Cast iron pots, pans, kettles, skillets, and other utensils have been essential in American kitchens for centuries. Cooks used these utilitarian objects to prepare meals and heat water in hearths or -- by the mid-1800s -- atop coal or wood-burning stoves. Lighter and easier-to-clean materials began replacing heavy cast iron cookware beginning in the late 19th century, but cast iron still has a place in many cooks' kitchens.