Cast Iron Food And Wine Guide

The best advice for cleaning, seasoning, buying, and cooking with cast iron in your kitchen or grill year-round. There are few cooking utensils as iconic or universal as the cast iron skillet, but the bizarre mythology surrounding it deters many from actually using it. Debate swirls about how to clean and season cast iron, to the point where people worry that one drop of soap or rust will result in the cast iron police showing up in your kitchen and giving you a life sentence. It's virtually impossible to permanently damage cast iron cookware, and the best way to make it last a lifetime and beyond is to cook with it as often as possible. 

A well-seasoned cast iron skillet takes time, patience, and care. However, this doesn't mean you need to coddle your baby like a newborn or tuck him into bed every night. Cast iron is a durable and versatile material that is good at conducting heat evenly, but it does require some maintenance. New cast iron skillets are raw, natural metal and have pores just like our skin. When this material is heated, its pores open and absorb the fat and oil that is being cooked. Over time, these oils bond with the porous surface, creating a surface that is harder, smoother, and easier to peel than cast iron alone. This process is called seasoning, and it's much easier to do at home than you might think. 

Cast iron skillets seem to confuse people. In the age of non-stick cookware and stainless steel, it's no wonder they can be intimidating. Rules are different. Before you start cooking, you need to season it. And to maintain its completely natural non-stick coating, you must also be careful when cleaning it. Do not soak. It cannot be placed in the dishwasher.