Should I polish a cast iron pan for use on a glass cooktop?
There was a question asked here about using cast iron on glass top ranges. In the responses, there was a link to an article about cast iron equipment. Here is a quote.
There is also an almost comically simple alternative for a more
permanent fix. It's one of those ideas like the safety pin or the
paper clip: blindingly obvious in hindsight, but not apparent at once.
Just sandpaper the pan or pot bottom smooth! Readers have reported to
us that they have done just that, with excellent results. We don't
have details, but we'd guess that two grades of sandpaper, a coarse
then a fine for polishing off, would do the job.
I am getting my first brand-new electric glass-top range, and I don't want to ruin it. The quote said they are guessing, but with Stack Exchange, there is no guessing just real experiences. How do you polish the cast iron to make the bottom smoother? Did you see an improvement?
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No, I haven't. I admit, however, that it's only an induction hot-plate, and my main stove is resistive electric. I also sometimes cook at my neighbor's house, and they have a a glass-topped electic stove and cast iron, and they don't polish theirs, either. (so it's now been three years, and their two pans in heaviest rotation are Lodge cast iron skillets)
I personally haven't had any problems (other than the induction cooker heating up the aebelskiver pan differently than resistive electric). I do change my behaviour, as I don't shake the pan on the stove without lifting (which I'll do at home).
We also both keep our pans well-seasoned, though, and that includes the bottom. When I re-seasoned the poffertjes and aebelskiver pans (specifically for use on the induction cook top; the aebelskiver pan was new, the poffertjes pan hadn't been maintained), I gave them three cycles through the oven to make sure the bottoms were coated well. This, however, caused me a little bit of a problem with the poffertjes pan, as the bottom wasn't entirely flat (just slightly convex), so it can walk a little bit as you're using it, and I have to keep pushing it back over the burner.
And I actually do have a piece of polished cast iron ... I don't remember how I came by it. I think it was a friend's dad did it with some tools for buffing cars. It's kinda strange looking, as it's not black ... it actually looks more orange-ish, like when you bake something on an aluminum tray, and the oil drips and leaves that annoying residue you can't get off easily. I admit, I don't really use it, though ... it's more of a novelty. I don't know if it'd go to black if I cooked with it more often. (it's smaller, and not a size I'd typically use).
This will be a short answer as there is not much to say:
I have used cast iron pans on my glass stove top for about five years, and the surface does not show any scratches or marks. I have not taken any special care to protect the surface, and certainly have not polished the iron.
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