Cast-Iron Cookware
Cast iron is one of the oldest materials for cookware, and remains to this day, one of the best. It is, of course, admirably suited for use on induction-cooking units, but it is valued by good cooks for its general usefulness. Cast-iron cookware is superb for any cooking task whatever that does not require rapid changes in cooking temperature. Iron is a material that has a high "thermal inertia": it is fairly slow to heat, but once at a temperature it tends to hold that temperature solid and steady.
Cast-iron skillets are the original--and, most feel, still clearly the best--"non-stick" cooking vessels ever. A properly seasoned cast-iron skillet is felt by most cooks to be better than any of the modern "non-stick" coated cookware items at allowing, well, "non-stick" cooking.
Cast iron is also as rugged as, yes, iron. With only modest care, cast iron can last for generations; many families today are still happily cooking with cast-iron cookware bought by an ancestor over a century ago.
The two drawbacks to cast iron are these: first, it is not well suited for those few cooking tasks in which the temperature of cooking must be changed fairly rapidly--slow to heat is also slow to cool. Second, though rather less important, it is fairly heavy.
What makes cast iron so wonderful, almost magical, as a cooking material is the application of "seasoning". Seasoning cast iron has acquired an aura almost of the mystic, as if it were some magical technique known only to masters. Nonsense. It is simple, easily begun and easily maintained. Seasoning consists simply in applying and "baking on" some fatty oil applied to the vessel's surfaces. As time goes on, and more oil is more solidly baked in, those surfaces acquire an almost silken smoothness. One begins, with a "raw" new item of cast iron (after giving it a light hand washing) by coating its surfaces, inside and out, with a light covering of cooking oil, then placing the vessel upside down in an oven pre-heated to 350° (spread some aluminum foil under it to catch any drips) and letting it bake for about an hour--leave it in the oven after that till the oven and it are thoroughly cooled down. That's it. That wasn't so hard, was it?
After that, just remember to never wash the vessel (with soap or detergent, that is)--just rinse it with hot water and scrub it a bit with a stiff-bristled brush; after that, while it's still warm, lightly wipe a little more oil over the surfaces and store the item (preferably in a cool, dry place). It helps the process if you repeat, especially when the item is still fairly new, the oven treatment. A new, just-first-seasoned pan will not yet have achieved its final smoothness, so don't expect things like pancakes to at once cook non-stick. But before long, you'll have something much better--and much healthier!
(And whatever you do, do not ever put a still-hot cast-iron item into or under cold water! Sheer common sense ought to preclude such an act--which will almost surely crack the iron--but common sense isn't always common.)
Moreover, if something so simple as that still seems daunting, nowadays you can buy factory pre-seasoned cast-iron cookware. (Be aware, though, that many folk who buy those still feel that it is wise to add on your own seasoning). And, of course, either way, you continue the process through the years.
(If not using soap or a detergent seems "unhealthy", just remember that the vessel is automatically sterilized by the cooking heat. In fact, cast iron is a deal "healthier" for you than most or all other cooking materials.)
Another form of cast-iron cookware is enameled cast iron. Enamelware is all those big, solid, super-brightly colored pots and Dutch ovens--delightful to cook with and delightful just to look at. Enamelware has all the virtues of cast iron itself, plus the permanent surface of baked enamel that never needs any care. Basic cast iron is almost ridiculously inexpensive compared to most other cooking materials; enameled is a bit pricier, but many people consider one or more enameled cast-iron pots to be an absolute necessity in every kitchen. And, again, this stuff lasts forever: amortize the cost over a lifetime (though it will outlast you and me), and it's not expensive at all.
