How to Use Cast Iron: Cooking, Cleaning and Seasoning
What do I use in my cooking more than anything else - that is cast iron, good ol' American, made in the USA, cast iron. So, you got you some cast iron, you did, and you don't know how to take care of it? Well, I got you covered from A to Z and everywhere in between. How to cook in it, how to clean it, how to re-season it - you're gonna enjoy 'em all. I needed this help, you're gonna need it too.
Cooking in Cast Iron: Tips and Tricks
Heat it Up
Go over right to that heat source you've got, and if it is gas or electric, it's still the same method. Turn this on to about a medium heat, place that skillet on there and we're gonna let it get hot. Then, you can turn that down to regulate that temperature (it's saving you money in the long run because good cast iron holds heat and distributes it evenly).You take whatever you're frying in there, put it on a hot surface - it's less apt to stick than it would if you just chunk it in there right when you start and you let it go.Gas or 'Lectric?
Can I do this on a glass cooktop that is electric? Yeah, you can. You can't slam it around there and everything else. But, a lot of the old stuff is gonna have a heat ring, and that heat ring is gonna give you a little buffer on some of these glass top stuff and it won't work on an induction oven because it's not sitting directly covering the eye.Utensils for Cast Iron
Heat up cast iron before cooking and use a wooden spatula.What kind of utensils is best to use on cast iron, whether it be a Dutch oven or a skillet? I see a lot of people say, I've seen you using metal! Well, folks, I do be using me a metal spatula on occasion. I'd flip an egg with it, turn a pancake over, dip something out with it but you won't see me scraping a skillet or Dutch oven for cleaning purposes. Because, when it's metal against metal, you're gonna lose some of your seasoning.
They make these rubber spatulas but the most preferred thing that I like to cook with when I'm cooking on cast iron is just a wooden spatula of some kind. That way, folks, if you're digging something in or you're stirring, you're not disrupting any of your seasoning by using wood.
Cooking Do's and Don'ts
The only thing that I don't do in a cast iron skillet or a Dutch oven is boil water-based substances. Boiling beans, or something like that. When it gets to a high temperature and it just continually boils, it's loosening your seasoning and a lot of times you'll get a black film that's on top of them beans or the water.Can you cook acidic foods on there: cobblers, barbeque-based, tomato-based? Yes, you can. Is it hard on cast iron? Yes, it is, to some extent. But if it's seasoned well and you clean it well and you re-season, it won't hurt a thing.
When you're heating it or you're cooling it, do it gradually. You gotta be careful not to shock cast iron from one extreme to the other, hot or cold.
How to Safely Clean Your Cast Iron
Scrape the leftover residue with a wooden spatula and wipe it off with a paper towel.Warm water and a sponge is really all that you're gonna need. Soap, you say? Never soap. So, maybe you fried something in there or something stuck in there and you've got a little residue in there. What's gonna happen? I'm gonna take that little wooden spatula and I'm gonna scrape that oven or skillet to where it is good and clean. Get that all over to one side, take a paper towel, wipe it really well. Then warm water and a sponge again.
Use Warm Water
Say, you've cleaned it but you see a little something in there that doesn't look right. It's a little black speck or something that stuck a little harder than what that sponge and warm water wouldn't take off. So, what we're gonna do - coarse sea salt. Put some in right there on that spot, you can do it with a piece of leather, two or three paper towels folded up and just give it a good scratching right through that little spot. Take it back over there, rinse it out with some warm water - you are good to go.
Steam is the fastest way to clean a piece of cast iron.Use Hot Water
Another method to clean that cast iron when you have fried something in it and it may be stuck just a little or got a little residue in there, wipe off that excess grease out of there. Then make sure you have some hot water, place the skillet in there, pour the hot water. What happens - steam and steam cleans in a hurry, folks. You gotta make sure your skillet is hot and your water is hot.Clean it every trip you use it. Clean it every time you get through with it, it just makes it easier. But also, always check the outside of that skillet. If you got some of that residue that already built up on there, check our video on maintenance for cleaning cast iron.
How To Season Cast Iron for a Non-stick Finish
Seasoning, and I'm not talking salt and pepper. I'm talking about building up a layer of a good oil that is a non-stick surface. After you cleaned it, put it back over there on the burner over medium heat, take you a good rag, wipe any excess moisture out of there and then we gotta let that thing heat up.We want this hot, but not smoking hot because if you're trying to season cast iron and you're smoking it outta there, you're losing all your seasoning. Turn it off. So, now we're gonna use all, it doesn't take much, folks. Take a good lint-free rag, wipe it around there good, sides, bottom, everywhere. After a few minutes, we're gonna wipe it one more time to make sure that we didn't miss any excess oil that didn't get absorbed in the first trip.
What kind of oil do I like to use? Well, I have three that I really love. Grapeseed oil, olive oil, and avocado oil. You can use about any basic oil that's working for you.
Don't use a paper towel for that because they contain lint and when you're wiping something down you'd be transferring lint to your cast iron. I prefer a bandana and ol' T-shirt works there too.
Make the slick glossy black finish by re-seasoning it every time.Re-season Every Time
This is probably the most important stuff I'm gonna tell you. You're gonna re-season every time you use that skillet. If I used it three times today, I'm gonna re-season it three times. I like the slick glossy black finish and that's how you get it, by re-seasoning every trip you use that skillet.You also wanna re-season the outside of that skillet. If you're cooking indoors with this, you're not gonna quite get the biggest build-up as you would if you were cooking outside over a wood fire. You'd have more soot and smoke and you'd have to clean and re-season it more often. And it's just a little coat of oil. But I ain't using that good oil over there, I'll get me a cheap vegetable and just wipe it around the outside even the bottom. And It's gonna be hot. The same principle applies from the inside and the outside.
Bonus Tips for Great Performance
Deep frying something in it, folks. It does great wonders because you've got a depth of oil in there that's at a constant temperature above 350 degrees. You might wanna do this maybe once a week, twice a month. It will help keep that seasoning in there, it's gonna build it and firm up that foundation of seasoning that you already have on there.If you got one of them griddles, it's cast iron, folks, so it is the same method throughout - for cooking, cleaning and seasoning.
Storage. You can store it in the oven or you can hang it on the wall if you've got a place to do that. Here's a video you can check on how to store cast iron. But make sure you don't stack it oven to oven or skillet to skillet, you're gonna scratch some of the seasoning off.
So, let's make this the year throughout the world that we begin to cook in cast iron. You're gonna have the benefits of your food tasting so much better when you cook it in cast iron. Cast iron is gonna last you a lifetime and with the maintenance and the tips that we've given you, it will perform and you will be so proud you have it.
Watch Our Guide on How to Use Cast Iron
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