“Season your pan”, they say. “Don’t use soap”, they say. “Cook an egg in it”, they say.
The first time I tried to cook an egg in a new cast iron pan I thought I had to return it. Once I cracked the egg into the pan, it spread thin and immediately began to curl around the edges and burn, while the yolk did a little dance I attempted to edge a spatula under it to flip it and that is when I realized I bought the wrong pan for eggs. Right? It couldn’t be me. I knew how to cook eggs!
Here is a look at what went wrong:
- I didn’t season it. Why? Because I didn’t know that was what I had to do. It became apparent to me that I only cooked in my grandmother and mothers pans. Never did I have to wash or season it. (that I remember)
- I used Dawn dish soap and let it dry in the drying rack. Why? Because no one told me that I had a pan where soap wasn’t needed and that somehow I would not get food poisoning…
- I didn’t allow the pan to heat up to where it needed to be and I didn’t use enough fat. Why? Because I didn’t know how good food tastes after years of baking fat into a pan. Like a topographic map, under a microscope, a cast iron pan has peaks and valleys and when we season a pan, the fats used seep into the valleys and form a base layer of flavor, which also protects the pan.
I remember when my grandmother would use her cast iron. The eggs would slide around in the pan like an Olympic skater as she turned the handle to cook them and then with a twist of her wrist they would glide onto the plate like a manta ray through a wave.
I remember she saved the grease in a rinsed out Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup can on the stove for use later. Why?
Because bacon grease.
I cook everything from eggs to upside down cake to truffle potatoes and rib-eye steak in my cast iron. I even have a grill pan that I use for paninis or chicken from stove top to oven.
Cast iron are versatile, nearly indestructible and a lot of people are afraid to use them.
Let’s take a look at how to clean, cook and store cast iron.
I recently taught a class at The Abundant Kitchen in Buffalo, MN called Cooking with Cast Iron. It was fun, informative and I broadened my knowledge of what I have learned in the 25+ years of cooking with cast iron.
The class that I taught was all about how to care for, repair, cook and store several types of cast iron. We cooked with Le Creuset, Finex and Lodge.
We learned how to season, cook an egg, strip a cast iron from a flea market, clean and store.
Three things:
- Season: I always make sure there is a fat in the pan before use and I put it in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes prior to cooking in it.
- Lard or high smoke point oil: Canola, Peanut, Avocado, etc.
- Clean: When finished cooking, I wipe out the pan and give it a warm water rinse.
- I personally don’t use soap, but some say a little can be used. I prefer hot water and a plastic scraper. (Lodge 2 for $3) or Kosher salt and a non metal sponge.
- Store: I put it back into the 400 degree oven for 10 minutes. I turn off the oven and let it cool inside until next time.
If you are feeling uneasy about your cast iron pan and want to feel confident to cook anything in it, Contact Me and I can walk you through an educational class in your home. Or take a class at The Abundant Kitchen. You can shop for a new one while you learn!
Follow the links to the recipes:
Cast Iron Cornbread and Whipped Honey Butter
Until next time…Cast away!