Cast Iron Cookware: a Must-Have in the Kitchen

I only recently started to cook again. In my North American life I ate a great deal of frozen pizza and grilled cheese sandwiches. I couldn't be bothered to cook.

Lazy?

Yes, incredibly so.

After living in China and eating restaurant food every night eight months I became sick of the same thing(s) again and again, not to mention the effect it was having on my waistline. I took a bold step, I started to cook. At one point in the past I worked as the cook at a children's summer camp. I know my way around a kitchen. My cuisine is far from gourmet, but I can get something tasty and attractive on the table.

My apartment came furnished with a hotplate and a cast iron wok. I took some time before I was able to get the hang of the electronic hotplate. Still, at times, I believe it to be possessed, but that is another tale. The cast iron wok was another matter. I loathed it. I had to use a lot of oil or food stuck the bottom. In short, it was a royal pain.

I retired the wok and purchased a mid-range wok at a restaurant supply store. Since the box it came in was covered with Chinese characters I have no idea what material it was made from. It was big and a lovely blue color. That sold me. It was no better than the cast iron monster. Food stuck, I had to use pints of oil, again, frustration.

After seven months of use the bottom of the blue wok started to buckle. Then a small pin-prick hole appeared causing liquids to leak out onto the hotplate. I complained to my fiancée and vowed to replace the beastly thing. I wanted a high-tech non-stick wok.

She said something about her mother having had the same pot for 20 years. I didn't think anything of it as I was convinced only some NASA-approved, slick cooking surface would suit my needs. Then I looked in her family's kitchen. On the burner was an aged, blackened cast iron wok. Then I realized, "Damn! You have a cast iron wok. You need to season it."

When I was a lad we had a massive cast iron skillet my grandmother had given us. It was the instrument used to create a multitude of grilled cheese sandwiches. It was as black as coal and I have no idea how long it had been in the family. Later, a friend of mine had a huge collection of cast iron cookware. She often talked about seasoning the pots and pans. All this was lost on me until I saw the black wok in my fiancee's family's kitchen.

I returned home after our wedding and did a bit of research. I read a number of website articles about seasoning cast iron. After scrubbing the dirty wok that had been hiding in my cupboard for seven months, I got to work seasoning it.

When it was finished it was starting to turn a lovely black. I decided to try my hand to see if it was indeed true that food would stick less to seasoned cast iron. Nothing stuck to the bottom. My eyes popped out and my jaw dropped. You can now count me among the converted. It will be nothing but cast iron for me from now on.

I need a bigger vessel; my wok is a tad small. But, I can buy a big, new one for 50 Yuan (about $6 US). I'll go shopping tomorrow.

If you don't use cast iron I would suggest you give it a try. With the news in the previous few months about Teflon and possible health risks this age-old material is worthy of a second look.