Cast iron or Stainless

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The heat retention and distribution had been really noticeable.

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I’m confused at what you are saying here. Cast iron retains heat way better than stainless.

The problem with cast iron is that it takes much longer to heat (and cool) which can make cooking certain things more difficult because it’s hard to dial in a temp.

(Clad) Stainless can have better heat distribution, but it’s advantage is it retains much less heat if you cut the burner so you can quickly adjust temperature. Heat distribution on a cast iron is at least equal to stainless if you take the time to properly heat the cast iron before using it.

Overall stainless is probably better for all around cooking, but really high heat, or oven use then cast iron is a better option.

I have recently switched to the enameled coated cast iron and love it. Still use regular cast iron if I’m starting something on stove top and moving to smoker later. Never been a big fan of stainless.

I guess I mean it performed way better than I thought it would

It's not an either/or. You should have both in your kitchen.

It varies meal to meal. As others have said, it depends on what Im cooking. Recently purchased an enameled cast iron braiser and have found myriad uses for it.

My kitchen manager (16 year old daughter who washes the dishes) complains about clean up on cast iron.