The homesteader's tool: cast iron cookware. Several things come to mind when thinking of homesteader must-haves. The item at the top of the list is cast iron cookware. It is easy to see why so many love to use their cast iron skillet as the farm-to-table vessel. Here are just seven benefits of cooking with cast iron.

Naturally Nonstick

Many modern nonstick pans are coated with a carcinogenic substance called Teflon. Teflon-coated pans flake off their harmful chemicals while cooking.  

Zero harmful chemicals need to be added to cast iron to reap its nonstick benefits. It is naturally nonstick! Most cast iron products can be purchased pre-seasoned. If not, you can easily season your cookware at home. Simply coat the pan with a fatty substance such as oil, butter, or lard when cooking. The more you cook with your cast iron, the more seasoned and, thus, the more nonstick it becomes!

Extra Iron in Your Diet

Our bodies need iron! Iron has many functions within our bodies; perhaps one of its most significant roles is the protein production of hemoglobin in red blood cells. Hemoglobin takes oxygen from our lungs and carries it throughout our bodies, an important role indeed. Iron is crucial for energy levels, red blood cell function, cognitive function, metabolism, and sleep. 

When cooking with cast iron, your food will be fortified with iron. You should not depend entirely on cast iron cookware to provide all your daily iron intake, but it will add iron to your meals, and extra iron is a win!

Heat Retention and Distribution

Cast iron cookware is solid. This can be felt immediately upon picking up a pan; it is heavy! This weight screams high quality. The make-up of cast iron is extremely helpful while cooking a delicious meal. The thickness and structure of the pan allow for great heat retention and distribution. Your food will cook fast, evenly, thoroughly, and deliciously in cast iron!

Longevity

Cast iron cookware only gets better with time. The more you use it, the more seasoned it becomes. It is very difficult to ruin cast iron completely. Water left on cast iron can cause rust, but even that can be restored with a bit of elbow grease! When properly cared for, cast iron can last a lifetime and even be passed down through generations. You can give your granddaughter the cast iron skillet you made Sunday morning biscuits on!

Affordability

Cast iron cookware comes at a great price! Many companies, such as Lodge, will have a blemish section. Shopping in this section feels like winning the lottery. The blemish section is filled with discounted cast iron products with slight blemishes (minor cosmetic scratches and dents that do not affect the product's functionality). 

In the blemish section, pans can be found for $15, and perfect-condition pans for $25. You can snag one at a thrift store or yard sale for $5; it may need to be reseasoned, but hey, for $5!! No cast iron is beyond repair. All of these purchases will be one-time buys because they are nearly indestructible!

Versatility

Cast iron cookware may very well be the most versatile kitchen appliance! Cast iron appliances can be used in the oven, on the stove, atop a campfire, or on a grill. There are also endless meals and dishes to make in cast iron cookware. You can make homemade buttermilk biscuits, sourdough pizza, ground beef chili, chicken pot pie, cheese crackers, marinara sauce, sauteed veggies, well-done steak, warm focaccia, snickerdoodle cookies, Italian meatballs, lemon-crusted salmon, and so much more on cast iron cookware. Honestly, the possibilities are endless! There are a ton of one-skillet meal recipes out there that make dinners simple yet oh-so-delicious.

Easy to Clean

Once well seasoned, cast iron cookware will be your favorite kitchen dish to cook with and to clean! After cooking, all your cast iron needs is a good spray of hot water and maybe a scrap or two from a metal food scraper/chain cloth. No soap should be used on cast iron. Soap will take away the pan's seasoning. A win for you! Less soap used = more money saved!

Are you a cast iron fan yet?! Jump on the cast iron cookware train today and explore the delicious meals that will soon follow!