I have this old cast-iron skillet that my husband’s grandmother gave us when we were first married. Apparently it’s about seventeen years old. I was perplexed by the gift – I mean, c’mon, a skillet? But apparently cast-iron skillets are at their best when they are really old and “seasoned.”
What seasoning entails is a thin application of grease over the entire pan after every washing. His grandmother did this the entire seventeen years, and the skillet was made rather valuable (!!!) because of this. My husband has been continuing the practice.
I have a few little questions about this. What is oil going to do to metal? Metal is fairly impervious – I hardly think wiping cast-iron with oil is going to change the taste of any food cooked in it or change the surface in any manner. Plus, I don’t think this is very food-safe. The only thing I can think of is that the oil might retard rust buildup. :dubious:
I know this is practiced more in the south. Can any southerners fill me in on this?
No No No! Seasoning is the process of preparing the pan for use. It is necessary for the health and well-being of your cast iron cookware. Once it is seasoned, you should never use soap and water to wash your cookware–just wipe it down and rinse it clean with warm water. See these instructions for the proper care and feeding of your cast iron cookware.
Some folks believe that seasoning will help prevent cracking, will help it retain heat better and will be more non-stick. -So much anecdotal evidence from cooks and their cast iron experience.
There is likley a bit of legit chemistry regarding the iron and preventing cracks.
The non-cracking thing is likely bullshit. I’ve never heard of a pan cracking from being abused (except by heating dry for an extended period of time or dropped from a great height). The reason behind seasoning is to impart nonstick properties to the surface. A properly seasoned and cared-for pan is nearly as nonstick as any Teflon pan.
The link says to use a solid fat, such as Crisco. I’ve seasoned my cast iron pans (I have about half a dozen, including a dutch oven) with olive oil. These pans are many years old and I’ve re-seasoned them over the years. Should I re-season again with Crisco?
Well, seasoning doesn’t seem to prevent cracking in as much as good habits of letting the cast iron cool naturally, and proper seasoning by keeping temps below 400 degrees fht. Rumored that seasoning it improperly supposedly can cause cracks, directly from the seasoning process.
Trust me, good cast iron cookware is FAR easier to care for than Teflon. Seasoning doesn’t do a thing for the flavor, IMO–it’s strictly to keep the pans from rusting and to provide a nice nonstick surface. The thin coating of oils that remains after cleaning (remember–NO soap or detergent) is not at all breeding ground for bacteria and presents no health risks so far as I am aware.
No, really any cooking oil will do the job fine. Vegetable oils are preferable to animal fats though. Olive oil is just fine. I use corn oil, but that’s because I have lots of it and it’s cheaper.
Some folks cover their cast iron with a clean lint free towel between uses. I do. And I second the vote for cast iron over teflon. Cast iron is a workhorse.
My roomates are forbidden to use my cast-iron skillet, because it just takes one careless use to ruin the next three meals prepared on it.
Hint: Never leave a cast-iron skillet to soak, or the next thing it serves up is likely to be blunt-force trauma.
After each use, my skillet is wiped clean, anointed with olive-oil, reheated, and then a paper towel is used to remove the excess oil. It’s the closest thing to a frictionless surface going. You couldn’t get something to stick to it if you tried.
When I allowed my housemates to use it, it had the consequence of adding far more iron-oxide to my diet than I’m comfortable with. Yay! I have a bone-dry pan encrusted with rust! Oh, Joy! :mad:
The extra expense of a stainless steel pan for them to use was well worth it.
Don’t cook with highly acidic ingredients such as lemon juice, vinegar or even some tomato dishes in a seasoned skillet, as this can remove the seasoning.
The reason they say to use Crisco is because it’s a saturated fat – saturated means that all the chemical bonds have been filled up, mostly by hydrogen that the manufacturer adds to extend the shelf life.
Mono and poly unsaturated fats like olive, corn and canola oils have some unfilled bonds that like to attach to stuff like sulphur and iron oxide, which turns them rancid and they taste bad. So the theory is that using unsaturated oil with cast iron fill all those loose bonds with iron oxides from the pan and the food will taste bad.
That’s the theory anyway (I don’t buy it). I myself use canola oil for seasoning and olive oil for cooking, and I sure as heck can’t notice a metallic taste.
Not true. See my link above. You do want to avoid cooking these kinds of acidic foods until the pan is well seasoned, but once that stage is reached, you can cook nearly anything without harming it.
Suit yourself, Q.E.D., your link notwithstanding; but I won’t risk my prized cast iron skillet (seasoned over 8 years). I once added lemon juice to a fish filet I was sauteeing, and it stripped a big patch off the bottom. To suggest that a well-seasoned skillet is bullet-proof no matter what you cook in it is poor advice.
The only (onliest) thing I prefer a cast iron skillet (spider) for is cornbread.
Otherwise, get good non-stick pans, use 'em, throw 'em in the dishwasher, and there ya go!
Easy is good
Peace,
mangeorge
Not to doubt your anecdote, but for the life of me, I cannot find a single source online that warns against cooking acidic foods in a well-seasoned pan. Yes, plenty advise against cooking such things in a new pan, until it has been sufficiently seasoned, but none suggest acidic foods are death even to well-used cookware. If you have a cite, I’d be interested in seeing it.
