Permaculture Blog #2: Cast Iron cookware

Good evening Steemians. Tonight I’m continuing with the Permaculture cards that I mentioned in my previous blog post. These cards were spearheaded by Paul Wheaton from permies.com. With the current card, we are now at the 2 of Hearts which is…. Cast Iron.

Images taken with my super awesome iPhone

Cast iron is a tremendous dish to use in cooking. It keeps heat fairly well. Unlike Teflon or the other nonstick surfaces, cast iron is not carcinogenic (cancer causing) if ingested. Cast iron pots and pans are amazing cookware because they take a beating and keep their shape. Once you have been cooking with them it’s hard to turn them away and go back to other cook sets. One warning, cast iron is HEAVY. Because the cookware is solid iron, it tends to be much, much, much heavier than cookware you would find in a retail store like Target, Wal-Mart, etc.

When you use cast iron for the first time, or if you are just using it and want to ensure minimal sticking you can add a little oil, butter, or fat to coat the bottom of the pan. Then when you are cooking your dish it will have minimized sticking. In my experience, I always getting something stuck when cooking. But, I like that. I refer to it in meals as the crunchy part of the food. I tend to always love the crunchies. Crunchy sides of brownies when cooked… crunchy sides of casseroles… crunchies in general are very good in my opinion. The card states that when you use a stainless steel spatula with the pot or pan it helps maintain the cooking surface. My utensils of choice when cooking are usually the newest spatulas that can withstand high temperatures. And, I like to use wooden spoons and spatulas. The stainless steel spatulas work fine, I just tend to use other ones more.

For home use you can use cast iron. I mostly use my cast iron pan on camping trips. But, I have a version of cast iron cookware I use on a frequent basis. The cast iron cookware that I do use is enamel covered cast iron. My wife and I got it as a wedding present and it has been an awesome tool in our kitchen.

Image taken by my super awesome iPhone

If you look on the black handle on the lid it says Martha Stewart. That’s just one of a multitude of companies that make and sell cast iron products. I think our pot was around $80 something? I don’t know for sure because it was about a decade ago, and it was a gift. A top brand that I would pay money for because of the value is from Lodge. Their cast iron products are great. The pan and skillet I have had done their job well on camping trips. And it’s a piece of cake to clean when its done. Lodge cast iron is also in the lower end of the spectrum with price. So, you don’t go broke buying one item. If you have deeper wallets, you can go with the next level up, which will be brands like Martha Stewart. Those will be the enamel covered cast iron. And, if you really go all out in buying your cast iron cookware you can buy the brand Le Creuset. Each item is in the $100-300 range. Myself, I like the Lodge products. In the house, I’m trying to convince my wife to get rid of our existing nonstick cookware set (it’s time for the non-stick to go because of the flaking). We have our pot. We just need a couple varied sized pans and we are set. It will move us from having all these dishes down to 3 rock solid tools for the kitchen.

If you have noticed by now, I give cast iron products a thumbs up.

Photo taken by no other than… me and iPhone.

I recommend anyone buy cast iron products. I personally have gone through the non-stick cookware and it has worn out. I’ve been through several pans and pots. With cast iron you can have your cookware last you an entire lifetime, and your kids lifetime, and grandkids lifetime. It might be a bit of a purchase up front, but it pays for itself in the long run.

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