How to make cast iron pan pizza

This story is part of 12 Days of Tips, helping you make the most of your tech, home and health during the holiday season.Cleaning cast-iron cookware requires a different technique than washing nonstick or stainless steel pans. Cast iron is tough and able to withstand scorching heat, the trash of metal utensils and years of banging around an oven range or grill top, but this rugged cookware material has a sensitive side. Along with seasoning your cast-iron pan, cleaning it properly will ensure it has a long and productive life.Whatever you do, resist the urge to soak your dirty cast iron or run it through the dishwasher. For really stuck-on bits, a simple pantry staple will have your skillet looking better than new. Give up? It's salt.

Noel Christmas spent 12 years as a professional cook and another 10 years as a food writer for Allrecipes.com, turning professional techniques and recipes into approachable household standards.Cleaning a cast iron pan is easy! No dishwashers! A clean, well seasoned creates a rust resistant, nonstick surface. Properly cared for, this durable skillet will just keep getting better with age. Here's how to take care of a cast iron skillet.

This story is part of 12 Days of Tips, helping you make the most of your tech, home and health during the holiday season.Cleaning cast-iron cookware requires a different technique than washing nonstick or stainless steel pans. Cast iron is tough and able to withstand scorching heat, the trash of metal utensils and years of banging around an oven range or grill top, but this rugged cookware material has a sensitive side. Along with seasoning your cast-iron pan, cleaning it properly will ensure it has a long and productive life.Whatever you do, resist the urge to soak your dirty cast iron or run it through the dishwasher. For really stuck-on bits, a simple pantry staple will have your skillet looking better than new. Give up? It's salt.

Make Cast Iron Pan Version of Spa Chicken Wings

make cheese-fried chicken steak in a cast iron pan

A nonstick pan is the best tool for cooking fluffy omelets, golden pancakes, and delicate fish fillets—without the risk of food sticking to the bottom. After cooking many dozens of eggs in more than 25 pans since 2016, we still think the Tramontina Professional 10-Inch Restaurant Fry Pan offers the best value for the money. With good heat distribution and excellent maneuverability, it often outperforms pans that are more than triple the price.

cornbread made by cast iron pan

Online forums for the cooking-obsessed are a mixed blessing. On the one hand, they can be amazing resources, full of detailed information on all sorts of topics. But they can also expose just how little agreement there often is among experts when you get down to the nitty-gritty details. I've spent hours poring over cast iron cookware sites, only to see some swear that flaxseed oil is the best for seasoning, others throw down for Crisco or lard, and still others say that canola is their go-to. The oven temperatures they use are equally varied, and some advocate convoluted methods that involve repeatedly changing the oven temperature during the seasoning process.The thing is, we here at Serious Eats use our cast iron cookware all the time, and, after testing countless methods, we've found that most of the complex rules of cast iron are nothing more than superstition. Indeed, we don't do anything complicated to keep our pans in tip-top nonstick shape. Here's the short version of what you need to know: When you get a new cast iron pan, put it through one basic round of seasoning (I'll explain how below), then just...use your pan. Yeah, it really is that simple.

When cooking in cast iron, you should add a little oil to the pan before adding your food. This helps ensure the food doesn't stick, and it helps build layers of seasoning. You can generally use whatever oil you prefer, as long as the cooking temperature is below the smoke point of the oil. Olive oil, vegetable oil, sunflower oil, and grapeseed oil are all great multipurpose cooking oils—you can use them for everything from sautéing to baking.

In this age of non-stick, it’s easy to forget about our old friend, the cast iron pan. For perfectly grilled steaks and veggies or for adding char to your wraps, these pans are worth investing in. Read on for tips on seasoning the pan, which oils work best and what to use it for, and how to look after it or spruce up an old one so that it’ll last another 50 years. With this insight and know-how you too will learn to appreciate the beauty of cooking in a cast iron pan.

I love my cast-iron pan: super affordable, sturdy and invincible, and amazingly versatile. It can handle everything from perfectly seared steaks and stir-fried rice to fluffy pancakes and delicate crepes. Don't be intimidated by the naysayers who claim cast-iron pans are difficult to clean and maintain: just a little TLC goes a long way for these kitchen workhorses.

In our recent testing of cast-iron skillets, we found two winners: The Smithey Ironware No. 12 Cast Iron Skillet, with a smooth, polished interior and a classic shape, aced all our tests, searing, baking, and browning beautifully and releasing food like a nonstick pan would. But it’s about $200, so we also chose a Best Buy: The Lodge 12 Inch Cast Iron Skillet, which, at about $44, offers equivalent performance at a bargain price.

The steps for cleaning and seasoning cast iron pans are super easy. Plus, the seasoning on your cast iron is way tougher than you think — it’s the reason these pans have been passed on from generation to generation. A cast iron pan can withstand soap (and even metal utensils) if you handle them right. I know some folks will not believe me, but it literally says so on the Lodge website: “Contrary to popular belief, you can use a small amount of soap to clean cast iron cookware.” 

From sweet to savory and everything in-between, cast iron skillets can be truly become a powerhouse in the kitchen. Inexpensive, long-lasting, and versatile, cast iron cookware can provide the best results in cooking—foods don’t stick, and dishes tend to take on crunchy, caramelized, sautéed, and braised qualities. When properly maintained, cast iron cookware is extremely durable and versatile, making them a great investment for generations to come. In fact, my mother still has the same cast iron skillet she got as a wedding present over 60 years ago! This legendary skillet has taken on a life of its own, and I always like to think about all of the meals that skillet has seen over the years—fried zucchini, fried green tomatoes, stewed lentils, flapjacks, hashed browns, and sautéed greens, to name just a few. 

Cast iron cookware has been used since the 5th century B.C. The oldest known pots were found in the Jiangsu province, which makes sense considering the Chinese invented cast iron smelting in the 8th century B.C. Considering the material has been a favorite among homecooks and professionals for centuries now, it’s obvious that it provides some superior qualities compared to its counterparts, so let’s find out what makes cooking with cast iron so much better.

So, it's a little contradictory. From a culinary standpoint, you want a more seasoned cast-iron pan—but from a health perspective, you might get more iron from a new and/or unseasoned pan.The bottom line, says Jennings? You'll end up consuming some extra iron when you cook with cast iron in general. Just don't depend on your pan to fulfill all your nutritional needs."You're still going to need to eat leafy greens and beans and meat," says Jennings.

There’s just something about cooking food in cast iron that feels so wholesome and old-timey; Like grandma (or maybe even great grandma) used to cook.A well-seasoned cast iron skillet is a must in any homestead kitchen. Bonus points if you’ve got more than one skillet, or if you have a cast iron dutch oven! But the benefits of cast iron don’t end with the old-fashioned feeling you get when you cook with it.

By the end of the 20th century, nonstick skillets had become more common than cast iron in most homes. However, as worrying reports about the effects of chemical nonstick coatings on the environment and our health came to light, more and more cooks returned to the original “green” pan, the cast-iron skillet, as an alternative and rediscovered all the advantages it has to offer. This began a new era in the history of this unique pan.Now, cast iron is experiencing a renaissance centuries in the making. And there are a host of practical and culinary reasons why cast iron is experiencing a comeback. 

Cooking with cast iron pots and pans can be incredibly beneficial for your health. Cast iron cookware is a great way to increase your intake of essential minerals like iron, magnesium, and zinc. It's also a healthy way to cook your food, as it retains heat and moisture more effectively than other materials. So if you're looking for a way to improve your cooking skills and boost your health at the same time, consider investing in a cast iron pot or pan!