**That Cast Iron Melting Pot Could Improve Your Health.**

Are you a Chocolatier at heart? If you find yourself deep in study; concocting that next chocolate confection, there may be more to reflect on than butter, chocolate and sugar. Besides the obvious ingredients, your cast iron melting pot may be adding more than meets the eye; the health-essential mineral iron.

Every cooking surface will leach some metal into the food, especially under high temperatures. In fact, all materials release atoms and molecules when heated and put in contact with acidic or alkaline substances, such as chocolate. Acidic and alkaline foods will increase the leaching for certain types of cookware, such as cast iron.

Cast iron is made by re-melting pig iron, a term for iron infused with a high rate of carbon (1.5%-3%). It is often melted along with substantial quantities of scrap iron and scrap steel, and taking a variety of steps to remove undesirable contaminants such as phosphorus and sulfur, leaving a non-toxic iron ideal for candy-making cookware.

Consider the cast iron melting pot in your kitchen. If you are like most professional chefs, you’ll swear by your cast iron pot; a superb tool for the task of melting chocolate. Cast iron has a uniform heat retention that allows precise temperature control, as well as other cooking benefits, including the provision of iron in your food.

Making A Comeback.

Cast iron cookware is catching the attention of home-chefs across the globe. Lodge, a premiere maker of quality cast iron cookware, has reported significant increases in sales, particularly its pre-seasoned line of cookware. Not at all a new concept, cast iron has been used in cooking for generations in many countries. Its popularity in America took a nose-dive in the early 40’s and 50’s when stainless-steel cook wares made their debut. But in the long scheme of cooking history the absence was only minor.

Not surprisingly, the absence of cast iron cooking in the 1940’s American homestead nearly coincided with an eruption of studies on iron absorption in the body, particularly in pregnant women, due to a noticeable decrease in iron intake.

Restoring Dietary Iron.

Chocolate is a favorite food amongst billions. It is being considered more and more as a type of health food, especially dark chocolate. Chocolate contains many chemicals, but its basic make-up is cocoa, protein, fat, and sugar. However, it also includes ingredients like flavonoids (antioxidants to boost cardio health), plus the minerals calcium and iron.

These minerals are part of a healthy diet, but an irony, and a positive vote for cast iron cookware, is the fact that calcium is a known iron-absorption inhibitor. So chocolate itself interrupts the absorption of its own iron benefits through its calcium content. But when additional iron is released into chocolate through a cast iron pot and heating, the extra iron content overcomes its calcium deterrent, and better health benefits can be introduced into your confection(s).

Researchers have agreed that our ancestor’s use of cast iron cookware was a chief source of their dietary supply of iron. But we’ve learned that as time and use of a cast iron piece increases, the black, non-stick coating increases with it. A well seasoned pan can actually slow down leaching of iron, as it’s seasoning coat penetrates and adheres onto the microscopic pores ubiquitous in cast iron. Inevitably, a cast iron pan or pot will lose its ability to leach iron, while gaining its ever-popular non-stick “patina”.

Cookware For A Lifetime Of Chocolatiering.

Our ancestors replaced cast iron cookware more frequently than we do today, partly due to cracks from poor casting techniques. But it’s a good bet that many of the iron cook pieces that survived casting a century ago are still in use today. With modern techniques, today’s cast iron cookware is virtually indestructible, and the cooking benefits are as pertinent today as in the yesteryears.

So if you haven’t already, consider an array of cast iron pans as part of your kitchen armada. It will not only benefit a healthy iron intake, but will last forever with proper care, and make a great addition to an heirloom of time-tested chocolate recipes.