Cookbook Review: Skillet Love

Until recently, my cast-iron skillet was used exclusively for cornbread. It’s how my mom taught me to make it—she melted butter in it, letting it brown and bubble, then she poured the cornbread batter over it. She had other cast iron skillet recipes, I’m sure, but aside from her rich and crisp cornbread, I never really understood the skillet’s superiority to simple pans. That changed when I discovered Skillet Love by Anne Byrn. As the subtitle declares, From Steak to Cake: More than 150 Recipes in One Cast-Iron Pan, I gravitated toward the idea of one pan = 150-plus recipes. Byrn even writes herself, “I was made for efficiency in the kitchen.” 

The book dives into the mystique surrounding the skillet. Byrn breaks down the ten essential uses for a skillet, from pan sauces to grilling. She then outlines the right ways to care for a skillet, whether that’s treating it with heat, scrubbing with salt, or (as Byrn occasionally admits to doing) washing with a mild dish soap. I opted for the salt method, pouring kosher salt into the base of the skillet, letting it sit in the hot oven, and then wiping clean with a paper towel.