The Essentials: Iron Pans

On Saturdays we share some of our favorite things – websites, kitchen gadgets & tools, cookbooks & books about food, and anything else that we think is cool.

No one should try to function in a kitchen without a good iron skillet. My mom called it “the black skillet,” but there are too many light-weight, non-stick pieces of junk that could be called “black,” so let’s be perfectly clear. I’m talking about that old heavy-as-a-rock cast iron skillet. If your mother or granny won’t give you one of hers, you really need to work on your begging technique. As a last resort, there are plenty available at the nearest antique shop.

When looking for a good old skillet, don’t be put off by a little rust. A bit of orange around the edge or a few rich brown puddles can be removed easily with steel wool. Pitting is different; if the inner surface of the pan isn’t smooth, leave it for a collector. Turn every pan over and check for the name on the bottom. You want a Griswold or a Weber, and a raised “fire ring” around the bottom of the pan is an extra bonus.

I've hauled out my favorites here so you can see what to look for.

Once your iron skillet is well-seasoned, you’ll have no need for artificially coated cookware, and seasoning is literally as simple as putting butter on toast. Only you put oil (any kind) on a warmed skillet, let it set a few minutes, then wipe it with a paper towel. Now, how difficult was that?

The more you fry and cook rich foods in the pan, the deeper the oil will soak into the metal, and the more you’ll fall in love with iron pots. That’s the secret of good seasoning: heating opens pores in the iron allowing the oil to sink into the surface, creating your own non-stick skillet. But don’t let food sit overnight or put your iron pans in the dishwasher, okay? Wash iron with regular dish soap in the sink and dry it thoroughly; that’s crucial. Don’t be afraid to use a metal scraper to pry off burned stuff – it’s tough as iron, remember? And don’t worry if a spot of rust appears. Just clean it off with steel wool and season again by warming and oiling. Pretty soon you’ll notice that your well-seasoned pan is deep black and shiny. If it gets dull, it’s time to season again.

How many iron pans do you really need? As many as possible, of course! But reality sets limits on our cupboard space, so here’s a list of must-haves:

10” chicken fryer with lid. You can cook anything in it and celebrate life. Even professional food writers agree. It needs to be a chicken fryer because of the 3” sides, which makes this practical for making pasta and stew as well as frying chicken, eggs or pancakes.

9” skillet, needing no explanations. Mine is 2” deep, and I use an orphan glass lid from some long-forgotten Crockpot.

5” or 6” skillet, 1” deep. I rarely use a lid with this one, since it is mainly for melting butter, sautéing a half cup of onions with garlic and other small jobs.

11” Dutch oven with lid. Griswold calls this “self-basting” because the lid has rings or bumps that collect the steam and drip it back onto the food. Mine is 4” deep, and it cooks pot roast for 2 just as well as stews for the whole clan.

With these 4 iron pans plus lids, you can cook, fry, boil, steam, grill, broil or bake just about anything. I think it’s illegal in some states to bake biscuits or cornbread in anything else, and lacking a cake pan or cookie sheet, that skillet will do just fine.

If you aren't convinced yet, here's yet another bonus: iron pans are actually good for your health. Minuscule amounts of metal are absorbed from the cookware into the food. If you're cooking with artificial non-stick pans or aluminum, that's rather scary and you don't want to ingest any of it. But if you're cooking with iron, you're getting a healthful boost of a mineral you actually need.

Just be warned: there are a lot of specialty iron pans in those antique shops, from tiny little doll house skillets to giant soup kettles, waffle irons, corn stick molds and popover pans. Even if you never cook with a piece, it will look terrific hanging on the wall.

If you get addicted, well, not all addictions are bad.

copyright Starr Luteri, 2009