Why did my sweet potato hash turn soggy when frying in a non-stick pan, and crispy in a cast iron?

I was making a sweet potato hash for pizza topping the other night, and tried to fry the first batch in a non-stick pan. The hash never crisped up and was soggy, so I ended up mashing it instead. The next batch I fried in my seasoned cast iron, and it crisped up like a good hash.

Does anyone know why this happened? To me, it doesn't make a lot of sense if both the pans were equivalently hot with the same amount of oil to fry in. The hash in the non-stick pan also seemed to absorb more oil, but again, not sure why.

Details:

• I used a similar amount of bacon fat to fry both batches in


• The hash was seasoned with garlic, salt and various spices (no onion)


• Similar heating levels, preheated both pans


• No lids were used


• The non-stick pan is a nice Teflon coated Calphalon, and has pretty good heat retention; I use it for stir fry successfully