Every couple of years, it seems, I have to replace my pans. I get the sturdy teflon-coated ones for their nonstick properties, but after a while the teflon gets scratched up in spite of my efforts to never touch it with a scouring pad or metal spatula. Eventually I have to throw it away and get a new one, and the cycle begins anew.
I have friends who actually do cook, and they’ve told me that a properly-seasoned cast iron pan is every bit as “nonstick” as the best Teflon that ever was, plus it’s virtually indestructible. The “indestructible” part is what really got my attention, because I am a spaz. There’s a good reason my family flees the house when they see me head for the kitchen. My husband has remarked that whenever I bake, the kitchen looks as if someone set off a flour bomb. Thus the idea of something that is really, really hard to damage appeals to me.
When I mentioned to my mom that I was on the lookout for a nice cast-iron pan, she immediately knew where one could be found. A few days later she turned up with this pan from a thrift shop. She said, “I wasn’t sure about it, because it looks like someone has scoured it with steel wool, which you should never do with cast iron.”
But I don’t think that’ll be a problem. I’ve been reading about the care and feeding of cast-iron pans, and it appears that this pan should be easily redeemed and put back into use. From what I understand, the reason you never use steel wool on cast iron is that it destroys the carefully-applied patina of seasoning, so all this one should need is a nice cleaning and re-seasoning and it’ll be good as new.
And man, this little sucker is heavy. It can double as a home defense tool. Two for the price of one!
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