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Cast Iron cookware has been around for hundreds of years and well before the 19th century. It was an especially valued and inexpensive staple in everyone’s kitchen in the late 1800’s and throughout the first half of the 20th century. It was and still is valued for its durability, heat retention, ability to be heated to very high temperatures and it’s non-stick quality. It has also been found that cooking in an iron skillet can increase the iron content of some foods, especially acidic foods that have a higher moisture content. Cast iron skillets were an extremely important part of daily life during this time. Some of the manufacturers included Griswold, Wagner Ware, Wapak and Blacklock Foundry which is still in business under the name of Lodge Cast Iron. Lodge Cast Iron is located in South Pittsburg, Tennessee and is said to be the oldest and longest running cast iron manufacturer in the United States. According to their website, the foundry converted from a hand-pour operation to an automated molding process in 1950 to create a safer work environment. They use an age-old process called sand molding. “A proprietary mix of molten pig iron, steel and other ingredients are poured into a mold made of sand. Since sand melts at a higher temperature than iron, the mold holds its shape. Once the cast iron pan or pot has cooled, the sand mold is broken, leaving behind a brand new piece of cast iron cookware. Sand molding has been around since 680 B.C. It remains the best and most practical way to cast iron cookware.”

It wasn’t until the 1960’s through the next fifty years that cast iron saw a decline due to the introduction of new cookware materials that intrigued people such as: aluminum, non-stick coated pans and stainless steel. Cast Iron cookware has made a comeback in the past 20 years for many of the same reasons it was so sought after in early times. Cast iron is perfectly suited to fry or bake in, is naturally non-stick when seasoned well and has no issues of health concerns such as toxicity that has risen with many types of aluminum and coated pans. Most of all it just seems to last forever! If you were lucky enough to have a piece handed down to you, then you struck a small piece of gold! What was once inexpensive, is no longer. Not even the older and rusty cast iron pans you might be lucky enough to find in a secondhand shop or antique store are inexpensive anymore. The good news is you can resurface a rusty cast iron pan. Many resources describe the process as follows:

1. Scrape the pan with steel wool until there are no more rust spots.

2. Wash the cookware with warm, soapy water.

3. Dry completely (an important step that will keep new rust spots from appearing) First, dry with a cloth, then place it on a range burner and let the heat dry it completely.

4. Season it by saturating a paper towel or a soft cloth with cooking oil and use it to coat the inside of the pot or pan with a thin layer of oil.

5. Place the cookware on the top rack of the oven, face down at 350 degrees. Be sure to put a piece of aluminum foil on the bottom rack to catch dripping oil. Heat it for about an hour.

6. Remove your pan from the oven and let it cool. It’s now ready to use!

If you own a piece of cast iron and you want to maintain it; keep it clean (after each use clean with very little soap and rinse thoroughly or just wipe it out); Rust free (dry it completely) and season well (oil it after each use).

Cast iron is great for making Irish Soda Bread. Soda Bread is a quick bread traditionally made with buttermilk and sodium bicarbonate or baking soda. In Ireland it is known as ‘bread soda’ and is used in place of yeast. The buttermilk is naturally acidic and in the recipe reacts with the soda when combined to form tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide which provides the leavening. Irish Soda Bread dates back to the 1800’s and at that time had many descriptions of what the batter should look like to get the best outcome. It seems as though it should be somewhere between a batter and a dough. In 1836, Ireland’s Newry Times described soda bread dough as “soft as could possibly be handled...the softer the better” and Ireland’s Waterford Times described it as “wetter than pie crust, too stiff to pour, but not stiff enough to roll.”

Getting back to the late 1800’s and its everyday use... Catherine Mary Lally (better known as Kate) was born November 1st, 1861 in Achill, County Mayo, Ireland. She was the second oldest of nine children of Michael and Honora Manning Lally from Galway and County Mayo Ireland. Kate was just six years old when her parents brought her to this country. As a young girl she was teased for her Gaelic language and accent and for the way she dressed. Perhaps this childhood mocking helped her become such a strong matriarch. Kate married at the age of twenty-one and raised a family of twelve children; 6 boys and 6 girls. A cast iron skillet was a necessity and staple in her kitchen along with her wood cook-stove. Her cast iron skillet served as king of the kitchen when it came to baking.

Kate Lally was my husband’s great-grandmother. She married James Thompson in 1882 and raised her family in Ashuelot, N.H. Grandma Kate lived to be ninety-seven years old. Maybe that cast iron seasoning gave her the vitality needed to live into her old age?

Grandma Kate’s Irish Soda Bread

15 oz of Gold Medal Flour (3 cups)

18 ounces Buttermilk well shaken (2 ¼ cups)

Oven rack in middle position and oven up to 450°at least 15 minutes before needed.

Cut parchment paper and cover the bottom of a deep 10-inch cast iron skillet.

Whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda in a bowl for about a minute.

Stir in buttermilk until everything is moist and no pockets of flour are left (but not too much mixing or it will be chewy). It should look like dough too soft to handle and too stiff to pour.

Scrape sticky dough into the cast iron pan and smooth out the top. Score deeply into quarters with a sharp knife. Cover the pan (with another cast iron pan if you have it) and bake until well risen and golden, about 45 minutes. Remove the lid and bake until chestnut brown, about another 12 to 15 minutes. Turn upside down and cool on a wire rack, remove parchment paper, turn right side up and cool about another 30 minutes.

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