Cast iron on ceramic top stoves

[Catherine Chisholm]

Hi

I'm moving to Germany next month, and wondering how much of my CI to take, given that gas stoves are hard to find, and our rental for the next year or two comes with a ceramic flat top stove.

 All my CI is for use, so I've got a bunch of spinners, which work fine on my gas stove now, but I'm wondering at what point a non-flat bottom becomes a problem for electric or induction ceramic glass top stoves?  Any experience?

Also, how well do Aebleskiver pans work, specifically the Griswold style aebleskiver pans?

At least my baking ware will still work well.

thanks!

[Blake Williams]

We have a ceramic cooktop in our house and when my wife first used cast iron on it, it actually scorched one of the eyes on the stove, we have not tried cast iron again.  However I have heard of people successfully using it so I'm not sure what we did wrong, if anything.

[Russell Ware]

I would not use cast iron on a ceramic cooktop if the iron is not flat. It will only lead to uneven heating, and continue to warp your pans; because they are not sitting flat. If they do not sit flat, they will heat unevenly. High heat and uneven heating are sure ways to warp cast iron.
I have been cooking on glass top stoves using cast iron for many years without a problem, but all the pieces I use are flat and even. And that includes Plett pans and Aebelskivers. All of my cast iron cookware cooks well at a medium or low setting on a glass top stove (that's a setting of 4 on my stove).

[Blake Williams]

Russell do you cook with the iron at a lower temp setting than you would regular cookware?  Due to iron getting hotter and retaining heat longer, we might have used too high of a setting, which might be why it scorched the cooktop, as the pan was flat that we used at the time.

[Catherine Chisholm]

I would not use cast iron on a ceramic cooktop if the iron is not flat. It will only lead to uneven heating, and continue to warp your pans; because they are not sitting flat. If they do not sit flat, they will heat unevenly. High heat and uneven heating are sure ways to warp cast iron.
I have been cooking on glass top stoves using cast iron for many years without a problem, but all the pieces I use are flat and even. And that includes Plett pans and Aebelskivers. All of my cast iron cookware cooks well at a medium or low setting on a glass top stove (that's a setting of 4 on my stove).

Even Griswold style aebleskivers where only the ring makes contact with the cookstove, not the bottom of the wells? 

Anyone use an induction stove with those kinds of aebleskiver pans?  I'm not worried so much about my plett pan, because there is more bottom surface area closer to the stove there.

So, anyone in southern California interested in a bunch of slightly warped pans?  They work great on gas! 
thanks

[Russell Ware]

Blake, I use the same temp settings no matter what type of cookware I use. I have used one of those laser temp monitor gun type units to see what temp my cookware gets up to. At a stove setting of 4, my cookware has no problem exceeding 350 degrees F, depending on the size burner I use.

Catherine, vintage Lodge aebelskivers have the same rim design as Griswolds. They work fine. (I'd go use my Griswold, but it is in the electro unit right now.) The same applies to both low and high base waffle irons. But I might turn the setting up to 5 for a high base.

[Scott Jarvis]

I have lived in this house for almost 3 years now and been using my CI on the glass top stove. Some is flat, some is warped, some have heat rings.  I have not had any issues. I have a #12 Wagner that is a bit of a spinner so I have to watch pushing it around as it will spin easier then it would on a normal burner. Other then that no complaints.

[Tom Reisdorf]

We have cooked exclusively with cast iron on a glass top for over 5 years without a problem, cycling thru our different pans with flat bottoms, heat rings, new, old, raised griddles, flat griddles, low base waffle iron bases. We love our glass top.
You should be able to make what you have work.

[C. Perry Rapier]

We have cooked exclusively with cast iron on a glass top for over 5 years without a problem, cycling thru our different pans with flat bottoms, heat rings, new, old, raised griddles, flat griddles, low base waffle iron bases. We love our glass top.
You should be able to make what you have work.

I'll throw my two cents worth in here also. I used to have a glass top stove and I used cast iron on it almost everyday, without the first problem at all. We have talked about this subject MANY TIMES on here. Some folks like to say you should be careful not to drop your skillet on the top of your stove. DUH, REALLY?  :o :o :o

[Catherine Chisholm]

thanks all.  One more variation-  how to use a two burner griddle on a glass/ceramic top stove without a bridging element?  Could I use two copper plate diffusers to cover the two burners and the space in-between first?  As I understand it, using a two burner griddle over a glass stove without a bridging unit can crack the stove top?

[Russell Ware]

As I understand it, using a two burner griddle over a glass stove without a bridging unit can crack the stove top?

I haven't heard that before. I use a newer dual burner Lodge griddle frequently on my glass top stove without a problem. The glass top is one piece. It should have the same uniform heat capacity across it. Due to the different size burners I have to use with the griddle, one is set to 3, the other 5. Maybe the people reporting breakage are just cranking 'em up too high.