In an effort to preserve our health and our budget, my husband and I cook most meals for our family at home rather than eating out. The one piece of cookware that we both turn to more than any others is the trusty cast iron skillet. This magical hunk of metal can do almost anything in the kitchen (besides washing itself, but that may be asking too much). With as much use as we get out of it, I am always a little surprised to hear people that say they have never used one, or they have a cast iron skillet but are too intimidated to ever cook with it.
Thinking back, I can clearly remember a time when I hardly ever used ours because of the same reasons. It wasn’t until I learned a little more about it that it really started becoming a workhorse in our kitchen. I’m here to share my top three experience-based bits of knowledge with you!
Seasoning is easy. ‘Seasoning’ is a layer of hardened oil that has bonded to the metal pan, which gets harder and smoother every time you cook with the pan. This layer is what keeps food from sticking to the metal surface and gives it a nice sheen. To initially season the pan (even if it says it is ‘pre-seasoned’), give it a thorough scrub with soap and water and then coat the whole thing, exterior and all, in a generous layer of cooking oil of your choice. Put the skillet upside-down on the top rack of your oven, line the bottom rack with a piece of foil to catch drips, and turn on the oven to 350. Let it run for an hour, then turn the oven off and leave the pan inside for a few more hours to cool completely (cast iron retains heat like crazy, you don’t want to risk a burn)! Once it’s done, take it out and wipe off any excess oil. Voila! This does not have to be done every time you use the pan but this is something I like to do once or twice a year to keep the surface nice and smooth.
Regular maintenance is also easy! One reason I didn’t like using the skillet was because I had no clue how to clean it. I had seen so many things saying to never use soap or water because it would destroy the seasoning – what? How could the thing ever get clean? I had tried different methods including just wiping out with a paper towel or scrubbing with coarse sea salt, but i couldn’t get behind that. Eventually, I decided to just wing it and wash it with a sponge, soap, and water – the world did not stop turning, and the seasoning did not magically disappear. The caveat here is not letting it soak – keep it in the water for as short of time as possible, because cast iron rusts easily. Once you are done washing, dry off as much as possible and then set the skillet on a burner set to low on your stove for five or ten minutes to let the heat finish evaporating all of the water. A few minutes before you’re done, use a paper towel to rub a very thin layer of oil on the inside cooking surface and let it soak up into the metal. Once it’s cooled off, wipe out any excess oil and store the pan! After you’ve eventually built a strong seasoning, you won’t have to do the oil rub after every wash – but always put it over the flame/burner for a few minutes to make sure all of the moisture is gone, or you’ll pull it out next time to find rust spots. It’s nothing that some soap and water and more seasoning can’t remove, but I like to avoid the hassle!
Contrary to popular belief, cast iron does not heat evenly. It’s an excellent retainer of heat, but it only heats up on the areas in direct contact with the heat source resulting in possible hot and cold spots. Make sure you heat your pan evenly by rotating it a few times over a medium-high heat before putting any food into it. On the same note, give your pan some time to get piping hot before you put food into it – one of the most common complaints I have heard is that food sticks to cast iron, but the problem most likely lies in the fact that the pan wasn’t hot enough. Meat especially needs that hot surface to sear and caramelize so that it doesn’t stick. This isn’t a Teflon pan that you can just toss cold eggs into as soon as the burner turns on. Give it some time to properly heat up first, then thank me later when you aren’t scrubbing your manicure away, trying to remove food residue from the surface. If you’re worried about overcooking your food at such a high temp, keep in mind that you can absolutely lower it once the food is in – it’s that initial contact with the hot surface that will make or break your meal.
Is cast iron cookware in regular rotation at your house? What are your favorite tips and tricks to get the most out of this versatile workhorse?
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