That's how America does it, and it's worked out pretty well so far.

One of my weird passions is cast iron. I love it. In fact, sometimes my hubs drives me a few towns over to visit the Lodge Cast Iron store and outlet. It's like the most romantic date for me. I'm going to take a few, random posts to discuss how much I love cast iron, maybe post a few recipes, talk about the care of it, reseasoning it, and just a lot of mumbo jumbo. I'm just warning you because I get all nerd about it, probably boring, and can talk about it FOR DAYS. 


I have my reasons, though. First, because it is awesome. Second, I get worried that cast iron cooking is getting lost to newer generations. I'm worried it's going to fade away like a dying gnome in The Gnome Mobile, and just like the old gnome that springs back to life, I'd like for people to get excited about it again. 

 I mean, I want to write it a poem, and It would probably go something like this:

Oh, Cast Iron! How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

Except then I decide I am no Elizabeth Barrett Browning, so I'll spare you the effort and just tell you (and this is only a few) straight up. 

• Even heat distribution while cooking- The beauty of cast iron is that it's solid. A skillet or dutch oven sits evenly on the stove eye. Have you ever had a pan that was weighed down by the handle and caused the other side of the pan to not touch the eye? makes for seriously uneven cooking. I do realize that I have said the word even like a zillion times in this paragraph. I decided not to fight it. Close your eyes and let it sink in.... even. even. even. Even cooking, even heat distribution... Important stuff. 

• Natural iron supplement- That's right! Get an important building block for your body as easy as cooking breakfast in the morning 

• Natural nonstick coating versus teflon- With all the controversy over 'is teflon safe or unsafe' why not just go with what people have been using for generations with no problems?

• The history- Speaking of what people have been using for generations, great great great grandparents probably cooked their rabbit stew in a pot on the Oregon Trail (or something like that) in a cast iron dutch oven, others washed their clothes in a large cast iron pot, and maybe someone in your past baked their cornbread in a cast iron skillet. Diamonds? Pearls? Pass down your cast iron, too. Imagine the memories that can be preserved when you bake cookies with your children... and give them the cast iron pan you used together on their wedding day (or the day they warn you that you won't be having grandchildren in the traditional manner because they have decided to not get married. I had such a conversation with my grandmother only to have to renege a few months later because Mark came a long and changed my mind.)   I have cast iron from my great grandmother and my grandmother, and I cherish it. Not only do I cherish it, I use it almost daily. I think that's pretty cool. 

Since I'm droning on and on, I'll expound on others in a later post. My appreciation for those that aren't faint of heart to read this!

• Clean up
• The potential to go from hot to cold and vice versa
• Super easy clean up
• Easy transition from the stove to the oven

It's the stick shift of cookware. You can find a piece rusted out on someones back porch, and with a little TLC, you can make it look like new. For example, I had been wanting to get a piece of the new cookware at cracker barrel, but I couldn't justify paying full price for it when I don't actually need it. It's the same cookware, made by lodge, but has this cute back:  

Then I found this bad boy....or maybe I should say sad boy:

Someone just didn't know how to take care of it. 

The sad part is that the person that bought this gave up on it. They abandoned it in a junk store and left it to whine and cry at passerby's like a sad puppy. The good news is that I got this puppy for $6, and they retail for double that. 

So, I started my reseasoning process (which I will share in another blog), and now it looks like this:

Perfect cornbread :) No sticking!

A few tips and tricks for using cast iron: 

• Let it heat up and cool down slowly. This cuts down on condensation which helps prevent rusting. 
• It's not considered cheating to use a nonstick spray on your cast iron just like you would any other pan or dish. In fact, it can help season the cast iron easily and effectively.
• Remember that the food will let you know when it is ready to be released while cooking. Don't try to turn food over (like steak, burgers, fried eggs) if it is still sticking. It'll let go when it is ready to turn. Remembering this rule makes clean up much easier, and for this reason, scrambled eggs are the only thing I don't recommend cooking in cast iron. 

Check out Lodge's website for more information and some great gourmet recipes!

http://www.lodgemfg.com

Here's an interesting link on the benefits of cast iron cooking. See? I'm not crazy. 

http://www.naturalnews.com/031737_cast_iron_cookware.html