Cast iron skillets and cookware can add amazing flavor to your meals. They have many advantages, cook beautifully, and properly cared for they will last you a lifetime. The heat in cast iron is evenly distributed, and retained longer than lighter materials because there is a greater volume or mass to heat and cool. My favorite feature is that they can be used in the oven as well as the stove top. If properly seasoned and cared for, cast iron pans, skillets, and cookware will be as nonstick as teflon cookware.
Watch the video with tips from Chef Mark Tafoya from the Culinary Media Network.
For more information about cast iron pans, other pans, and appropriate uses, visit this article in by our Twitter friend and wine expert in Houston!
Debo Hobo
September 15, 2008 at 2:33 ami love my cast iron pans, I wish i kept them in better condition though.
dinainsuburbia
September 15, 2008 at 1:31 pmYou are right! I have one cast iron pan- not sure the size- I bought it when I was 24 and in my first apartment. A co-worker, who had also gone to culinary school, suggested I pick one up. Almost 10 years later, my husband laughs that I treat the pan better than him! It is, without a doubt, my most used item in the kitchen.. close second is my le creuset french oven- perfect for stews & sauces.
alpinebluesky
September 15, 2008 at 3:27 pm@Debo, thanks for commenting!
@dinainsuburbia, I am the same way. And I love Le Creuset as well, although I still manage to destroy them !
Theresa111
September 16, 2008 at 3:38 amI recall I used to wash my Father’s cast iron skillet with soap and water, in order to get all of the grease off. He kept fixing it. Over and over. Later, when I was about sixteen, my eldest sister told me the reason I shouldn’t wash cast iron. Shhh … I didn’t listen to her either. So … I never purchased one.
I really enjoyed your video. Come by for a visit soon.
colleen
September 20, 2008 at 3:30 pmthNks for dropping by. I use a cast iron comal, seasoned like you say. It is awesome for toasting sesame seeds, and I like that you can heat one half of it then brush the toasted seeds to the cold half when they’re done.
alpinebluesky
September 20, 2008 at 7:21 pmTheresa, it’s never too late 🙂
Collen, thanks for the sesame tip!
Potato Chef
October 22, 2008 at 1:04 amI just realized from watching the credits on this video that I mis-spelled the word “palate” on a post that I have scheduled to run in two days!! Got to go fix it.
Second, great info. I didn’t know anything about cast iron skillets, except that they were heavy, until I watched the video. Thanks
robert
May 8, 2009 at 3:15 pmI have heard the old wives tale that you should never clean a cast iron skillet in soap and water, and that is a bunch of malarkey, I wash mine after every use with soap and water but after I get done rinsing the my skillet, I dry it with a towel and put it on a medium high heated burner and let it get screeming hot, let it cool and put it away. I do agree with some of your techniques of greasing and heating the grease into the pan if you are going to use the pan daily, but if it sits for any length of time bacteria can grow, I just when I am ready to use my skillet preheat it and then pour oil in it and that works fine.