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Recipes - The Joy of Using Cast Iron Cookware

Wednesday, November 21st, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed

The Joy of Using Cast Iron Cookware

Those who use cast iron cookware will be able to vouch for the wonderful characteristics this type of cookware has. If taken care of, the cast iron cookware you are using in your kitchen can become a household heritage, to be handed over to your children and their children some day.

The Importance of Seasoning the Cast Iron Cookware

Not all cast iron cookware needs to be seasoned. However, if you have a new wok, you will not be able to use it unless you have cured it well. The cast iron cookware has a standard way of seasoning (or curing, as some call it). Basically, the process is to facilitate the filling up of the pores of the wok with fat to make its surface totally nonstick. Only when the pores on the surface are more of less completely saturated with fat that the wok’s real value will come shining through.

One of the popular ways to cure your cast iron cookware is to rub some fat all over the cookware you want to cure. This fat can be of any type, i.e. it could be of vegetable oil, animal fat, grease, bacon, etc. The rubbing should be not only for the cooking but also for all those parts that are outside the cooking area. Once it is rubbed with fat, the wok is set aside so you can prepare your oven for firing.

The oven should be preheated to about 300 degrees following which the wok should be put inside for baking for more than one hour. It should be inserted in the oven facedown and it would be good if the wok were placed on an aluminum foil so the oven is not soiled when the fat drips during the course of the hourlong baking.

This process is called seasoning or curing; and can be repeated a number of times until the inner surface becomes rich black and behaves as a nonstick ware. All the cast iron cookware that has been cured well would manifest these properties. Once it is cured, the food can be cooked just as you would cook in a nonstick cookware.

When washing, never soak the cast iron cookware as not only you will expose it to rust, but also tend to dissolve the fat that you so painstakingly pushed into its pores through the curing process. This type of cookware is very resilient and can last a lifetime; the food cooked in iron cookware has its own rich flavor that cannot be compared to any other.

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