1. If the pan is new, be sure any adhesive label is completely removed.
2. Wash, rinse and dry the utensil.
3. Grease the inside surface with Crisco or other solid shortening. A medium-light coating, as you would grease a cake pan, is sufficient.
4. Heat the oven to 350'F, and position the oven rack in the top third of the oven.
5. Open your windows because there is going to be some smoke.
6. Rub a thin layer of shortening (like Crisco) or oil (bacon grease works great, too) all over the inner bottom and sides of the pan with a paper towel.
7. Place your pan upside down on the top oven rack with a rimmed baking sheet or a roasting pan underneath to catch the drippings.
8. Bake the pan this way for 1 hour. Then turn off the oven and allow it to cool with the pan inside.
When the pan is correctly seasoned, the cooking surface should be smooth and shiny. It helps if the first few things you cook with your newly seasoned pan involve oil, try frying or saut?ing something.
To eliminate any concerns about using too much shortening, you can put the pan in the oven upside down. Put a cookie sheet or aluminum foil on the rack below to catch any drips.
A skillet or other utensil can be seasoned as often as necessary to maintain a good surface. Let's say you've just made tortillas and, after all that heat, the surface of your cast iron looks dry. Just season it again before you put it away.
Until the pan is very well seasoned, either by many uses or repeated seasonings, do not attempt to cook foods with a high acid content (tomatoes, for instance). The corrosive nature of high-acid foods will not react well to unseasoned cast-iron. Once a pan is well-seasoned, however, you can use it for just about anything. I do believe my mother could have fried plutonium in her big skillet.
Perhaps the most difficult thing for a particularly fastidious cook to do is refrain from using soap or detergent in the cleaning process. Seasoned cast-iron utensils may be cleaned very nicely with boiling water and a stiff-bristled brush. (I have a short-handled brush with stiff nylon bristles that I use only for cleaning my cast-iron skillets.) And often, say after making cornbread, I merely brush the skillet vigorously, wipe it with a damp sponge, and dry it with a paper towel. It is important to dry cast-iron utensils well after use; they will rust unless thoroughly dried. Cast-iron utensils will darken with use, turning from a steely gray, when new, to dark gray or black.
Over years of use, my cast-iron skillets have become old friends. Although I would never choose to replace them, if I had to (let's say an astute kitchen thief broke in and recognized my skillets for the treasures they are), I could buy new skillets, season them well, and have some new old friends.
Cast iron cookware is handled differently than any other kind of cooking equipment out there. These pots and pans will require special treatment before the first meal is ever placed in them. The process to prepare these pans for cooking is known as seasoning.
The seasoning of cast iron cookware can be handled in a few different ways. The two main methods are:
* Straight oiling. In this process of preparing cast iron cookware, oil, fat or even lard is rubbed into the pans and then wiped off to a slight extent. The pans are then used to cook foods that are naturally greasy for the first few times out of the box. Food such as bacon, fatty sausage and so on is ideal. This is recommended to be done at least five to seven times before trying to cook something else.
* Oiling and baking in. This is the most common method for seasoning cast iron cookware. In this method, the pan is oiled or greased and then it's baked in an oven at roughly 225 degrees for about a half hour. The pan is then removed and wiped out slightly. The pan is then returned to the over for another half hour or so. Even with this method, it is still recommended the first few things cooked in the pan be rather fatty by design.
Once cast iron has been properly seasoned, it's capable of being used to cook almost anything. Many cooks use their cast iron pans to do everything from frying chicken to actually baking corn bread or biscuits. These versatile cooking items are ideal for stove-top cooking and baking, as well.
Cleaning cast iron will require a method that most stainless steel cooks might find rather unusual. Instead of tossing it in a dishwasher or scrubbing and scraping it out, this type of cookware requires a delicate touch to ensure the seasoning isn't lost.
To clean cast iron cookware, all that really is recommended is a good boiling of water in the pan. Once the water is boiled, it's removed and the pan is wiped out. It's that simple.
If this process doesn't get rid of stuck on food, these pans can be scraped, but if the seasoning is harmed in the process, it's a good idea to redo that process to ensure a well-cooked meal the next time around. To preserve the seasoning and the pan itself, food should not be stored in cast iron.
Cast iron cookware provides one surefire way to obtain a good, down home flavor out of food. Ideal for frying, stewing and even baking, these pans do require special treatment. Cast iron isn't quite like anything else out there for flavoring and even cleaning.
Both Johnny Waymire & Riley Hendersen are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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