Let’s look at the “new and improved” cast iron cookware first:

Enameled Cast Iron Cookware has a porcelain enamel coating covering the surface. As with all coatings this makes cleaning a lot easier since the coating is much less sticky than the old school cast iron cookware. In terms of health that’s also an added benefit, because you will be able to cook and fry with much less oil. You don’t need to go through a whole seasoning or conditioning process with enameled cast iron cookware neither – it’s ready to use right out of the box. And one of the main drawbacks of cast iron cookware in my opinion (that it absorbs the taste of the foods that it has cooked previously and thus might alter the taste of the foods that you will cook next time) is non-existend with enameled cast iron cookware – no taste absorption!

Now let’s do it the old school way: I still love a good piece of tradition cast iron cookware. It’s kind of like with jeans or high quality Japanese lacquerware – the older it gets and the more you use it, the better it gets!
First when you get a traditional cast iron pan, skillet, casserole or griddle then you have to season it (another word used for seasoning is curing). You’ll have to rub some grease or shortening into the cast iron and bake the whole thing in the oven. Cast iron has lots of pores and these pores fill up with oils. With time a natural non-stick surface develops and you will be able to cook without any oil whatsoever! It’s kind of built-in oil. (But don’t worry – it doesn’t taste like old, greasy oil! The pores are so tiny that only the pure oil can get in there).