Secondhand smarts - iron in the kitchen

Cooking with cast iron

Mmmm, yummy skillet cornbread!

With nonstick cooking surfaces proving toxic, cast iron is back in fashion.  It lasts through generations with minimal maintenance - a real old-fashioned success story.

• 10 Reasons to try cast iron
• Vegetarian cast iron cooking 
• Healthy cast iron recipes

Vegetarians and vegans in particular can benefit from the iron released during cooking in cast iron.





Getting your own ironmongery 

If you can't inherit your family's cast iron yet, what to do?   Remember, violence is never the answer!

New cast iron can be seriously pricey.  And much of it is enameled cast iron - you trade durability and dietary iron for better looks and lower maintenance.

Both pans for under $20!

However, people cook less these days and most people do not know how to cook with cast iron.  (Eew, look at that heavy old dirty looking cast iron pan at the bottom of that drawer!)

So cast iron is often cast off. I went on high alert, and guess what I found at our charity shop?