The microbes are dead but they leave behind the toxins which require greater heat to denature.
That’s why there are warnings about reheating some foods over and over. There’s minimal bacterial growth, then the bacteria is killed in heating sto safe temp. But the bacteria leave behind the toxins. Reheat and you get bacteria growth again before death increasing the number of toxins. Keep repeating and you have a dangerous level of toxins despite no living bacteria.
That would be true if first you ignore the effect of heating the pan on depyrogenation (killing of the toxins) which happens at approximately 250C which while hotter than your food that’s filled with moisture will get is reasonable for a cast iron pan to get to during both preheating and drying
2nd you assume the toxins accumulate over time, which they wouldn’t because the microscopic amounts still in the pan will leave on the food and with a cursory wipe of a paper towel
The reason it’s a concern with food is because if your food gets to 170F it’s considered overcooked so it never fully sterilizes and doesn’t depyrogenate but it’s not unusual to get a cast iron pan to 500F which does both.
If you ever worked in a field that does sterilization you will learn the differences between cleaning, sterilizing, and depyrogenating
Poisons don’t have to be alive to hurt you.
The microbes need to be alive to produce them when you finish using the pan it’s hundreds of degrees so the bacteria are dead
The microbes are dead but they leave behind the toxins which require greater heat to denature.
That’s why there are warnings about reheating some foods over and over. There’s minimal bacterial growth, then the bacteria is killed in heating sto safe temp. But the bacteria leave behind the toxins. Reheat and you get bacteria growth again before death increasing the number of toxins. Keep repeating and you have a dangerous level of toxins despite no living bacteria.
That would be true if first you ignore the effect of heating the pan on depyrogenation (killing of the toxins) which happens at approximately 250C which while hotter than your food that’s filled with moisture will get is reasonable for a cast iron pan to get to during both preheating and drying
2nd you assume the toxins accumulate over time, which they wouldn’t because the microscopic amounts still in the pan will leave on the food and with a cursory wipe of a paper towel
The reason it’s a concern with food is because if your food gets to 170F it’s considered overcooked so it never fully sterilizes and doesn’t depyrogenate but it’s not unusual to get a cast iron pan to 500F which does both.
If you ever worked in a field that does sterilization you will learn the differences between cleaning, sterilizing, and depyrogenating