If you’re a keen home-cook, you’ll probably have come across cast iron pans before. Perhaps you’ve spotted them while having a mooch round your local department store. The most famous brand of cast iron pan has a French name and comes enamelled in a striking orange colour – you know the ones. They’re usually pretty expensive and maybe you’ve found yourself wondering whether they’re really worth the money. The good news is that there’s now an alternative to expensive cast iron cookware that’s not only cheaper, but much easier to cook with… and offers the same benefits as those top of the range cast iron pans.
Meet the FlavorCast pan
The FlavorCast pan is a brand new die cast pan from the makers of the FlavorStone pan. It combines all the genius technology of the FlavorStone pan with the benefits of die cast cookware. In other words, you get a pan that’s incredibly durable, that conducts and retains heat properly, and that’s 100% non-stick. Put simply, if you’ve been weighing up whether to invest in an expensive cast iron pan, you should take a moment to discover what the FlavorCast pan can do for you.
First, it’s worth understanding what the strengths of cast iron cookware really are.
Why chefs and home cooks love cast iron pans
There are a few reasons why both professional chefs and home cooks like using cast iron pans. The first is to do with aesthetics: cast iron pans have an antique look that suits both traditional and modern kitchens. Then there’s their durability: cast iron cookware is extremely tough. That’s why you often find very old cast iron pans in charity and antique shops – they tend to last for many years.
Their strength and durability is also a help when cooking too. Cast iron is good at retaining heat. This is really useful if you cook a lot of fish and meat, for example. Typically, when you cook a steak, you have to get your pan screaming hot first – otherwise your steak won’t sear properly. But what a lot of people don’t realise is, even if you get the pan hot, as soon as you lay the steak inside the pan, much of that heat disappears. However, that’s not the case with cast iron pans. They hold onto the heat, to the point where you could even switch off the hob and cook your steak in the residual heat left in the pan.
Die cast cookware like the FlavorCast pan is a lightweight alternative
The main issue with cast iron cookware – apart from the astronomical price – is that it’s really heavy. That’s a problem if you like to have multi-purpose pans that you can use both in the oven and on top of the hob. Let’s say you’re pan-roasting a chicken breast. You start by searing it on the hob, then transferring the pan to the oven for roasting. That’s pretty tricky with a cast iron pan, which weighs around 3-4kgs – not something everyone can lift comfortably, especially when searingly hot, too.
The FlavorCast pan is made from die-cast aluminium. This means that not only is it incredibly tough and durable, but it’s super-lightweight – weighing no more than 500g. So, it’s easy to start your cooking off on the stove and then transfer into the oven when you’re ready.
Die cast cookware retains heat just as well as cast iron pans…if not better
You might imagine with such a lightweight die cast pan that there’s a trade-off in terms of heat retention. But nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the FlavorCast pan is specially designed with a thick bottom for optimal heat distribution. It means you don’t get the annoying hotspots you sometimes find on cheap frying pans. And because of its superior heat conductivity, you can cook at lower temperatures – saving energy as you cook.
Cast iron cookware takes an age to heat up – but not the FlavorCast
Cast iron pans do retain their heat well, there’s no doubt. But it comes at a cost in terms of speed. It actually takes a fair old while to get a cast iron pan up to the right temperature. That might be ok on the weekend, when you’ve got more free time on your hands, but it’s not so good on weekdays when you’re wanting to rustle up something quickly after a hard day’s work. This is where the FlavorCast pan has a real advantage. It heats up in seconds, so you can crack on with your cooking without having to wait around.
The FlavorCast is non-stick and really simple to clean
In theory, cast iron pans should be pretty non-stick. But unfortunately, they’re often not. This is because they need ‘seasoning’, which is a chef-y term for creating a non-stick surface by heating cooking oil and wiping it around the pan. Most people just don’t have the time to faff about like that. Fortunately, the FlavorCast pan comes with a non-stick coating…and not just any non-stick coating. Every FlavorCast pan is constructed using FlavorStone technology. It’s so non-stick that you can cook with barely any oil at all. Even better, it makes the pan super easy to clean.
Whereas cast iron pans need washing by hand, which means having to lug the heavy pan over to the sink first, the FlavorCast pan is totally dishwasher safe. So you can whip up a delicious meal in minutes before popping the pan into the dishwasher knowing it won’t get damaged. But to be honest, you may decide you don’t even need to do that. The FlavorCast pan is so non-stick that you could even just give it a wipe out with a cloth, then pop it away ready for your next meal.
Your FlavorCast die cast pan stacks neatly away
Cast iron cookware is so heavy, it’s not always easy to store. Do you risk overloading your pan drawers? Or do you leave it out on the side where it makes your kitchen feel cluttered? With the FlavorCast pan, you have no such decision to make. Thanks to its clever conical shape, it’s easy to stack one, two, three, even four FlavorCast pans on top of one another and tuck them away neatly into a cupboard or pan drawer.
And unlike most over-priced cast iron pans, the FlavorCast pan comes with removable cool-touch handles. Not only do these make it easy to safely transfer the pan from hob, to oven, to table-top, but they fit snugly inside the pan when stored away, too.
