As for keeping things from sticking, I use mostly butter – I’ve found that coconut oil works well with meats and veggies, but with anything like pancakes, crepes or eggs, it’s got to be butter. Why, I’m not sure – perhaps the higher fat content? Even grape seed oil doesn’t work as well – butter only, and I’ve had no issues.

We do use cast iron as well, and I love it! I picked mine up for super cheap at Winco, and seasoned it myself. Take some coconut oil, rub it generously into the pan and up onto the sides (inside of the pan only). Then stick it into a 350* oven for 1/2 to 1 hour (it will smell gross, so I set mine to run while we’re out of the house). After the time is up, turn off the oven and let it cool with the pan inside. Repeat this process three to five times over the course of a week or so, and by the end, you will see a bit of a patina start to appear. Use it to cook with – I used it mostly for things like bacon, stir fry, etc at first – something to give it a good base. *Note: DO NOT use soap to scrub your cast iron!! It will ruin the patina, and you will have to start from the beginning. Once you are done with the pan for the morning/evening, allow it to cool, then wipe it clean with a paper towel or if there are some stuck on bits, simply use a scrubby to gently dislodge them and rinse with warm water, drying immediately. Store the pan in your dark, cool oven, and re-season every few months if needed, or if your well meaning hubby does the dishes… As you use the pan, it will naturally season and the non-stick will build up. I have used mine quite sporadically for about 8 months now, and it’s great – had I used it more, it would be even better. *Note: When cooking, cast iron does get hot enough in every use to kill any unwanted bacteria – so I’ve never had any issues or worries over not using soap to clean it.

Hope this helps!
Krista

I make my 1 1/2 year old son an egg daily for breakfast, and I have almost no problems with sticking. I follow the cleaning and seasoning steps above, and when I’m ready to cook the egg, I add a little grass fed butter to the skillet. After it melts, I fry the egg. Works beautifully.

My skillets are fairly new (one is 7 months old, and one about a month old) and already the seasoning is fine. I expect it to get better and better with use.

I stumbled across your website while looking for information about overnight soaking flour prior to baking. I love your site and am reading more and more about you as I find time. I do find you interesting since my daughter’s name is Lindsay Renee. She shares many of your values and interests. She lives in Eastern Washington and has two children 3 and 5. I’ve shared your website with her and hope she can find time in her busy schedule to check out some of the wonderful information you share on your site.

By the way I baked bread using the flour soaking method and your recipe with a few variations and my bread turned out heavenly. Thank you so much and God Bless your website homemaking ministry.

As for iron, most of the new iron skillets I’ve seen are sandcast. That is the inside of the pot kinda has a sandy finish from the manufacturing process of poring hot metal into a mold made with sand. DON’T buy these–it will take decades to wear it all down. Instead, hit the garage sales and the antique malls for iron pots that have smooth insides. Doesn’t matter if they’re rusted to hell–you can remove it and season it. These smooth inside iron pots are worth many times what they’ll be sold for.