How the Hell to Buy Cookware—Without Getting a Set

God, isn't it beautiful? Still manufactured in little ole South Pittsburg, Tennessee, and it still cost next to nothing to buy. I think everyone's second pan should be a cast iron, but I'm biased. Let me try to explain my reasoning.

It's similar to the stainless-steel pan in that it can just do anything you need it to. My fiancée and I cook everything in cast iron because it's just so consistent. Even a worn hand-me-down Lodge skillet will heat evenly, and it'll retain that heat longer than any other sort of pan. It can go in the oven, on the stove, on the grill, in the pizza oven, or over a fire. I love cast iron for grilling a steak and searing fish, but it's just as amazing for a weeknight bean stew. It's another workhorse item. It wants to be beat up. It was made to be beat up, and that's the best thing about it.

That leads me to what I think is the biggest fallacy of cast iron: that it's "hard to care for." It's not. It is so incredibly simple. "Seasoning" a cast iron just means establishing a layer of oil that protects the actual iron cook surface. Internet guides make it sound hard, but my mother (who is always correct) taught me to season with bacon grease: Cook bacon in the skillet, let the oil cool and solidify, wipe excess off with a paper towel, then put it in the oven on 350° for 10-15 minutes... It's that easy. As for cleaning, dish soap won't hurt the pan, but it'll take away the seasoning. We just rinse ours out with water and dry it immediately because rust is the only thing that kills cast iron. But to make a pan rust, you have to soak it in water; a few drops won't do it.

I can go on and on about the simplicity of cast iron, but just think "Use it like a pioneer." On the Oregon Trail, they used cast iron. Do you think they read 500 words from some guy on how to take care of their cookware? No, they beat it to shit and worried about feeding their 10 children. It's made for that.

Went off the rails there, but that's really the case I make for a lot of cookware. Buy the stuff that can handle some abuse.