...or at least infatuation- seeing as love takes place over time.
I put my new cast iron pan on its maiden voyage today. It's a pre-seasoned cast iron pan made by Lodge and I tested scrambled some eggs on it. It passed with flying colors. With a little Pam sprayed on the pan the eggs came off easily. I put the hot pan under water and cleaning was a cinch.
No more teflon pans that get all scratched up and gouged after a few years! But love/like? is not blind. There are some advantages and disadvantages to iron cookware.
Pros:
wears like iron! can last a lifetime*
distributes heat nicely so food cooks evenly
retains heat well
supposed to grill steaks beautifully (haven't tested this out yet)
no worries about nonstick chemicals flaking off into the food
inexpensive
* if the pan gets mistreated and rusts, it can be sanded down and reseasoned
Cons:
requires more TLC than teflon
must be cleaned when hot or food really sticks
not as nonstick as teflon
kind of plain looking- not aesthetically pleasing
HEAVY
Overall I think it's a good workhorse pan, and I'm looking forward to many years together.
1 comment:
My only problem with cast iron is that it can charitably be described as "unlovely."
Rachel did find an attractive 12" fryer in iron. Why can't they make smaller ones in the same style? The New York Times article that got Rachel going on cast iron said that most pans are made the way they have been since basically forever -- in sand molds. Hello, cast iron industry: we have better techniques now in 2008!
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