Caring of Cast Iron

When I received my grandmother's cast iron skillet I didn't get it. I have very vague memories of her making my favorite chicken and dumplings in them, but I mean very vague. What was the point of cast iron? There are all these amazing nonstick options that are new, what is the point of using this old pan? To be honest, I only kept it because it belonged to my grandmother. Even when it was beyond rusty and I was convinced it was garbage, I just couldn't part with it.

 Grandma's Skillet

And then this past year I got it. The nonstick pots and pans on the market are bad for you. They leach chemicals into  your food. You wouldn't go to a restraint and order Teflon, so why let it slowly infiltrate your food? But there is a natural and safe nonstick option.....properly cared for cast iron.
(Please note: any bare metal pot or pan is not good for high acidic foods---think tomatoes---I have purchased enamel cast iron for those and use regular cast iron and stainless steel for all my other cooking.)

My first challenge was getting rid of all the rust that built up on this decades old pan. Bring on the steel wool. And scrub like mad. This however, gets rid of the cast iron's nonstick surface. So you must season it. When I do this from a pan that has been stripped of its nonstick surface I use Lodge's instructions. I melt some vegetable shortening and brush it on the pan. I then take a paper towel and wipe off the shortening. The point is to leave the thinnest possible coat of fat on the skillet. I then bake it upside down in a 400 degree oven, turn off the oven after an hour and let the pan cool. It is important to do this several times (4 or 5) after using steel wool. A well seasoned cast iron skillet should allow an egg to slide around it without any fat.

Vegetable Shortening

For every day care of your cast iron it is best to clean it as soon as it is cool enough to handle after cooking. Do not use soap. We will be heating up the pan high enough to kill anything you can't clean off with a nylon scrubber. (Sometimes if I'm lazy and don't clean it right away or if the nylon scrubber can't make it appear clean I will use soap. But this is incredibly rare and followed with an extra coat of fat in the seasoning process.) Give the pan a good rinse and wipe out excess water. Put your skillet over a burner until it dries. Turn off the flame and pour in a little dab of flax oil. Flax oil is a hard oil making it great to form nonstick surfaces. Leaving the flame off use a paper towel and spread the oil across the pan and up the sides. Take a clean paper towel and give it another wipe to leave a minimal amount of fat on the pan. Return skillet to heat to cook the oil into the pan. Turn off the heat and let the pan cool before putting away.

Flax Oil

 



If your skillet ever needs a good scrub, go the steel wool route and start over.

Nylon Scrubber and Steel Wool

 



When properly seasoned, a cast iron skillet will be a breeze to wipe clean and will season effortlessly. It is well worth the effort to take care of your natural nonstick pan. The cast iron skillet I was once afraid of gets used weekly now. I truly don't know how I'd live without it at this point.