OK, all you amateur chefs (or professional ones) out there, I need a little advice.
I recently bought a new cast iron reversible grill pan. If you haven’t seen one, its rectangular and it’s big enough to sit over two burners of the stove. One side is flat like a skillet and the other has ridges for grilling.
Before using it I seasoned it well by coating it with Crisco and baking it for a couple hours. It’s blackened up pretty well, but I’m having alot of trouble using it with things sticking and creating alot of smoke.
Am I doing something wrong? Do you typically need to season this thing multiple times before using it?
After using it I typically just clean it by rubbing it with a wet towel when it’s still hot. The burned parts don’t typically come off. I was under the impression that you shouldn’t scrub these with a brush, and definately never use any soap.
I greatly enjoyed cooking with cast iron. When I became disabled and lost the use of my right hand for over a year, I couldn’t lift the pans anymore so gave them all back to my mom. Oh how I miss them…
Thanks, those links helped, but alot of the info is contradictory.
My first assumption is that like mentioned in one of the above links that it should be re-seasoned a few times before use. I’m guessing that I didn’t season the grill-side well enough, its tough to make sure those ridges are well coated.
Every one of those links has different suggestions on cleaning and if soap is OK or not.
I suppose I’ll probably need to scrub it a bit to get the burned on food off it, and re-season it. After I do that, should I clean it in the sink with soap or not? Scrub or not?
Apologies for the confusing info. I noticed a couple were slightly different. Suppose I should have read more of them
I seasoned several times before using new pans, just to make sure they were ready. I was lucky though in that most of mine were passed down to me, so were already well seasoned.
As for washing, I find that soap removes all the oils in the pan - essentially un-seasoning it. I usually just used hot water and a light scrub to remove any caked on goobies and it was okay.
What about spray on stuff, or using lard on the ridges of the grill side? All of my pans have been flat, so not really sure, sorry.
They do smoke, and stuff does stick. You just have to get used to it! It took mine a good six months to get to the stage where everything off it tastes like it’s been flame-grilled.
Just scrub with water, and re-season (I use a brush and spiced wok oil. mmmm).
Try scrubbing with salt (dry or damp or oil soaked) and a rag to get rid of burnt on crud w/o having to reseason it. Also have the pot hot (water drops should dance) before putting anything in it. Do not use any sugar sauce (other suaces cause sticking too).
Another point that has to be made (IMHO) is that it is the carbonized crud that contributes to the smoke and taste - so don’t be too vigorous when scrubbing.
I wouldn’t recommend using any sauces at all apart from consommé-like marinades.
When I got my cast iron skillet, the directions recommended cooking only greasy fuds (bacon, etc.) for the first several uses. Took about a year for it to get nicely seasoned. You do have to re-season cast iron periodically if you scrub with soap. I find a quick swish with the soapy dishcloth good enough to keep it clean. Plus I dry it by setting it on the stove burner so the pilot light dries it.
Start over. Immerse it in hot soapy water and go after it with steel wool until you’ve scoured it back down to the cast iron.
Set it on top of a burner on hi. Do NOT drench the damn thing in Crisco! Instead, pour about a capful onto its surface and gently rotate it until the thinning film of oil coats the surface. When the oil starts to smoke a bit, lower the heat to med hi. Wait until the surface looks “dry” or else the oil starts to smoke again. Take it off the burner and immerse it in hot running water. Remove from water and take a paper towel and wipe off any excess oil. NOW bake it in the oven at 450° for awhile. Repeat for side 2.
I’ve always heated the pan up without oil on it first. When that’s done, remove heat and cover with oil using a paper towel. Let cool. Repeat once a day or so. After a time or two of using the burner I move up to pre-coating it cold with oil and putting it in the oven.
I’ve found that I can season all pans like this well enough to use within a week, each of them with a very good coating on. (having moved a time or two I usually just toss 'em since cheapo new ones only run about $20 a set, and so I’ve gone through quite a few!).
YMMV… cast iron cooks great but if it isn’t seasoned properly to begin with you are in trouble!
I love cast iron. It is virtually non-stick if seasoned properly; the way I do mine is to apply a coat of lard with a paper towel, put in the oven on low heat until the pan looks dry, take it out and wipe it with a paper towel, then repeat one or two more times.
Never use soap/detergent on a cast iron pan! Hot water, salt and ‘elbow grease’ are it.
I’m still using cast iron pans that are over 40 years old.
I’ve cast a covetous on a cast iron skillet that my grandmother gave to my aunt. I think it’s well over 50 years old. I think that with proper care, they can last for over 100 years.
Remember that when our grandparents were growing up they would cook the whole meal in the iron skillet.
And cornbread made in a cast iron skillet is divine.
Oh how I miss them…