Lodge Logic cast iron cookware

In today's installment of Stuff We Like, I present Lodge Logic cast iron cookware. When it comes to cooking, nothing equals cast iron for even heating and heat retention. Iron is among the best conductors of heat (and electricity, for that matter). That means that the cooking surface is more evenly heated regardless of the heat source (we have a gas range, for example, and we love it). The heat retention part of the equation means that the cookware doesn't cool very much when you add stuff to it. Say you want to cook some sausage. You heat the pan and then add the sausage. Some of the heat in the pan is transferred to the sausage but, because the pan has a high heat density, the temperature of the pan does not drop much. With other cookware, the temperature of the pan drops more and you then have to wait for the pan to heat up again.

At this time we only have one skillet and we just bought a two-burner griddle which we haven't used yet. I'm looking forward to cooking pancakes on it. The skillet has quickly become our favorite, although there are some foods (like scrambled eggs) that we still cook on our non-stick skillet.

The nice thing about the Logic line is that it comes pre-seasoned. With cast iron cookware, you have to season it first which, as I understand it, results in a coating of oxidation which is dark and hard rather than the red, dusty rust you'd get if you just left raw iron out in the rain. It's kind of non-stick though not nearly so much as real non-stick cookware. You clean the stuff using only hot water and a scrub brush, using a scraper of some kind to get the stubborn stuff off. It's actually pretty easy to clean. Once you've cleaned it, you wipe it dry and then spray a light coating of cooking spray on it. You don't want to use soap since that wrecks the seasoning and you then have to re-season it. I'm told you actually want to do this anyway about once a year. It's not that hard; you basically just put some oil it in, wipe it around the entire interior surface, and then heat it on the stove for about ten minutes. Continued cooking also contributes to the seasoning. We also have a wok made of carbon steel which is seasoned and cleaned the same way.

One downside of cast iron cookware is that, being entirely made of iron which conducts heat well, the handles get nearly as hot as the cooking surface. Therefore you absolutely must use an oven mitt or heat resistant pad when handling it. There are handle covers available which are made of various materials such as silicon and neoprene rubber and I plan on buying one the next time I see it.