Iron content of food cooked in iron utensils

Twenty foods were cooked in iron and non-iron utensils. Also, three foods were cooked in two iron skillets. Three replications were made, and cooking time and pH for each food were determined. Duplicate samples of the raw and the cooked foods were dried, ashed, and analyzed for moisture and iron content. Iron content was determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Most of the foods (90%) contained significantly more iron when cooked in iron utensils than when cooked in non-iron utensils. Acidity, moisture content, and cooking time of food significantly affected the iron content of food cooked in iron utensils. Perhaps because of differing amounts of previous use, cooking in different iron skillets resulted in some variation in the iron content of food.