cast iron

Cooking with cast iron can be intimidating — not to mention heavy — but once you try it, it's easy to become a convert. I love my pan for indoor grilling and making skillet breads; it distributes heat incredibly evenly. Cast-iron pans can even help boost your iron intake.

But be warned: you can't treat cast iron like any old pot. To make sure it lasts as long as possible — basically, forever — you have to do some things differently. Before using your cast iron for the first time, you need to "season" it. This process will protect your pan's surface from moisture and rust. Find out how to care for cast iron.

Jchild needs our help! She recently asked the community about cast iron skillets:

"I just bought my first cast iron pan and can't wait to start using it! How should I go about seasoning it? And after I use it, how do you clean it? I would love to have this pan for years to come but want to make sure I care for it properly. Any tips?"

To season a cast iron pan, coat the bottom in cooking oil, then bake for an hour in a 350 degrees F oven. When cool enough to handle, dry with paper towels. As for cleaning, be sure to wash the pan with hot water immediately after cooking. Do not let it sit and soak. Do you have a cast iron skillet? How do you care for it?

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The other day, I found myself making a cake that called for a nonreactive saucepan, and I wondered: What exactly does that mean, anyway? Nonreactive cookware is made from ceramic, anodized stainless steel, glass, or nonstick materials.

Often metals can chemically react to heat or various ingredients, altering a food's flavor. For instance, cast iron cookware reacts negatively with high-acid foods like citrus, wine, or tomato sauce. Copper, which is ideal for even heating but very reactive, is often lined with tin to minimize chemical reactions.Even uncoated aluminum pans may oxidize with food, imparting a darker color or metallic taste — although most modern-day aluminum cookware has been covered with a corrosion-resistant oxide coating.

Copper cookware is coated in tin, but tin is a soft metal and scratches off easily, so be cautious when cooking anything acidic or light in color. Do you take precautions when cooking with copper or cast iron cookware?

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