Your Guide to Cast Iron: Non-toxic Cookware

Cast Iron is a wonderful nontoxic cookware option, I love cooking and baking with it. A well cared for cast iron will last a lifetime and more. This guide will cover everything from cooking, cleaning and caring for your cast iron to all the benefits of investing in cast iron cookware.

We spend so much time in our kitchens, they are a gathering place for families and friends. The things in our kitchen come in direct contact with our food and in turn end up in our body affecting our health. Finding quality nontoxic cookware should be a priority in every kitchen.

It wasn’t long after being diagnosed with my second autoimmune condition, ankylosing spondylitis, that I begin a journey to change my diet and lifestyle to support healing. I quickly learned of the many ways toxins impact our health and the inflammation that leads to autoimmune conditions. My husband and I slowly started swapping out toxic cookware for better options. We use a combination of cast iron, stainless steel, glass, and lead-free ceramic for our cookware. Cast iron soon became my favorite and most frequently used of these non toxic options.

I use to think cast iron would be complicated to cook with, clean, and care for but once I learned the basics it became quite simple. There is a bit of learning at first but once you get the hang of it I’m sure you will love cooking with cast iron as much as I do. My hope is that this guide will help you with all the basics for using and caring for your cast iron cookware.

Is cast iron worth the investment?

Cast iron can be expensive if buying new but it will last a lifetime and beyond if it is well cared for. I truly believe they are worth the investment. We have invested in and been gifted several different styles of cast iron including baking sheets, loaf pans, muffin pans, dutch ovens, skillets and more.

We were very blessed to inherit a couple beautiful cast iron skillets passed down from my grandpa. Another one of our cast iron skillets was one that my husband found abandoned at a campsite, it was in rough shape (water and rust) but he stripped it down and restored it with fresh coats of seasoning.

You can sometimes find cast iron at garage sales or second hand stores for a lower price. Then you can restore them to great condition.

Some Benefits to cooking with cast iron:

Cast Iron is nontoxic and a wonderful way to avoid adding PFAS and other unwanted chemicals to our food.

If properly seasoned and preheated, cast iron provides a nonstick surface.

There are health benefits to using cast iron as well! Cooking with cast iron can help to increase your iron intake. As someone who has struggled with iron deficiency anemia for most of my adult life, this is a huge bonus for me. I am always trying to get extra iron into my diet.

^{This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a small commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. I will only recommend products that I regularly use and love!}

Tips for Cooking and Baking with it:

The key to cooking with cast iron is to properly preheat your skillet before adding your cooking fat/oil and food. I find it best to preheat over medium heat. You can use the water bead method to test if your cast iron is fully preheated. Sprinkle a couple drops of water into the skillet and if the water beads up then your cast iron is ready to cook with.

I have found that allowing your food to cook with minimal stirring and flipping helps the food to release naturally and increases the nonstick properties.

Acidic foods will break down the seasoning quicker and so you will want to re-season your cast iron after cooking with acidic foods like a tomato based sauce.

How to clean and care for your cast iron:

We choose not to use soap on our cast iron. Soap will breakdown and remove the seasoning on your cast iron.

• After most uses we can just simply wipe our cast iron clean with a cloth or paper towel.
• On the occasions that food is built up on our cast iron:
  • We use hot water and a chain-scrubber to gently remove the food.
  • Then we thoroughly dry our cast iron with a cloth or paper towel.
  • We heat the cast iron up on the stove top for a minute or two.
  • Then rub a fresh, thin layer of coconut oil all over the warm cast iron.
  • Let your cast iron cool and store in a dry location.
• Always make sure your cast iron is completely dry before storing. Moisture will create rust.

Some of my favorite product recommendations:

Some cast iron companies use seed oils or other unwanted inflammatory oils to season their cast iron products. However, I tend to not worry too much about that because it isn’t long before I work through their seasoning and add my own with anti-inflammatory oils. Here is a post on my favorite anti-inflammatory oils.

• Cast Iron Baking Sheet: This is one of my most used cast iron products next to our skillets and dutch oven. I use this for everything from roasted vegetables, baking poultry and fish, to baking cookies. It is wonderful and evenly cooks everything.
• Cast Iron Skillets: We have a few different sizes of skillets, as well as smooth surface skillets and rough surface skillets like the ‘Lodge’ brand. I prefer the smooth surface skillets. They are easier to clean, season, and cook with.
• Cast Iron Casserole Dish: I love baking with this! This is great for casseroles and desserts like my gluten-free apple crisp or gluten-free strawberry crumble recipes.
• Cast Iron Muffin Pans
• Cast Iron Loaf Pan
• Dutch Oven: This one is a porcelain enameled cast iron. I absolutely love it! It wonderful for cooking soups, sautéing, and much more. We do have another one that isn’t enameled but it is set up with legs for using over coals and a campfire, not on a stovetop.

If you are able to find them, I recommend getting cast iron products from garage sales and thrift stores. You can usually find them at a much more affordable price. We were lucky to have some of ours handed down to us and gifted to us but we did have to splurge on buying some new because we just couldn’t find them second hand.

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