Cast Iron Cookware

For years, I had bought pots and pans only for them to last a few years before completely becoming useless. In 12 years of marriage I have had to have spent over $1000 on the purchase….and repurchase of pots and pans. Then, I discovered the glory that is cast iron

Both my husband and a twitter friend of mine had been telling me about cast iron. She had some that belonged to her great grandmother and is still perfect shape due to the occasional seasoning of the cookware and proper care. The plain truth is: these pans will last forever if you take care of them.

Cast iron is nonstick if properly seasoned too! So let’s talk about proper care! I wholly recommend Lodge Cast Iron. (No, I am not a paid affiliate.) Lodge has been around since 1896! For more on the history of Lodge, click here. A company that has been around that long surely must make a product worth having!

Daily Use Care Tips

• Do not wash with soap. Instead, use steel wool and hot water. (Soap will remove all the seasoning.
• Lodge also sells a hard plastic scraping tool which I have found useful in both scraping cast iron and scraping tough, dry, or sticky messes off the counter top without damaging it.
• Dry the pan on high heat on the stove top to make sure all of the water has evaporated

Seasoning Cast Iron

Now, let’s talk about how to season cast iron.

• In this case, wash the pan with soap and water. Scrub it really well. This will remove all of the seasoning and residue. Scrub any rust with steel wool.
• Dry the pan on the stove top. (By the way, if you notice that your burner drip pans look grubby…check out my article on how to clean them. )
• Add vegetable oil or soybean oil to the pan by dampening a paper towel with the oil and applying a coat.
• Heat the oven to 350F.
• Line a lower shelf with foil to catch any drippings of oil.
• Bake for 1 hour, upside down.
• Let the pan cool in the oven, on its own. Once this is complete your pan is like new.

Tips

Tip: Do not cook highly acidic foods like tomato sauce in cast iron, you will have to re-season it.

Tip: When Seasoning, do not use too much vegetable oil or your pans will be sticky! I have learned this the hard way. Seriously, you will have to START OVER!

Share your favorite cast iron recipes in the comments below!