Cast Iron Cookware

A cast iron skillet and a Cast Iron Teapot were the mainstays of the early pioneer kitchens. Cast iron skillets even made their way across the country in wagon trains and hung off the side of mules headed to the Gold Rush. That was then; this is now. Should cast iron still be the centerpiece of modern kitchens or should it make way for technological wonders such as Teflon and non-stick promises?

Maintaining Non-Stick Surfaces

Both Cast Iron Cookware and Teflon-coated pans offer non-stick cooking surfaces, and both types of pans require special techniques to maintain those surfaces. Metal utensils and scouring pads will scratch the coating off of a Teflon pan, so only plastic utensils and gentle scrubbers can be used. Cast iron pans are not easily scratched and metal utensils and scouring pads are not a problem.

Durability

With proper care, your grandmother's cast iron pan can make the perfect present for your granddaughter's wedding. Cast iron cookware is durable enough to last generations. As long as it isn't cracked, that rusty, crusty yard sale find can be cleaned and put back into service. However, once a Teflon-coated pan has been scratched, perhaps by the accidental use of a metal utensil, the aluminum beneath the coating is exposed and the pan is no longer usable.

High Temperature Cooking

Several common cooking techniques such as searing, sauteing, and stir frying are best done in a pan that's been preheated at a high temperature. Teflon pans cannot handle these high temperatures.

Heat Distribution

Although cast iron cookware takes longer to heat up than other cookware, it distributes heat more evenly across its cooking surface and holds heat longer even after the burner has been turned off. Teflon-coated pans are generally aluminum pans with a non-stick coating, so they have the same properties as an Aluminum Cookware. They heat and cool quickly, but heat is unevenly distributed over the cooking surface.