If you are into sustainability, there is nothing more durable than cast iron cookware. I inherited my mother's cast iron frying pan she got as a wedding present. My parents were married in 1929! If anything, that pan is in better shape now than when it was new.
It came as part of a two-piece set: a frying pan and a griddle. I remember the day in the 1960s that mom spilled water on her overheated griddle, cracking it. She looked at it for a minute and then burst into tears. As a child I was a bit perplexed, but as an adult I understand. It wasn't the pan she was crying about. She had cooked countless breakfasts, pancakes, eggs, sausages for my father and my two sisters and me on that griddle. My father had died two years before and both of my sisters were married and moved away. She was crying for an old life that couldn't be touched, for all the good memories tied up in that cast iron griddle that was now, like the other memories, relegated to the past. But that's a story for another post.
That's why this pan is special to me. That's one reason why I want to take good care of it.
Practically the only thing that can hurt a cast iron pan (besides neglect) is a super-hot pan that encounters water. Other than that, it's bullet proof. (literally) I once found an old griddle in a trailer that had burned completely to the ground. The only thing left of the trailer was the underfame, and that was bent and twisted from the heat. I found the pan buried under a bunch of ashes. It was a bit rusty, but in otherwise good shape. I brought it home, cleaned it up and conditioned it and within a few weeks it was as glossy and black as my other cast iron cookware. It had been to Hell and back.
Properly cared for cast iron cookware is unsurpassed in retaining and distributing heat. The surface should be as glassy and non-stick as teflon, and since teflon is a environmental pollutant that is routinely showing up in the placental blood of unborn fetuses, I wouldn't use a teflon pan to cook food for my dog.
What makes a good cast iron pan's surface so non-stick is a layer of carbon. When you cook, some of the food breaks down into carbon and infiltrates tiny pores in the pan, forming a slick surface. A bit of oil increases its effectiveness. If you wash your pan with soap and water, you wash away the oil and the carbon and the pan begins to rust. So here's the method that I use to place my cast iron cookware at the front line of my cooking chores.
The process is simple and best done right after cooking as soon as the pan is cool enough to handle.
Place a bit of rock salt in the bottom of the pan. The amount depends on how dirty the pan is. This salt is your scouring agent.
Add a bit of oil. Any oil or fat will do, but I try to use an oil with a high smoking point, as long as it's edible. Motor oil is a no- no.
Use a paper towel to scrub the salt into the surface to remove excess crusted food and to polish the pan. The paper towel will turn black. Don't get disgusted and think that it's dirt. That's the carbon that makes your cast iron pan smooth. Keep scrubbing until the towel slides around easily and encounters no resistance. Dump out the salt and polish the pan with a paper towel to remove excess oil.
There you have it, a perfectly seasoned frying pan. May it last another hundred years!
One thing to note...NOT ALL CAST IRON IS CREATED EQUAL!
Look at your last photo....
Do you see the concentric rings(circles from inside out) ?
That is from polishing that was done to these pans up until the 1950's or so....maybe after, but less and less as teflon gained market share.
The modern production Lodge cast iron are great.....EXCEPT they havent been polished like this one. It will take 5 years of use with a metal spatula to get it polished by use(that is our experience.). More polished means LESS stick. So...better.
Luckily we inherited some old cast iron recently....and now we are in duck heaven!!!
Always best to get old cast iron and rehab them...than to buy modern...... Just be sure any rust is just light surface rust AND NOT PITTING /PITTED.
GOOD LUCK and thanks so much for sharing @citizenzero
I totally agree. Newer cast iron is also a lot thinner. Polished bottoms are the best, but you can actually build up the carbon in the bottoms of the the newer ones by constant use and by not letting them soak in water. Eventually even these become non-stick. But if you do overheat them or somebody does you a "favor" by scouring in a sink of soapy water, you have to start all over again. I know people pay hundreds of dollars for stainless cookware. I'd say if you find one of these old cast iron pans with a polished bottom that is in good shape, whatever price they are asking it's probably worth it. You can use these pans every day for your entire life and a hundred years from now they'll be virtually unchanged. The cast iron pan is an icon. Everything we build should attempt to be as long-lasting and durable as a cast iron frying pan. But sadly, like you state, even cast iron frying pans aren't built as well as in the past. Time for a paradigm shift. Thank you.
Really Best ways Clean A Cast Iron Frying Pan!!!!! Upvoted
Thanks for sharing this! Cast Iron is definitely the best, although cleaning can be tough
Cleaning it won't be tough for you any more! You're welcome.
Yes, thank youuu
I hope this post reaches the many who can benefit from it. As simple, and seemingly trivial, a thing that cast iron cookware is, as you point out, it is practically the perfect means of cooking, about as obsolescence resistant a product as can be conceived, and remarkably easy to keep in good repair.
I learned about cast iron in my youth, bumbling about in the woods of Alaska. Most folks don't.
It is really hard to overemphasize how much impact such a humble and simple thing as cooking on properly cared for cast iron can have, particularly in view of the health issues teflon alternatives present.
Which would you rather have in your food (and our environment), iron or teflon?
Easy choice for me!
Thanks!
You are definitely a gentleman a connoisseur@valued-customer and probably a judge of good knives as well.
love my cast iron pans. They were passed down from my grandparents. And I am an old lady so these pans have been around a long time. This is a good article for anyone starting out with cast iron or perhaps the pans have gotten a little beat up. Don't throw them out! Use them! Resteemed
No, don't throw them out. The older pans had smoother bottoms to begin with. The new stuff often comes from China where they don't grind the bottoms smooth. You can still build up the carbon in the bottom eventually, but it takes a lot longer, and if you happen to really burn the pan you have to start over. Thanks for the resteem.
You are welcome.
I have always seasoned my pans the same way. Using them outside on an open fire is the best. 🐓🐓
I totally agree. There is something about a wood fire that cooks food to perfection, especially if you only cook over coals. I mostly cook outside, except when there is a campfire ban like there is now. But at this minute I've just cooked up a nice spaghetti sauce on my wood heater. I only installed this last week, but it has a nice flat top where I can keep my tea water and a canner full of water for washing dishes, face, hands or whatever, or put a pan on to cook. I have no power so I'm sitting here in the dark powering my laptop from a small inverter that plugs into the cigarette lighter in my pickup and using my cell phone as a Hotspot. Ahhh, the good life.
Life is grand! I like your style! 🐓🐓
Interesting. I've been adding water, heating it up, and scraping it with a spatula. Didn't know that could crack it. I'm gonna take a crack at your method, haha, no pun intended
Only if it's way overheated, like if you left it on the stove for 20 minutes with nothing in it and then tried to cool it off with cold water. You also might get some nasty steam burns that way. What you're describing is not a problem and the correct way to do a preliminary cleaning if your pan is super encrusted.
Good to know, thanks
A debt of gratitude is in order for sharing this! Cast Iron is certainly the best, in spite of the fact that cleaning can be intense
That's my whole point. If you take good care of your pans, they will almost clean themselves. If stuff is crusted on, you might have to put water in the pan and let it simmer a bit on the stove to soften up the stuff that's stuck. Then you can scrape most of it out with a flipper or spatula and then proceed with the process I've already explained. You are very welcome.
Really nice tip. I often cook vegan dishes without oil, but instead water and stuff tend to stick to the pan quite often. I'll definitely try this tip out!
Cast iron is really for frying, roasting and sauteing. If you prepare meals without oil and use water instead, you are better off with stainless steel. That you can scour and wash with soapy water with no problems. Too much water won't let the carbon build up like it needs to with cast iron.
more than words can say....
will use your salt and oil procedure tomorrow :-) they are only 3 yrs old - so still growing into being perfect... 1 for each of my kids ;-) and by that time, they will be at their best! I would not ever again use any thing other - however I found out that they (at least now, being so young) do not like tomatoes... every time a try a simple oil, garlic, tomatoes, basil sauce, the rust afterwards.... big cheers to you!!!!
That looks like very heavy stamped steel. Those are wonderful too. Expensive, no?
Yes, they will rust if you use anything acidic in them and don't clean/oil right away. I'll sometimes make a stew in my dutch oven when I want to cook outside on the campfire, (hmmm, that gives me an idea!)but I always empty the stew into some other container and clean and oil my dutch oven as soon as the cooking is finished. I've made the mistake of not doing that too many times (because I'm very lazy at heart, especially after I've eaten) and then had to spend way too much time getting it back in top shape.
I almost had a guy talked into giving me a set of pans similar to yours that was sitting in the back of his trailer with a bunch of other junk on its way to the dump. They were filthy and a bit abused. But as usual I ended up talking too much and told the guy how he could make them usable again. At least they didn't get thrown away!
I came here because I thought it said "cat" not "cast" and that sounded interesting. I stayed because I'd like to not piss my girlfriend off so much when I cook xD
Good enough reason for me! If mama ain't happy, then nobody's happy.
This is awesome @citizenzero! I could never do it properly! May I link this article and feature your username in the next issue of the Weekly Homesteading Newsletter? Thanks!
Yes you may. I would be honored. Thank you.
+1 Thank you for this tutorial, I have a few newer pieces, Lodge.
You are welcome to follow me here on Steemit and on YouTube. I make a nice amount of extra income selling Thrifted items on eBay...how much I make depends on how much I work it and what cool stuff I find...I Post here and I vlog the Hauls & Solds and the journey of a Thrifty ReSeller... you don't even need money to start, you can begin by selling stuff from around your home or ask Friends & Fam to donate items .... List It, Sell it, repeat :)
I think it's great that someone else uses a cast iron skillet. I've found out that the best way to clean it, is to let it cool down, then use a bit of warm water and a scrub pad to wipe the food particles away.
Then, I use a little bit of vegetable oil to re-coat the iron.
I don't know about everyone else, but I love my cast iron.
Me too. I have so much cast iron I could ballast a sailboat. I live in two locations on Turtle Island. One is up north in the summer and the other is down south in the winter. I have an abundance in both locations. I have three dutch ovens in both locations and probably 5 frying pans, two griddles and some that are in storage that I just don't need. I was a cast iron hoarder there for awhile and every time I found one at a garage sale or in a thrift store I'd buy it. I don't any more, unless it's something unique. My youngest son just scored a cast iron waffle maker. I'm not positive, but I think it's from the late 1800s or early 1900s. It has a base that fits into the small hole in a wood cook stove top. It rotates in this base so you can cook on one side and then flip it over without lifting it. Some one just gave it to him. They were going to throw it out. I am so jealous! And I don't even have a wood cook stove. That's next, cast iron preferably.
Good wood cookstoves are gems! I had one with a water heater built onto the side. Worth it's weight in gold on a homestead.
I agree. I had a similar one in a house I rented. It was a beauty from the 30s, had never been abused or stored. I love the infinite heat range available from simmer at the side away from the firebox to high directly over the fire with one of the covers removed and everything in between. Also, when you use it to heat the house as well, its the original slow cooker, a great place to put a pot of beans or a soup stock to steam away. This place also had a 1940s vintage Wedgewood gas stove. It was a cook's dream come true. Sadly, the whole place burned down when some power lines came down in a windstorm. Life goes on.
I had a good laugh! Thank you! "went to hell and back!"
Also thanx for the practical guide.
It did and you're welcome.
Nice work and good tips. I need to get some better pot I have stainless steel at the moment, as it came with me rental. But I really want cast iron for my next ones, at least I have no non stick though hey :)
Some stainless is better than others. The real good stuff is super expensive and you should only cook on low or medium heat and probably never on an electric stove. Those are pot-wreckers. I doubt the stainless cookware in the rental is the good stuff, but it's better than nothing.
Not sure where you live but here on Turtle Island, many people are rich and wasteful (and loving and giving, too) so you can sometimes find cast iron cookware at garage sales or thrift stores. Another place to look is antique stores, but they'll charge you a lot, probably what it's worth. Hah! Good luck.
Yer its not the best but by no means poor quality. The landlord his well off and it was going to be a holiday let so scored a gooden. But yer in the UK although in quite a well to do area (for my job i'm bit common for the like of here haha). So yer charity shops are the way, some good stuff. We don't really have garage sales in the UK don't know why its a a shame :(
We also have things called Swap Meets here where people set up tables in a common area and load them up with all kinds of stuff for sale. Usually, there is an admission charge (typically a dollar) to help pay for the use of the land.
My all time favorite marketplace like this is the Mexican Tianguis. These are the village market days where locals from all over the district gather to sell whatever they've grown or made or want to trade for something else. It's really wonderful. The locals have been doing this for about 10,000 years. I don't know why we all don't trade this way.
Yer we have table sales. And I love a car boot but this year has been so wet not really been any on. Shame its a cracking day out :).
We should all trade like this but not with money with other goods or services.
Yes. Tianguis are the people's markets.
I guess i like older pans. They are more durable. Thanks for the tutorial
Excellent overview and advice. I totally get your Mom's outburst on losing that griddle. I'd have cried, too.
We've collected a few pieces over the years, but our best 'score' was 20+ years ago, from a friend who had rescued a boxful of assorted goodies. (His neighbor had them out for trash because of the rust. I know, I know...) Our buddy didn't need any more for himself & knew we did a lot of camping.
We ended up with:
A Dutch oven & two lids that fit, a 14' fry pan, a 10" fry pan, and a round 12" griddle.
Still have all 'em, too.
Wow! Those lids are really a score! They're so hard to find. I actually found one on the side of the road one time. I saw it as I drove by but wasn't sure I wasn't hallucinating. Went back and picked it up and it fit my 10" fry pan perfectly. I feel sorry for whoever lost it.
My biggest pan is only 12". That's the one I use to make pizza. My favorite is a 10 incher that is almost 4 inches deep and has a very tight-fitting lid; sort of a cross between a frying pan and a dutch oven. Great for making a big batch of spaghetti sauce. I even have a cast iron wok I got at a garage sale for $5. So cool.
True that, on the lids. They're different, too. One's more domed, with a few concentric rings of ridges on the underside. The other is flatter and has a checkerboard pattern of 'spikes' on the underside. Neither of them is the true, coals-on-the-top version...dammit... but they work well for everything else.
Oooohhhh, real pizza! (I'm near Chicago. We're pizza snobs. Lol!) It's hard to beat the taste the pizza crust picks up from the cast iron.
Am envious of the wok. Have only seen pics, but would imagine they're perfect for either wood or gas.
Yes, the wok is great on a campfire. I place 3 rocks in a circle and put the wok in the middle. I have an aluminum wok lid that I use to direct heat over just about everything on the grill, so it's more than a single use item. Made some great stir-fries out in the boonies.
I'll have to keep a eye open for one, because that sounds like the ultimate set up.
Very good and learnt ready @citizenzero from this post...
Glad I could help.
sure and keep steeming hot
Cast iron is the best and most efficient way to keep vital nutrients from being singed out of the food while cooking! Thanks for sharing!