All About Cast Iron

Great info I thought was important to share for those who may use or are considering using cast iron cookware. 

A Cast Iron Primer

If well-cared for, cast iron cookware can last a lifetime or longer. So highly valued in centuries past, cast iron ware was handed down from generation to generation, often being itemized in wills.

"Vintage" cast iron cookware from the late 19th and early to mid-20th centuries enjoyed a higher standard of material and workmanship than nearly all such products made anywhere else in the last 50 years. Typically thinner and lighter than today's products, vintage iron ware was cast from the high grade ore once mined in areas such as Erie, Pennsylvania and Sidney, Ohio, to name two of the most prominent.

Skilled foundrymen formed the individual molds, poured the molten metal, and finished each piece by hand. The fineness of the casting was further enhanced by the use of a dressing mixture known as "blacking" applied to the molds.

With cooking surfaces machined smooth after casting, and subsequently "seasoned" by the build-up of polymerized fat from cooking, vintage cast iron is considered the original "non-stick" cookware. 

Go to this page to read more... it really IS interesting!

Cooking With Cast Iron

Fans of cooking with cast iron revere it for its versatility and flexibility. Nothing puts a good sear on a steak or chop like blazing hot cast iron, and few other cooking implements go from stove-top to oven and back with such ease. Breakfast bacon and eggs slide right off a well-seasoned cast iron griddle like glass. Tough meats slowly braise into fork-tender morsels in a cast iron dutch oven. And anyone who knows good cornbread knows it absolutely must be baked in cast iron.

There are a few things you don't want to cook in cast iron, however. Unless the pan is extremely well-seasoned, you should avoid acidic foods-- such as those containing tomatoes, wine, or vinegar-- which may cause excess iron to be absorbed into them. The higher the moisture content of the acidic food and the longer the cooking time, the higher the amount of iron absorption.

Cooking spinach, due to the oxalic acid it contains, is also inadvisable, as it reacts with the iron and turns the food an unappetizing black color.

In the case of acidic or other reactive foods, it's best to consider another type of cooking utensil.

Go here to see a few recipes to use in your cast iron pans. 

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Carol