Cast Iron Cookware

Iron pots were the first metal pots used in human cooking. Cast iron is made by melting down iron and pouring it into a mold. This creates a porous material, which is why cast iron requires on-going seasoning. And while the thickness of cast iron means it heats up slowly, once it’s hot it stays that way making it a perfect media for meat in particular.

Cast Iron Starter Set retails for about 100 pounds

For readers who need iron in their diet, cooking with cast iron really does help increase your intake of this mineral! In fact, cooking two days a week in iron improves your overall intake by 20% of the recommended daily amount to a healthy diet.

Iron makes for a heavy pan, which might not be suitable for people with conditions like arthritis. And cast iron isn’t cheap, but its nearly indestructible. It’s likely that even your great-grandmother’s pot is still quite functional if it was well seasoned. You’ll notice, however, that our forbears often kept specific iron pans for specific foods. Why? Because quite simply, the pan absorbs some flavor from whatever’s cooked in it. Meaning if you cook the same thing again, you get the benefit of that additional flavor exchange.

Unlike other utensils, cast iron should be wiped with a cloth after use and gently rubbed with a stiff brush for any stubborn bits of food. Then oil and put it away. The oil keeps your pan from rusting between use. And although you can sand away any rust, that means you have to start seasoning your pan all over again.

A nicce nine piece set, retail value, about 250 pounds

One other word of caution, cast iron doesn’t play nicely with high acid content foods similarly to aluminum. You can cook those foods therein, but you’re not going to be as happy with the results as you would be a non-reactive pan.

A reasonably good set of 5 cast iron pots and pans costs around 300 pounds or a bit more.

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