An economical and versatile tool in most kitchens, cast-iron skillets, are either adored or feared by every home cook. I remember being anxious about using mine. It collected a lot of dust until Aunt Annie challenged my dis-use of this amazing pan. She couldn’t understand why I was frying chicken in an electric frying pan when I could be “turning out a much better product in my cast iron skillet” (her words).

Thank goodness for her tutoring. We pulled that dusty skillet out and she showed me how to properly use it. It now enjoys front-row seating in my cupboard, and is now my go-to skillet for a plethora of recipes, some that have been utterly revolutionized by simply switching pans.

So let me pass on Aunt Annie’s lessons. First with fried chicken. And it isn’t just Aunt Annie that idolizes the cast iron skillet for fried chicken. Food bloggers, online magazines, and chefs alike all agree that cast iron is the way to go for the most glorious fried chicken ever.

Cast iron’s secret? Its ability to retain heat so well. A smaller amount of oil (about one-third of a pan in oil) is all you need to complete most fried chicken recipes.

Here are the basic cardinal rules for cast iron chicken-frying from Aunt Annie and the pros of the online magazine, Taste of the South (www.tasteofthesouthmagazine.com). Unlike what most folks believe, the success in frying chicken really isn’t in the recipe you use, it’s in these techniques. It’s like this: Business has its BEST PRACTICES and so does COOKING! (Oh, and not to disappoint, I do follow this tutoring with the Taste of the South’s preferred recipe.)

1. GET A HEAD START: Let the chicken stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before frying; it helps the meat cook quicker and more evenly.

2. LET IT REST: After dredging, let the chicken rest on a wire rack for 15 minutes before frying. This step yields an extra-crispy crust.

3. KEEP IT HOT: Heat the oil to 365°F to make up for the temperature drop that occurs when you add the chicken to the skillet. From there, maintain the temperature at 350° for even cooking.

CLASSIC FRIED CHICKEN (from Taste of the South)

1 ½ cups whole buttermilk

1-2 tablespoons hot sauce ( to taste)

2 tablespoons salt, divided

1 (3 ½ -pound) whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces

1 cup quick-mixing flour (such as Wondra)

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

4 cups vegetable oil, for frying

In a large bowl, stir together buttermilk, hot sauce, and 1 tablespoon salt. Add chicken; cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or up to 24 hours.

In a shallow dish, whisk together quick-mixing flour, all-purpose flour, pepper, and remaining 1 tablespoon salt. Dredge chicken in flour mixture, shaking off excess. Place on a wire rack; let stand for 15 minutes.

In a large cast-iron skillet, heat oil over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 365°. Place half of chicken, skin side down, in skillet. Cover and fry for 5 to 8 minutes; uncover, and turn chicken. Fry until a meat thermometer registers 165°, 6 to 10 minutes more. Let drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining chicken.

Now why stop at chicken? Any battering or frying recipe is going to benefit from cast iron's heat-retaining magic. And an added bonus? Every time you cook with a large layer of fat in your skillet, you are further enhancing the pan's seasoning.

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For instance, how about searing a steak? A good thing to be able to do well, since in so many parts of the country our grilling season is about to end for the year.

Ever wondered how your favorite steakhouse produces such a delicious piece of meat? Yes, they use prime, aged, high-quality cuts, and they certainly season the meat perfectly before cooking. But their secret: They also cook their steaks over insanely high heat. And that’s where your cast-iron skillet comes in. It’s the ideal tool for mimicking that kind of heat in your very own kitchen. Cast iron may be slow to heat up, but once it does — whoa!

While there are various methods for using cast iron to get the perfect sear on a steak, the most popular and time-tested (and recommended by professional chef, Alton Brown) is to start by bringing your pan to high heat on your stovetop, or, better yet, place it in your oven and then crank the temp to 500°.

Once your oven comes to temperature, carefully remove the pan from the oven and add your thick, room-temperature, boneless, well-seasoned, and oiled cut of steak to the pan. Let it sizzle for 30 seconds, then flip it over for another 30 seconds. Place the pan back in the hot oven for another 4 or 5 minutes, flipping once, for magnificent medium rare steak. A bone-in cut will require a couple more minutes (use your meat thermometer to check for doneness).

Other things a cast iron skillet does exceptionally well? Pan pizza, cornbread, pressed sandwiches, crispy hash browns, cobblers and crumbles and Dutch babies for starters. But I’ve reserved these topics for another article. Meanwhile, won’t you join me in the taking Aunt Annie’s cast iron skillet challenge?