My Favorite Skillet!

I seriously can't believe I am saying this: "I love my cast iron skillet."  I really do, and believe me,I never thought I would ever even consider using cast iron!  

Using cast iron was really sort of an accident for me. Cast iron is a pan that I have never even attempted to cook with.  In fact, my go to pots and pans have always been stainless steel. But if you have ever had to sit and scrub and scrub and scrub to get a pan clean then you know what I mean when I say stainless can be a real pain in the $%#.  I have also been through multiple skillets coated with teflon.  I say multiple because never has a skillet lasted more than a year in my house before the teflon started to come off. Thats how often we use the skillet!  More recently we were buying and using Green pans. They have a ceramic coating that is much healthier than using teflon and they did last a little longer. The big downside however was the price.  Not cheap by any means and still needed to be replaced after a lot of use.

Above: My absolute first cast iron pan and it's still my favorite!

Cast iron was never an option for me.  I didn't even consider it because I always thought it was cheap, horrible to cook on, and even more horrible to clean. I imagined needing to literally scrape eggs off the bottom of the pan and never really getting it clean....ever.  So imagine my surprise when my daughter and future son-in-law cooked a meal for 8 people using ALL cast iron pans and I volunteered (unknowingly) to do the dishes!  As soon as I saw what I had volunteered to wash I groaned and did my best to go at it with a smile on my face....only to find out how easy they all were to clean!!  In fact, they were easier to clean than the Green pans I had at home which were supposed to be non-stick!  After the simplicity of cleaning those cast iron pans that night, and eating amazing food that was perfectly cooked in them,  I was 'sold' on how awesome cast iron can be!  

I immediately purchased my first cast iron skillet and I have never looked back! I absolutely love cooking in the pan and am able to cook certain foods like steak and chicken indoors better than ever!  I have since added more cast iron pans to my list of must have's for the future.  

Here is a simple list of why I love my cast iron skillet so much:

• Cooks amazingly well. Meat seers just like it was grilled!
• Cleans so easy, almost like teflon and way easier than stainless or even ceramic. It really is a non-stick pan!  And my crochet scrubby's clean it perfectly! Buy my scrubby's or get the FREE pattern!
• *Cooks extremely evenly (see cons below).
• Great for gas or electric stove tops (not glass), can go in the oven, and can even be used over the camp fire (so long as it is not ceramic coated).
• Made of extremely simple, all natural, Iron (Fe)!
• Iron is actually good for your health and does not contain any harmful chemicals or toxins. If a little of it gets into your food, no problem! The same is not necessarily true for other metals such as aluminum.
• Can be used to cook at much higher temperatures than any other pan material out there.
• Extremely economical to purchase.
• Will literally last literally forever so you will only need to buy a skillet once.  Many people are currently using cast iron skillets that belonged to their great-grandparents!
• Lodge is a United States company! I chose Lodge Cast Iron specifically because of the quality and the fact that I wanted to support US businesses. Read about Lodge Cast Iron here.  Note that all but their porcelain enamel cast iron is made in the US.

Some of the cons:

• Heavy -  I choose to look at it as a form of exercise.  Using it daily keeps my arms in shape!
• Will rust if exposed to water for long periods of time - just don't put it in the sink!
• MUST use potholders and pot handles to touch or move pan.  Good habit to use them anyway especially since it can also go right in the oven. Talk about versatile...
• *Needs to be preheated in order to cook evenly.  Iron has a high specific heat meaning it takes time to absorb the heat.  This means that I need to turn on the burner and heat the pan for about 5 minutes before I cook on it. But, on the other hand it also means that the pan cools down slowly so I can literally shut the burner off 5 minutes before I am done cooking and it will still continue to cook! 
• Preheating is also important for the pan to remain non-stick.
• Must be allowed to cool down before handling to wash it. No problem, I just use a cup to add water to the pan while it is still on the stove cooling. After dinner it's ready, and super simple, to wash!
• Can't be used on glass stove tops. For me this is no problem. I have regular old electric burner and will be getting gas in the future. Glass top is not even an option for me!

Even the 'cons' aren't so bad!
And check out this video of a comparisson between this skillet and the Lodge seasoned classic skillet in action and the MUST HAVE Kitchen Tools video below it!

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