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Comment by SergeAx | Hacker News Reader

I thought about challenging you with writing a thermal energy transfer equation, but will stop at writing two constants: heat capacity of cast iron vs stainless steel: 540 vs 500 J/(Kg*°C). So just buy a stainless steel cookware 7.5% heavier than cast iron - and you are all set.

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Aren’t cast iron skillets usually made heavier though? Ie, sure heat capacity is similar per kg but if one is almost always 2-3x heavier than the other then it’s going to retain more heat

But see, noting that banal fact would get in the way of their very impressive nerd sniping...

That said, if you do a lot of baking a nice thick sheet of steel is definitely the tool.

Good luck finding a stainless steel pan that even weighs as much as a cast iron, let alone more.

I think it's just that cast iron pans usually come heavier. My relatively heavy 28 cm stainless steel pan (Ikea Sensuell) is 1.7 kg, while my 29 cm cast iron is 3.1 kg.

I wish there were heavier and affordable stainless steel pans for searing, as I can just chuck those in the dishwasher.

Where is the company selling clad (copper or aluminum) steel cookware (dutch ovens, everyday pans, deep frying pans) with the steel part 7.5% thicker than common cast iron pans. Sounds like an untapped market.

I did once melt the hood of a gas grill by putting a piece of steel in it. Held heat so well the cover and front of the grill warped.

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