Solid High-Carbon Steel For Cooking? What Say You?

yerrag

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Coconut oil can become rancid, yellowish and stinky. We are good at washing up after cooking and eating so I cant tell you how long you need to have a pan sitting around before it will start stinking.

We have had trouble finding really great Coconut oil since 2017.

When I lived with my parents we used Hain Coconut Oil. It was very enjoyable.

Dr. Peat mentioned the classic Hain brand someplace in his writings.

I am including a link for you about other people who have found that Coconut-oil can go rancid. Although I used my nose on the coconut oils we were purchasing that made us decide to forgettaboutit.


Kindest regards - stay healthy!
Thanks.

But I live in Manila. The country has plenty of coconuts. I buy both young and mature coconuts, and I also use the coconut milk for curry dishes.

The article you linked to is not a good article. It does not distinguish virgin coconut oil from refined coconut oil to hydrogenated. It serves to confuse because it lacks conciseness. It is basically blah.

Virgin coconut oil will go rancid because it has some PUFAs in them.

Refined coconut may after a very very long time but it has never happened to me as it is quickly used up in cooking for drying. But it has very little PUFA left because it's been processed out.

And hydrogenated coconut oil never becomes rancid. Even after repeatedly used to deep fry. It just loses its clear color because it gets contaminated with the food that's deep fried. But at some point I still throw it away because I can never be too sure, even though the food I cook with doesn't go rancid.
 

akgrrrl

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Try Tropical Traditions for good oil in bulk. All oils that have been heated to a certain temperature can go rancid. On the other hand, I have a bucket of the premium grade from TT that I use exclusively for making icings, candy, fudge especially that is as sweet as the day I purchased it 8yrs ago.
 

yerrag

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Try Tropical Traditions for good oil in bulk. All oils that have been heated to a certain temperature can go rancid. On the other hand, I have a bucket of the premium grade from TT that I use exclusively for making icings, candy, fudge especially that is as sweet as the day I purchased it 8yrs ago.
It is very hard, if not impossible, for fully saturated, or fully hydrogenated fats to go rancid. Rancidity is due to the double bonds or triple bonds getting oxidized due to exposure to oxygen. Even without being subjected to heat, oils with PUFA content goes rancid. A fully hydrogenated fat, after being heated repeatedly, at deep frying high temperatures, don't go rancid. It may be that it goes rancid when the food it deep fries has PUFA oils, and over time, the PUFA contamination increases, that eventually you feel the rancid taste in the food you're deep frying. Which is why I would eventually replace the oil.

Maybe there are harmful by-products that result from repeatedly deep frying fully hydrogenated oil, but even so, that is separate from what I consider becoming rancid.
 

akgrrrl

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It is very hard, if not impossible, for fully saturated, or fully hydrogenated fats to go rancid. Rancidity is due to the double bonds or triple bonds getting oxidized due to exposure to oxygen. Even without being subjected to heat, oils with PUFA content goes rancid. A fully hydrogenated fat, after being heated repeatedly, at deep frying high temperatures, don't go rancid. It may be that it goes rancid when the food it deep fries has PUFA oils, and over time, the PUFA contamination increases, that eventually you feel the rancid taste in the food you're deep frying. Which is why I would eventually replace the oil.

Maybe there are harmful by-products that result from repeatedly deep frying fully hydrogenated oil, but even so, that is separate from what I consider becoming rancid.
You are so thorough in your assessments and explanations, thankyou so much. I remain grateful for all that I have learned on this forum by way of Yerrag investigations into personal issues. And now seems as good a time as any to thankyou for greeting me to the forum years ago with kind contributions when I needed it most. Be assured that I have come a long way and value your presence at RPF.
 

yerrag

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You are so thorough in your assessments and explanations, thankyou so much. I remain grateful for all that I have learned on this forum by way of Yerrag investigations into personal issues. And now seems as good a time as any to thankyou for greeting me to the forum years ago with kind contributions when I needed it most. Be assured that I have come a long way and value your presence at RPF.
You're so welcome! I'm glad I have been of help in one way or another. I'm glad that you have experienced much healing and it is with your openness to ideas that made it possible. We should start the thread soon on how to prepare for the coming Great Reset. Apologies if I've held off on that as I have a few personal health research to dig through and the days are never enough, even with COVID!
 

LA

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This makes it ideal for cooking food that require a lot of instant heating like fried rice and steak and pork chop where you like some searing.
I think of this quote of yours since pork chops taste very good cooked in those old fashioned "cowboy" pans. We have a few old ones. They are very heavy although worth using if we find some pork chops *without* added antibiotics now being fed to pigs in the USA to make them fatter. Supposedly Germany and Australia outlawed the unneeded antibiotic fattening additive. They were supposed to do it here.
 

akgrrrl

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I think of this quote of yours since pork chops taste very good cooked in those old fashioned "cowboy" pans. We have a few old ones. They are very heavy although worth using if we find some pork chops *without* added antibiotics now being fed to pigs in the USA to make them fatter. Supposedly Germany and Australia outlawed the unneeded antibiotic fattening additive. They were supposed to do it here.
I distinctly remember the early 1970s pork chops sizzling with fatty flesh made into tantalizing gravy. I am not aware of antibiotics creating fat, but its widely known that the bulk of Chinese rapeseed production goes to "canola" oil which is sprayed on grain for commercial fattening of pigs, cows, and chickens. Now, that meat stinks.
 

yerrag

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I distinctly remember the early 1970s pork chops sizzling with fatty flesh made into tantalizing gravy. I am not aware of antibiotics creating fat, but its widely known that the bulk of Chinese rapeseed production goes to "canola" oil which is sprayed on grain for commercial fattening of pigs, cows, and chickens. Now, that meat stinks.
Even KFC (back when it's not called by its blah initials) had much, much better gravy. Now it's pretty much a bland mix where the only things that resemble its past form is color and viscosity. Typical of anything good that gets watered down by modernization, streamlining, franchising, simplification, and globalization. In short, dumbing down to crass basics.

Soapbox aside, I'd like to see someone raise pigs fed a lot of coconut flesh, the leftovers of coconut oil milling. It's actually being done by backyard pig growers, but it's not advertised as such. And that's the reason I prefer pork from locally-raised pigs, and have to buy it from a wet market instead of a supermarket or a warehouse club. They would likely sell imported pork. It's also good to buy from someone you know than from a faceless corporation, as I can trust the sourcing. The wet market vendor knows his customers are a picky lot, and won't buy again from him if he doesn't sell a good product. I've done that quite a few times. I just walk away and that is how I complain.
 

akgrrrl

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Even KFC (back when it's not called by its blah initials) had much, much better gravy. Now it's pretty much a bland mix where the only things that resemble its past form is color and viscosity. Typical of anything good that gets watered down by modernization, streamlining, franchising, simplification, and globalization. In short, dumbing down to crass basics.

Soapbox aside, I'd like to see someone raise pigs fed a lot of coconut flesh, the leftovers of coconut oil milling. It's actually being done by backyard pig growers, but it's not advertised as such. And that's the reason I prefer pork from locally-raised pigs, and have to buy it from a wet market instead of a supermarket or a warehouse club. They would likely sell imported pork. It's also good to buy from someone you know than from a faceless corporation, as I can trust the sourcing. The wet market vendor knows his customers are a picky lot, and won't buy again from him if he doesn't sell a good product. I've done that quite a few times. I just walk away and that is how I complain.
Oh you lucky person, that pork sounds fab. Yes, I didnt mean to only gripe as how this used to be...it seems so inexplicable when pigs chickens cows were fed off the land and all the leftovers recycled. Coconut fed pigs sound great just to think of! Way up in north Alaska there is a place called Delta Junction where Barley is being grown. They sell barrels of barley floorsweep called Delta Scratch for animal feed. My eggs come from real freerange yardbirds that eat it. The smallest egg in this box is equal to the ExLarge Grade AA from the grocery store
 

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LA

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I distinctly remember the early 1970s pork chops sizzling with fatty flesh made into tantalizing gravy. I am not aware of antibiotics creating fat, but its widely known that the bulk of Chinese rapeseed production goes to "canola" oil which is sprayed on grain for commercial fattening of pigs, cows, and chickens. Now, that meat stinks.
Many bad oils are now used in the food industry. Canola/Rapeseed is one of the worst.
At this time, except for the odd, good find of Olive Oil, we have given up oil due to the adulteration of most of them. It is too much bother to test everything. The last outstandingly great 100% organic virgin Italian Olive oil I had was from a relative who brought it in from Italy, bottled at an estate where he met the owners, and he gave us a bottle for Christmas. Now, if we cook beef and we need to use oil we just use unsalted organic butter.

I used to go with some friends to the East Side of Los Angeles (where the Chicanos live) to purchase fresh made Chicharrones, which were made with Pork Belly. The entire place would be smokey. Korean Barbecue Pork Belly is the same and there were still those types of Barbecues in the Korean district of Los Angeles before the Covid craziness.

The Chinese people have a long tradition of eating Pork Belly
How the pig became a ‘pork factory’ in China - China Dialogue

Unfortunately the Mexican-American place I would visit with my friends, in the past, started getting their pork skins from an outside source who started frying the pork crackling or pork rind in some kind of junk oil instead of lard. When I first tasted it I spit it out. The lady looked at me sadly with sympathy and said - "I know - I know !" it does not taste as good - they are making it with "healthier oil" so that is what we are selling; pork rinds made with 'healthier oil. I never returned

There are at least 2 threads on this board about fat Mexicans (yappity-yap) ranting about fat Mexicans because *whatever* such as Vit A and I didnt bother reading much of either of the rants of BS. EVERYTHING the Mexicans were traditionally eating has now become poison gmo-corn, gmo-wheat, pigs fed gmo-soy beans and etc. It is horrible. They used to be very strong and healthy looking especially the ones who came from the inland Rancheros where they were cowboys, farm workers, ranchers, tequila makers, bee-keepers, etc.

Pig is good meat and raising them is an easy addition to survival in these possible horrible for many upcoming years of Bill Gates and his Davos buddies reset

Hopefully living in Alaska will save you from the worst. Denmark used to be the largest exporter of pork. Now China is the largest

Pigs can be raised on smaller areas of land. I have and had relatives who managed to survive on pigs, chicken eggs and local dairy milk. One ran a dairy and they stayed healthy especially in the areas of heavy snow fall such as Idaho and the small towns high-high up in the mountains of Southern Italy where there is almost no growing season. The big job is to move pigs to different pens and clean the pens to be sure they do-not eat their own poop. Pigs will eat anything.

I didnt save enough of these type of articles on the antibiotics given to pigs although if you search you can find more:

USFDA bans antibiotic for pigs over cancer risk to humans
 

scrubolio

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i had similar questions as you did regarding iron leeching out of carbon steel or cast iron. i don’t use anything acidic in my cast iron (i haven’t bought a carbon steel pan/wok yet) and my cast iron pan is so “seasoned” that i surmise that my food is never actually making contact with the pan itself and so there isn’t much of a chance for the iron to get into the food. but this is just my guess and turning a blind eye in this regard. i don’t use it that much anymore and mainly use my non-vintage corning visions. but they definitely cook differently and i prefer the cast iron.

from my research there are 2 different levels of corning visions pots and pans. one that can withstand a heat differential of 700C and one that can “only” withstand 400C. wonder if the 700C one is similar to the older ones
 

akgrrrl

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Even KFC (back when it's not called by its blah initials) had much, much better gravy. Now it's pretty much a bland mix where the only things that resemble its past form is color and viscosity. Typical of anything good that gets watered down by modernization, streamlining, franchising, simplification, and globalization. In short, dumbing down to crass basics.

Soapbox aside, I'd like to see someone raise pigs fed a lot of coconut flesh, the leftovers of coconut oil milling. It's actually being done by backyard pig growers, but it's not advertised as such. And that's the reason I prefer pork from locally-raised pigs, and have to buy it from a wet market instead of a supermarket or a warehouse club. They would likely sell imported pork. It's also good to buy from someone you know than from a faceless corporation, as I can trust the sourcing. The wet market vendor knows his customers are a picky lot, and won't buy again from him if he doesn't sell a good product. I've done that quite a few times. I just walk away and that is how I complain.
I was just reviewing your last post and just wanted to say that I wish I could disseminate points in your post to all Americans. Cooking with carefully selected materials, the ingredients, and methods are so important. Microwave, plastics, and high process are causes of our downfall.
 

akgrrrl

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i had similar questions as you did regarding iron leeching out of carbon steel or cast iron. i don’t use anything acidic in my cast iron (i haven’t bought a carbon steel pan/wok yet) and my cast iron pan is so “seasoned” that i surmise that my food is never actually making contact with the pan itself and so there isn’t much of a chance for the iron to get into the food. but this is just my guess and turning a blind eye in this regard. i don’t use it that much anymore and mainly use my non-vintage corning visions. but they definitely cook differently and i prefer the cast iron.

from my research there are 2 different levels of corning visions pots and pans. one that can withstand a heat differential of 700C and one that can “only” withstand 400C. wonder if the 700C one is similar to the older ones
Good info. Interesting on the new visions line. I particularly love this set, so easy to clean, elegant serveware, the only stovetop pyrex or Corning I have is the clear 1950s PYREX percolator, which I use for keeping hot drinks at boiling point on the simmer plates @stovetop, or gentle rolling boil for making a porridge; also do you remember the super tall Corning percolators? I have 2 and just love them for catering hot liquids on an elegant table. Thanks for enjoying my open shelf vintage collection! Here a pic of the elegant design and finis, then one as how they stack with shared lid.
 

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Does basically seem like you get what you pay for. The Le Creuset gear is awesome. I hear those old Pyrex-grade glass pots & pans are great, but they're hard to find and have rare spontaneous self-destruct incidents, if I recall correctly.
The old glass pots and pans are horrible to clean. I gave mine away.
 
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