This Fashionable $20 Solid Iron Skillet Is the Most Versatile Software in My Kitchen

Now, if you already know me, you already know that I’m a sucker for an amazing, single-use device, so long as I do know I’m going to make use of it on a regular basis and get my cash’s value. ( you, citrus juicer.) Nevertheless, since my cupboards and drawers are already brimming with cookware, kitchen devices, and low makers, I are inclined to search for versatility when looking for new items so as to add to my culinary arsenal. And, whenever you discuss versatility within the kitchen, you actually can’t have that dialog with out speaking about forged iron. From the beautiful, stovetop-worthy, enameled items from cookware establishments corresponding to Le Creuset and Staub to your on a regular basis, built-to-last items which you could snag on a budget, there’s actually no materials that’s higher for all-around cooking than forged iron. Not too long ago, I picked up my new favourite piece, however one which is perhaps formidable to some: a non-enameled cast-iron skillet from Lodge. 

You’ve most likely heard all about alternative ways to prepare dinner with, clear, and take care of forged iron — otherwise you’ve at the very least seen the memes about by no means utilizing cleaning soap — and whereas there are many faculties of thought on the topic, the one factor I’ve realized from years of utilizing forged iron is that you simply shouldn’t overthink it. First off, you’ll be able to undoubtedly use dish cleaning soap on forged iron cookware, however you don’t need to. There are many guides on-line that go into deep element on find out how to care to your skillet, however I’ve discovered that so long as you employ them typically, and wipe them down with a skinny layer of oil earlier than placing them away, they preserve their seasoning and prepare dinner like a dream. (If it labored for our grandparents, it really works for me!)

Now, again to the skillet. The ten.25-inch pan from Lodge comes pre-seasoned, and is just about the right dimension for any kitchen — sufficiently big to sear a steak, bake cornbread and biscuits, fry veggies, and (my private favourite) whip up an ideal breakfast scramble. Yep, the factor I exploit my skillet most for is breakfast: Particularly, laying down just a few strips of uncured bacon or breakfast sausage, rendering out all the scrumptious fats inside, and utilizing the grease to prepare dinner my eggs and fry my toast. (Speak about a one-pot meal!) Then, as soon as I’m carried out utilizing it, I simply wipe out the pan — after just a few makes use of, it basically turns into a non-stick — give it a fast rinse and scrub with a cast-iron scrubber or sponge, warmth it on the range to dry it off, then rub a skinny layer of vegetable oil throughout it. After it cools off, I dangle it from an previous, sq. nail that was conveniently pushed into the brick wall of my house close to my range years and years in the past. 

I additionally discover loads of different makes use of for my skillet within the kitchen, most of which need to do with its hefty, 5-pound building. It makes a wonderful weight to make smashburgers; maintain down bacon on the griddle; or smush rooster and pork into skinny cutlets; set on prime of tofu to assist it drain; use as a “brick” for brick rooster; and loads of different circumstances the place a skinny, light-weight pan simply wouldn’t get the job carried out. 

Whereas the works tremendous effectively, and is an excellent versatile piece of cookware — I imply, you’ll be able to convey this sucker tenting and set it immediately on the coals — the nostalgic mixture of cooking an old-school breakfast utilizing an old-school pan, then hanging it on an old-school nail that stands out of a brick wall simply will get me each time. And, at simply 20 bucks, this skillet is the right piece of cookware to purchase now, use endlessly, and move down from technology to technology.