The best pan in my kitchen!

After much searching I have finally found what I believe to be the very best set of pots and pans out there----cast iron!

I first learned about cast iron when I was making waffles about a year ago in our $50 wafflemaker (by Cuisinart)--it was a really nice waffle maker we got for our wedding, which at that time was only 2 years ago. The waffles looked a little more burnt than usual that morning...or so I thought...but we ate them anyway--the "burnt" part was really the TEFLON coming off on little bits!!! I was disgusted and very concerned for the health of our family.

Teflon-coated aluminum contains perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a synthetic chemical used in production that creates a soap-like slipperiness and non-stick finish, when heated, emits a very toxic gas and has been known to cause cancer, birth defects, pet deaths, and other serious illnesses. Teflon also realeases flouride which is cancer causing. Teflon is also just a coating over aluminum and aluminum has been linked with alzheimers (check your deodorent folks! the anti-perspirant deodorants all contain aluminum). For that same reason, I threw out all of my aluminum baking sheets and replaced them with stoneware.

And there are other brands that arn't teflon but still use a toxic non-stick coating that contains PFOA: Silverstone, Fluron, Supra, Excalibur, Greblon, Xylon, Duracote, Resistal, Autograph and T-Fal just to name a few. If it's non-stick, there is a good chance it is omitting toxic gases when heated.

Stainless steel may not be much better either--they all contain nickel and other toxic metals that when heated leach into foods....some say nickel is more toxic than mercury.

So to continue our waffle making I looked for a wafflemaker that was made with something other than non-stick and I stumbled upon cast iron....the old fashioned way our great grandmothers used to make waffles! They are still made today because a lot of people like to take them camping and use them over the fire. So I got one and I loved it! The first batch of waffles was pretty darn good--I burned a few because I had to get the hang of cast iron (it heats differently than non-stick).

Here is my "seasoned" waffle iron--when cast iron first comes it is gun metal color, but after seasoning it, it turns black.

After that I was hooked--these are the benefits I have seen from cast iron:

1) EXTREMELY affordable! Cast iron is dirt cheap!

2) Heirloom value--cast iron lasts forever and you can hand it down from generation to generation (many cooks today are still using "grandma's" old skillet). And if you find a rusty one at a garage sale or goodwill--be sure to buy it! You'll probably get it for a few dollars and cast iron can always be salvaged.

3) It's versatile--you can cook anything in it--the skillet you just fried in can be used another day to bake a dessert.

4) It's healthy (super important to me)--it omits no toxic gases and it actually puts a little bit of iron into your food--which is good for you! People take vitamins to get iron!

5) Using it creates a natural non-stick coating--Lodge (the only manufacturer of cast iron in America) seasons your cast iron for you so it comes out of the box non-stick.

6) You can take it camping and put it over open flame!

7) It is the best cookware for browing or searing--unlike non-stick which creates moisture foods cooked in cast iron get browned perfectly.

8) They retain heat incredibly--you really never have to go above "medium" on the burner because they heat so evenly and hold the heat so well.

To be fair I will also list all the "down sides"

1) it is HEAVY--if you try and hang these bad boys from the cute little pot rack it might just take down your ceiling!

2) Cast iron takes more work--for the modern american--who would rather eat McDonalds no matter how bad it is for you than take the extra time to prepare something healthy--cast iron would probably not be appealing. Cast iron takes time and effort. I had to "season" my waffle iron which meant putting oil on it and then baking it (or putting it in a BBQ because it does smoke that first time)-the oil seeps into the pores of the cast iron creating a non-stick finish. After cooking you really shouldn't let foods sit because if they are acidic they could eat away the non-stick coating. Foods like tomotoes, vinegar, and beans are acidic and shouldn't be used in the pots and pans until they have developed a good non-stick seasoning. And you can't use soap on the pans for the same reason, soap will take off the non-stick seasoning. So after cooking you just rinse off the food and wipe dry. And if you let water sit, they could get rusty which then you have to scour them to get the rust off and then re-season it. So see, there is some work, but for me the trade offs make it completely worth it.

3) Because they hold the heat so well they do take awhile to cool down.

Before I decided to go old fashioned and get plain old cast iron--I did make a sizable purchase from the Le Creuset outlet and got an amazing deal on their enameled cast iron. Le Creuset makes cast iron beautiful--I must say that was a huge part of the appeal. I got a this beautiful set of french blue cast iron that matched my kitchen perfectly! They are coated in enamel so they look pretty but you still get all the heat retention benefits of cast iron. But 4 big things made me return them.

1) They are covered with an enamel--this is what makes them non-stick, so because the entire pot is covered with enamel there is no worry about using soap or acidic foods--all those are fine. But some of the enamels contain cadmium! The reds and the orange pots definitely have cadmium--granted the cadmium color is only on the outside (the inside is a cream enamel)...but still--cadmium is poisonous! Le Creuset does say that there is an "anti-cadmium" fritt used in the enamel to keep it from releasing it's poisonous properties...but that does concern me a little!

2) The color I LOVED--the blue--is being discontinued...they do this all the time to get people to hurry up and buy. They offer a lifetime warranty on their pieces-but if one broke--there was no guarantee I would be able to get the blue peice--the only color they guarantee will always be around is the orange...yuck

3) The cookware doesn't omit any toxic gases (that I know of--the enamel used on the inside appears to be safe enough) but you don't get any of the iron in your food like you would with plain old cast iron and...

4) it is extremely expensive! A Le Creuset large pan is like $200, whereas a large cast iron pan is like $40.

The last tip I got from a friend in CA--buy all your cast iron on amazon--Lodge discounts them and offers free shipping (like most sellers) on purchases over $25 (which is pretty easy to do when purchasing cookware).

Here's some potatoes I fried up--they browned better than any pan I have ever used--it was pretty sweet--and they didn't stick one bit. Ususally they are totally stuck to my non-stick analon pans and I have to scrape them off. I should have done a "before and after" picture because obviously these potatoes are raw--I had just put them in the pan--but they were really yummy!

This was my first set of pans. It's hard to to tell in the picture but this is Lodge's combo cooker--it is a deep fryer pan with lid--but the lid also happens to be a frying pan! So the top picture is the 3 qt. deep fryer and the bottom is the "lid" -they both are 10 1/4" diameter. Here is the picture from the website: http://www.lodgemfg.com/
I'm cooking potatoes in both because we like a lot of potatoes! Just makes me realize the next purchase I make needs to be their 15" skillet! Oh yeah!
Yum! I think it's time for dinner..... :)