Cast Iron Cookware Is My Old/New Favorite

Today when I made breakfast, I realized that I hadn't blogged about my love for my cookware.  Love is a strong word, but I really really like my cookware.  I have been married almost 46 years, and I have had every type of cookware.  I started out with cast iron frying pans.  When I was in my 20's,  I thought that was so old fashioned.  After saving for a while, we purchased some copper bottomed RevereWare.  I thought I was so smart and with it.  I hung them in the kitchen on a very pretty pot hanger.  I ended up hating them.  First of all the copper was tarnished most of the time and needed constant shining.  Food stuck on the pans and I had to scrub a lot.  I ended up selling them at a garage sale.

Next I bought those glass saucepans that were so popular.  They were even worse.  The temperature was so hard to control that I burned a lot of food or boiled things all over my stovetop.

 My next set was a variety of teflon.  It was good for a couple months and then the finish started to scrape off.  We have now learned that eating teflon is dangerous, but we didn't think about it at the time.  I went through new improved versions like T-Fal  throughout the years.  Even now I have a set of Cuisinart nonstick pans which are wonderful for their nonstick and cleaning properties, but the finish on some of the pans are getting pretty stratched.   So that brings me full circle.  I am now back to cast iron.  I only had one pan left from over 40 years ago, so I had to go out and buy them.  The pans you purchase these days come pre-seasoned.  If treated properly, nothing sticks and cooking in these pans adds iron to your diet.  I love them.

I bought this set from Amazon.com.

They even sell silicone covers for the handles so the handles don't feel hot.  That is really helpful because the pans do get very hot.  To clean all you use is water.  Never use soap because it breaks down the surface oil.   If something does stick, just let some water sit in it for a while and take a scrubber to loosen the food.  When it's clean, I put it back on the stove and turn the heat on until the water evaporates.  It's now ready for next time you cook.  I use two scrubbies.  I made one multi color so I know that is the one I use on the cast iron, and it won't have any soap residue in it.

Hand made scrubbies made from nylon netting.

http://www.thecabincountess.com/2013/10/nylon-net-scrubbies.html