Fulltime Mama My name is Elizabeth, and I am the happy wife of ten years to Fabio and fulltime mama to four beautiful children: Joshua-9, Dominique 7, Israel- almost 5, Johann-3 and expecting a new baby in April 2012! We are currently living in Brazil as missionaries and life never ceases to be an adventure!!! I love motherhood with a passion and am passionate about providing a place here at MamaKnowsBest where mothers can learn, grow, and share ... pooling the wisdom of many into one big jackpot for mothers. View all articles | Contact author

Why Cast Iron? 

Well, we all know aluminum is bad for you, right? Unless you like the idea of getting Alzheimer’s in your later years….  Most traditional club aluminum pans have been taken off the market, but beware! Aluminum cookware has come back onto the market in a sneaky fashion in the form of spun aluminum pots and pans, so read the bottom of any pot before you buy it.

And Teflon? Well, it is toxic too, I’m sorry to say. I won’t get into all the sticky details here, lol, but I will give you a few links to get you started if you’d like to look into it further:

 http://www.care2.com/greenliving/dangers-of-teflon.html

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/getting-unstuck-trashing-your-teflon.html

http://www.ecomall.com/greenshopping/teflon4.htm

So, once you are convinced that you should get the Teflon out of your kitchen, you can read on to see how fun and enjoyable cast iron is! :)

One benefit is that it is very affordable! I know for sure that you can buy it at Wal-Mart and at Cabela’s, but I was fortunate enough to find brand new ones at garage sales, so I didn’t have to look too far.  If you don’t find them in the section with the other cookware, try looking in the camping section.

I have a large cast iron skillet and a cast iron griddle that never leave my stove top, because I used them constantly.  There are a few other pieces that I would really like to add to my collection some day, but for now these work for most things I need to do.

How To Season Your Cast Iron Cookware

Once you have your cast iron pot purchased, you should “season” it for best results, even if it says that it came “pre-seasoned”.  Here’s how:

Remove all packaging and wash the pan with a bit of soapy water. This is the only time you will do this!  Dry it thoroughly with paper towels, and then find some cooking oil, shortening, bacon grease or animal lard.

Preheat your oven. Different people will tell you different temperatures, but I think I did it at around 350 degrees.

As the oven heats, wipe a generous amount of your chosen oil or grease around the inside of the skillet. Be generous, but not as generous as I was! Be sure to wipe out any obvious excesses before placing the pan in the oven or it will drip all over and make a mess.  The reason you do this is to bake the oil or grease into the pores of the skillet.

Now place it upside down in the preheated oven and put a cookie sheet underneath it to catch any drips.  It’s okay if it smokes; that is part of the process. The oil or grease is filling up all of the pores of the cast iron, creating fewer crevices for food to become trapped.

Remove from the oven after about an hour.

It will be fairly well seasoned after this process is complete, but you will want to repeat this occasionally to maintain the non-stick quality. 

Cooking In Your Cast Iron Cookware

Always turn your stove on and let your pot heat up before putting food in it, and then salt it. This is NOT the greatest idea, health-wise, but I sometimes spray it with cooking spray before use.  (I’m trying to quit, though!) 

On my better days, I use coconut oil, red palm oil, or olive oil instead. :)

Once it is heated, salted and lightly greased, you are ready to cook with it! I pretty much never have anything stick or burn!

Be sure to clean your pot as soon as possible after using it. Don’t leave food sitting in it. Remove remaining food and wash it without soap!  Some people say you shouldn’t even use water, but I usually do.  I just wash it out with a bit of hot water and a scrub brush when necessary, as shown in the picture.  Just don’t scrub too vigorously or you may undo your seasoning non-stick process!  Only scrub when necessary, and then only lightly.  Then be sure to dry it well afterwards. You can just use paper towels, or you can heat it on the stove for 2 minutes or so.  This will prevent your pot from rusting. As another measure against rusting, you can wipe the inside of your skillet with a piece of wax paper after washing, while it is still warm.  I think this goes without saying, but don’t ever put it in the dishwasher!