Choosing cast iron cookware

Listen to this radio show (MP3 download) or read below.

Radio interview source: Mark Kelly, marketing communications manager, Lodge Manufacturing

One of my favorite pieces of cookware is a Dutch oven. I use it on the top of the stove for soups and stews, and in the oven to bake chicken and cook pot roast. It's incredibly sturdy, and the lid is so heavy, it won't let bubbles escape. My co-worker Jodi takes a Dutch oven on camping trips, and swears by the luscious cakes and main meals she makes heating it with coals from the fire.

Mark Kelly is the marketing communications manager for a cast iron cookware company and says if you don't have any pieces yet, the ultimate go-to-pan is the 12-inch skillet.

"You can fry, you can bake, you can sear, you can braise," Kelly says. "And you can use a cast iron skillet on the stovetop, in the oven, on the grill, and even when you're camping out. So I jokingly say that a cast iron skillet is the utility infielder of the cookware world."

The next piece to buy is a Dutch oven for soups, stews, baking, and souffles, and then a grill pan for indoor winter grilling. If you have those three pieces, you're set to cook anything.