Learn To Love Your Cast Iron Skillet
Written by joythebaker on September 7, 2008 – 10:33 pm -
I mentioned last week how dear my cast iron skillet is to me.
I’ll let you in on a little secret. When I’m not eating the ridiculous baked goods that come out of my oven, I’m eating eggs. Eggs inside of fried corn tortillas. I eat eggs because, as a baker, I always have eggs in the fridge and they’re super easy to fry up and call dinner. Eggs, always eggs, with salt, pepper and tortillas. There, now you know.
I cook my eggs and fry my tortillas in the same cast iron skillet day after day. This skillet is always riddled with the evidence of some sort of cooked egg. But with a little hot oil, some salt and a paper towel, it’s as good as clean.
If you have a cast iron skillet that could use some love, here’s how to season and care for that bad boy. Cast iron skillets are too bad ass to waste away in your cupboard. Get to it!
Cast iron, in all of its natural cast iron goodness is a not a nonstick pan. It becomes a nonstick delight through a process called seasoning. Seasoning is basically oiling and baking your cast iron skillet. I’ve seen some cast iron pans sold pre-seasoned in stores. These pans already have their shiny black seasoned finish and you can cook in them immediately. You still may need to re-season these beauties as they go. You may also need to re-season your cast iron if you burn something into the pan and have to scrub it out with soap and water. It’s certainly not the end of the world. A bit of oil and a hot oven will bring your cast iron right back to life.
How to Season Cast Iron
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Position one rack in the top third of the oven. Position another rack in the bottom third of the oven and place an empty foil lined backing sheet on the bottom rack. This sheet will catch any dripping from the cast iron.
2. Open your windows or turn on your stove hood fan. There may be some smoke, but I’ve never had this issue.
3. Over a medium flame, rub a thin layer (about 1 Tablespoon) of vegetable shortening, like Crisco, or oil—bacon grease works great, too—all over the inner bottom and sides of the pan with a paper towel and tongs.
4. Place the oiled pan upside down in the heated oven over the foil lined baking sheet.
5. Bake the cast iron for 1 hour. Turn the oven off and allow the cast iron to cool to room temperature in the oven. Repeat this process 3 or 4 times for best results.
When the pan is perfectly seasoned, the inside with be smooth and shiny. Sometimes after seasoning my pans come out a bit sticky. This usually clears up with a bit of cooking. I usually make sure that the first few things I cook in a newly seasoned cast iron are either fried or sauteed in a bit of oil.
Note: Never cook tomatoes in cast iron. The acid from the tomatoes will break down the seasoned pan.
Another Note: Hardcore cast iron people have different cast iron for different purposes. For example, they season their dessert cast iron with vegetable oil, but their savory cast iron with bacon grease. They have certain cast irons they use for cornbread and other they use for fish dishes. I stay safe and just season all of my cast iron with a tasteless oil so they can go either way.
How to Clean Cast Iron
1. When you’re finished cooking in cast iron, scrape out the pan, while still warm, with a wooden spoon. Wipe it down with a bit of oil on a paper towel. I usually use the canola oil I have on hand.
2. If scraping the pan with a spoon doesn’t get off all the grime, melt a tablespoon of vegetable shortening in the pan, turn off the flame and add a tablespoon of salt. Use a paper towel in tongs to scrub the pan. Wipe salt out with clean paper towel. Run under hot water, dry it well, and follow the re-seasoning directions above.
3. If the wooden spoon and the salt technique weren’t to your liking you can use a mild, diluted soap and a soft sponge to clean the pan. You just want to avoid strong soaps and super scrub pads. Dry the pan with a clean dry dish towel and set in a warm oven to dry completely. Follow the seasoning directions above to re-season cast iron.
Note: Never put your screamin’ hot cast iron skillet into water. It could crack.
Another Note: Yes, all this work to season and re-season your cast iron it totally worth it!
Tags: baking, how to season cast iron, tools
Posted in Thoughts, Tips and Tricks | 61 Comments »
You give such great informative posts Joy! I always learn something!
Thanx for the gr8 tips – i just bought a grill pan (i guess its similar to a cast iron, is it?) and these tips are marvelous!
My pans would really love the spa treatment like this. They deserve it…I really should find the time.
I’ve notice in previous posts that the cast iron skillet was playing a roll in your kitchen. I bought one about 2-3 months ago and it has become the best investment ever! I love it.
Thank you for this! I LOVE my cast iron pans, but it’s always good to be reminded about how to take care of it well!
It’s nice to see that someone else loves their cast-iron, too! Everyone I know is into the non-stick whatever of the moment, but I love the cast-iron skillets I have from my husband’s mother/grandmother/greatgrandmother…who knows how far back. They’re fantastic! (and I always take good care of them.)
Thanks a lot for all the info, Joy! I didn’t even know you have to season your iron skillet.
Thanks for the great tips Joy!
Thanks so much for the info on caring for my cast iron skillets. I am going to re-season them and give them another try!
~ingrid
Joy,
You have no idea what perfect timing this is! I was just about to offer BOTH of my 50-year old cast iron skillets to my sister because they just don’t work for me. No I know what to do! Thanks a lot!
Ev
This is an excellent post. I am looking for a good cast iron skillet to buy once I move into my own house. I have always wondered how to really care for it and this is perfect.
Thanks again!
thanks for the info! i’ve often heard of this ’seasoning’ but never got the play by play.
Thanks for the post. I have a really old cast iron skillet that was my mom’s. In fact I just made a big batch of fried chocolate pies in it yesterday.
I know some people either love cast iron or simply don’t know what to do with it. Ev- I’m so glad I saved you from giving away your pans. I know once you get them all seasoned up, you’ll think they’re just glorious!
Sara- a cast iron skillet for your very own house? Sounds amazing!
Theresa- I’m so glad you’re enjoying yours!
Lissi- I think what I like most about my cast iron is knowing that they’re from way way way back in my family. It just feels right to have a bit of my grandmother and great grandmother in my kitchen.
Thanks to everyone for the lovely comments!
Wow, what great information. I want to go buy cast iron stuff now! I’m always cooking eggs for breakfast, and sometimes for dinner. They’re just easy and delicious, and I love breakfast foods.
Great tips! Thanks for sharing!!
Thanks so much, this is very timely as I just pulled out an old cast iron pan given to me by my grandmother and wasn’t totally sure the best way to treat it.
Also, I’m not normally a nit-picker, and I swear I’m not criticizing, but this typo made me laugh out loud:
“…sides of the pan with a paper towel and thongs.” Teehee!
Joy, you totally read my mind! I just received my first cast iron skillet as a wedding present and had no earthly idea what to do with it! Really, amazing, just opened the box right before I checked this post out — talk about timing!!
Jen- LOL. Hilarious! Thanks for finding that for me!
Hi, Joy, thanks for the great and informative post. You’ve read my mind, too – I’ve been contemplating purchasing a cast iron skillet I’m taking this post as a sign to definitely do it. I was wondering if you could make any recommendations as far as brand &/or type. I’ve heard that Le Creuset and Lodge are good brands but upon further research I see that there are enameled skillets as well as pre-seasoned skillets being offered. Do any these brands/options offer any specific advantages in your experience, or would preference be the only significant factor in choosing one over the other? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
I’ve had my eyes on a cast iron skillet for a long while now. I put it on the Christmas list so hopefully one will come my way, or I’ll have to break down and buy one!
Wow, thanks! I needed a handy guide to doing this right as I think I may have ruined my cast iron skillet and may need to invest in a new one. (It has some residue that looks rustish).
One question, and sorry if you did already answer this…
so everytime you use it, do you clean it and then re-season it? or only re-season every so often?
Luckily I married a Southern man with a great grandmother who had a very seasoned skillet…no work for me.
The Cast Iron Gods have smiled on me. I found two cast iron skillets and one cast iron “wok” type thingy at a yard sale. The lot cost me $5.
Also on Freecycle.com I got an iron griddle? that thingy that goes on top of the stove. FOR FREE! I used it at least once a week for the kidlet’s burger fix.
Thanks for all the tips… I was doing it all wrong!
I have two large cast iron pans that I use for 95% of all skillet cooking. They haven’t seen soap in a decade or two, and *nothing* sticks to them. Since one’s slightly smaller than the other, they also make a great panini press.
If your pan’s rusty, just use sandpaper or wire brush to clean it off. When it’s down to reasonably clean metal, season it a couple of times and it’s good as new. Just remember, *never* use soap. I’ve only destroyed one cast iron pan in my life, I made the mistake of plunging it into water when it was still too hot which created a huge crack across the middle.
i love cast iron…am frying up some chicken tonight in mine!
I cook almost exclusively on cast iron – it’s the best! And then my husband cleans them for me. I’m spoiled.
Great post!
i gladly put in the care and tlc to have the ability to cook in a beautiful silky smooth cast iron pan…
great advice by the way!! its so fun to find one at goodwill all rusty and for a $1… take it home.. and turn that find into something beautiful..
haha
jonathan
dailydesignspot.com
ps- long time reader but first time ‘commenter’.. keep doing what you do and thanks for all the inspiration!
I’d love to use my CI pan more often but seeing as Annie does most of the cooking and she doesn’t like to lug that heavy thing out of the cupboard, there it sits most nights.
How is it ever going to get that glassy finish if it sits there unused, I tell you!
Thanks for the help. Mine has sat because I burned something. Also, I look at blogs and have this vision in my head of what the blogger looks like and I am almost always wrong. You are very very pretty.
Joy – Do you know of any stores that sell unseasoned cast iron? I wanted to season my own. I know Lodge doesn’t make any that are not pre-seasoned. I tried going to Surfas, but no luck. (I’m also in LA).
[...] very useful lesson on seasoning your cast iron skillet comes from Joy the [...]
[...] found an article at Joy The Baker on: How to Properly Season Cast [...]
Ummm….
What if you’ve always cleaned your cast iron pans with soap and water just like everything else? Will starting seasoning now do any good? I have one small cast iron pan that I use occasionally and a cast iron skillet that I use for crepes because it has no sides. I always just leave it on the stove to cool and then scrub it with one of those sponges that has a tougher side (though it’s safe on non-stick) and regular old Joy.
I just wanted to say I have 7 cast iron pans, and I season them one time every year. I will tell you the best way to do this is to cook 10 lbs of bacon, save the greese and poor in each pan, set on the stove – cook till it smokes. After it cools rub with crisco and put in the oven for two hours, at 350 degrees, let cool, wipe down, and you are ready for a whole year.
I was given a cast iron skillet with a red enamel coating on the outside for my birthday.I was wondering if they would need seasoning the same as the old fashioned black cast iron skillets.Could you send an e-mail telling me what procedure would be needed. Thanks Vera Kauffman
Okay, you motivated me! I bought a 10-inch cast iron skillet at Goodwill today for $2.99, plus I pulled out the 12-inch and 6-inch cast iron skillets. Bad news is that the 12-inch and 6-inch cast iron skillets were stacked inside each other and the 12-inch skillet is rusted where the smaller one had sat in it. Guess I better get some steel wool and then get re-seasoning my pans. Thanks for the motivation!!!!!
I have had my mother-in-laws cast iron for quite some time. My husband always talks about how great they are to cook in. After reading your tips on cleaning, mine are in the oven as I write. However, one pan still had rust on it and I seasoned it and put it in the oven. Will that hurt? Should I start from scratch with steel wool and then repeat the process?
I just cooked in my cast iron skillet for the first time and the fried eggs stuck to the bottom! I thought I had done everything right- it is an old pan that was nice and black, clean and smooth. I had reseasoned it in the oven last night and tried to use this morning. Any tips on what I did wrong or how to fry an egg? I used a little bit of oil and butter in the bottom first and heated up the pan first. Also I noticed that the yolks took a lot longer to cook. Help please!!
ellen- is the rust on the cooking surface? you might want to scrub that off if it is and give it another good seasoning once it’s scrubbed off.
Brenda- don’t fret. can i be honest? my egg sometimes stick a bit to my seasoned pan also. not a big deal. just scrape off the cooked eggs, give it another good seasoning and get cooking again. sometimes stuff sticks.. and that’s definitely ok.
I have a cast iron pan with a wooden handle. I am worried that putting it in the oven would damage the handle. Suggestions?
ps. Love all this information! I’ve learned to cook with cast iron as a child, just recently got some “new” old pans from friends that are not seasoned. This is great!
Your blog is lovely. I am glad to see that other people appreciate the cast iron skillets. I know I do some “no-nos” with mine, but they are the same ones my Grandma has always done, and my pans are fine. I do cook tomatoes in my pans often, with no bad results. It supposedly leaches a bit of iron, which is good for those of us who tend toward being anemic. I also use soapy water, but do not scrub too hard. I always put the pan on the burner after washing to make sure it is completely dry, and then rub a tiny bit more oil on the pan. That’s what Grandma always did.
@Neal- I think the stovetop method should be fine with your skillet. It is all I have ever really done, and my pans are fine. I wouldn’t put the wooden handle in the oven! Just remember to coat the pan lightly and watch it. I think the real benefit of doing it in the oven seems to be not having to do it repeatedly with a brand new pan.
@Ellen- Try washing your pan, rubbing it with an oiled paper towel while cold, and then heating a goodly quantity of salt in it while stirring with a wooden spoon or a pancake flipper. The salt really helps remove rust and even old, flaky ick from mistreated pans.
Hi, I have used cast iron for years and years, I stopped about 10 years ago due to my new Tfal pans. I will tell you those were nice but I did miss the cast iron. On a whim I bought a new cast iron grill pan, man o man I did my thing I do with my cast iron and seasoned it all up. I used it to cook some steak and I was hooked. Its great but the clean up was a mess with the grills in there. I had to reseaon it and have since learned if its seasoned enough it wont stick, also dont put meat in with it SOOO HOT. I get it really really HOT after I clean it to kill any germs and then lower the heat to cook. Still a bit of a mess depending on what meat I am cooking but nothing beats the grilled taste and look of the grill marks on the steak. On a side note, when I was a young’n way back when and the families all went camping, everyone brought their cast iron skillets to toss in the camp fire, this happen year after year, I still have those pans to this day passed down to me. Legend has it, this HOT CAMP fire cooking gets off the old old crusties and once wiped again with oil, they are like brand new seasoned pans. Anyone else seen this done?
Good info. BUT how do I clean a really old cast iron skillet that has years of baked on food/oil (from seasoning)??? The way you describe is not enough. Help, we do not want to give in and just buy a new one.
Hi, I hope you can see this link its has all the info to remove the rust and crust GOOD LUCK
http://blackirondude.blogspot.com/2009/01/easy-cast-iron-skillet-reconditioning.html
OH YES PS
I found a BRILLIANT way to clean my GRILL CAST IRON PAN.. THOSE LITTLE grooves are KILLER to get junk out of I have tried the salt and everything I could. I had to re season it many time due to it. I just had to use it again today and regreted it after I was done cooking turkey burgers. There was such a mess, I did a 20 min soak and I was using my wooden spoon to try to get out the gunk from the grooves, I reached over and got my micro fiber cloth, with in less then a minute of using the fiber side of the cloth all the grooves were cleaned out!! TRY IT!! I am AMAZED… I had cut one of my micro fiber cleaning clothes into 4’s and used it to wipe out my waterless cook ware and I am so happy I found a way to clean my cast iron grill pan its the best pan for cooking meats and burgers! LET me know who you like this grand way of cleaning them up.
I think my iron skillet may be ruined. There is a thick coating of burnt vegetable oil on the bottom that is the consistancy of the stickiest molasses. It recently came out of the oven, along with smoke that filled the kitchen and yet didn’t set off the smoke detectors. I just tried to get the goop out of the cooled skillet using a towel/rag and it hardly made a dent in the goop. It’s really stuck to the bottom. Since it is winter, it seems too cold to attempt an outdoor bonfire of a burn to get the stuff out. Is there another way to save my pan? Any ideas? Thank you.
I have a cast iron chicken fryer. The cover has little protrusions that stick out located about 1 inch apart. They have sticky residue on and around them and they are a pain to clean. Any suggestions for cleaning and seasoning?
Thanks
Mostly-
Try cooking a couple of pieces of bacon at a low temp. That should melt the goop and grease together. Clean with hot water and salt and/or nylon brush. You may have to do this a couple of times. That has happened to me a couple of times. I seasoned with crisco and used too much.
The worst part about cast iron pans is the large amount of half-information you find on the net.
After de-rusting and seasoning my pan in the oven, imagine my dismay when I used it the next day and thought it would be totally non-stick! I had eggs stuck all over the thing and had to clean it completely and start from scratch.
The most important bit of information (which is usually omitted from sites about seasoning) is that an initial seasoning only stops the pan from getting rusty. Repeated use (with oil) is what (eventually) gets it non-stick.
A girlfriend of mine gave up on her cast iron pan until I told her that seasoning is like painting your nails. Many thin coats and make sure each coat is dry before adding another! One coat isn’t enough. Too thick of a coat will either get smudgy or will peel off.