America's 'Cast Iron Cowboy' reveals why traditional skillets remain the ultimate cooking tool
Cooking is better when it's done in cast iron.
Just ask "Cowboy" Kent Rollins, the New Mexico chuckwagon cook turned YouTube star and cookbook author who's become America's modern-day guardian of the old-school skillet.
Rollins recently revealed his preference for cooking with cast iron in an interview with Fox News Digital ahead of his upcoming new TV series, "Cast Iron Cowboy." (See the video at the top of this article.)
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Filmed amid the rugged beauty of iconic ranches across the country, from the Bighorn Basin to the Ruby Mountains, the show is said to capture the American spirit on an open flame.
"This is Mother Nature's kitchen," Rollins said. "We went from 101 degrees to 3 degrees in one episode."
For Rollins, sometimes the oldest ways of cooking are still the best.
Unlike Teflon or stainless steel, cast iron doesn't wear out, he said.
Cast iron holds heat better than anything else and transitions seamlessly from stovetop to open flame, he added.
"It's something that'll last for generations that you can hand down," Rollins said.
"Nobody ever [writes] in the will, 'I'm gonna leave you my Teflon pans.' But people will fight over a cast-iron skillet."
Rollins also believes cast iron offers an unexpected health boost: iron enrichment.
"There was nobody ever anemic when I was growing up, when I was little and in school," Rollins said.
"Nobody was low on iron because everybody cooked in cast iron. It is the best thing to cook with."
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Some home cooks shy away from cast iron, fearing it's too hard to clean.
But Rollins said it's "the easiest thing to clean in the world" right after cooking with it.
"All you have to do is just wipe out any excess grease that's left in there and then just take hot steaming water [to] pour on it," he said. "It'll clean itself instantly."
With a little care – seasoning, drying and storing properly – cast iron can be maintained for decades, even generations, Rollins said.
Cast-iron cooking, for him, is about tradition, community and honoring the land — the cowboy way.
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Raised in ranch country, Rollins said he remembers long days spent herding cattle, branding and baling hay, all culminating in a meal cooked outdoors.
Cast iron remains an essential cooking tool for cowboys.
"It is truly the best cooking vessel there is, not only just for frying, but you can put biscuits or cornbread in that cast-iron skillet, throw it in the oven and bake it, and it'll make the best stuff you ever see," Rollins said.
"Cast Iron Cowboy" premieres on the Outdoor Channel in September.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 35 minutes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 large egg
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1 cup milk
⅓ cup white sugar
⅓ cup unsalted butter melted
6 slices of cooked bacon chopped, reserve the grease
2 tablespoons Kent Rollins Roasted Hatch Green Chile or a 4-ounce can of diced green chilies
1. Indoors: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a mixing bowl, add the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder. Mix well.
3. Make a well in the bottom of the cornbread mixture and crack the egg. Whisk until smooth. Add the milk and stir, then add the melted butter and mix well.
4. Add the drained green chilis and bacon. Add half of the reserved bacon grease and mix well.
5. In a dutch oven, spread the remaining bacon grease to thoroughly grease the cast-iron surface.
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6. Pour in the cornbread mixture and smack the dutch oven down on the counter a few times to get the batter set. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
This original recipe is owned by Kent Rollins and was shared with Fox News Digital.