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I moved into a new flat and it comes with a brand-new induction glass top stove. Unfortunately, it seems like the glass rather easily scratches: There is already a visible scratch in it (likely caused by me, but I have no idea what caused it). This is why I don't want to put my Lodge cast iron skillet (with a rough bottom) directly on it. I've found several pages stating that I can easily prevent scratches by putting something between the cast iron skillet and the glass top, such as paper towels, newspaper or parchment paper, as long as I'm not going for a very high heat sear.

However, that is mostly the purpose of my cast iron skillet: To sear meat at very high temperature.

Has anyone used any of the above objects successfully as a protective layer between cast iron skillet and induction glass top, while searing at very high temperature? Or is some other sort of layer even more preferable?

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    If you can't find a stove-top solution, the workaround is to use the oven to heat the skillet, then remove from the oven and sear while the skillet is resting on a hot pad - the cast iron will hold a significant amount of heat. This will only work for smaller amounts of meat, of course, not 4-pound steaks.
    – John Feltz
    Dec 5, 2016 at 21:26
  • @JohnFeltz: Thanks for the suggestion, but that will probably be very cumbersome when cooking for many people at once... :(
    – Huy
    Dec 5, 2016 at 21:27
  • There were two questions a while back about this scenario : cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/22660/… ; cooking.stackexchange.com/q/4734/67 . I thought there was mention of parchment paper for this sort of thing, but I can't find it.
    – Joe
    Dec 5, 2016 at 21:28
  • And to give an update to my answer from one of those -- my neighbors have been using cast iron on a glass (resistive) stove for over 7 years (a 12" skillet basically lives there), and they've had no problems. If anything, it's better than my non-glass resistive stove, as I don't think they've needed to re-season the back of the pan. (while mine gets rubbed away if I don't re-season it every year or so)
    – Joe
    Dec 5, 2016 at 21:35
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    @Joe: I have been using my cast iron skillet on my old glass-ceramic cooktop without any scratches for quite a while too, but (likely) scratched the new induction stovetop within few days without noticing. There are probably different types of glasses used by different manifacturers?
    – Huy
    Dec 5, 2016 at 21:38

9 Answers 9

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You could use a thin disc of copper...

Copper has a much higher melting point than does aluminum (1,984ºF or 1,084ºC vs 1,221ºF or 661ºC), is not ferromagnetic, and a thin (.025" or less) sheet should not have a profound effect on the magnetic field induced in the iron skillet.

I have not tried this method, but it is scientifically plausible as well as cost effective at about $25.

The copper surface could be sanded smooth and could be used in a similar way as a heat diffuser. It should get no hotter than the bottom of the cast iron skillet, since the induction 'burner' should not induce any magnetic field in the copper sheet itself. The only heating of the copper would be from conduction or radiation from the cast iron pan.

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  • Hi Sarah. Welcome to SA !! I'm editing your answer with paragraphs for readability. Nice use of both SI and english customary. Keep on answering ! Apr 28, 2018 at 15:33
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    Actually, heat would be generated by eddy currents in a copper material, too. So I wouldn't recommend this approach. Btw, iron pot is heated both by hysteresis phenomena (main source of heating, while magnetic feature is present - under Curie point) and Eddy currents (caused by alternating current). Jan 16, 2019 at 18:37
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I don't know if it will work with your induction cooker, but I have used a very old and worn out sheet of silpat, silicon baking sheet. I have an older induction cooker and used the silpat to protect the cooking surface from scratches and from the food/oil splatter that happens so often when I cook. I have not had a problem as long as the pan you are using is induction ready and the silpat is pretty thin. But my induction cooker is quite old and perhaps this won't work on newer ones.

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    And that works for searing? I have never used brand-name Silpat mats, but all my baking silicon (mats, baking pans) is rated to 250 C max.
    – rumtscho
    Dec 8, 2016 at 9:39
  • I have a purpose made silicon pad for my induction cooker, it works great, A normal 'oven' silicon sheet should work almost as good (I think they are a bit thicker, but should be ok)
    – Stefan
    Dec 8, 2016 at 10:03
  • I have never seared using my induction, not enough wattage on my cooker, but you are correct about 250 c or 480ish f for max temp. The silpat I have is pretty old, from the early 1980's, it was just sitting there and I thought I would try it to keep the splatter down and keep from scratching the induction cook oh so long ago. But since it worked, I haven't been looking for something thinner, but today there are much thinner sheets.
    – JG sd
    Dec 8, 2016 at 15:10
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No, don't use paper or textile, they will char at meat searing temperatures. It is good for lower temperatures like simmering or sweating vegetables.

At that heat, there is not much in the household you can use. Very thin wood won't catch fire, but it will deform. Metal is problematic because it might be feromagnetic and get hot instead of the pot. Basically, what would work would be ceramic or glass, but you need a rather thin one (inverse square law, etc.), and the glass would need to be heat resistant. So, if you can find a really thin ceramic tile, that might work, but be a bit problematic in handling (easy to break). Slate would be a good material, and you can probably get it thin enough, but you will have to test if it doesn't scratch the glass by itself.

So, you will have to get creative. Maybe look in a lab supply store for something usable.

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You can use some sandpaper to smooth the skillet out. However there is another problem, assuming as the metal heats up, some of the seasoning oil becomes liquid again, this leaves hard to remove stains on the glass cooktop.

I tried:

  • parchment paper - it just scorched/burned.

  • aluminum foil seemed to work, but wikipedia claims it can melt and fuse with the glass, so better safe than sorry.

  • 0.5мм copper sheet, did not work. I don't know how the induction cooktop knows, but it knows. With just the skillet i pulled from the socket 2200w(220v), with just copper sheet 200w, with copper sheet and skillet on top 220w.

  • 4mm fireplace window glass. Pulling 2200w and works fine. (I tested beforehand with stacking cards 4mm high and checking if the distance is too much).

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If you put something between your pan and the stove it may not detect the pan if it is not in contact, and you may not get a good result.

I have an induction (hate it, it's like trying to cook on an ipad) and I have a lodge cast iron pan, I've had no issues with scratching at all. If your pan is really rough then I would suggest replacing it with one that is smooth, or smoothing down the coating on the bottom with an electric sander. You could spend more on a solution to save your pan than you would to buy another one.

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  • Aluminium is a very bad idea - it can melt on induction.
    – rumtscho
    Dec 5, 2016 at 23:03
  • Aluminum melts at 600C, but you've got a point as it depends on the alloy.
    – GdD
    Dec 5, 2016 at 23:14
  • Don't underestimate the temperature an induction hob can create in aluminium. It is especially problematic in foil - it can melt onto the glass and weld itself there - but I don't know which thickness becomes safe, if any, so better to avoid it completely.
    – rumtscho
    Dec 6, 2016 at 14:57
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Turns out that cotton doesn't ignite all that easily. I've been cooking steaks and burgers on my Lodge plate using a cotton kitchen towel! Works a treat, costs nothing. Grill plate doesn't slip or scratch. Easy to clean!

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  • Hello, and welcome to Stack Exchange. Are you seriously heating the Lodge plate through the towel? Or are you placing an already-heated plate on a towel that's on some other surface? Oct 13, 2018 at 14:17
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Try BBQ Grill Mats, just tried it on my new induction range and worked fine. You can get ones that are Teflon coated and most can go up to 500 F.

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Wolf induction rangetop; have been using parchment paper for iron skillet. Heat range has not exceeded 4 dots (I call that "medium".) Scorching of paper ultimately leads to replacing. Seems reasonable and cost/effective.


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    Heat range has not exceeded 4 dots But the question is explicitly about high heat.
    – user34961
    Nov 26, 2018 at 8:43
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Don't use newspaper. I tried it placing it on the burner to protect the cooktop as well as to catch spills and splatters. Though it did not catch fire, it did char and even got "ashy." Which I don't understand (how do you get ash if you don't have a fire?).

I thought the newspaper would be ok because the salesman had demoed induction by placing a $10 bill under the pot and the brought the pot to boiling.

I will also mention that cleaning up after using newspaper was not fun. The ink from the newspaper was scorched to the cooktop (but curiously not the pot bottom). I was able to get the ink off using the cooktop cleaner, but it took a lot of time.

I've used newspapers since (as well as towels), but only to surround the pots and pans to catch spills and splatters. I've had no charring or scorching incidents.

This makes me think that it's the weight of the pot on the burner that exacerbates a potential or real safety problem when using certain materials as a burner protector.

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