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Cooking With Ancient Ores
Posted by GuestPoster in -Home and Furnishings
With all the fancy stainless steel, Teflon, and even titanium cookware out there, it is nice to know that some of the old classics are just as usable in today’s day and age.
I’d like to take a look at a couple older metals and how they are still great for modern cooking.
COPPER
Copper is still around in cookware because of one useful reason, and partially because of a not-so-useful reason. I’ll start with the latter. Copper isn’t a silver or black color, so it can add a unique look to your kitchen to have gleaming copper hanging from your pot rack. Not necessarily useful, but reason enough for some people to go in search of it.
The best thing about using copper for cooking is that it is supreme at conducting heat, and fast. This means less time waiting for preheating, and most of all, no hot spots while cooking.
The unfortunate side of copper is that the taste of it can leech into food, especially if the food is more acidic. Also, it tarnishes and oxidizes easily, so it requires more than just soap and water to keep it shiny and new. You’ll want to shy away from harsh scrubbers like steel-wool, and you’ll need to polish away the tarnish.
Those downsides are part of the reason you see copper bottom cookware. With copper bottom cookware you still get all the great heat conducting properties, while minimizing the negative aspects.
IRON
Another ancient great is cast iron cookware. Made from pouring molten iron into a mould, cast iron cookware is solid, durable, and very heavy.
It may seem like an old alternative, but it holds up to other cookware. To get the best results there are a few things to keep in mind.
Iron isn’t protected like stainless steel. It can rust. When you wash it, you should dry it right away to keep water from attacking the cookware. And never put it in the dishwasher…more on “why” in a moment.
You should always preheat your cast iron cookware before placing anything inside, and let it cool down all the way before cleaning it.
Overall, the most important thing to do with cast iron is to season it. This protects the cast iron, and also is what gives cast iron its nonstick surface. If you want to use cast iron, you need to know how to season cast iron.
- wash and dry
- preheat oven to 250 degrees F
- coat with a thin layer of vegetable oil
- place cookware in oven (upside down on cookie sheet to collect drips) for 2 hours
- remove
- wipe off excess oil
- let cool
During this process the iron pores open up and take in the oil. Thus, sealing them and creating a nonstick surface. If you wash your cast iron in the dishwasher, you reverse this process.
Both of these ancient metals are still great in the kitchen to this day. Get on out and try them!
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