Benefits of Using a Cast Iron Skillet

 

 

Among the huge variety of pans and skillets, people will always recommend a certain type of pan or skillet made with a very specific material. One of these materials, and probably one of the most ancient ones, is the cast iron skillet. As its name suggests, these types of skillets are made of hard-as-rock iron. They’re widely known for lasting more than one lifetime and having very little damage over time. But if you really want to know what the benefits of picking a cast iron skillet would be, keep reading this article.

 

It’s great to cook steaks and beef in general

One of the best features of using a cast iron skillet is that they heat up pretty quickly, they tend to get hotter than other types of skillets and they can hold the heat for longer periods of time. This makes them perfect for cooking a burger, a steak or a thick T-bone. In order to get it to heat correctly and evenly you need to do some preheating before placing your meat on the skillet. Then turn on the stove on medium heat and move around the skillet until the whole surface heats up evenly.

 

It can be cleaned easily

In spite of the hard reputation they’ve earned, the truth is cast iron skillets can be cleaned as easily as any other type of pan. It all really depends on what you’re cooking and how careful you are in letting food stick to the skillet. A bit of dish soap and a good sponge might do the trick just fine. After all, you wouldn’t want your cast iron skillet to smell like fish or oil when you smell it after being “cleaned”, would you?

 

But you can also clean it with harder tools

The greatest thing about cast iron skillets is that, even though they can be cleaned with just a little soap and a regular sponge, if by any chance some food is seriously stuck to the skillet you can use harder tools to clean it without messing it up like it would happen with a regular pan. There are special scrub brushes that act a bit harder on the surface of your skillet, or even some cool medieval-looking chain-mail scrubbers that’ll instantly take the burnt-on bits out of your skillet.

 

You can save it from rust

There are people that say that the downside of having a cast iron skillet is that they rust and there’s no going back from that point. In fact, one of the coolest things about these types of skillets is that you can actually revert the rust and take it out of the surface. Simply take your steel wool and give it a proper scrubbing. Once you’ve brushed off the rust and cleaned the skillet properly, dry it off and rub a thin layer of cooking oil over the entire surface (both inside and outside). Place your skillet in your oven upside-down with a baking sheet below to catch the oil and bake for one hour. Take it out and it’ll be ready to go!

 

It’s safe to use on electric range

In spite of what some people might think, cast iron skillets are actually accepted and suitable for an electric range. Just remember that the smoother the surface of your skillet, the better the heat will transfer to it.

 

Here are some things you should know before buying a cast iron skillet. Now that you know some of its amazing benefits, what are you waiting to get yours?