I grew up watching my Dad make pancakes on a cast iron frying pan. They came out just fine. The trick with cast iron is that although it has substantial thermal mass, it is not a good conductor of heat. Once it's heated for sufficient time though, the heat is fairly even across the pan.
I personally don't use cast iron for another reason; i.e. that same thermal mass causes it to pump heat into foods for a longer period of time. Let me explain. Cast iron has what could be called heat capacity. Thing of it as stored heat, like water in a pond. The more heat stored in the metal, or water in a pond, the more heat or water can transfer from the pan, or pond, without losing so much as to change either substantially. Light aluminum pans, on the other hand, store very little heat within the metal by comparison. When you spoon batter onto the teflon coated aluminum pan, it initially transfers as much heat as does cast iron at the same temperature. But the aluminum quickly cools down. You would think that the heat from the scource (flame or electric element) would reheat the aluminum quickly, causing more heat to go into the cooking food. But it doesn't.
I tend to scorch delicate foods, like pancakes or crepe's on cast iron pans. I don't on coated aluminum pans.
I would think that the lighter weight "mineral" pans, usually made from high carbon steel, would do a better job with pancakes than a heavy cast iron pan. And it seasons well, and is nearly indestructable, just like it's iron cousin.
Now if you can get the cast iron to just the right temperature, then because it changes temperature more slowly, it would be a fantastic pan for delicate things. I need to learn to turn down the flame a bit.
I think an high quality aluminum pan, like Calphalon, would fit your needs nicely.
Have I ever typed in a short response to anything? Sheesh. See what happens when you compare things in your head as you type them on the screen?
Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
