No, this isn’t a cast iron thing. Using stainless pans, you can get nonstick effects that, in my experience, far outperform Teflon anyway. The process is called “spot seasoning.” I have cooked crispy, cheesy rice noodles with eggs with zero sticking.
I love my cast iron pans, but stainless is my daily go-to. Added bonus: use 100% copper wool to clean your stainless pan. The copper-coated wool at most grocery stores is problematic; you might get a few uses out of the coated garbage and then it starts shedding metal bits.
Knife hipsters: You must spend £200 on these whetstones!
Me: Haha, £1.50 roof tile.
Shame I don’t live near anywhere to get slate or another suitable rock type, would be a few hundred miles away. The rock here is rather crumbly sedimentary rock from what I have seen. Slate coasters could be dual purpose.
Now you’ve got me wondering what kind of materials are cheap as hell, come flat out of the production line, and are still more durable than the steel you’re sharpening.
This whole convo has got me thinking!
Well that is why I thought slate tiles. Really any kind of tile is fairly cheap per unit and they are mass produced with the expectation that most people are buying them in larger quantities than 1. I would doubt you can go much cheaper than that unless you are just taking stone and working it yourself, but then you are going to want a lot more tools.