Cast iron skillets have been around for centuries, yet recently they seem to be the newest trend in cookware. Celebrity chefs are cooking with them everywhere from the stovetop, to the grill, to the stove newspapers, magazines, and blogs tout their benefits from even cooking to the added health benefits.
So if you are on the fence about whether to invest in a cast iron skillet, here are 10 reasons you should buy one today…and a few reasons why you should put off the purchase.
10 Reasons to Invest in a Cast Iron Skillet
1. Cast iron skillets are inexpensive. A good quality pre-seasoned 9-inch skillet costs around $16.99 and other cast iron cookware items such as griddles or grill pans are also relatively inexpensive.
2. Cast iron skillets increase the iron content in your meals. Anemics rejoice! Cooking your food in a cast iron skillet will fortify your food with additional iron.
3. Cast iron is easy to clean. Incredibly easy, in fact. Just scrape off any remaining food with a wooden spoon or spatula or you can invest in an inexpensive pan scraper than is contoured to your skillet.
4. Cast iron skillets and cookware can be used anywhere: stovetop, in the oven, on the barbeque, or over a campfire.
5. Food cooks evenly in cast iron cookware. The heavy bottoms of cast iron cookware heat relatively evenly, no matter how large or small the burner or flame.
6. A cast iron skillet will last you forever. Just try to ruin a cast iron skillet and you’ll find out that it’s nearly impossible. Burned on food or rust can be scraped off and the skillet can be reseasoned.
7. Seasoned cast iron is nonstick. Well done eggs, refried beans, and the crust left behind from pan fried meat scrape right off. Using cast iron cookware is a chemical free alternative to non stick pans.
8. You can use less oil in your food when you cook with cast iron cookware. Since your skillet is already well “oiled” from the seasoning process, you won’t have to add as much oil to the pan to keep your food from sticking to the sides.
9. It’s really cool to cook on the same kind of cookware that your great grandma used.
10. You can cook almost anything in cast iron. Check out The Lodge Cast Iron Cookbook: A Treasury of Timeless, Delicious Recipes at your local bookstore for over 200 recipes that can be cooked in cast iron cookware, from main courses, to breads, to breakfast, to dessert.
A Few Reasons NOT to Invest in Cast Iron Cookware
1. You like really shiny and flashy pots and pans. The humble cast iron skillet doesn’t hold a candle to stainless steel and copper pots in the looks department.
2. You like to put your pots and pans in the dishwasher or soak them overnight before cleaning them. Long term exposure to water will cause cast iron to rust and even though cast iron can be salvaged, it’s a lot of work to do so.
3. You insist on using tons of antibacterial soap on everything. You don’t need to use soap on cast iron. In fact, it will slowly wear down the seasoning on the skillet.