Does cast iron make food taste better?

1. A quick review of Cast Iron
2. Health Benefits of cooking food on Cast Iron
3. Food that can do wonders in a Cast Iron Skillet
4. Foods to avoid while cooking on Cast Iron:
5. Conclusion

1. A quick review of Cast Iron Cookware:

​​To put it simply; cast iron is a term used to describe a family of metal alloys with iron as the primary alloying element. It is very strong and sturdy, and seals all the moisture for tender and aromatic food. It is most suitable for Indian old-style slow-cooking. More importantly, it will last you a lifetime; it truly is your indestructible cookware!  

2. Health Benefits of cooking food on Cast Iron:

​​Cast iron pots and pans are not only versatile in the kitchen, they absorb and hold heat well, making them ideal for dishes you would like to keep warm long after they hit the table. Foods taste better in cast iron, it can be used for more recipes than you might expect. Many studies reveal that cast iron also leaches a healthy dose of essential Iron ions into your meals!

3. Food that can do wonders in a cast iron skillet:

​Corn Bread

A good start for your cooking endeavor with a cast iron skillet is by making cornbread. The best cornbread is the kind that has that nice crisp in it. To make your cornbread crispy and crunchy, you need to add it into a preheated cast iron skillet filled with your favorite fat – butter, crisco, or even lard will infuse it with flavor. This allows the bread batter to sizzle as it comes in contact with the metal. Let the dough sit in the skillet for a few minutes even after it is ready and enjoy the deliciously prepared crispy cornbread.

​Crispy and Blackened Fish

If you love cooking seafood, skillets can provide a whole new twist to your love for seafood, especially fish. Everyone wants their fish to be crispy and crunchy. Often a frying pan cannot give the required crunch to the fish, but a cast iron is perfect for frying or blackening fish. Preheat the pan for at least five minutes to prepare the skillet. The constant and uninterrupted heat to the fish will allow it to blacken and become crispier, just like you want it.

​Burgers

Have you ever tried to infuse seasoning into a burger without a grill? If not, then you must try this amazing way to season the burger using a cast iron cookware. Yet again, it is all about the crispy crust that we all crave. When you let the meat cook from its outer crust, the heat from the cookware will give it a savory and caramelized flavor. Unlike grilling, the cookware (skillet, in this case) will evenly spread the heat over the meat, providing it proper taste. You can also try this with veggies as well, but cooking meat is always the tastier choice.

​Charred Vegetables

Cast-iron skillets aren’t just for meat lovers either. Veggie-eater, don’t worry, you also can benefit from a skillet. If you love to give your veggies a smoky flavor and texture, then a skillet can help you. With consistent temperature, you can char your vegetables in a cast iron. The layer of veggies drenched in charred flavor will give your dishes a brand new dimension. Don’t forget to heat the cast iron before adding the vegetables. You must also add the required seasoning to enhance the charred taste.

​​Scallops

Turning back to the love for seafood, cooking scallops in a cast iron is the best way to create tasty and crusted delights. The lack of good crusty scallops is often an appetite spoiler, but not anymore. With the consistent heat cooking method with cast iron, you can make a plateful of delicious scallops. It is essential to remain patient and leave it for a while to create a crust. If you remove them from the skillet too early, you will break the seal and hinder the crust formation.

4. Foods to avoid while cooking on Cast Iron :

​Smelly foods

Garlic, peppers, some fish, stinky cheeses and more tend to leave aromatic memories with your pan that will turn up in the next couple of things you cook in it. Ten minutes in a 400ºF oven will generally get rid of the smell, but it’s best to avoid cooking foods that would be ruined by those lingering aromas for the next few cooks.

​​Eggs and other sticky things (for a while)

Once your pan is well-seasoned, no problem at all. But when your pan is new, even though it’s seasoned, sticky things like eggs still may present a problem. Unless you like brown eggs and a gunky pan, relegate them to a regular nonstick pan for a while.

​​Delicate fish

The same heat retention that means your steak will get a beautiful brown crust in a cast iron pan will probably be the end of your lovely piece of trout or tilapia. Save the delicate fish for the non-stick pan, too. But salmon and other meaty fish that can stand the heat are fine.

​​Acidic things

You should avoid cooking acidic sauces in cast-iron pans because the acid loosens trace amounts of molecules from the metal that can then leach into your foods, imparting a metallic flavor. While perfectly safe to consume, these metal flavors can be unpleasant.

5. Conclusion

Coming back to the original question - Does cast iron make food taste better? The answer is yes. Food prepared in Cast-iron pre- seasoned cookware will give the authentic traditional taste to your cooking. Indian cooking is always packed with flavors and cast iron helps to enhance those flavors. Professional chefs use cast iron due to its many advantages. Besides being durable, cast iron pots and pans are easy to clean and great at heat retention. These features allow chefs to whip up several meals, especially those that need low simmering and browning to prepare.

Do visit Pots and Pans.in and browse through the beautiful, wide range of cast iron cookware. Surely your search for the best Cast Iron Cookware will end here. It’s a beautiful blend of modern technology and aesthetic designing.  

Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron