Nonstick Injera grill, Versus oil treated carbon steel?

[jawnn]

I think I have figured out how they used to make Injera grills. Medium fired ceramic disc with plenty of grog (fired clay ground to a course texture) to keep it more stable, then build up a lot of oil into the fired clay, it should be reasonably absorbent. I have seen these in world food videos.

Has any one used such a grill? I keep thinking it could be made onto a steel backing plate. About ¼ inch thick would keep it from bending. I think these would be illegal in the USA for commercial use. At least until our country becomes a real third-world state.

I bought a disposable silicon dioxide ceramic coated aluminum pan to try it out. It is very fragile and won't last more than three years even if I treat it very gently; if only because aluminum expanse more than steel and therefore cracks the coating.

Then I read about how some ceramic coated pans have diamond ground into the coating to help it last longer, but I think it still may be a disposable pan. Are there any that can last a life time?

My next project will be to buy a new smooth carbon steel pan and try to build up a thick non stick coating. But I am not sure about doing it on a thin pan. My old carbon steel pan simply would not hold the oil, possibly because the surface is not perfectly smooth due to many years of abuse. Yet I see cast iron pans are not smooth.

Does it really need to be smooth? I may need to grind it down to naked steel and start over with flaxseed oil.

 

[CWS4322]

Now you have me wanting one.

 

[jawnn]

I think any skilled potter can make one of those grills.

 

[caseydog]

I'm not sure what those grills are used for, but the photo resembles something like a crepe, and crepe pans are often carbon steel.

As for cast iron, newer pans are pretty rough, but old Griswold or Wagner pans are pretty smooth. There are also videos on YouTube that show how to make a CI pan, like a Lodge, smooth before seasoning them.

CD

 

[jawnn]

looks like I need to regrind my cast iron pan that was never smooth in teh first place. I should have thought of that.

actually I am now thinking aobu tbuying a copper pan lined with tin. But I don't know how well they work for turning into nonstick. any one know??

I'm not sure what those grills are used for, but the photo resembles something like a crepe, and crepe pans are often carbon steel.

As for cast iron, newer pans are pretty rough, but old Griswold or Wagner pans are pretty smooth. There are also videos on YouTube that show how to make a CI pan, like a Lodge, smooth before seasoning them.

CD

 

[jawnn]

copper pans and polymerized oil?

I am now thinking I need a copper pan. But is it possible to build up a layer of polymerized oil on copper? Well maybe cast iron is really the only good material for making a nonstick pan.



As a modern alternative to copper cookware coated with tin or stainless steel, the company BAUMALU has created the new collection Céracuivre in cooperation with the German manufacturer Weilburger. Thanks to its extreme toughness, the special filmy ceramic sealing is not scratch-sensitive.

 

[CWS4322]

I'm not sure what those grills are used for, but the photo resembles something like a crepe, and crepe pans are often carbon steel.

As for cast iron, newer pans are pretty rough, but old Griswold or Wagner pans are pretty smooth. There are also videos on YouTube that show how to make a CI pan, like a Lodge, smooth before seasoning them.

CD

They are used to make that Ethiopian bread that you use to scoop up your food. Smooth on one side, popped bubbles on the other. The batter is poured into the pan and it is not flipped. Tricky to get the pour down.

 

[Bigjim68]

will toever

I am now thinking I need a copper pan. But is it possible to build up a layer of polymerized oil on copper? Well maybe cast iron is really the only good material for making a nonstick pan.



As a modern alternative to copper cookware coated with tin or stainless steel, the company BAUMALU has created the new collection Céracuivre in cooperation with the German manufacturer Weilburger. Thanks to its extreme toughness, the special filmy ceramic sealing is not scratch-sensitive.

I doubt you will be able to create a non stick surface on tin lined copper. Next question is why bother? Copper w/tin is fairly non stick requiring a minimum amount of oil.

 

[Steve Kroll]

I am now thinking I need a copper pan. But is it possible to build up a layer of polymerized oil on copper?

No. If you're talking about a tin-lined copper pan, by the time you get it hot enough to polymerize oil, the tin lining will have melted. These pans are great for making sauces or simmering a stew, but they aren't designed for what you're proposing.

Why not just buy a carbon steel crepe pan?

 

[jawnn]

well I was thinking about seasoning a hammered copper pan, with out tin. But the disposable pan companys are pushing their "ceramic" pans so hard I can't even find info about it.

Does anyone even make a real copper fry pan?