My Cast Iron Skillet Hates Me
March 21, 2009
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Sigh.
Please don’t misunderstand.
I’m certainly not going to resort to Teflon anytime soon.
But I’m getting increasingly irritated with my cast iron skillet.
I seem to be totally inept at this business called “seasoning”.
A couple of years ago, at least, I couldn’t blame myself for my sticky pans. I was seasoning them with coconut oil (which I use in a lot of my cooking). Later I found out that coconut oil, because of its natural acids, eats into cast iron pans, and that I should be using bacon grease or tallow or butter or some other fat.
But even after making that switch long ago, my morning eggs require major excavation work each day. The flat ones are ok, as they can be scraped easily – it’s the egg cooking pan that gives me the headache.
Maybe that’s why I’ve lost my appetite for breakfast in recent months!
My paternal grandmother has a collection of awesome cast iron pans. Eggs, cornbread, fried chicken – you name it, slides effortlessly out of her pan.
I’m not using soap to clean them, and I coat them with oil or butter after each use.
Any secrets to easy and truly seasoned cast iron pans?
More Posts By Carrie:
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Comments
8 Responses to “My Cast Iron Skillet Hates Me”
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My wise mom always used Crisco to season her pans. Not sure if that is the best route, but her pans are better than teflon and have a beautiful gleam about them.
First, clean that baby with hot water and a scouring pad and start over.
To initially season the pan, coat it with lard or bacon grease, and bake for 15 minutes at 300 degrees. Pour out any extra grease after it has liquefied, and keep baking for 2 more hours. Don’t use any kind of liquid cooking oil for seasoning because it turns sticky.
To keep building your seasoning, rise the pans while they are still hot after cooking, never let food cool in the pan, be liberal with the butter, and store them somewhere that isn’t stuffy, because humidity can kill them.
Hope that helps!
That does Corrin, thanks so much
I think where I go wrong is not rinsing the pan quickly after cooking. I’m usually sitting the kids down and serving food and the pan is sitting on the stove until clean up. Will do this from now on. Gotta get my hands on some grass fed, organic lard soon, that will help.
Carrie, Corrin is absolutely right in seasoning your pan. I was going to suggest that same thing. I use crisco that I get in the cube form. It’s easier to deal w/ a small container than that can for me.
If you have a small scraper, say a brown thing from pampered chef to scrape the pan, it helps. I find just scraping it out well and rubbing it w/ one of my kitchen rags real well to clean the pan helps. If you think the seasoning may be getting thin, you can also rinse it real fast w/ water and put it on the burner on high to dry it then put about a 1/2 tsp of the crisco in it and take a spatula or something so you don’t burn your hand – I found one of those silicone brushes at the store a few weeks ago that can be heated to 450 degrees, and smear the grease around well in the pan. I store my cast irons in the oven which helps. However I live in a dry climate so I don’t have trouble w/ humidity.
But I reseason by putting a little crisco in the bottom after it’s cleaned. I’ll turn the burner on and slip a little crisco in there.
Good luck with the pan.
I hear you on this one. We’ve struggled with our pans too. But I would definitely use bacon grease, lard, or tallow in lieu of Crisco. They didn’t have Crisco 200 years ago so animals fats must have done a good job.
The best way to season cast iron is to use it. But you’ve got to clean yours first with soap…yes soap and water. Get it back to the bare metal. If there’s still residue, use some kosher salt and some elbow grease. When that pan is finally clean, rinse it with water and dry it immediately (bottom and top) with lots of paper towels. When the pan is completely dry take vegetable spray (or a pumper spray bottle filled with something like canola oil) and spray the whole pan — I mean the entire thing. Next put it on a burner on your stove or in the oven at 350 degrees. Cook that sucker until it smokes….no more than 10 minutes. While it’s still hot, wipe it down with a paper towel. Now put a thin (very thin) layer of oil all over the pan while it is still hot.
Next time you use the pan, put another thin layer of oil on it before you cook.
As soon as you finish cooking, wipe it out with paper towels while it’s still hot. If there’s food residue, pour a little water in the pan, let it come to a simmer and scrape the residue off with a wooden spoon or spatula. Believe me, it’ll come off easily.
Pour the water into your sink. IMMEDIATELY WIPE the pan with paper towel to dry. Again, wipe a thin layer of oil on the pan while it’s still warm and you’re in business until the next time.
After following this routine for a while, your surface will become absolutely slick. It takes a while, but it’s well worth it.
here is the ultimate blog on cast iron cookware, with some of the most beautifully seasoned pans I have ever seen.
http://blackirondude.blogspot.com/
To season your cast iron skillet, or any other cast iron cookware according to the Food Guru
Wash skillet in hot water and dry completely.
Apply a thin coating of melted shortening, vegetable oil, lard, or bacon grease with a soft cloth or a paper towel.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and place skillet upside down on the top rack of oven.
Use foil on the bottom rack to catch droppings from the skillet.
Bake in oven for one hour.
Turn oven off but do not open.
Allow skillet to cool down for several hours.
There may be a film on the skillet but this comes off after use.
More tips on seasoning, cleaning and care of cast iron cookware may be found in
“Cast Iron Cooking for Dummies”