The Common Misconception About Cast Iron Cookware You Need To Ignore

My Mississippi grandma's fried chicken and biscuits were legendary. We always assumed it was her well-honed skills or hidden techniques, but as adults ourselves, my siblings and I finally understood. It was that super-heavy, jet-black, cast-iron skillet. She harbored the same one for many decades, and as far as we knew, cooked with it every single day, morning to night. But here's the thing — in all the years of being a miniature wannabe chef, following her steady footsteps from oven to fridge and after-dinner sink washing, I never recall a single minute of pampering that pan. 

When I finally had my own kitchen and cast-iron skillet, it never crossed my mind to give it special care or attention, as it wasn't in the slightest bit delicate or easily damaged. A supposed finicky nature is the most common misconception about cast iron cookware. That's a relatively new thing, compared to the sturdy utilitarian cooking approach of early American cast-iron cookware companies such as Griswold, Wagner, and Lodge, founded in Tennessee in 1896, just a skip over the state line from Mississippi. 

Lodge, still thriving today as a go-to maker of affordable cast-iron pans, even points out the resilience of cast iron and notes the persisting tall tales about using and caring for these workhorse sentinels of kitchen success. You can largely ignore the rumored fragility — though cast iron does come with some nuances. Understanding the simple dos and don'ts will strengthen the bond between chef and pan.