00:00The way that this is lifting up without sticking right now.
00:03It's so beautiful.
00:04Blowing my mind.
00:08I'm Jess Teich, Deputy Editor at Good Housekeeping,
00:11and today we are diving into all things you need to know about cast iron.
00:14I am joined by the Director of the Kitchen Appliance Innovation Lab at Good Housekeeping
00:18and my good friend, Nicole Papantonio.
00:21Hello, thank you for joining me today.
00:22Of course, I'm so excited to talk about pans.
00:24One of my favorite topics.
00:25Me too. I know it is.
00:27Okay, so out of all the pans that you've tested, what are your top performers?
00:30This is our Lodge, and this is our best overall,
00:33and this is actually the one that I've been using at home for probably 10 years.
00:36It's a really good value.
00:38And then here we also have a Lake Crusay, which is different from the Lodge because it's enameled.
00:43Enameled cast iron pans are easier in the sense that you don't have to season them.
00:47It's so beautiful, and it's a really good way to start using cast iron
00:51if you're a little bit worried about how to keep up with it.
00:54Okay, should we break this down?
00:55Let's do it.
00:56Let's start with price. How do these compare?
00:58This Lodge costs you around $30, and then this Lake Crusay one is around $100.
01:03In general, there's a really wide span of how much cast iron pans cost,
01:07and they both work really well.
01:09Okay, so you can still get really great performance at a low price point.
01:13Absolutely.
01:17So typically you have your traditional cast iron pans, and they're usually uncoated.
01:22And what that means is that you need to build up that seasoning on your own.
01:26And the way to do that is you basically wash it first, make sure it's very, very dry.
01:32A lot of people recommend actually heating it on the stove to make sure that all the moisture is gone completely.
01:37So once it's cooled, what you're going to do is add some oil,
01:41a very, very thin layer, to the entire pan inside and on the outside.
01:46Once you have that even coating, you're going to wipe away as much as you can,
01:50and then you're going to pop it in your oven at 350 for 20, 30 minutes, even an hour.
01:54And that's going to seal it.
01:56And that is going to help it prevent it from rusting.
01:59But over time, the more you use it and the more fat you use,
02:02it's actually going to become nonstick on its own.
02:05So if you take care of it properly, this thing can last you for years.
02:09It's because the more you cook in it, the more food oils it absorbs,
02:13and it actually helps season your food too.
02:16Okay, how often should I be seasoning my pan and how will I know when I should be seasoning it?
02:20If you are washing it and it feels a little dry and it doesn't feel slick and smooth,
02:26then I would suggest re-seasoning it.
02:31So tell me more about the testing that you do and what kind of foods you cook in cast iron.
02:35Cornbread is one of the foods we test in cast irons.
02:37Earlier on today, we went ahead and prepped a cornbread in the Le Creuset
02:41and a gluten-free mixture in the Lodge.
02:43Let's take a look at how we test each pan and taste both.
02:46You know how much I love cornbread and I so appreciate the gluten-free show.
02:49What are some features that you look for in the cornbread?
02:51What we look for is how evenly does it brown?
02:54So we want it to be browned on the edges and in the center.
02:57And we also want to see how level it is,
03:00because that'll give away how evenly it cooked throughout the process.
03:04So you're going to see a really big difference in the coloring.
03:07Right here, we have our regular one and our gluten-free one.
03:10So there's just different oils and seasonings.
03:13This looks like the cornbread that most people are used to
03:16and also the one that you most often use for testing.
03:18And I just have my special cornbread here.
03:20Let's eat.
03:21I'm just going to gently cut into the gluten-free one so you can try.
03:27The way that this is lifting up without sticking right now is blowing my mind.
03:32And you can see, so it's really, really nicely removed.
03:36And this is a pan that we've been using in the lab,
03:39so it's not brand new.
03:41We've used it plenty of times.
03:42And I'm going to dig into this one too.
03:45You can see how much it didn't stick.
03:49Yeah, dig in.
03:50I'll try some of your gluten-free.
03:52Oh, look how crumbly.
03:54And so moist.
03:55Do you notice that?
03:56Which is hard to do, especially with gluten-free.
03:58Okay, cast iron, go off.
03:59One of the nice things about cornbread is that it cooks it gently,
04:03whereas in another type of pan,
04:05you might not get as much of the golden brown color that you see on these two.
04:12So tell me about the first method that you use when it comes to cleaning cast iron.
04:16I like to use just open water when something's not too greasy.
04:19It's just an easier way of cleaning.
04:21Just make sure you dry it and, again, re-season it as needed.
04:24So the seasoning is going to help prevent that rusting over time.
04:27And you don't need to season coated pans.
04:30And now, is there another method?
04:32I always use coarse salt on my cast iron pan.
04:35Wait, salt?
04:37Yeah.
04:38Plain old salt?
04:39Plain old coarse salt, like a kosher salt.
04:41Why salt?
04:42So salt is actually an abrasive.
04:44So when you put it in that layer, it's going to absorb all those oils,
04:47like we were talking about, but it's also rough.
04:50So you can use it to basically scrape the bottom of the pan,
04:53and it'll help just clean it that way.
04:55And make sure you never soak your cast iron pan and never put it in the dishwasher.
05:00So what are some of the pros and cons of each pan?
05:02We're comparing the Lodge and the Le Creuset cast iron pans.
05:06The Lodge is a really good price point.
05:08And then the other thing is, like, the shape and size is really nice and consistent.
05:12One of the cons could be having to season it all the time
05:15and make sure that it's perfectly dry so it doesn't rust.
05:19How about the Le Creuset?
05:20So the Le Creuset, I think one of the biggest perks is it's gorgeous.
05:23It's a gorgeous pan.
05:24It's enameled, so that means that you don't have to worry about how you wash it
05:28or seasoning it because it's going to last long without a lot of extra effort.
05:32So one of the downsides about the Le Creuset is that it's expensive,
05:36but it can be considered an investment piece,
05:38so you'll really have it for a long time.
05:40You'll really get a ton of use out of it.
05:42Nicole, thank you so much for bestowing all of your magical knowledge upon me today.
05:46I feel like I learned so much from you.
05:48Thanks.
05:49Let us know what you want us to test next.
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