Many compliments to Dave--a fine article illuminating an (ideally) dark-as-night subject. The idea that cast iron 'heats evenly,' though, requires some clarification. Cast iron is actually a fairly poor conductor of heat--about a third of the conductivity of aluminum and a fifth of the conductivity of copper. Indeed, my 12 inch skillet has a big old hot spot right in the middle. This can be countered, I've found, by ample preheating: 10 minutes on the stove top, or just toss it into a hot oven, where it is blasted on all sides. Once you give the entire cooking surface time to come up to heat, however, Dave is right: it will hold onto that heat and scorching is generalized minimized, at least in my experience. Jh
