The Earliest Pots

• Civilization's first pots and cauldrons were made of brass, until furnaces could be made hot enough to melt iron. By 513 B.C. in China and about A.D. 1100 in England, the first cast iron cookware was created by pouring molten iron into a mold of sand, according to HolidayCook.com.
  
  

How Early Cookware Was Used

• Early cast iron cooking pots were designed with three legs, since they were made to be used over an open fire, either outside or indoors on the hearth. Cooking on a stove top became common by the 1700s, leading to advancements in the manufacture of cooking implements.
  
  

Importance

• Cast iron was considered so valuable in the 18th century that it was often bequeathed along with other precious objects in wills. Cast iron was invaluable to the American settlers as they moved West, and Lewis and Clark listed their covered cooking pot as an essential item on their trip to the Pacific Northwest in 1804, says author Mara Reid Rogers in her book "Cooking In Cast Iron."
  
  

Enameled Cast Iron

• Enameled cast iron cookware appeared in the 1800s, and cast iron coated with brightly colored enamel is still popular today, particularly on Dutch ovens made by companies such as Lodge Cast Iron of Tennessee, whose foundry has been making cookware since 1896.
  
  

Advantages of Cooking With Cast Iron

• Cast iron distributes heat evenly and retains heat to keep food warm even out of the oven. Unlike most other cookware, it is versatile, easily moving from stove top to oven.