iron which needs to be coated, but to a wrought iron pan, which can, as cast iron, be used to produce the finest cookware without any coating.

Both cast iron and wrought iron work great with seasoning

Jonas, what you forgot to mention is that when cast iron is not enameled or coated it works like a dream when it is seasoned properly (same with wrought iron). Which is easy to achieve and preserve.

Cleaning with salt and hot water, no soap

I use an ordinary scraper, salt and kitchen paper for my wrought iron pans (sauté meat and vegetables; try chip potatoes and fried eggs) and hot water with no soap, a hard brush and kitchen paper for my cast iron cookware (braise, make sauces, one-pot-dishes etc.). Might be that cleaning iron cookware takes some more seconds, compared to smashing you steel pots into the dishwasher, but you are generously compensated for this ridiculous extra-effort by an unbelievable non-stick, make-brown-and-crisp equipment.

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Jonas Mikka Luster, burns water frequently

Written Aug 11, 2011 · Upvoted by Garrick Saito

Cast Iron is a very specific alloy containing 2-4% by weight carbon and 1-2 percent by weight silicon to coke iron. While this isn't an issue in kitchens where temperatures very rarely exceed the 1,200 degree celsius threshold, cast iron has a very low melting point which expresses itself in its ability to form and release polymer bonds.

"Regular" iron cookware is often not cast but made from sheet iron and pressed into form. Since the amalgam in regular iron pans does not form ready polymer bonds or release them, those cookwares need to be coated or enameled to create a useable surface.

The good news is, that you don't have to season enameled or coated cookware since the desired effect is inherent in the coating (stick or non-stick). Cast Iron, however, works poorly when unseasoned and requires a coating with oxidized oil which creates a hydrophobic layer for non-stick reasons.

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Neil Russo, there are no rules in my kitchen

Updated Aug 13, 2011

Simply put, Iron is the pure metal and Cast Iron is an alloy of Iron and more than 1.5% carbon (steel is an alloy of iron and less than 1.5% carbon)

Iron is soft and becomes even softer when heated, so it doesn't make for good pots and pans.

Adding from about 0.3% -1.5% carbon takes you into the realm of the iron alloy, steel. The lower to the higher percent of carbon produces a softer to harder steel.

More than 1.5% of carbon produces the iron alloy, cast iron. It is harder than steel but comparatively brittle. In spite of its being somewhat brittle, cast iron is an excellent material for pots and pans because it evenly diffuses and retains heat. The drawback is that iron rusts, so the pots and pans must be coated with oil and baked. This protects the bare iron from the oxygen which causes rust.

I have a number of cast iron pots and pans that were my great grandmother's. I guess those before me treated them well because they are like new. Very very heavy though.

https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-difference-between-an-iron-pan-and-a-cast-iron-pan