Day 5 Sans MIcrowave

Today is our fifth day without using the microwave. Yesterday I mentioned about DH's ability to taste the difference in microwaved baked potatoes when we were first married nearly thirty years ago. I never noticed a taste difference back then, but perhaps my palate was uneducated.

But, much to my surprise, breakfast has been remarkably better when it's not cooked in the microwave or on Teflon.

It's the same ingredients, eggs laid by our chickens, and bacon (or ham or sausage). Along with the egg(s) and meat,  DH has a piece of whole wheat toast, a banana, an apple and coffee. I have half a grapefruit and my sugar-free white chocolate mocha. This is our breakfast every day. Oh, every now and then we'll add old-fashioned oatmeal, the kind that 's thick and takes twenty minutes to cook, when we need a fiber boost. Often I'll add oat bran to mine and it solves the problem. Or for a treat, whole wheat waffles or french toast with pure maple syrup. But always the eggs and breakfast meat. Protein is important for breakfast.

Formerly, the bacon was microwaved and the milk for my coffee drink was zapped to warm it up. The eggs were cooked over-easy in a Teflon griddle.

Cooking on cast iron griddle. Notice the darker yellow-orange
color of the egg yolks laid by free range chickens. 

Now, I've been using a cast iron griddle to cook the bacon and eggs. I heat the milk in a saucepan over a flame.

I could taste the difference. It actually surprised me that I could taste the difference, even in the eggs,  I did not expect that. I was only experimenting with eliminating toxic food preparation methods.

The flavor of the bacon was richer, more alive, as was my coffee drink. Both contained a depth and nuance that was not present when it was cooked with the microwave. The flavor was fuller and complex compared to cooking it in the microwave. Microwaved food tastes bland in comparison. How can microwaves kill flavor? That is very curious.

Even the eggs were better, and not because I cooked them in bacon fat, because I didn't. I cooked them at the other end of the griddle and the bacon grease drained off on it's side. It's pretty hard to improve on fresh eggs laid by free range chickens, but cooking them on cast iron instead of Teflon accomplished the impossible.

DH said the enhanced flavor really made breakfast a treat, while apologizing for the added work. But really, it was not that much more work, considering the unexpected bonus of dramatically better flavor.  The cleanup was no more work, the eggs don't stick, the only difference is a few more minutes to properly heat the griddle and cook the bacon. No big deal. Especially when you consider that food cooked in cast iron, ceramic or stainless steel cookware is safer than cooked on Teflon or in the microwave.

Cast iron is easy to cook on and care for, if you do it right. Most people today don't know how to do it right, so they won't use it. But cast iron is an old technology that is actually better for us than newer cooking technologies. It does not introduce any toxins into our food during preparation.

If we are going to make the effort to obtain untainted food for our dinner table, it only makes sense to insure we don't introduce any toxins or alter it so that our bodies cannot assimilate it properly as we prepare it.

I've used cast iron all my life, but with the advent of Teflon and microwave, I was lured by the false promises. Seduced by lies, I strayed. I pushed my cast iron to the back of the shelf and flirted with the new technology for years, only to learn it is harmful.

Like the prodigal, I return, contrite and repentant.

Tune in again and I'll talk about the proper care and use of cast iron cookware.