Amongst cooks, I would say that cast iron is a standard. Everything product seems like to compares with it. We have a number of pans and skillets but I always gravitate to cast iron first. A lot of it is because I don’t really clean it but just wipe it out. I have always liked cast iron because I have only had electric cooking elements. I won’t make you read all the way through it to know the secret. It is the mass. Yes, it makes it harder to heat and make incremental decreases in temperature. But when you want a hot searing cook, you cant beat cast iron.

Cast iron has been with us for literally thousands of years. The first cookware dates back to England in the early 1700s. I suppose in our culture, I think of cast iron as Americana. It was inexpensive, but more importantly durable.

There has been a lot of todo about old cast iron versus new cast iron. Old cast iron would be cookware made before 1950. From what I have heard, it is primarily about the surface milling. Old surface milling was done by hand and yielded a visibly smoother looking surface. Whereas today’s cookware is mechanized and can have a ‘grainy’ looking surface.

The second thing you hear after cast iron is the word ‘seasoning’. This is the process of putting a coating on the metal. This coating helps prevent sticking on a hot surface. I have observed a lot of seasoning over the years and I think a lot of it is overblown. It is true that you don’t want metal on food contact. But the coating is and can be only so thick. Most of the ‘seasoning’ is the remainder of food stuck on the surface.

When cooking things such as bacon, it should be fatty enough to not stick to any surface. When the bacon in done, there is always a lot of residue which look like black bits. This is the sugar that is used in the cure. Sausage does the same thing. It is almost impossible not to have the sugar stick to the surface no matter how ‘seasoned’ it is. This happens to all cookware, not just cast iron.

Scrape off what you can with the spatula and the rest contributes to ‘seasoning’. After cooking the bacon, you are in the magic zone. Most people mistakenly think that it is the bacon fat that keeps the eggs from sticking. You need any kind of oil be it oil, lard, butter or whatever. But, the skillet has finally gotten to the proper temperature to cook an egg without sticking. You can literally pour all of the fat out of the pan and it still wont stick.

Common lore says don’t cook high acid foods in cast iron. The reason being is that acid will dissolve iron causing a potential metallic taste. In my opinion, I don’t really consider tomato sauce high acid. It probably doesn’t benefit the pan or the sauce too much from a non-stick point of view, but I have done it a lot of times with no ill effect. Wash the sauce off the pan at the faucet and go on with life.

Certain scrubbing pads, like chain mail are favored for cleaning cast iron. I don’t have one and I don’t really worry about it. I just scrape whatever is stuck with the spatula or wipe it out with a paper towel. I store the pan in the oven so I don’t have to fuss about it being greasy.

End Your Programming Routine: I talked a lot about traditional cast iron. The skillet in the picture is not the only piece I have. Enameled pieces like Le Creuset are fabulous as well. This is truly lifetime cookware unlike Teflon coated aluminum or every junky fad that has come along. Take care of it and it will take care of you,