I’m in Love with a Frying Pan, and I Don’t Care Who Knows It

In our never-ceasing effort to rid ourselves of all of the chemicals lurking in our home, we recently discarded all of our nonstick/Teflon pans, especially after learning that they can kill pet birds and cause flu-like symptoms in humans, among a host of other problems.

Immajustgonna let that digest for a minute: Yes, a Teflon-coated frying pan can kill a pet bird.

This was news to me. At first, I thought my friend was joking when she told me that she can’t cook with Teflon because it can kill her birds. Sadly, she wasn’t. You see, Teflon is the brand name for the chemical compound polytetrafluoroethylene. At the coating heats, it breaks apart and releases toxic fumes into the air. Now while these pans are generally safe until they reach high temperatures, if they’re scratched or damaged, the toxic coating can leach into your food.

This, obviously, is not good for your health.

So, long story short, a year or two ago, we swapped out all of our old, scratched non-stick pans and switched to stainless steel, which was mostly ok. For eggs and whatnot, I bought a ceramic-coated pan like this one, and it worked great, but it scratched and stained easily, so I did some new research.

I’ve always been both fascinated and frightened by cast iron cookware, because it seems so…complex. You have to season it, oil it, be careful with how you wash it, yada yada. Too much trouble, or so I thought.

And then. And then.

I discovered Lodge.

Lodge has been around since 1896, so it’s safe to say that they know a thing or two about cast iron cookware.

So, after doing some research, when my better half asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I told him, “A Lodge cast-iron frying pan.” Sexy, I know. Welcome to adulthood and 12.5 years of marriage.

Anyway, I must have been on the good list this year, because Santa delivered. He got me this 12” Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron beauty. Yippee!

Still, even though I’ve been cooking for a long, long time, I was somewhat unsure of what to do with this pan. Could I use it the same way I’d been using my trusty stainless steel?

It turns out that all I needed was some slight adjusting. This pan gets hot–like, really hot—much more quickly than my stainless steel ever did. The first time I used it, I burned the bacon, and that made me sad, because, well, bacon.

Aside from this thing weighing as much as a medium-sized dog, cleanup was a breeze. You rinse with mild soap, dry it and coat it with standard cooking oil. That’s it. I keep my “oil rag” in a Ziplock and bust it out when needed.

Cleaning this pan is actually easier than scrubbing out my stainless steel pans. The food typically just slides off, and any food that’s stuck is easily removed with a little plastic scraper. Bonus: The more you use it, the more “non-stick” it becomes.

I used this pan every single day for a week when I first got it. On the fifth or sixth day, my daughter asked me, “Are you going to use that pan EVERY DAY?” And I said, “Yes, my dear, I am, simply because it is the world’s most awesome frying pan.”

Now, she has dubbed my pan “Awesome Pan,” as in, “Are you going to cook in the Awesome Pan tonight?”

So, go ‘head, make fun of my unhealthy obsession with cookware. But this baby is my new favorite kitchen tool, and I don’t care who knows it.

P.S. I started a Pinterest board full of yummy recipes for my cast-iron pan. If you’re a fan of cast iron cooking, you can follow it here!

Disclaimer: I was not asked nor compensated by any company to write this post. The post does contain affiliate links, however, which means that if you click on one of the links, I might earn a commission. All opinions are my own, and I only recommend products that I’d use anyway.

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