If Only Home Cooks Understood Cast Iron

For anyone who knows me, it's no secret my hobby is cooking.  My grandson, Tyler, is living my dream... attending the CIA (Culinary Institute of America), I "DVR" America's Test Kitchen every week, and roam countless recipe web sites on my IPad in search of the next culinary challange.

When I first became serious about the craft I realized the value of a good set of pans; I began to assemble the finest set of cookware I could find.  For the most part it was the All Clad brand.  Thank God for TJ Maxx and yard sales because a normal everyday cook could never afford All Clad cookware.  A simple 10-inch All Clad skillet will set you back about $120.00.  Oh, what's that you say, you want a lid?  Fold in another $50.00.

All Clad is a 'Tri-Ply' metal sandwich of stainless steel (easy care), surrounding a layer of aluminum (heat retention), and enclosed with another layer of stainless; it does a marvelous job of holding and maintaining an even heat during the cooking process.  Also, when one sears meat, it leaves behind brown bits of 'stuff' that is essential in the flavoring of a pan sauce.  Called FOND, these little bits of brown "meat-fat" get released back into the sauce when you add moist veggies (onions) or stock.  Bottom line... the All Clad brand are beautiful pans that do the job.

And so the downside: besides its cost, All Clad is hard to keep shiny and that is important to some cooks.  Kinda like Sir Lancelot pulling out a sword - it had best be sharp and gleaming.  Need to impress your enemy before you skewer him through.  For all of its high cost, the All Clad pans tend to stain and discolor - after time the bottom of the pan becomes very unsightly.  If your cooking ego demands gleam, the All Clad must be scrubbed with a substance known as "BarKeeper's Friend" - similar to Ajax but much much more expensive.

Enter cast iron cookware.  I believe it all began when I wanted to pan-sear a good steak.  The recipe called for a screamin' hot pan and, despite the layer of oil applied to the bottom of my All Clad, the steak became fused to the bottom of the pan.  I did note the American's Test Kitchen 'pan seared steak' episode called for a cast iron pan and I did not have one.  I actually thought I had something much better - All Clad.

I really did not think anymore about cast iron cookware until, while on a road trip to Huntsville, Alabama I passed signs for the Lodge Cast Iron outlet store and foundry; it was right on my way and called out to me... Pittsburgh, Alabama is the home of Lodge.  Well, I thought I died and went to heaven - a pre-seasoned 10-inch skillet was a mere $16.00 with a $15.00 lid.

Since my introduction to Lodge and their cast iron cookware, numerous trips to Alabama for work allowed me to amass a nice pile of cast iron utensils.  While most wives wave goodbye and wish their husbands a safe trip, my road trips to Huntsville are always preceded by an admonishment, "...and you don't need anymore cast iron pans so pass by the Lodge store without stopping." A little smile comes over my face a few hours later as I'm exploring the shelves of the Lodge outlet store in the 'burg of Pitts.'

So, lots of information out there on cast iron cookware so do some research - a beautiful cooking tool, very inexpensive, and easy to keep clean.  As an introduction, watch the following You Tube clip.  Following that I will provide some tips of maintaining cast iron cookware.

Note: If this video does not work, access it on You Tube with the search of "Lodge cast iron cookware"

Tips and techniques:

• Pre-seasoned Lodge cookware still needs to be seasoned.  Get a "green scrubby" and use it only for your cast iron; scrub out your new pan with hot water - NO SOAP.  Dry thoroughly and, with a paper towel, apply a light coat of veggie oil.  Place in a 375 degree oven, open side down, for an hour.  Your pan is now seasoned.
• After each use, wipe the oil and cooking residue out of the pan with paper towels.  Rinse under hot water and, if required, use the green scrubby... again, NO SOAP.  I always dry off the pan, add a very light layer of oil, and place it under the broiler for a couple of minutes.  Wipe out excess oil and put away. .. or leave it right there in the hot oven. 
• Non-stick cast iron is NOT a myth... the more you use your cast iron pan, the more non-stick it gets.  The key after each use is to remember the following; wipe, oil, heat, wipe.
• For those who cannot get to Pittsburg, Tennessee; Lodge cookware can be found just about anywhere - Walmart, Amazon.com, etc.  Recommend you stick with the Lodge brand as most others are made in China and who knows what goes into their molten cast iron mix.  As an example, Bed, Bath, and Beyond sells the Emeril brand... made in China.

To conclude... a short cast iron story.  Sally and I were in Richmond at a little restaurant on Cary Street.  They had one of those open kitchens allowing the patrons to view the magic of meal-making. As a hobbyist chef I positioned myself so I could watch the action of a bustling professional kitchen. Low and behold I noticed the crew used nothing but cast iron cookware.  Using it at home and just wiping it out was one thing but how did this restaurant deal with the health inspector?  The process (wipe, oil, heat, wipe with NO SOAP) could never be sanitary enough to satisfy the health inspection bureaucrats. When I saw a break in the action I wandered over and caught the chef's attention and, although busy, he communicated the following:

• As a chef, he would never pan-fry a steak or pan-roast vegetables with a kitchen utensil other than cast iron.
• His kitchen help rarely applies water but rather wipes, oils, and heats the pan after each use - no germs survive... no lingering oder... never a violation.
• He only uses American-made cast iron cookware.

If only... I had discovered the secret of cast iron cookery much earlier in life.