How to Make Welsh Rarebit in a Cast Iron Skillet: The Ultimate British Guide

There is a pub in Pontcanna, Cardiff, that has been serving Welsh Rarebit since 1987. The landlady, if you asked her secret, would tell you two things: proper Caerphilly cheese and a cast iron skillet that has not seen a bottle of washing-up liquid since John Major was in office. She is, in both respects, absolutely right.

Welsh Rarebit is one of those dishes that sounds deceptively simple — melted cheese on toast — until you actually make it properly and realise it is something else entirely. It is a savoury sauce, thick and glossy, built from cheese and ale and mustard and Worcestershire sauce, spooned generously over thick slices of toast and grilled until it blisters and browns in patches that smell, frankly, extraordinary. When you cook it in a well-seasoned cast iron skillet, something happens that no non-stick pan can replicate. The heat is even, the fond builds beautifully, and the cheese sauce develops a depth that would not be out of place at a proper Welsh supper table.

This guide covers everything: the history, the cheese, the ale, the method, the cast iron equipment, and how to look after the skillet once you are done. Whether you own a Le Creuset handed down by your mother-in-law or a Lodge skillet you picked up at a farmers’ market in Ludlow, this recipe will work beautifully.

A Brief History of Welsh Rarebit (and Why It Is Not “Rabbit”)

The dish appears in print as early as 1725, recorded in John Byron’s diary as “Welsh Rabbit.” The name is almost certainly a bit of gentle English mockery — a joke suggesting that Welsh folk, being too poor to afford actual rabbit, made do with cheese instead. By the eighteenth century the name had softened to “Rarebit,” possibly to spare blushes, possibly because “rabbit” confused visitors ordering from menus in London chop houses.

Whatever its name, the dish spread rapidly across Britain. Hannah Glasse included a version in The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy in 1747. Mrs Beeton, that great Victorian authority on all things domestic, had her own take. By the time the twentieth century arrived, Welsh Rarebit had become standard fare in British cafés, railway dining cars, and public house kitchens from Swansea to Aberdeen.

Today it enjoys a renaissance, appearing on menus at gastropubs and supper clubs across England and Wales. The St John restaurant in Smithfield, London — Fergus Henderson’s celebrated nose-to-tail institution — serves a version that has been quietly legendary for decades. Good Welsh Rarebit, made with care and proper ingredients, needs no reinvention. It simply needs respect.

Why a Cast Iron Skillet Is the Right Tool for the Job

Cast iron is not fashionable kitchen equipment in the way that sous vide circulators or Japanese mandolines are fashionable. It is older than fashion. The Romans were using iron cookware in Britain two thousand years ago. By the seventeenth century, British foundries were producing cast iron pots of remarkable quality. The Coalbrookdale Company in Shropshire — the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution — was producing cast iron goods long before anyone had thought to brand them with a French word and sell them in John Lewis.

For Welsh Rarebit specifically, cast iron offers three distinct advantages.

Even, Steady Heat

The sauce for Welsh Rarebit is essentially a roux-based cheese sauce finished with ale and Worcestershire sauce. It wants gentle, even heat that does not spike unpredictably. Thin stainless steel pans are prone to hot spots. Non-stick pans struggle to hold temperature when cold ingredients are added. Cast iron, once it reaches temperature, holds heat with remarkable consistency. You are in control. The sauce cooks slowly and evenly, the cheese melts without seizing, and the whole thing comes together in a way that makes you look considerably more skilled than you actually are.

Finishing Under the Grill

If your cast iron skillet is entirely metal — no silicone handle grips, no plastic components — it can go under the grill (that is, the broiler, for any American readers who have wandered in). This means you can build the cheese sauce in the pan, pour it over toast arranged in the same skillet, and then slide the whole thing under a hot grill to blister and brown the top. One pan. One washing-up item. The landlady in Pontcanna would approve.

Do note: Le Creuset skillets with their signature black phenolic handles are not grill-safe — the handle will be damaged by direct high heat. Their enamelled cast iron skillets with stainless steel handles, or their grill pans, are a different matter. Lodge skillets, with their solid iron handles, are entirely grill-safe. Always check your manufacturer’s guidance before putting any cookware under a grill.

The Fond

When you cook butter and flour in a cast iron skillet, the pan develops a flavourful fond — those browned bits that cling to the surface. These dissolve back into the sauce as you add liquid, contributing a nuttiness that is absent from a clean non-stick surface. It is a small thing, but it matters. Welsh Rarebit is built on small things done correctly.

Choosing Your Cast Iron Skillet

If you already own a cast iron skillet, use it. If you are buying one specifically for this kind of British home cooking, here is an honest assessment of the main options available in the UK.

Lodge Cast Iron Skillets

Lodge is an American company founded in 1896 in South Pittsburg, Tennessee. Their skillets are pre-seasoned with vegetable oil at the factory and arrive ready to use. In the UK they are widely available from Amazon, Lakeland, and a growing number of independent kitchen shops. A 26cm Lodge skillet typically retails for between £35 and £50, making it excellent value.

Lodge pans are heavy and somewhat rough in texture compared to older vintage cast iron, but they season beautifully with use. They are the sort of pan that improves noticeably over months and years of cooking. For everyday British cooking — frying bacon, making soda bread, doing a proper hash — Lodge is reliable and unpretentious.

Le Creuset Cast Iron Skillets

Le Creuset is a French company, founded in 1925 in Fresnoy-le-Grand. Their cast iron products have been sold in Britain for decades and occupy a particular space in the British domestic imagination — the orange casserole on the Aga, the wedding list staple, the thing your mother kept for forty years and which still looks perfect. Le Creuset’s enamelled cast iron does not require seasoning, is easier to clean, and is somewhat more forgiving for acidic dishes. Their raw (non-enamelled) cast iron skillets behave like any other cast iron and must be seasoned and maintained accordingly.

Le Creuset products are available from their boutiques — there are standalone shops in London, Edinburgh, York, and other major cities — as well as from John Lewis, Selfridges, and online. A Le Creuset skillet typically costs between £80 and £160, depending on size and model.

Netherton Foundry (Made in the UK)

For those who want British-made cast iron, Netherton Foundry in Shropshire — not far from that same Coalbrookdale area mentioned earlier — produces skillets, spun iron pans, and Dutch ovens of exceptional quality. Their products are hand-finished and made in limited quantities. They represent a conscious decision to support British manufacturing and produce cookware with genuine provenance. Prices are higher than Lodge but the quality is outstanding and the story of the pan is rather better.

Vintage Cast Iron

Car boot sales, estate sales, eBay, and shops like Lassco in London are full of vintage British cast iron from brands like Falkirk, Kenrick, and various nineteenth-century foundries. Vintage cast iron — if not cracked or badly pitted — can be stripped, re-seasoned, and brought back into service. The smooth interior of a well-used Victorian skillet is something no modern pan can replicate.

Seasoning Your Cast Iron Skillet

Seasoning is the process of baking thin layers of oil onto the surface of the cast iron, creating a polymerised coating that is naturally non-stick and protective against rust. It is not difficult, but it requires understanding a few principles.

The Basic Seasoning Method

Heat your oven to 200°C fan (220°C conventional, Gas Mark 7). Wash the skillet with hot soapy water — this is one of the few times soap is acceptable — rinse thoroughly, and dry completely, either in the warm oven for ten minutes or with a clean cloth. Once dry, apply a very thin layer of oil to every surface, including the exterior and handle. Wipe off as much oil as you can with a clean cloth so the pan appears almost dry. Place it upside down in the oven for one hour. Turn the oven off and leave the pan inside until cool.

Repeat this process three to five times before first use for a new pan. After that, regular cooking — particularly anything involving fat — will continue building the seasoning naturally.

Which Oil to Use

In the UK, the most practical options are refined rapeseed oil (which has a high smoke point and is widely produced domestically — British rapeseed oil is excellent), flaxseed oil (popular among cast iron enthusiasts for building a hard initial seasoning), or lard (traditional, effective, and entirely appropriate for a British kitchen). Avoid extra virgin olive oil, which has too low a smoke point and will become sticky.

Caring for Cast Iron After Cooking Welsh Rarebit

Once you have made your rarebit and the pan is cool enough to handle, add a small amount of hot water and use a stiff brush or chainmail scrubber — the Kuhn Rikon one is good and widely available in the UK — to remove any residue. Never soak the pan in water. Dry it thoroughly, either over low heat on the hob or in a warm oven. Apply a tiny amount of oil while still warm, wipe it almost completely off, and store in a dry place. This takes approximately three minutes and will keep the pan in excellent condition indefinitely.

Moving Forward

Once you have the fundamentals in place, the possibilities open up considerably. The UK offers fantastic opportunities for anyone interested in this hobby, and with the right foundation you will be well placed to make the most of them.