cast iron cookware

on saturday, blutsie and i headed off to an organic cooking class where they were promoting cast iron cookware and there was some discussion on how to season the cookware. people have their own favourite method, but i quite liked the method they suggested. the way they seasoned their cookware was to lightly saute vegetables in a vegetable oil, so, today, i tried it, and the vegetable i used was some cut up red onion, and the oil of choice was rice bran oil. i set my induction hotplate to the lowest setting, poured my oil in generously and tossed in the onion and left it there to cook away slowly. not exactly saute, but i chose to do it slowly so the oil would have a chance to seep into the pores. i'm sure some of the onioniness will seep in, but that's fine. it will make for interesting buckwheat pancakes, won't it? just have to make sure that they're savoury pancakes.

another interesting fact i learnt at the class about the cookware was that not all cookware which a magnet will stick to is induction friendly. for example, cookware which has a copper base encapsulated in stainless steel is not as efficient on an induction hob as one which is totally steel, as a cast iron pan is. i have wondered in the past why some pots heated up faster than some others, and now i know! this has never stopped me from enjoying my induction stove, but it has answered a few questions. and it's a good excuse to get new pots and pans...sigh...