The Interesting Characteristics Of Cast Iron Cookware
Michael Russell
March 12, 2010
The interesting characteristics of cast iron cookware are always worth a few minutes of diverting study, because the metal used to make this sort of cookware is so versatile. A typical skillet, for example, is excellent at cooking a wide variety of foods, including eggs, sausages, pancakes and pretty much anything else that that can make a person's mouth water easily.
There are a number of good reasons why cast iron is excellent at doing what it does when it's formed into cookware, as a matter of fact. It not only can hold on to huge amounts of heat but it's also very good at dispersing that heat around its cooking surface with ease. It's also very easy to make, as well, and it can be given a non-stick surface through an easy process called "seasoning."
Cooking utensils made from this versatile material have been around for literally hundreds of years. Because it's so good at withstanding and maintaining extremely high temperatures, many a cook has found that using a skillet made from the metal is the way to go when frying or searing a food is called for. Because it diffuses heat so readily, pans made of the metal are also excellent for stews.
It's also the case that cookware made from the metal can develop a very nice non-stick surface, which many generations of trail cooks out in the old West found to be excellent for frying up or scrambling eggs, especially. Additionally, those same cooks found that cornbread -- a staple of the trail hand's diet -- was very easy to do up and then pass around, coming from such cookware.
Normally, there really is no limit to the sizes and shapes of cooking implements and cookware that can be made of this versatile metal. This includes, typically, griddles and skillets as well as frying pans and Dutch ovens. To season it, just scrape the metal to expose its bare surface and then apply a thin layer of some sort of cooking oil. After that, it's only necessary to heat up the surface to complete the process.
Cast iron is also different in terms of how one would clean it, by the way. Most enthusiasts say that it should never be placed into a dishwasher or scoured, because the seasoning could be removed. Other enthusiasts say to just clean it with mild soap and water and then reapply a layer of oil to it and that's all that's needed. Still others recommend buying the enamel-coated versions of the cookware.
Cast iron cookware has been around for hundreds of years and it promises to be around for even longer than that in the future. It's durable, versatile and it comes in a wide variety of sizes and shapes, including as skillets and griddles as well as frying pans and even Dutch ovens or woks. Almost all can be given a non-stick surface, too, when they're seasoned correctly.
There are a number of good reasons why cast iron is excellent at doing what it does when it's formed into cookware, as a matter of fact. It not only can hold on to huge amounts of heat but it's also very good at dispersing that heat around its cooking surface with ease. It's also very easy to make, as well, and it can be given a non-stick surface through an easy process called "seasoning."
Cooking utensils made from this versatile material have been around for literally hundreds of years. Because it's so good at withstanding and maintaining extremely high temperatures, many a cook has found that using a skillet made from the metal is the way to go when frying or searing a food is called for. Because it diffuses heat so readily, pans made of the metal are also excellent for stews.
It's also the case that cookware made from the metal can develop a very nice non-stick surface, which many generations of trail cooks out in the old West found to be excellent for frying up or scrambling eggs, especially. Additionally, those same cooks found that cornbread -- a staple of the trail hand's diet -- was very easy to do up and then pass around, coming from such cookware.
Normally, there really is no limit to the sizes and shapes of cooking implements and cookware that can be made of this versatile metal. This includes, typically, griddles and skillets as well as frying pans and Dutch ovens. To season it, just scrape the metal to expose its bare surface and then apply a thin layer of some sort of cooking oil. After that, it's only necessary to heat up the surface to complete the process.
Cast iron is also different in terms of how one would clean it, by the way. Most enthusiasts say that it should never be placed into a dishwasher or scoured, because the seasoning could be removed. Other enthusiasts say to just clean it with mild soap and water and then reapply a layer of oil to it and that's all that's needed. Still others recommend buying the enamel-coated versions of the cookware.
Cast iron cookware has been around for hundreds of years and it promises to be around for even longer than that in the future. It's durable, versatile and it comes in a wide variety of sizes and shapes, including as skillets and griddles as well as frying pans and even Dutch ovens or woks. Almost all can be given a non-stick surface, too, when they're seasoned correctly.
Print
Email
