How To Season Cast Iron Best Way For A Non-Stick Finish + How/When To Re Season It. Free Traditional Cooking Video Series: TradCookSchool.... Transcript: TradCookSchool....
Cast iron done right: an amazing, healthy, non-stick surface for your cooking. Such a blessing and a joy to cook in!
Cast iron done wrong… your food and the pan are a sorry mess!
Emily K. wants to get it right:
"I’ve started using cast iron more often. How do I know it’s time to re-season and how do I go about it? Thanks."
***The Answer
Emily, it’s so great that you’re using cast iron more often! When the seasoning is right (and kept up), it’s true joy to use.
Seasoning is the added-on surface of the cast iron. Usually a layer of fat cooked on over time (or purposefully before using it at all) to help one cook without food sticking or burning like crazy. Seasoning is essential.
***The Best Cast Iron Seasoning
This “seasoning” on your cast iron (taught to me by my friend Jami) is an organic high-lignan flax seed oil that is heated so hot it gets fused into the pores of the pan - creating a non-stick-like (yet healthy) cooking surface.
1. Preparation - clean the pan. Pans may have manufacturer’s soy-based seasoning or lots of burned on gunk from someone using it improperly. Remove it with some elbow grease or use the self-cleaning function of your oven.
2. Preheat the pan. Put your pan in a 200° Fahrenheit oven to warm it up, open its pores, and remove moisture.
3. Seasoning the pan. Rub the inside of the pan all over with fresh (non-rancid) organic high-lignan flax seed oil. Rub as much of it off as you can so only a dull layer reminds. Rub it well so that you remove as much as you can (no, I’m not kidding). Now bake upside down in a 400 to 500 degree Fahrenheit oven for 1 hour. Turn off the oven and let the pan cool. Repeat 5 more times to build up the flax seed oil seasoning to a shiny non-stick-like surface.
Again, refer to the original instructions for the full details on the best cast iron seasoning: traditionalcook...
***Care & Cleaning Tips
My friend Jami says:
"Most of the time I only have to wipe out my pans with paper towels. Other times I use either a wet-method or my dry-method for cleaning depending on how stuck-on the mess is. For best results, always clean your pans while they are warm, just after using!
When sticky sauces and such have been cooked, run hot water over the pan and scrub it with a non-stick pad or brush at the same time. Then place the pan back on the still warm burner and wipe dry with a paper towel. I look for a semi-shiny finish with no dull spots.
At times you may see some dull areas on the bottom of your pan. This is a very small amount of cooked on food/oil. You remove this by scrubbing your pan while it’s warm on the burner with a steel kitchen scrub pad (or one of those Scotch green scrubbers) and some oil - either the left over oil from whatever you were just cooking or a bit of new oil. Scrub until your steel pad slides smooth on the surface and you no longer see or feel any raised areas. Wipe out completely with paper towels and allow to cool. Now look at your pan - the finish should look semi-glossy again, no dull spots, and it should appear smooth. At least as smooth as cast iron can be."
I care for my pans just like Jami does. Also:
1. Keep the heat low. Use lower heat than you do with other pans.
2. Be generous with the fat. This just boosts the non-stick tendencies of well-seasoned cast iron.
3. Choose traditional fats like lard, tallow, duck/goose fat, coconut oil, butter, or ghee. With higher smoke points, these fats are less likely to burn and gunk up your pan.
4. Don’t be afraid to use soap when cleaning. This is controversial because some people say NEVER use soap and think it’s a sin to do so - because they’re certain it will destroy the seasoning. I think it depends on the type of seasoning. If it’s the typical way that’s built up over time by not washing off cooking oils, then yes, soap could take that off. If you season as I do, then soap won’t take off the seasoning.
5. After washing, dry with a towel and put away. Don’t let pans air-dry or they’ll rust.
***How & When To Re-Season
With use, the pan finish will wear off. How fast depends on how the care & how much use.
If you notice that your finish is worn off and doesn’t return to a nice shine upon cleaning, it is time to re-season. So you follow the same seasoning steps above. When re-seasoning, you might only have to do 1 or 2 or 3 layers.
If your pan doesn’t have built on gunk, you don’t have to strip it completely. You can just re-season on top of the (cleaned) old seasoning (because even though it might be worn, it’s still in good shape with a smooth surface).
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