My grandma Maggie loved to cook for us every Holiday or family gathering, and I would ditch chitchats with my cousins just to be with her in the kitchen. I just love seeing her magically turn those ingredients into a delicious dish using her favorite cast iron.

As I grew up and watched her cook, I always wondered why the pan was called cast iron. I wondered if there was anything special about it aside from the fact that it was made from iron. So I went to Nana and asked her about it; she said that the cast iron skillet adds more flavor and depth of taste to the food.

She also added that we can get some kind of nutrients from cooking with cast iron, which made me even more curious. I had always thought that you could only get nutrients from food and supplements, so I was surprised to learn that a skillet can also give nutrients. How is that possible?

I’m not convinced that a pan could provide nutrients, so I researched and found out that it’s true. I discovered that cast iron pans can actually add nutritious iron to cooked food. This is because the pan is made out of iron, and when heated, nutrient can leach into the food. This can benefit people who don’t get enough iron in their diet, as it can help prevent anemia.

Besides consuming foods rich in iron, like beef, legumes, and greens, another way to increase your iron intake is by cooking with a cast-iron pot. By using a cast-iron pot for cooking, you can conveniently get more iron into your diet. 

Is the Iron Safe?

It’s surprising that cast iron can literally give iron to foods, but is the iron from it safe? Cast iron has been used for cooking for centuries, and many people believe that iron from cast iron cookware is safe to consume. The iron that we can get by cooking our food with cast iron is known as nonheme iron, a type of iron that is safe to consume. Nonheme iron is found in plants and animals and is the type of iron found in supplements.

Iron is an essential mineral that is found in food. It is needed for the proper function of hemoglobin, which carries oxygen in the blood. Nonheme iron, which makes up 40 percent of the iron in the diet, is not as easily absorbed as heme iron. Nonheme iron is found in plant foods and iron-fortified foods. It is also found in meat, poultry, and fish. The body absorbs about 10 percent of the nonheme iron that it consumes.

Children between one and three years old only require 7mg of iron per day, thus it’s usually better not to prepare every meal for them in a cast iron skillet. This is because cast iron cookware typically contains a high amount of iron, which can be harmful for young children if they consume too much.

How much Iron can we get from Cast Iron?

Highly acidic foods with high moisture content, such as applesauce and spaghetti sauce, absorb the most iron. This is because acidic conditions increase the solubility of iron, which means that more iron can be absorbed into these types of foods.

As I researched more about how much iron we can get from cooking with cast iron, I found research saying that most foods increased their iron content from 2 mg to 5 mg. This means we can get a significant amount of our daily recommended iron intake just by cooking our food in a cast iron skillet.

For more acidic foods, the amount of iron absorbed from a cast-iron skillet increases significantly, from 5 mg to 7 mg. This increase in absorption is due to the increased acidity level of the food, which breaks down the iron in the skillet more effectively.

In contrast, moister foods only absorb 1.5 mg to 3 mg of iron from the pan. This is because dry foods have a higher surface-area-to-volume ratio, which means that there is more surface area for the iron to come into contact with.

Additionally, it appears that foods that are cooked for a longer period of time absorb more iron. For example, beef stew that is cooked in an iron pot gets 2.8 mg of additional iron. This is due to the extended cooking time allowing the iron to leach out of the pot and into the food.

New vs Old Cast Iron

The common misconception is that newer cast irons can absorb less iron than older ones. However, I’ve learned that our food can actually absorb more iron from newer cast irons compared to old ones. This is because older cast irons have higher level carbon buildup, which can actually block the absorption of iron into our food.

The iron absorption of meals cooked in a cast iron pan may vary depending on the age of the pan and the amount of time the foods are heated. Foods cooked in an newer pan or heated for a longer period of time may have a higher iron absorption than those cooked in an old pan or heated for a shorter period of time.

Food that does not benefit when cooked in cast iron

But, should you expect for every food to be good when cooked in cast iron? No, I don’t think that’s the case, since there are other types of food that don’t benefit from being cooked in a cast iron skillet. For example, hamburger, liver with onions and cornbread don’t absorb as much iron. This was most likely due to the shorter cooking time and less contact with the iron.

We should also be aware that iron pans and deep-frying do not mix. When deep-frying in an iron pan, the oil will become rancid relatively quickly. It can ruin both the flavor and texture of your food.

I’ve learned a lot about cast iron skillets, and I can see why my Nana treasured hers so much. She was always telling me how special they were, and I never really understood why – but now I get it. They really are something special.