The Best Non-Stick Pan is your Grandma’s Cast Iron Skillet.

In 1938 a scientist names Roy Plunkett and his team were attempting to make tetrafluoroethylene gas to be used as a refrigerant, but something went wrong. In place of the gas they intended to make, they found a white film that was uniquely, unnaturally slippery. This slippery film had other interesting characteristics as well – it didn’t appear to break down from harsh chemicals or high heat. What they had made by accident was polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE (the first known forever chemical). These scientists worked for DuPont. The company quickly patented this new polymer and they were off to the races to find a problem for this solution to solve.

By the 1960’s non-stick pans coated with this substance and sold under the name “Teflon” were widespread in American home kitchens. These pans were marketed as easier to clean and allowed for “low fat” cooking as they required less oil. This was the era of Fat-Free “Cream” and Margarine, after all. My parents’ generation spent nearly their entire lives eating foods prepared in these non-stick pans. After a couple of years of use, the non-stick coating would become scratched and flaky, and the pan was due for replacement.

Fast forward 50-60 years of non-stick cooking and widespread of use of these forever chemicals (PFTE, PFAS, PFAS, PFOAS) generally, and we now know that this material is absolutely horrible for us and impossible to get out of the environment. Nearly 100% of Americans have these chemicals in their bloodstream. They are found in every place we look for them, from municipal water supplies, ground and surface water, in rain drops, milk (human and cow), in soil, in fish and meat and plant tissue.

Before Teflon, uncoated Cast Iron (and it’s cousin Carbon Steel) was the preferred material for cookware. Cookware made from these iron alloys develops a non-stick coating the more it is used and “seasoned”. It gets better with time, heavy use, and a little love. A well-cared for cast iron pan can last hundreds of years, passing from one generation to the next with the rich history of family meals and traditions bound up in the metal.

Unlike many modern pots and pans with plastic handles and polymer coatings, Cast Iron cookware can be used at any temperature and in any method of cooking – in the oven, on the burner (gas, electric and induction), or in a camp fire, and you can deep fry in it. It will not crack, melt, scratch, or off-gas toxic fumes. Cast iron cookware retains heat extremely well and cooks food evenly. With all the benefits of cast iron, it is a wonder that home cooks were so quick to give it up when Teflon coated pans came around – I guess therein lies the power of marketing and novelty.

In truth, there are two minor setbacks to cast-iron cookware. First, it is heavy. Cooking with cast iron will keep you strong into old age. Second, it requires special care to prevent rust. This actually isn’t a big deal at all, and if rust does happen, you can fix it. I find the benefits of cast iron greatly outweigh the minor inconveniences. For the last 10-15 years I’ve been on a quest to find the best PFAS free non-stick skillet. I’ve tried ceramic, granite and daimond coated pans and I have found that all the alternative non-stick options still wear out with a couple of year (which I find unacceptable for cookware). I’ve recently replaced all my non-stick pans with Cast Iron and Carbon Steel, and I’ll never go back.

How to care for your cast iron

Caring for cast-iron cookware is not difficult, but it is different from caring for other cookware. The care instructions here for Cast Iron also apply to Carbon Steel pans. The main difference between the two is that Cast Iron is heavy and retains heat very well. Carbon Steel is much lighter, more responsive, and retains less heat.

Seasoning your Cast Iron

Cast Iron cookware needs to be “seasoned” and a well seasoned pan is a non-stick pan. Most newly purchased cast irons come fully seasoned and ready to cook in. They are then seasoned continuously when you cook in them with oils or fats and non-acidic foods like bacon, fried chicken or sauteed dishes. Occasionally throughout their long lives, and if you ever need to rehabilitate an old, poorly cared-for cast iron, you will want to re-season it. This is easy.

First, clean your cast iron (using only water and a scrubbing pad with no soap residue) and wipe it dry with a towel. I use a metal chain-mail scrubber for my cast iron. Then rub the pan all over, top and bottom, and the handles, with a neutral oil (avocado, vegetable, etc). The oil should evenly and thinly coat the pan. Bake the pan upside down at 300 F – 350 F for about 1 hour. Repeat this process a couple of times. Let the pan cool in the oven. Your pan is now seasoned.

Cleaning your Cast Iron

There are a couple of methods for cleaning your cast-iron cookware, depending on what is cooked in it.

For foods that leave a film or residue (like scrambled eggs, gravy, cornbread, etc) – allow the food to dry on the pan until it becomes flaky and separates from the pan – this may take a day or so. Use a metal or plastic scraper or spatula to scrape the food off into the garbage. If the pan looks clean after that point, rub with oil and return it to its drawer. Otherwise, rinse with water and rub clean with a chain mail scrubber. Dry it with a towel and coat it with oil. Put it away.

For foods that don’t leave any residue other than some leftover oil or butter (pancakes, quesadillas, etc), simply wipe the cast iron out with a paper towel while it is still warm and put it away. Cleaning really doesn’t get much easier than that.

Most importantly – make sure the cast iron is dry when you are done with it. Leaving it rinsed in a drying rack is not sufficient. Do not soak it.

How NOT to mess up your Cast Iron.

There are only 3 simple things to remember when caring for your cast iron.

1. Do not let your cast iron get wet and stay wet.
   • Leaving your cast iron out in the rain (easy to do while camping), or washing it with water and forgetting to dry it will cause your cookware to rust in a hurry. It’s crazy how quickly it will rust. The good news is you can fix a rusty cast iron by scrubbing it with a chain mail scrubber (or if it is severly rusty use a wire brush attachment for a drill). Rinse it out several times until the reddish water runs clear, dry it thoroughly and re-season it.
   • Boiling water or cooking soup is no problem for your cast iron as long as it is emptied and dried afterwards.
2. Do not use soap
   • Cast iron is porous, and soap residue can seep into the metal, causing off-flavors in your food. Rust can be repaired – I don’t know how to fix a soapy cast iron. Now, some people may be offended by the thought of not using soap to clean their cookware. Just remember, food-borne pathogens and viruses are killed during the cooking process. If the surface looks clean, it’s clean.
3. Minimize cooking foods that are really acidic.
   • Acidic foods like tomato, fruit, and vinegar-based sauces will eat away at the layer of seasoning. Use stainless steel or enameled pots or pans for these dishes, or plan to re-season your cast iron once you have finished.

Comparing Non-Stick Cookware Options

Non-Stick (PTFE/PFAS, Teflon, and similar)	PFAS-Free Non-Stick	Cast Iron	Carbon Steel
2-5 year lifespan	Coating warranty for 2-5 years	Can last hundreds of years	Can last hundreds of years
Easy to clean	Easy to clean	Pretty easy to clean, but must be dried and oiled afterwards.	Pretty easy to clean, but must be dried and oiled afterwards.
Increases exposure to forever chemicals and toxic fumes	–	Increases intake of nutritional iron	Increases intake of nutritional iron
Lightweight and responsive	Medium-weight and medium-responsiveness.	Heavy with excellent heat retention	Lightweight and responsive
Use only with relatively low heat cooking. May not be suitable for the oven.	Use only with relatively low heat cooking. May not be suitable for the oven.	Can be used at any temp. and in any method of cooking.	Can be used at any temp. and in any method of cooking.

Cast Iron Cookware is extremely economical. The most basic Lodge 12″ Skillet runs around $30 and you will never need to replace it. Compare that to an All-Clad Ceramic non-stick of the same size for $120 or a basic 12″ Teflon-type Vigor pan for $48, both of which will need to be replaced every 3 years and the math is a no brainer. But putting costs aside, there is something deeply satisfying about owning a thing that is changed and improved by your use and care of it. A Cast Iron gives back what you put into it in the form of a perfect layer of seasoning and the joy of effortlessly flipping a fried egg. It will show its disappointment when you slack off on cleaning up after a meal with a bloom of surface rust. But it is forgiving too. You can remove the rust, repair the pan, and redeem yourself. Cast Iron encourages you to pay more attention, and it rewards you for doing so.