Originally Posted by
staehpj1
The fact that they require more fuel isn't an especially big deal for most bike touring since you can still carry the same amount of fuel and just restock more frequently. That said I can't imagine carrying the extra weight of cast iron on tour.
A lot of people can't - it's just another item. An 8" skillet is 3.5 pounds. The laptop I took on tour (a netbook) weighed about the same, and my sleeping bag and tent *both* outweigh the skillet. A week into the tour, I'd lost more weight from my middle than the cast-iron weighed, despite eating 5,000 calories a day.
There are good reasons to use cast iron. There are good reasons NOT to use cast iron.