Gotta love the Minimalist!

I like this fellow over at the NYTimes anyway – his columns generally deal with very straightforward topics and solutions.  Today’s piece is about equipping your own kitchen and now I know I really like him — he advocates for cast iron pans!  (requires free registration).  I love my old cast iron skillets and my much newer cast iron dutch oven.  Nothing beats them for browning and yet non-stick qualities.  Nothing beats them for heat distribution and retention.

My recommendation would not be to buy a new cast iron skillet but to go to a second hand or even an antique store and look at them.  Don’t pay a lot of money for one.  Look for a nice smooth finish on the inside and no apparent structural problems. Ask if they’ve done anything to them to put them in the decorative-only category.  Take it home, wash it and season it.  Then try it out!
That smooth finish priceless – and  comes with years of use.  Modern, new ones are still good but all come with a pebbly finish.  My dutch oven has that and is perfectly ok.  But the old skillets?  Like using good non-stick stuff, even for scrambled eggs!

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