Cast Iron Cookware: Healthful items to cook with

Your Great Grandmother was right (about a lot of things of course)! Her times were much more about simplicity, quality and frugality.
Now in the year 2012, we are living in a time where things are made to be cheap & disposable.  It feels great to do things that go back to our roots and get back some of that simple more sustainable living.

For all you that have cast iron wares from your ancestors, congrats! You are some of the luckiest people around. For the rest of us there are a few good options out there that wont take 20 years to be seasoned the right way.
We have had great luck with Lodge Cast Iron cookware, the trick is in the care you give them (more on that in a moment). 

Cast Iron Cooking & Health

Cast iron cooking has many benefits to our health and the health of the environment.  They last practically forever if you take care of them, which is why they are the #1 cookware items that get passed down for generations.  Since iron is a great heat conductor you get a nice even heat for cooking and browning.  You never have to worry about harmful chemicals making their way into your food.

We favor our cast iron pans not only because they are durable and cook well, but they also are a safe choice to cook with.  There are many cookware items out there that are simply unsafe to cook with.  The chemicals used to treat the metals for "non-stick" pans, leach into the food you cook as well as into the air you breathe in your home (this is especially important if you have small animals or children in your home, they are very susceptible to the chemical in the air when teflon is heated).  It has been linked to birth defects, cancer, hormone gland malfunction, and more.  America's obsession with teflon coating is simply a huge step in the wrong direction for the health of our world and the people in it.
Read more about chemical coating dangers here.

You can have a "non-stick" pan without any help from a chemical treated coating.  

Cast iron cookware simply does that.  You create your very own non-stick coating every time you use it!  Seasoning your pan is what will make your pan last for many generations and creates a non stick surface.  Your secret weapon...Fats & Oils.

• When using your pan be sure to heat up your oil or fat in the pan first.

• After cooking wipe out pan with water only (NO SOAP), use a scrubber pad for any stuck on food if necessary at first (over time you will only need to rinse with water to get a perfectly clean, ready to use pan).

• Give your pan a light coating with oil and place it in a warm oven to get the oils to bake on

• Be sure to allow your pan to dry thoroughly.  Air drying is fine, as long as there is no water pooling.  If any water is left on the pan for too long it will create rust spots (if you do get a rust spot, simply scrub out the spot, season with oil and bake in oven).

Lodge Cast Iron has a whole page of more tips on how to care for cast iron cookware. 
Click here.

Happy cast iron cooking everyone!

*This post also is featured on a great blog:
Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways