Education on Cast Iron Cooking

Cast iron cooking is a tried-and-true method of preparing food, but the care and maintenance of the cookware can be quite intimidating to those who have never done it. There was no complete UK lesson on how to cook with cast iron, so the Garrard County FCS Agent created a presentation that was used as a Homemaker Leader Lesson in the Fort Harrod Area. For Garrard County, this was the highest attendance of any leader lesson in the past 2 years.  Great results came from the program as shown in the evaluation tool which was completed by 46 participants from around the Fort Harrod Area. About 20 of the participants were at the live presentation in Garrard, while the rest were in other counties and viewed a video recording of the presentation.  

The following survey questions were asked to gauge confidence before and after the program:

“I can restore a rusted piece of cast iron.” Confidence average rose from 2.8 to 4.8.

“I can season a piece of cast iron to make it ready for use.” Confidence average rose from 3.1 to 4.9

“I can properly clean and store my cast iron after each use.” Confidence average rose from 3.4 to 4.98

“I can make healthy recipes using my cast iron cookware.” Confidence average rose from 3.4 to 4.9

There was also a portion on outdoor cooking and the following results were gathered: 45/46 participants reported an increased knowledge of safe handling knowledge. 38/46 participants reported increased knowledge of fire safety, and 45/46 participants reported that they plan to share information with others.