Cooking equipment comes in a variety of different forms. You have your little gadgets that you may use once and then put them in a drawer somewhere and forget you even have it. There’s your electric equipment such as a food processor, that you use frequently for certain recipes. But the most frequently used kitchen items happen to be things like knives, pots and pans, cutting boards, dishes, etc.
There is a lot of information out there about all of these items, but lets focus on one thing at a time! Pots and pans are something most of us use (if not all) in the kitchen and one small part of choosing the right one is the material used to make it. There are a number of them available such as aluminum, copper, ceramic, cast iron, glass, stainless steel, silicone, and non-stick. Not only materials but types of cookware as well! As you can see there’s quite the variety when choosing what you want. There are so many types out there that it could take forever to list them all, how they function and how to take care of them (not only to write about it but to also read it!) that we’ll discuss it one post at a time!
A tried and true pot and pan material is cast iron. It’s been around for centuries and has the ability to stay at a very high temperature while cooking as well as being durable enough to handle it. Cast iron evenly distributes heat while retaining it once it reaches the ideal temperature. Because of this, it’s a common choice for searing, frying, and slow cooking.
If you are worried for health reasons, cast iron produces small amounts of iron into the food that is cooked in it, making it a health benefit for the anemic and those with iron deficiencies. However it can cause issues for those with high amounts of iron in their bodies.
To keep cast iron from rusting and to help give it a more non-stick like surface, seasoning is a must. Seasoning is relatively easy to do, but needs to be done before the first time cooking with a new cast iron pan and then again periodically to keep it in good shape. There are a number of different sites that can tell you in detail how to do this. HowToDoThings.com has an excellent guide on how to season a cast iron skillet.
Cast iron is great for cooking and is a material home cooks and professional chefs both enjoy having in the kitchen, thanks to being a sturdy, reliable piece of equipment that if taken well care of will last to pass down to the next generations!
Photo by Crystl.
4. February 2010 at 5:10 am
nice article! thanx!!
4. February 2010 at 5:20 am
I didn’t know that iron went into foods making it more healthy… interesting!
5. February 2010 at 3:39 pm
I was very surprised when I found that out. It’s great being informed of things like this
5. February 2010 at 3:41 pm
Thank you! I like to try to keep people well informed!
8. February 2010 at 5:22 pm
I have used an iron skillet sence my mother-in-law gave me one more than 50 years ago I would not give it up for any thing. It ia the best cooking pan I own.