How Cast Iron Cookware Contributes to Your Health
The old-fashioned method of cooking with cast iron cookware has been around for years, but has just recently enjoyed a revival of popularity. More and more, people are realizing how easy and thoroughly cast iron can cook their food – and how healthy it can be.
Cast iron can help to boost your iron intake. Even the less expensive models are extremely versatile and will provide you with generations of good and healthy cooking. Many have passed down their well-seasoned, cast-iron cookware to children and grandchildren and have become cherished family kitchen utensils.
Besides being a healthy addition to your kitchen cookware, cast iron pots and pans conduct heat evenly and can go from stovetop to oven with no trouble at all. You can find high-end cast iron cookware with enamel coatings and in various colors to fit every décor.
Many times, you may find perfectly good cast iron cookware at garage sales or antique stores. You may have to spend some time seasoning them before cooking, but they’ll pay you back by providing many health-conscious meals for you and your family.
Some other benefits of cooking with cast iron include their natural, non-stick ability. While pans coated with Teflon are also non-stick, they’re not very healthy to cook food in – especially at high temperatures and might release PFCs (human carcinogens).
But cast iron pans can also be non-stick if properly seasoned and don’t use the harmful chemicals that other non-stick pans use. And their non-stick ability means they’re easy to clean.
Using a pan that actually preserves and fortifies the food you cook in it is an amazing benefit of cast iron cookware. Those foods which contain the most acid gain the most iron when cooked in cast iron. For example, a spaghetti sauce (high in tomato content) will accumulate the most iron.
Since most people don’t get enough iron in a normal diet, cooking with iron-fortifying cast iron is a great idea – especially for women, who naturally need more iron-rich foods.
There is a wide variety of cast iron cookware available for purchase online. Choose from the enamel coated, color-coordinated types or the old-fashioned, black finishes. You’ll also find recipes especially put together for use in cast iron cookware.
Learn about cast iron and the many benefits of using it to cook healthy and easy meals for you and your family. You’ll soon realize why cast iron is passed on from generation to generation and be eager to start your own tradition.
