Are you aware that you shouldn’t cook tomatoes in a cast iron skillet? Are you ready to destroy your cookware, or serve a deadly metallic-tasting dish for dinner? Reading about cast iron cookware, how to say the truth from a consumer scare?
Every cook loving to use a cast iron cookware has their own opinion when it comes to what we should and shouldn’t do to keep the cookware in perfect shape. We’ve asked Lodge to lit the light on some of the issues. Let’s look at the misconceptions people have when it comes to cast iron!
Martha Collins, the author of cookwareinsider.com, has recently answered some of our questions regarding cast iron misconceptions.
Misconceptions about Cast Iron Cookware
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You should never use anything but nonstick utensils when cooking with cast iron.
Not true. “You can certainly use metal utensils, or any other tool for cooking, on cast iron cookware,” Mark said. “Any possible scrapes on the seasoning will be quickly replenished with oils from food.” Any bits and pieces you see when using metal utensils are in all likelihood some fats and oils, not particles of the underlying seasoning.
Cooking tomatoes or any other acidic foods ruin cast iron.
If the pan is well-seasoned, it’ll surely cope with acidic foods with no ill effects. Having said that, you should be careful about crowding your menu with tomatoes if you use a newly acquired Lodge pan. “If the seasoning is very good, you can prepare dishes with tomatoes and other acidic foods, but it’s best to wait until your piece is well-seasoned.” You shouldn’t cook very acidic foods, like tomatoes or citrus juices, in a seasoned cast iron. Wait until the cookware is well seasoned. The high acidity of such foods may remove the seasoning, leading to stains and metallic-tasting food.
You should never wash your cast iron with soap as it’ll ruin it forever.
The Southern golden rule is quite disputable. The fourth-generation cast iron manufacturer officially says: soap is not going to ruin your pan. However, your mother/spouse/dear friend are likely to have some resentment anyway.
In case you choose to be brave and use soap no matter what, it is recommended to opt for a mild detergent. A much more important thing is that you should dry and oil your cast iron immediately. Don’t ever use the dishwasher, strong detergents, or metal scouring pads, which will inevitably remove the seasoning from your pan.
If your cast iron is rusted, you can throw it away as it’s completely ruined.
Mark debunks this completely. “Fear not, cast iron can never be ruined. There are numerous ways to restore cast iron cookware.” Forget your worries, take out your grandmother’s forgotten skillet (or you-don’t-know-whose one you’ve bought at a flea market), and look for our post on how to restore a rusted cast iron. You can watch Lodge’s video on the same subject to get some inspiration as well.
If you cook in cast iron, you will get your daily amount of nutritional iron.
Yes, according to research, foods cooked in cast iron cookware do contain a higher level of iron, particularly true speaking about high-acid foods facilitating the pan to release iron, like apple, egg or tomato-based dishes. The amount of iron leaking depends on the acidity of food and time of cooking.
Having said that, we should mention that the actual quantities of iron getting to your food are difficult to measure. Another thing to consider is that a well-seasoned pan will be much less likely to respond to the acid in food (therefore, the tomato acid doesn’t matter anymore when your cookware is well-seasoned). In conclusion, the better seasoned the pan you are using is, the less iron the pan will release into your food.
In case you need to increase the iron intake, you shouldn’t depend on your skillet for it. Just consume more high-iron foods, like liver!
Have you heard any myths of cast iron cookware we haven’t mentioned?