Give your pans a good scrub down and then grab the lard!

More Videos

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—We're right in the midst of prime gift-giving season, and with just two days left until Christmas, we're also right in the midst of prime last-minute-gift-giving season. If you need ideas, homemade goodies or make-your-own-food kits are some of my favorite Christmas gift ideas, and for friends who are not already well supplied with good kitchen tools, I often combine the food with food-preparation tools. One of the best, most useful, and longest lasting cooking gifts I can think of is a good cast-iron skillet!

Well seasoned and properly cared for, cast-iron cookware develops a natural nonstick finish and lasts for decades and decades. I use some of my grandmothers’ cast-iron cookware on a regular basis. Talk about value and eco-friendliness! And cast iron spreads heat well, making for even cooking. Plus cooking in cast iron is healthy for you and your family, unlike those modern nonstick surfaces that may not be the safest stuff on which to cook your nice organic foods, nor are they very durable (and you really, really don’t want to cook in a scratched or chipping chemically treated nonstick pan). So if you're looking for a healthy, green, last-minute gift, get yourself (or someone you love) a good cast-iron pan! You may even luck out and find used cast-iron cookware at a thrift or antique shop. It may be better quality than the new stuff sold today, and any old cookware with rust or caked-on gunk can easily be rehabilitated as long as it isn’t cracked (cracked cast iron may break), badly pitted, or badly warped (set it on a flat surface and see if it wobbles, and look/feel carefully inside it to see if the bottom is level).

When rehabilitating antique cast iron, or just reviving an old rusted piece you've shoved to the back of your cupboard, it's all about the seasoning. Not salt and spices in this case, but a patina of oils and fats that is tightly locked into the natural pores of the metal. A well-seasoned cast iron pan has a dull black shine and is very smooth, and using it properly will make it even blacker and smoother (and more naturally nonstick) over time. Here’s how you start the process right.

Preparing to Season

This is done ONLY prior to the first seasoning, or before starting from scratch if your seasoning gets abused beyond hope. I even do this for new "preseasoned" cookware. Lodge (the most well-known brand around today) uses a soy-based vegetable oil on its cookware, but I prefer to strip it all off and start fresh.

Start by washing in hot soapy water (this is the ONLY time you will EVER use soap on your cast iron), rinse it well, and put it upside down in the oven, set to 200 degrees F or less, to dry completely. If your pan is now a dull gray all over, you can move onto the actual seasoning process (next page). If there are patches of rust or cooked-on gook of indeterminable origin, grab some steel wool or a wire brush. For really stubborn greasy residues, try covering them with this natural oven cleaner and let it do the work.