Cast iron cookware holds a special place in the heart of cooks, there’s just nothing else like it. It’s primal, raw, heavy, and most importantly, makes outstanding food. Owning a piece of cast iron cookware just says something about you as a food enthusiast. You know a good thing when you see it and you’re not willing to compromise on it.Still, nobody ever said cast iron was easy. There’s an art to taking care of it and developing it over time. Or is there? To answer that, let’s look into what raw and enamelled cast iron cookware is really all about.
Heavy Metal Cooking: The Properties of Iron
So just what is iron? It’s in your food, your blood (that’s why it’s red), in fact it’s critical for transporting oxygen around your body. It’s even the most common element on this planet by mass. Iron is everywhere. But when you get down to it, iron is just a heavy metal.Iron is relatively soft and easy to form into different shapes, although technically it still melts at 1,538 °C (more on that later). For this reason, it was one of the first metals human beings learned to use. More than 3,000 years ago, our ancestors were using iron to engage in two of humanity’s favourite pastimes: killing each other and cooking. Obviously, we’re more interested in the latter.But the uses of iron go far beyond that. Because by adding small amounts of other elements, it can also be transformed into steel. So, even if you’ve never used cast iron cookware, chances are you’ve been cooking with iron your entire life and never knew it.
Iron and Cooking: It’s All About Heat
How do all these properties relate to cooking? Simple, iron is heavy and dense. That helps it distribute heat fairly well, though still not as well as a top of the line triple clad stainless steel pan. So why use it? The big reason is heat.Remember when I mentioned that iron melts at 1,538 °C? Well, by comparison, Teflon begins to deteriorate at 260 °C. While the enamel coating on that type of cast iron does introduce temperature barriers, raw cast iron will basically get as hot as you want it without damaging the cookware itself. But there’s another important heat factor here.Iron is dense, that means it takes more energy to heat up a square centimeter of iron than any other metal you’re going to cook with. So if you have an aluminium pan and an iron pan both at 200 °C, which one has more heat? The cast iron one, by a longshot. What does that mean for cooking?Well, when you put a room temperature or cold piece of food in a pan, that pan needs to expend some of its stored heat energy to get that piece of food up to its temperature. That’s why if you put two big cold steaks in a pan, you’re not likely to get good browning. The pan just can’t get back up to the right temperature fast enough.Because cast iron holds a lot more heat, its temperature doesn’t drop as much when exposed to cooler food. That means better browning, and better browning is cast iron’s bread and butter. Now say that three times fast.
Enamelled Cast Iron Cookware: The Basics
Now it’s time to get into the details of just how enamelled cast iron, like the famous examples from Le Creuset, are different from raw cast iron from companies like Lodge Cast Iron. First, what is enamel exactly? It’s actually a type of glass. Generally, glass is pulverized into a fine powder which is then melted and used to coat the raw cast iron. So when you’re looking at enamelled cast iron, you’re really looking at iron with a coating of glass over it.But why enamel raw cast iron in the first place? Well, as I’ll discuss later, raw cast iron requires some level of maintenance. You have to season it, then clean it in a special way to maintain that seasoning. Honestly, it’s not as hard as some people make it out to be, but it does mean you treat raw cast iron cookware differently than other pots and pans.
The Best of Both Worlds
Enamelled cast iron is an attempt to get the best of both worlds. It retains those heat distributing properties but it much simpler to clean and maintain. The downside is that it’s only safe up to 260 °C. Still, that works just fine for most applications including browning meat.In fact, this is something an enamelled cast iron pot like a Le Creuset dutch oven excels at. Instead of using something like a triple-ply stainless steel pan to brown meat before transferring it to a pot in order to make something like beef stew, you can do all the browning in a single piece of cookware.Besides having one less thing to clean after you’re done, this makes it even easier to deglaze with something like red wine or beer and get all of the incredible flavours of those brown bits left at the bottom of the pan into your stew. Okay, so there’s easy cleanup and the ability to create entire meals in a single pot, what else is unique about enamelled cast iron?
The Reaction Element
Another crucial difference here between raw and enamelled cast iron is reactivity. Enamelled cast iron is completely non-reactive. This means you can cook whatever you like with it and not worry a bit about the possibility of the food reacting with the enamel coating.Raw cast iron does carry some small risk, but honestly, it’s often overblown. If a raw cast iron cookware is well seasoned, it will be able to handle acidic foods like tomato sauce without a problem. However, many seasoned users of cast iron (if you’ll excuse the pun) caution against using highly acidic foods with brand new cast iron cookware.
Buying Enameled Cast Iron Cookware
There’s no denying that enameled cast iron is generally much more expensive than raw cast iron. Still, there are significant price differences by brand. First, when it comes to dutch ovens (technically french ovens because they’re enameled, but commonly called dutch ovens anyways) Le Creuset is by far the most famous brand.Their ovens are iconic and have been made in France for more than 90 years. A Le Creuset dutch oven will cost between $350 and $550. Other brands are out there though. Classica makes similar dutch ovens which can cost hundreds less.You can also find enameled cast iron skillets for a bit less. Though in general, you’ll find that raw cast iron is most common for skillets while the enameled version is more common for ovens. But how does raw cast iron cookware compare to all of this?
Raw Cast Iron Cookware
If you read the above description of enameled cast iron, you already know some of the basics of its raw cousin. It’s got those same heat properties, but it’s even better at getting a nice sear on meats. If your dreams feature the maillard reaction (the scientific term for when food browns in reaction to heat), raw cast iron is absolutely for you.That’s because it can get incredibly hot, meaning it works with campfires, outdoor grills, stovetops, and inside ovens. It’s tough, versatile, and can last a lifetime. Though there are a few things you need to know.
The Original Non-Stick
At the core of cooking with raw cast iron is the process of seasoning. This is where applying oil and heat over many, many successive bouts of cooking gradually builds up a layer which bonds with the iron. This makes the cookware more and more non-stick over time. That’s why I mentioned above that it’s best to avoid cooking with highly acidic foods before you’ve built up this kind of seasoning.But this process also means you clean raw cast iron differently. Namely, you shouldn’t use soap. The process is pretty simple, you rinse the pan with water, scrape off any remaining bits of food, dry the pan completely (this is important to avoid rust!), then use a cloth or paper towel to apply a thin layer of oil. Finally, store the cast iron in a cool, dry place. See, it’s not as hard as many people believe.
Buying Raw Cast Iron Cookware
The final advantage here is price, cast iron cookware can bring incredible results in the kitchen for a fraction of the price of a fancy triple-ply stainless steel pan. On top of that, these things are durable. We’ve all probably ended up with an old pan that eventually peeled or warped. Well, with raw cast iron there’s nothing to peel and it would probably take a truck to warp one. That’s why these pans are often passed down through generations.What are the brands and price ranges you can look for? Undoubtedly the best known brand in this area is Lodge. They’ve been making incredible cast iron skillets in the US for over 120 years. If you’re looking for something cheaper, Classica also makes a nice pre-seasoned cast iron skilled. Finally, though they’re far better known for their enameled cast iron, Le Creuset also makes some raw cast iron cookware.
Making The Right Choice for You
Ultimately, when choosing between raw and enameled cast iron, it really depends on what you’re willing to spend and what you like to cook. If you’re a huge fan of steaks and burgers, you could hardly do better than a raw cast iron skillet. If you just love hearty stews, a Le Creuset dutch oven is something you can use for a lifetime.Or, you can take my route and get one of each. After all, who likes having to choose when it comes to great cooking?
So just what is iron? It’s in your food, your blood (that’s why it’s red), in fact it’s critical for transporting oxygen around your body. It’s even the most common element on this planet by mass. Iron is everywhere. But when you get down to it, iron is just a heavy metal.
Iron is relatively soft and easy to form into different shapes, although technically it still melts at 1,538 °C (more on that later). For this reason, it was one of the first metals human beings learned to use. More than 3,000 years ago, our ancestors were using iron to engage in two of humanity’s favourite pastimes: killing each other and cooking. Obviously, we’re more interested in the latter.
But the uses of iron go far beyond that. Because by adding small amounts of other elements, it can also be transformed into steel. So, even if you’ve never used cast iron cookware, chances are you’ve been cooking with iron your entire life and never knew it.
Iron is dense, that means it takes more energy to heat up a square centimeter of iron than any other metal you’re going to cook with. So if you have an aluminium pan and an iron pan both at 200 °C, which one has more heat? The cast iron one, by a longshot. What does that mean for cooking?
Well, when you put a room temperature or cold piece of food in a pan, that pan needs to expend some of its stored heat energy to get that piece of food up to its temperature. That’s why if you put two big cold steaks in a pan, you’re not likely to get good browning. The pan just can’t get back up to the right temperature fast enough.
Because cast iron holds a lot more heat, its temperature doesn’t drop as much when exposed to cooler food. That means better browning, and better browning is cast iron’s bread and butter. Now say that three times fast.
If you read the above description of enameled cast iron, you already know some of the basics of its raw cousin. It’s got those same heat properties, but it’s even better at getting a nice sear on meats. If your dreams feature the maillard reaction (the scientific term for when food browns in reaction to heat), raw cast iron is absolutely for you.
That’s because it can get incredibly hot, meaning it works with campfires, outdoor grills, stovetops, and inside ovens. It’s tough, versatile, and can last a lifetime. Though there are a few things you need to know.
The final advantage here is price, cast iron cookware can bring incredible results in the kitchen for a fraction of the price of a fancy triple-ply stainless steel pan. On top of that, these things are durable. We’ve all probably ended up with an old pan that eventually peeled or warped. Well, with raw cast iron there’s nothing to peel and it would probably take a truck to warp one. That’s why these pans are often passed down through generations.
What are the brands and price ranges you can look for? Undoubtedly the best known brand in this area is Lodge. They’ve been making incredible cast iron skillets in the US for over 120 years. If you’re looking for something cheaper, Classica also makes a nice pre-seasoned cast iron skilled. Finally, though they’re far better known for their enameled cast iron, Le Creuset also makes some raw cast iron cookware.
