Extremes of temperature – very hot and very slow, iron is one of the perfect materials for cooking.  There is no material superior to iron, only some that are equal or better suited for some uses.

What you cook with is as important as how you cook or what ingredients you choose.  Particularly in the South, an iron skillet is a main stay.  Not only does it handle heat well, it also ensures domestic tranquility – wasn’t it Teddy Roosevelt that said “walk softly and carry a heavy iron skillet.”  Actually, I think he said: ‘Speak softly and carry and big stick; you will go far.’ If the American nation will speak softly, and yet build and keep at a pitch of the highest training a throughly efficient navy, the Munroe Doctrine will go far. -  Chicago, April 1903.

Iron has been used for cooking for millenia – first evidence of iron being cast was in China dating around 500 B.C.   Casting in Europe was much later, about 1160 A.D.  Iron has a precision, if used patiently, giving consistent and predictable results.  It works well on an open flame or in the heat of an oven, for slow cooking the high thermal mass of a heavy utensil allows for even heat distribution and lower cooking temperatures.  Properly seasoned, cast iron is non-stick.

I call my iron skillets “shooting irons” and have used some for 40 years.  My children’s children will use them.  Considering the time frame of use, these skillets are free and there are no upgrades necessary to keep them operating.

Certain rules apply, beginning with their initial ‘seasoning’.  First scrub the pans well in soap and hot water.  Pre-heat an oven to 250 degrees F (120 C).  Fill the pan 1/4 full with cooking oil and place in the oven, heat for 20 minutes and turn the oven off, leaving the pan to cool over night.  Next day, pour out the oil and wipe dry without washing.  Repeat this process twice more.  There will be an intial breaking in period, as the pan ‘matures’, turning from a grey metal color to the more familiar black of a well seasoned pan.

To clean, use a bit of salt to scour out any bits and wipe clean.  I also wash my pans in hot water and mild soap, drying on the stove top on medium heat and then rubbing a bit of fresh oil on the pan.  You can always repeat the seasoning process, if the pan begins to stick or a crust of old oil builds up.  Using either steel wool or fine emory cloth, sand away the buildup and re-season.  I have done this a few times over the 40 years of use.

The second rule, allow the pan to heat up before you start to cook.  Give it time to reach the point where it is comfortable – let the heat distribute throughout.  As the iron has a high ‘thermal mass’,  you do not need to use as high a temperature to cook.  In the oven, the black iron absorbs heat better.  Iron withstands high temperatures and direct heat better than any other cooking material.  For sauteeing there is no equal.  (The word “sauté” means “to jump” – literally the food should want to jump out of the pan, as it is so hot.)  I often preheat my skillets in the oven or actually sauté in the oven.

Iron has a ‘pioneer’ personality – liking wide open space and room from it’s neighbors, so do not crowd the pan too tightly.  It is better to cook in batches than to stuff the pan.

A few skillets of increasing size are useful, I have a range from 5″ to 20″, as well as the large and heavy ‘Dutch Oven’.  I sometimes use a Dutch oven with legs for cooking directly in a wood fire.