Enameled cast iron cookware on induction stove?

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

My mother gave me her collection of ASTA enameled cast iron cookware because I love cast iron and it's getting too heavy for her. I just got an induction cooktop and read on chowhound that people love their enameled Le Creuset and I thought this would work the same. But then I read on a canning forum that people have had their enameled cookware melt onto the induction top.

Now I'm afraid to use this cookware without more information. Help?

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jwvideo

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

The folks on canning forums (and some stove and cooktop owner manuals) are talking about thin enameled steel not enameled cast iron. More specifically, they are talking about cookware like Graniteware --- very, very thin and inexpensive enameled steel with ripply bases. Nothing like the much heavier duty, much much thicker enameled cast iron cookware like Asta or LeCrueset. Also, consider that the enamel coating on cast iron and steel cookware is fired at something around or over 815°C (1500°F). The melting points of iron and steel are something like 1200°C and 1500°C (2100°F and 2500°F). Induction cooktops for home use have over-heat sensors which will shut down or throttle back the burner a long, long time before a heavy steel or cast iron pan gets anywhere close to a fraction of such heat levels.

As an aside, am I remembering correctly that Asta was the model-line or brand name of the hefty enameled cast iron cookware made by Fissler in Germany a couple decades ago? IIRC, it was heavy duty stuff.

So, no worries about using your Asta pots on your induction cooktop.

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Comments (10)

User
5 years ago
Hi scardy...I'm just bumping and letting you know that (obviously) your post is visible, now...

Here's this...https://forum.downsizer.net/archive/induction-hobs-and-enamel-pans__o_t__t_79962.html
Just Jane thanked User
Just Jane
Original Author
5 years ago
I saw on the Houzz help forum that they had moved it to cookware. but posts only to cookware weren't being answered, so I started a new one that included kitchens (where there is a lot of activity), cookware and appliances. I think my first post is dead but no way to delete it.

Thanks for the link. I'll look at that too.
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Thanks for the helpful responses. Just after I posted this, I found that Target pot listed on their website, and was initially over the moon. But of the five Targets within an hour of driving, nary a one has it. And shipping is $14, if I order it from the website... I think I'm going to keep calling and keep looking for it, and maybe ask my local Target store manager if she'd try to get a few in for me. (Some of my friends also want to try that recipe!) athomein1914 (love your screen name -- I'm a historian and study that period!) -- no TJMaxx around, alas, though we do have Marshalls, which I think is the same chain. I'll keep looking there, too. Thanks for the info about cast iron vs. enameled, too. I have heard people complain about the newer Lodge cast iron -- that the inner surface is really rough, so even if you supergrease it, it's difficult to get food to disLodge, so to speak. I am going to order an antique cast-iron skillet on Ebay for scrambled eggs... not so sure about the antique dutch ovens, though. I'll sit tight and keep looking. Thanks, all!
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Here's an update- I first tried the baking soda. It didn't work at all on the outside of this pan, not even on the brown stains travelling up the sides. Forget about the black stuff on the lower part of the sides and the bottom. The first coat of oven cleaner took off the brown stains but made little difference on the black stuff. I used the no-fumes cleaner. 3 more applications got about half of the black stuff off. It didn't do any damage to the enamel finish, but I decided that 4 tries was good enough for now. I'm thinking that regular oven cleaner is probably more powerful than the no-fumes kind. So, when the snow melts, I will get the regular kind and try it outside to see if I can get any more off. If not, it's okay as it is. Nothing 35 years old should look brand new anyway, right? Then I went to work on the brown stains on the inside. They were not as bad as the brown on the outside. Baking soda worked great on this. I filled the pan with water, added a lot of baking soda, brought to a boil and then simmered for about 15 minutes. Then scrubbed with a nylon scrubbie and the inside looks great. The lid was already in excellent condition, so I didn't have to do anything with it. The dutch oven is clean on the outside, just a few light scratches. Simmering baking soda took care of the inside. I guess the fact that the buffet pan was so much dirtier is a testament to how versatile a pan it is - it definately got more use than the dutch oven and they were purchased at the same time. Thanks for the advice everyone.
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I'll just put in my Le Creuset experience for future searcher/readers. Bought a set 30 years ago; Large Dutch Oven, Small/Med Dutch Oven, Medium soup pan, small soup pan, both with the wooden handles, med and small fry pan. Great stuff, love it and used reliably for many years...fast forward I burnt up the med soup pan (and btw the wooden handles were never a problem since I dont put things in the oven and they stayed fine over the years) making sugar water. The bottom had become a little rough over the years and so could not be salvaged - sent it in and got back one of the new all metal sauce pans. I liked the size and weight and shape and handle of my OLD pan better, plus for a sauce pan this seems to get a ring of hot spot on the bottom (I do cook on higher heat than I should or maybe its my elec stove?) anyway this is heavier, much longer handle, don't like or use it as much just due to the shape/weight issue. Then I do the same thing with the small soup pan. Send it in, replacement comes with the new black phrenolic handle, no big deal but they've changed the shape and size, its narrower at the bottom and taller and weighs more. I liked my old one better. So while I still think Le Creuset is the best enameled cookware, and perhaps just plain the best cookware with the no kidding greatest lifetime guarentee (I put in a letter saying I ruined it and that I'd be happy to buy a discounted replacement), I don't like their revamped shape and style of their soup/saucier pots. I don't know why they just didn't change the handles from wood to the black ovenproof stuff. If I could figure out how to make my old Paypal acct work I think I'd try buying the old style on eBay. (But you never know what people cooked in them and that creeps me out a little:)
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Sue 430
5 years ago
Enameled cast iron should work fine on your induction. I have never heard of it melting, makes no sense to me. I have ke creuset and they work like a charm.
Just Jane
Original Author
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
That's good to know. I'm looking forward to using the cooktop.

Yes, that is the cookware. It has held up really well too.
Rita / Bring Back Sophie 4 Real
5 years ago
I just wanted to say I love Asta! I grew up with the ivory and gold ones. I have LeCreuset and have no problem on the induction cooktop at all, so Asta should be totally fine. If you ever decide to get some stainless cookware, Fissler is made by the same people who made Asta.
jwvideo
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Oh, and FWIW, the strictures and concerns with thin enameled steel pans on induction and radiant electric smoothtops are cautions to avoid high heat with empty pans or ones that have been allowed to boil dry.

Graniteware actually recommends most of its cookware for induction and radiant smoothtops, only cautioning against using those few models of its pans which (like water bath canning kettles) have the rippled--ridged bases.
alex9179
5 years ago
The one issue I had with Graniteware was pasta sticking to the bottom while cooking on high and kind of burning, as a result. I've realized that you don't have to cook pasta at a rolling boil - lol!

Ooooh, I'll have to check out Asta.
Rita / Bring Back Sophie 4 Real
5 years ago
Alex, it's a pretty old fashioned look, but I have a soft spot for it. My mother was very happy to switch to stainless steel because it was hard keeping the white interior as white as she liked- Clorox wears out enamel after a while ;-)
alex9179
5 years ago
Pretty! I don't mind interior discoloration and that's lovely for service.

Enameled cast iron cookware on induction stove?

jwvideo

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Enameled cast iron cookware on induction stove?

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