Who Says Nothing Of Quality Comes From Argentina

[RodalfoWalsh]

If you're going to season it anyway why get enameled? The seasoning won't penetrate through the enamel. The enamel is fragile and can crack with high heat, rough handling or just using a metal spatula, and shouldn't but could possible contain lead. Those skillets are fully enameled which means the don't absorb heat as well bare cast iron, taking significantly longer to heat up with an imperceptible increase in thermal mass. Bare cast iron transfers heat better to the food which on a bar grill makes for better marking. Its also usually more expensive

For a grill pan I don't understand why you would choose enameled cast iron over bare cast iron, but that's just me. Not to mention I wouldn't buy one with a wooden handle, mainly because I already have and have learned my lesson.

 

[steveinbsas]

I got the enameled one because it was for sale in a small hardware store on Cordoba near Callao that was going out of business in 2006. The price was $27 pesos (then about $8 USD). I remember the price in pesos because it was the same as the diameter in cm. I've owned "bare" cast iron cookware in the USA and I probably would have bought a bare cast iron plancha if the store still had them. They didn't, so I bought the one with the enamel finish.

I did not use it often until I moved to the country. Now I use it four or five times a week. It has "seasoned" itself as a result of use and the meat is no longer in contact with the original finish as it cooks. The finish on the bottom has never cracked. I have replaced the wood handle twice and I've never burned my hand because the handle was iron. Since I don't have a plancha without the enamel finish, I don't know how much more slowly the one I have heats up.

 

[RodalfoWalsh]

It sounds like an excellent workhorse and if it aint broke, don't fix it! Just because I think that bare cast iron would be a better choice but that doesn't mean I think it was a bad purchase. I buy stuff all the time because the price is right.

Although being out in the country shouldn't you be cooking a la parilla instead of a la plancha?