Which is better, copper or cast iron cookware?

Question

Leaving out price and maintenance, and considering only performance, copper has similar heat retention to cast iron cookware and can be bought at similar weights and thicknesses. Not only that, it has incredible heat conduction as well. So you have cookware that has superior heat conduction, excellent heat retention, doesn't have to be seasoned, and last a long time. Why do people still buy cast iron? Is there something about cast iron that is better than copper?

Well from research, since copper has superior conduction and is sold thick and heavy, it has even more superior even heating than cast iron. It can also be lined with stainless steel to make it last forever. I am talking purely of performance here, not maintenance or price.

Answer 1

I would say cast iron just simply for the seasoning aspect. Think of all the times you hear people refer to good ol' southern food. That kind of food is usually cooked in a cast iron pan or pot. I can remember growing up my grandmothers both always used cast iron. I have never seen any of my family use copper, but I cant see how it would give the same flavor as cast iron.

Answer 2

I have used cast iron all my life and prefer it over copper. Copper does stick easier for preparing thicker items, such as cooking puddings and creams that are delicate to prepare. I have even had my cast iron go through a home fire and came out great, copper wouldn't, and I do find copper harder to keep clean on the exterior. The only point that copper has better is the weight. For people with bad wrists, it is more difficult to pick up a full pot of stew in cast iron than in copper. Also adds a little more iron in your diet.

Answer 3

First of all, properly cared for cast iron will last forever, whereas the lining in copper pots occasionally has to be replaced over time. Aside from that, whatever you cook in cast iron will absorb a bit of iron from the pan which helps add iron to your diet. A fact I did not know until my father showed a low iron count after giving blood too often. The only change that was made at home was mother pulled out her cast iron pans and began using them. In a few months, his iron level was back to normal!

Answer 4

Cooking foods in cast iron adds iron to your diet in the form that is most easily absorbed and used by your body. I have never used copper cookware, so I can't make a comparison, but I use cast iron for everything except boiling. Some of my cast iron pans were passed down from my great-grandmother, and who knows how they came to her? They are still my best pans even today.

Answer 5

Cast iron is better than copper in many ways,many of which have been enlisted in answers so far,I have a cast iron skillet with a very long handle,don;t know the reason for this,I use it exclusively for frying fish,it would beat a Teflon finish pan any day,even browning of fish in a minimum of oil.

Answer 6

Copper and cast iron have their advantages but try not to forget that cast iron give an additional supplement to your iron daily requirement. In the end it is always a personal choice. Good luck.

Answer 7

I'd take cast iron any day. You can't cook tomatoes in copper since the reaction will cause the copper to leach out into the sauce and it'll ruin the pan. It's pretty tough to ruin a well-seasoned cast iron pan.

Answer 8

Yes.

Cast iron is good for certain kinds of foods. Always make fried chicken in a cast iron skillet, for instance. Gravy is good from a cast iron skillet as well.

Copper (although I'd choose stainless steel with copper clad bottoms...) is fine for sauteeing, simmering and general cooking situations.

In my humble opinion, a dedicated cook should have both on hand.

Answer 9

I prefer cast iron, because to me it cooks better and makes the food taste better. The only copper I have uses is stainless steal with copper on the bottom and to me it is not as good.

Answer 10

I love my cast iron pans and use them for almost everything. The matinence is worth the consistency and flavor plus it a generational pride. My friends demand to eat when they see the cast iron out. And when i did use copper, every thing tasted worse than using teflon. I camp with cast iron too, as well as carry one in my trunk (I am really outdoorsey wether fishin, campin, workin on cars etc). Even a crappy (rusted pitted on outer surface) cast iron still deserves a chance