In kitchens all over the world, you’ll find heritage cast iron—skillets and pans that have become treasured family heirlooms handed down from one generation of cooks to the next.
Heritage cast iron pieces often serve as vessels that carry family history and provide connections to the past. Imagine making your great-grandmother’s famous cornbread recipe in the very same skillet she used to make it in.
What makes cast iron so special? Why have so many generations of great cooks sworn by it? Read on below to see our 8 reasons why cast iron is king of the kitchen. We’re certain you’ll love it as much as the chefs of previous generations did.
And hey, if you’re not in line to inherit any cast iron heirlooms, maybe you’ll want to start the tradition yourself. Maybe, years from now, your grandchildren will cook up their favorite recipes in your beloved old skillet.
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With proper maintenance, cast iron lasts for a lifetime, or multiple lifetimes. When it comes to durability, it’s the undisputed winner.
Cast iron pans are built solid; on average, they weigh about six pounds each. A kitchen stocked with cast iron cookware might contain more metal than your first car. These cookware pieces are weighty, no doubt, but their solidity contributes to their longevity.
And unlike antique glassware and other types of fragile family heirlooms, cast iron doesn’t require protective storage. You won’t need to lock your great-aunt’s skillet away in a cabinet to keep it safe; you can leave it out on the kitchen shelf and use it every day.
For some of us, cast iron’s affordability is counterintuitive. Shouldn’t pans that can literally last for a hundred years be more expensive than less-durable types of cookware? Maybe they should be, but fortunately they aren’t.
Look at our range of cast iron options available and you may find yourself pleasantly surprised at how budget-friendly they are. Combined with the durability and longevity, cast iron’s reasonable pricing makes it a great value.
The visual appearance of cookware and equipment in any kitchen does matter, whether at home or in a professional restaurant setting. The ebony gleam of a well-loved cast iron pan is classic and unmistakable.
Because cast iron is so visually appealing, many restaurants incorporate it into their table service, bringing sizzling fajitas or giant rustic pan-cookies right to the table in hot cast iron skillets.
If you’re a fan of color in the kitchen, be sure to check out enameled cast iron. Though enameled is more expensive than traditional raw cast iron, it comes in a variety of vibrant colors that are sure to have you swooning.
Cast iron works great at any temperature, and you can even use it to cook over an open fire while camping. In addition, this magnificent material comes in many different forms—skillets, Dutch ovens, braisers, grill pans, woks and beyond—but it’s cast iron’s versatility that sets it apart from other cookware.
With a cast iron skillet on the stovetop, you can deliver everything from fluffy scrambled eggs to perfectly seared steak to crispy chicken thighs. In the oven, that same skillet bakes up dreamy Yorkshire pudding, loaves of rustic bread and brownies with a delectable crust.
For soul-warming soups and stews, a cast iron Dutch oven is just the thing. For the most amazing mac and cheese ever, start your sauce in a cast iron skillet on the stovetop, then transfer that same skillet to the oven and bake the dish to crackling, bubbly perfection.
It would be a tragedy if your beautiful skillet brownies or magical mac and cheese stuck to the pan. That’s something you won’t have to worry about, though, because cast iron delivers flawless nonstick performance as long as it’s properly seasoned.
See below for basic info on how to season your pan or check out our handy guide, “How to Clean and Season Your Cast Iron Skillet.”
To the uninitiated, cast iron can be a little intimidating, because it has a reputation for being hard to maintain. But once you know the basics, it’s as easy to care for as any other piece of equipment in your kitchen.
When you first bring home a new cast iron piece, you need to season it before using it to create the nonstick layer. Basically, it works like this: rub a light coat of oil on the entire pan, including the handle(s), then turn it upside-down in the oven and bake it for about an hour. It’s a good idea to put a baking sheet or some aluminum foil underneath, to catch any oil that may drip during seasoning.
For regular daily cleaning, warm, sudsy water works fine, but scouring with coarse kosher salt is the best way to remove stuck-on foods without damaging the nonstick surface. To avoid rust, don’t ever leave cast iron to soak or drip-dry. Towel the pan dry by hand, then add a drop of oil and heat it up (on the stovetop or in the oven), to seal and protect the seasoning. Wiping the entire pan, inside and out, with a paper towel and a small amount of oil also helps keep the rust away.
If seasoning is something you’d rather avoid and you don’t mind spending a bit more, consider enameled cast iron, which does not require seasoning to maintain the nonstick surface.
Now and then, your cast iron may need the “reset” of a full re-seasoning. How can you tell when your pan needs a re-season? Simply pay attention to its color; that’s how you’ll know.
If you see any rust spots or the pan starts turning a lighter color, it’s time to re-season.
Perhaps the most stunning feature of cast iron is that it comes back from the dead. With a little love, you can restore a rusted-out cast iron to usefulness in a short amount of time.
Simply scrape off all the rust with steel wool, wash and dry the pan, and then put it through the full seasoning process. Once it’s seasoned, it’s good to go—and you and your cast iron can start making beautiful meals together.
Hungry for more? Shop our collection of Cast Iron Cookware and snag the next best piece for your kitchen!
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