IT’S EASY BEING GREEN WITH CAST IRON COOKWARE
There are some very special reasons why Cast Iron Cookware is so Green:
Use Cast Iron and Be Green
Cast iron Cookware is naturally non-stick cookware. When properly seasoned (see below) nothing will stick to it. Cast iron will eliminate the need for costly, toxic chemicals used to create the non-stick surfaces in modern cookware.
Lodge 6 Quart Camping Dutch Oven
Cast Iron Cookware is Eco-easy clean up cookware. All cast iron cookware requires for clean up is hot water and a stiff brush, so you avoid any harmful chemicals in detergent or solvents.
Cast Iron Cookware can stay in the kitchen or out doors because it can take the heat. It withstands much hotter temperatures and evenly distributes and maintains the heat better than traditional cookware. And since it holds heat so well, you will use less energy to cook. Plus it’s perfect for outdoor cooking. Just remember that cast iron gets hot. so use an oven mitt when handling a hot pan.
Cast Iron Cookware provides a great opportunity not to purchase more “stuff“.. Don’t ever worry about buying a cast iron skillet
or other cast iron cooking vessel—like a dutch oven—from a resale shop or garage sale. Even if it looks rusty and dirty, it can be cleaned and re-seasoned and continue on cooking, forever.
How To Properly Season Cast Iron Cookware
First, wash your cast iron cookware. This is the only time you will need soap to clean it, but you want to be sure you remove any dust or dirt. If you have a brand new cast iron piece, you will need to do this to remove the wax coating that is on it to keep it from rusting until it’s seasoned.
Coat your piece in some type of oil. Cast iron has a porous surface. The seasoning process will fill and smooth the surface to make it non-stick. Some type of oil is used to facilitate this process. I use Crisco vegetable shortening. Traditionalists would use lard. You can use plain old cooking oil, too, but you will get better results with Crisco. You want to coat the entire cooking surface with the shortening. Don’t glob it on, but every nook and cranny should have a nice, medium layer of shortening. Use about as much as you would use to coat a cake pan for baking.
Bake it in the oven. Next, you just pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees and put your cast iron pan in for an hour or so. After heating, turn off the oven and let it cool completely while still in the oven. Then it’s ready to go!
Heating the cookware creates the oxidation that prevents rust and makes the surface non-stick. Some cast iron users advocate heating the pan slightly before applying the Crisco to ensure that the pan is completely dry and to open the pores of the pan before seasoning. Not a bad idea, but remember cast iron gets HOT. Use oven mitts.
Newly seasoned cast iron will take on a dark brown coating. After long use, it will become glossy black. The non-stick properties of the pan will increase with time and use, so use your cast iron often. Remember, seasoning is a process. Even though cast iron can be used immediately after the first seasoning, your cookware will get better and better over time.
How do I re-season a used cast iron piece? If you buy a cast iron piece second hand, the process is still basically the same to re-season it, with one exception. First wash it in hot soapy water, as above. Then I put it in my oven on the highest setting (or on the self-cleaning setting if you have one) and let it bake for a few hours without any oil or shortening. This will remove any rust and the old seasoning. Let it cool, then follow the steps above to re-season.
CAST IRON COOKWARE; TASTE THE FOOD NOT THE COOKWARE
Go Green with Cast Iron Cookware
Cast Iron Cookwareshop on Giving Yourself the Green Light to Go Green
Reader’s Digest is always so interesting, funny, informative and practical. The August 2009 issue is exceptional.
On the environment, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu is quoted from a discussion of California Researchers at a recent conference on global warming. Chu suggests that the solution to global warming could be as simple as painting every roof and road white. It could, he says, be the equivalent of taking every car in every country off the road for 11 years.
Cast Iron Cookware also has a role to play in helping you to go green in your cooking.
1. Replace your chemically treated pans with the true, environmentally friendly cast iron cookware. You may make a lab technician angry
but who needs that potentially dangerous chemical substance flaking off in their food?
2. Join a Carrotmob Carrot mob, according to Time is a self-described “network of consumers who buy products in order to reward businesses who are making socially responsible decisions.” Their members make it a point to show up to buy products at a store that has promised to make specific environmental changes with the deluge of profits. Time reports Carrotmobs in 11 U.S. cities. Organized consumer purchasing can change business. Reward your local green market, organic food businesses and business enterprises who make environmentally friendly decisions. Carrots and other veggies are wonderful when they are cooked in a cast iron dutch oven.
Our Cast Iron Dutch Oven with Veggies
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GO ON. GIVE YOURSELF THE GREEN LIGHT TO GO GREEN AND LET CAST IRON COOKWARE HELP YOU.
Go Green and Save Green in Family Friendly Ways with Cast Iron Cookware
Cast Iron Cookware has been green before green was cool. It heats quickly, retains the heat, does not require food to be re-heated, and therefore uses less energy. Also it comes in enameled cast iron colors, including emerald green.
Cast Iron Cookware, when seasoned correctly, is the truly non-stick cookware that requires no non-stick toxic coatings that can flake off in your food.
Cast Iron Cookware requires no harsh chemicals for cleaning, strong soaps, or dish washer detergents (do not wash cast iron cookware in your dishwasher).
Ten family-friendly ways to go green
The best way to teach kids about the natural world is to get
them interested in preserving it. And if you treat eco-friendly
activities as fun rather than a chore, says Deborah Snoonian,
managing editor of Plenty, an environmentally conscious lifestyle
magazine (www.plentymag.com), your kids will follow suit. Here
are a few of Snoonian’s ideas on going green, family style:
1
Before shopping for new clothes for the school year, invite your
children’s friends over for clothing swap party. One kid’s too-small
shirts are another’s must-have duds, and you’ll save on new purchases
and shopping trips. Bag up the leftovers and donate them to a local charity.
2
Treat recycling like an art project: Have your kids decorate your
recycling bins using stickers, non-toxic paint, or other materials.
Arrange the bins so that it’s easy for your kids to help you collect recyclables.
3
Once a month, have an “unplugged” evening at home: no video games,
no movies, no e-mail. Instead, dine by candlelight and play board games
or cards together — or tell ghost stories, or sing songs. Kids love
the intimacy and grown-up feel of candles.
4
Go car-free for one day a month, and plan an activity in your neighborhood:
a picnic, a scavenger hunt, a visit with neighbors. Visit www.fueleconomy.gov
with your kids to calculate how much pollution you avoid by nixing the wheels.
5
Set a family goal to reduce your home electricity use by 10 percent by the
end of the year. Have your kids take ownership of tasks — one can be in
charge of turning off lights at night, while another can shut off TVs, radios,
and idle computers. Track the money you’re saving on a chart that everyone
can see (older children can help with this.) When you’ve met your goal, use
the savings for a family treat, like a movie or dinner out.
6
Instead of buying storage bins to hold papers and photos, have your kids
decorate shoeboxes using old magazines, wrapping paper, stickers, buttons
– anything they like.
7
Give your kids a chemistry lesson by teaching them how to make natural
cleaning products from vinegar, baking soda, and other stuff you have in
your kitchen. We recommend the recipes in Green Clean, by Linda Mason Hunter
and Mikki Halpin (Melcher Media, 2005).
8
Nothing helps kids learn about the environment more than growing something
– so give each child a plant to take care for. Let her pick out her own at
the nursery. (Older kids can help plant a garden.) Explain that plants help
people live because they exhale oxygen and breathe in carbon dioxide.
9
Next time you head to the park with your kids, have them bring a box of crayons
and encourage them to find items in nature that match those colors. This will
help them understand how diverse the natural world is — not all plants are green,
after all.
10
Visit www.epa.gov/kids for a wide variety of games, puzzles, and activities that
will help kids learn how to protect the planet.
Lodge Cast Iron Enamel 3 Quart Emerald Green Casserole
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GO GREEN, SAVE GREEN WITH CAST IRON COOKWARE
Kermit the Frog is well-remembered for lamenting: “It isn’t easy being green”. Many in his frog family would agree albeit not all are green. There are around 4,000 species of frogs in the world and more are being discovered and named still. Since frogs are susceptible to the effects of many human activities, it is clear that it is not easy to be green.
Times When I Found It Difficult To Be Green:
1. Bouts with food poisoning when I felt like “Vomit the Frog” and turned quite green.
2. As a younger pastor suffering occasionally from “hoof in mouth disease”. On one occasion I substituted the word “castrate” for “castigate”. Earth swallow me whole!
Times When It is Easy To Be Green”.
1. Using cast iron cookware is smart and it saves money. A cast iron dutch oven for example or a enameled cast iron casserole are far less expensive than most non-stick cookware. Go Green and Save Green Cast Iron Cookware, if used and cared for properly is very non-stick cookware and the clean up with hot water is a snap.
2. We love driving our hybrid and getting 48-55 miles per gallon. Driving green is a beautiful way to save green and be kind to the planet.
LiFE LESSONS: >Watch what you eat, >Be careful what you say, > shop wisely for your auto, >use a cast iron pot when you cook.
Contrary to Kermit’s lament, it is not difficult being green. It may not be easy either, but Oh how it is worth it to GO GREEN AND SAVE GREEN and help Mom Earth as well.
Go Green, Save Some Green. Get on down to http://castironcookwareshop.com
