Cast Iron Care

Hola friends!

Continuing on with my favorite kitchen items and how to care for them I'm super pumped to talk about Cast Iron care.

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But it is not easy or convenient

I acquired my 1st skillet when I was in college. I believe it was a Christmas present from my parents. I was defiantly intimidated by it because it came with rules! What pan has rules like it has to be "seasoned" before you use it or that you can't use soap in it?? Everything about this pan just sounded complicated. We had one at the farm when I was growing up. My parents used it all the time. But me being that lazy college kid I didn't feel the need to use it when I had the cheapy Teflon non stick pans that did the job just fine. 

Come to find out Teflon isn't the greatest for your health... it can leach icky things into your food when you cook on high heat and it tends to scratch easy and can flake off into your food. I encourage everyone to do their own research and make their own decision on what is best for you and your family. This is just the route I'm taking for mine.

I have noticed that if some thing isn't easy or convenient people tend to stray away from it. These skillets aren't the most convenient things right away because they require learning. Your biggest problem will probably be things sticking to it, which is super easy to fix.

Looking back I wish someone would have told me what I'm about to tell you. Is cooking with a cast iron pan hard? The answer is no. At first it might be challenging but so was learning to riding a bike and with practice its a breeze.

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So I bought a fancy new cast iron pan now what?

Even if it says "pre-seasoned" do this anyways. Like my dad always says if you want something done right you do it yourself.

1. You are going to want to wash it with hot soapy water. I know I know, don't panic. I said you shouldn't use soap but for this step you will need to. Ya got to get that oily coating off that they use for shipping to prevent rust.

2. You are going to start the seasoning process. Preheat your oven to 400°-450°. You are then going to coat your pan with oil (you can use vegetable but I like flax seed oil- see notes below). Like the whole thing inside, outside, and the handle. You will want to take a few paper towel and rub your skillet to get any excess oil off.

3. You will want to stick it in your oven upside down. Made sure you have tinfoil or some sort of barrier below it so that if any oil drips it doesn't fall on the bottom of the oven.

4. Set timer for 1 hour. Make sure you have your vent fan going because it will have a slight burning smell. 

5. Once the hour is up just turn off the oven and open the door to let everything cool down slowly.

Presto! You now have a seasoned cast iron pan that's ready to roll. I will only season it a few times a year unless it gets really bad.

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Ok that's not hard, now how do I clean my cast iron?

Once you got your pan seasoned it just maintenance in order to keep it up to date.

So you just got done cooking something and your pan looks like this (I made fried potatoes).

Anything that uses a lot of butter/ oil I normally fill the pan with an inch or so of water and set it on the stove. Boil the water for a few mins to help loosen any stuck on food. You can use a metal spatula to scrap the bottom if you would like. Just make sure it has a flat edge on it. 
I recommend not dumping this water down the sink because it contains an oil and food chunks which both could clog a drain. I dump this water down the toilet.

Next you will fill your pan with a tiny bit of water again and use a scrub brush to get anything else off. Dump that water and rinse a few more times till the water is clear.

Once you have cleaned it out you will wanna wipe it out with a paper towel to dry it off. Don't worry if the paper towel looks dirty afterwards. It doesn't mean your pan is dirty.

Your pan will probably look like it has some "rust" spots but its not. Its just where the original seasoning you put on it has wore off. I've noticed it happens when you scrape with a metal spatula. Which is exactly what I did when I made my fried potatoes. Again not a big deal.

There are a lot of articles out there that say to oil your pan after every use. I don't do it all the time but if my pan looks like this I do. Just add a little oil and rub it around with your hands, just on the inside of the pan. You will wanna take a paper towel and take off any excess oil.

Wal-lah your pan is ready to roll again! It's not hard at all.

This is the Fax seed oil I use for my pans. It is sorta expensive (compared to vegetable oil) but it lasts a long time. I purchased this at Walmart.

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NOTES:

1. I like to use flax seed oil over vegetable oil because it creates a harder seasoning coat when heated.

2. Cast iron is super porous, so the oil fill in the pores and seal the surface. The seasoning prevents the pan from rusting and makes it nonstick.

3. Soap is a no no because the pan tends to take of the flavor of whatever is placed in it. It all leads back to the pores of the pan! My aunt has a deeper skillet that she uses for fried chicken and the pan has taken on that flavor since that is all she uses it for. The pan gets so hot that it kills any germs on it so there is no need for soap.

4. Even if you get handed down a rusty old pan you can use steal wool to get all the rust of and season it and you will be good to go! These skillets are basically indestructible. 

5. Don't leave water sit in them or stack them wet because they can rust.

6. Cast iron can be used on the stove top, in the oven, and even over a fire. I love me some multipurpose items! I made tater tot hotdish one night and it was so easy. I just had to wash the cast iron pan because that is all I used.

7. I have noticed that the pan cooks well on low to medium heat. So no need to have it cranked on high.

8. If you have read to this point and still don't know if a cast iron is for you that is just fine! I recommend looking into ceramic or stainless steal cookware to replace your Teflon.
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I would love to hear about your learning experiences with cast iron, so drop a comment below!

Until next time, happy trails my friends!