Is there a difference between the cast iron skillet and other pans? I picked one up at the local store and it is much-much heavier! There are also other differences - you have to "season" a cast iron skillet. What does it all really mean? In the South where I live, it seems to be a known fact that using a cast iron skillet is the best way to make corn bread. I have grown up hearing about the cast iron skillet but I now realize that I don't really know about it.

Well, you have to season a wok as well, and you never, EVER use soap on either of them. My mother scrubs hers with salt when it's necessary, I just scrape any burned or dried bits of food off using a wooden spoon. If a coffee can of bacon grease can be left on the back of the stove in nearly every southern household, it won't hurt for a little grease or oil to be left on the skillet.

i love my cast iron skillet

I use soap and steel wool to clean my cast iron wok, and after 15 years of almost daily use - Chinese wife - it's still perfect. I season it every now and then. Cast iron is actually very strong, and the seasoning leaves a protective layer that protects it from rusting and acts as a sort of non-stick surface.

we use cast iron for most cooking, especially Dutch oven. once it is seasoned and cared for properly it cannot be beaten, in my opinion, especially for fried chicken and then making the gravy.

You can even buy them seasoned, but it's not a problem to season it yourself. I'd suggest not making tomato or other acidic sauces in it though. I have a couple of them, and a dutch oven in which I even make bread. A cast iron skillet may not be a "must", but I use one at least weekly.

Cast iron skillets are heavy for the reason of being a thicker base.

The thicker base conducts the heat evenly and maintains heat much better when adding ingredients.

To season any pan put in about an inch of cooking oil and place on a slow heat for about an hour.
Word of warning though. do not let it get to flash point otherwise you will have one MF of a fire to put out.
Best to do this outside if you have a BBQ area.

You should find that once the pan has been seasoned correctly it will not stick and only require a simple wash off with detergent and water, depending on what you are cooking and requires no steel wool.
Some items may only require a simple wipe of the pan with paper towel.

I use this method with all my pans


Cheers

I'm a believer, but just too much trouble. I have a couple of my Grandad's that I'd like to properly clean up surface rust on and season, but I like our Calphalon set we've accumulated over the years.

It's my go-to pan every time I feel like making fried potatoes with onions, bell peppers and smoked sausage.

Can't make cornbread without an iron skillet.

Cast iron fry pan is great for stuff that needs to be coooked over a consistent high heat. Scallops come to mind. Thin botton teflon pans cool too quickly when you add ingedients to them.

We have a cast iron fry pan and use it when necessary but otherwise we use aluminium with teflon coating

I have two small ones, perfect to eat out "sizzler" styke, and they are also really good when making potato wedges.

However, the cleaning can be some job depending on what you cook... for steaks I go with the stainless steel heavyweight from AMC.

I've switched to a cheap ceramic pan and I treat it like cast iron. Use salt to clean it and then season it. It seems to work amazingly well. It heats up fast and uniformly. Only issue is that because it isnt thick iron if can lose heat fast if you are dropping in large items. And... if I get tired of the pan I will throw it away as it only cost 10 dollars.

An M-80 under a cast-iron skillet will launch it about ten feet straight up.

I use cast iron for most everything, except fish, which leaves too much odor. The even heat and retention is unbeatable for the price. Usually just wipe them out with paper towel, and run hot water and scrub if too grimy. Then wipe olive oil all over before putting away. Most people won't use olive oil because of the slight flavor, but we're used to it.

How do you guys get your cast-iron stuff to be more "non-sticky"? Are there some tricks?

Thats what seasoning does. You are putting a layer of oil/fat on the pan to prevent sticking. If something sticks take a metal spatula and scrape it out with force and violence then throw down another layer of oil/fat and try again next meal. The trick to keeping things from sticking is to cook them at the proper temperature. Too high a temperature and anything will stick to anything.

I have mine seasoned, but it's still a #%&*$# to clean...

Interesting about temperature, didn't know that.

Man! I am not good with these fancy pans and non stick pans etc

I always forget to not use metal objects - for instance I like to use a fork to flip the meat and even if just the teeth of the fork is poking the top part of the meat to grip it when I flip it, it still somehow scratches up the surface of the pan.

My wife screams at me when I don't use the plastic tong or the wooden spoon/spatula to stir the food in the pan.

In a word, yes! A definite must have for cooking. We have an assortment of cast iron cookware, but the two that get used the most is the large skillet and the griddle. The skillet has been 'well' seasoned since 1942. It was my wife's great aunt's wedding present from her new mother-in-law (two weeks before her new husband left for the Navy). We inherited all of her cook ware when she passed. My wife says no self respecting southern woman will ever cook in anything but cast iron (and she'll put her fried chicken up against any-bodies as proof). Best fried chicken and cornbread ever made comes from cast iron skillets. I won't cook potatoes, eggs, etc.. in anything but.

Word of warning to any man married to a southern woman-fear the skillet, has more uses other than cooking.