You don’t need a cast-iron skillet, but it is one of the most versatile and affordable tools you can own. It excels at high-heat searing, baking (like cornbread), and transitioning seamlessly from stovetop to oven.
Yes, cooking with cast iron pans can contribute to high ferritin levels. While safe for most people, the iron in the pan transfers into your food, and your body absorbs it. This effect is particularly significant for individuals with underlying genetic conditions or those who frequently eat acidic foods.
The healthiest pans to cook with are made from cast iron, carbon steel, stainless steel, or pure ceramic. These materials are free from toxic synthetic coatings (like PFAS and Teflon) and will not leach harmful chemicals or microplastics into your food when heated.
Yes, a cast iron skillet is absolutely worth it. Costing around $25 for a standard Lodge Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Skillet on Amazon, it delivers unmatched heat retention, handles extreme stove-to-oven cooking, and can literally last for generations.
Instead, Amidor recommends “cooking with cast iron once or twice a week, especially if someone has iron-deficiency anemia and no issues with too much iron in their diet.” Preparing a more acidic dish, or something with a lot of moisture, is likely to absorb more iron from your pot or pan.
Iron deficiency occurs when your body lacks enough iron to produce hemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen from your lungs throughout your body. When oxygen levels drop, you can experience a variety of physical and mental symptoms.
Avoid cooking highly acidic foods (like tomatoes and citrus), delicate fish, and sticky foods (like eggs and pancakes) in a brand-new, unseasoned cast iron skillet. These ingredients can strip the pan's seasoning, leach metallic tastes into your food, or create a frustratingly stuck-on mess.
Though it's unbelievably useful, you'll never walk into a pro kitchen and see every chef using cast iron. It has serious limitations due to the time it takes to heat up and the care that's necessary to keep it in peak performance.
Yes, you should wash your cast iron pan after every use to remove food debris, fats, and bacteria. Contrary to popular myth, a well-seasoned pan is highly resilient, and washing it correctly won't strip away its protective, non-stick coating.
Cast Iron Cons
Unfortunately, iron is prone to rusting and long-term effects will harm the material. Frequent exposure to moisture will only accelerate the process. Cast iron is a very heavy material which makes working with it very difficult.
Avoid traditional non-stick pans with worn coatings or synthetic "forever chemicals" (PFAS), as well as unlined copper and reactive aluminum. Scratched or overheated pans release toxic fumes or leach heavy metals into your food.
In family kitchens, non-stick pans are the first choice for many housewives and cooking enthusiasts because of their easy cleaning and anti-stick properties. However, professional chefs rarely use non-stick pans in kitchens, preferring stainless steel, cast iron or carbon steel pans.
Stainless steel cookware is widely regarded as safe and non-toxic for everyday use. Stainless steel non-toxic cookware is a durable, corrosion-resistant alloy that's practical for a wide range of cooking tasks. By preheating your stainless steel pan and using a bit of oil you can help prevent food from sticking.
For healthy individuals, it is highly unlikely to get iron poisoning from cast iron pans. While the cookware does transfer small amounts of dietary iron into food, the amount is usually small enough to be safe or even beneficial for preventing iron-deficiency anemia.
Lodge cast iron includes a Prop 65 warning primarily out of an abundance of caution to comply with California's strict labeling laws. Because trace, naturally occurring elements (like manganese) can be present during the iron-casting process, the company uses the warning to avoid legal penalties in California, even if the products meet all federal safety guidelines.
These are the most common symptoms in the first 6 hours after ingestion.
Yes, you can absolutely use Dawn dish soap on cast iron. The old rule against using soap comes from historical soaps that contained harsh lye, which would strip a pan's seasoning. Today's dish soaps are mild degreasers that will remove food residue without harming the seasoning.
A cast iron skillet is ruined primarily by rust from soaking or improper drying, warping from extreme thermal shock (like cold water on a hot pan), or cracking if dropped. While most seasoning issues are reversible, letting rust cause deep pitting, or fracturing the iron, destroys the cookware permanently.
Yes, you can absolutely just wipe out your cast iron skillet with a paper towel if you only cooked something simple or left very little residue. The hardened, polymerized oil coating (the seasoning) is tough. However, to maintain a sanitary cooking surface, you must wash the pan with water and a little dish soap if food residue or strong flavors are left behind.
Gordon Ramsay exclusively uses and endorses HexClad Hybrid Cookware for both his home kitchen and his studio/YouTube sets.
Here are a few acidic meals you want to avoid cooking in your cast iron pan, and instead choose an enamel based cast iron or stainless steel.
The "best" cast iron brand depends on your needs, but Lodge is the undisputed top pick for affordability and durability. For premium unseasoned pans, Smithey Ironware and Lancaster Cast Iron are leading choices. If you want low-maintenance enameled cast iron, Le Creuset and Staub set the gold standard.
You can cook tomatoes in cast iron, but you have to be careful. Highly acidic ingredients like tomatoes can break down your pan's non-stick seasoning and leach metallic flavors into your food if left simmering too long.
The healthiest skillet to use is one free from toxic coatings like Teflon (PTFE) and harmful forever chemicals (PFAS/PFOA). Cast iron, carbon steel, and stainless steel are universally regarded as the safest, longest-lasting options, while ceramic-coated pans provide an easy-release alternative without the plastics.
Yes, bare (unenameled) cast iron leaches dietary iron into your food. While this is usually a harmless or beneficial boost, the amount varies based on the food’s acidity, cooking time, and the pan's seasoning.