A year's worth of lessons I learned while cooking with a cast iron skillet, from cleaning and seasoning and it's all worth the effort!
Below are the lessons I learned over the course of a year of cooking with a cast iron skillet. The lessons I acquired through peaks and valleys and determination to learn how to cook with cast iron. Now, I can't imagine cooking without cast iron in my kitchen. So here it is, all the hard won lessons for you to cook successfully with cast iron!
It was a gift from a friend for a birthday that I can't remember, the first time I opened my cast iron skillet. I thought, "Great! I have been wanting to try a cast iron pan. It looks so cute and cozy." Boy, was I wrong! I dove head first into cooking some ground beef in my new cast iron, only to be completely disappointed that the meat stuck to the pan. Shoulders slumped against the kitchen stove, I searched the internet to see if I could place this pan into the dishwasher (more to come on cleaning cast iron below) and that is when I learned cast iron is it's own bred of cookware.
Lesson 1: Never Use Soap On Cast Iron
This first lesson was quite surprising to me. I assumed cast iron would not be dishwasher safe, but it never occurred to me that you could not use soap to clean the skillet. At first I would clean my skillet with the recommended salt scrub. This consists of using salt or salt with lemon essential oil and coating the pan with it. Then you scrub the salt and rinse.
For me this salt method was fine, but I was not a fan of having to use so much salt and it became too much of a chore. Now, I will either rinse out my skillet or place some water in the skillet (about a half inch or so) and place it on the stove over medium heat. I take a wooden spoon or non metal spatula gently scrub off any stuck on bits of food. The hot water loosens the stuck on food and then I simple rinse out the pan. This brings me to my next lesson below.
Lesson 2: Quickly Rusts
Cast iron rusts quickly. Very quickly. Sure you can use a towel to dry the skillet, but then more often than not you will end up with a gray or black towel. If you let the skillet air dry, well then it will rust.
For me, the best method to dry and prevent rust on my cast iron skillet is to place the skillet onto a burner that is warm but not on. This will allow the skillet to quickly without rusting or a dirty towel.
Lesson 3: Seasoning Through Cooking
When I first heard about seasoning a cast iron skillet even ones that are "pre-seasoned" it just sounded too cumbersome, but I thought I would give it a try. At first I would place a bit of oil in the pan and then place it in the oven at a high temperature. Both honestly, this just resulted in the pan discoloring and my kitchen smelling like burned oil.
So here is my trick that has yet to fail me. Once you have cleaned your skillet and it has dried as stated in Lesson 2, take a paper towel with some oil on it (this can be any oil or even a spray oil. I have been recently using an avocado spray oil) and rub a small amount onto the skillet. Just enough to coat the skillet slightly. This is so much easier and has worked each time to prevent food from sticking. From here you can place the cooled skillet away until next time you use it.
Lesson 4: Everything Gets Better and Less Sticky In Time (Always Pre-Heat)
This lesson is all about time and patience. Early on in my use of cast iron, I would go back and forth from using and loving my skillet to thinking it's not worth the hype. However, the more I cooked with my skillet the better it became. Each cook, seasoned the skillet. Especially, when I cooked with bacon.
I also learned that some foods such as bacon naturally season the skillet in a sort of way in which I didn't need to add the oil to the pan after my cleaning process. You learn that if the skillet looks slightly shiny that it is properly seasoned.
As far as food sticking to the pan, well that became better in time too. As a result, I became more confident in my ability to cook with cast iron. That being said one rule I stick to is to ALWAYS pre heat the skillet before adding food to it and stir less often. This prevents food from sticking. Yet, some foods will always been slightly trick such as eggs.
Lesson 5: Heats Quicker & Longer
This last lesson should come as no surprise, but cast iron heats quicker and stays warm longer. The benefit of this is that you will obtain a better sear on meats and a more through cook on food in general. As to which cooking with a cast iron skillet has become my favorite way to cook in the kitchen! Just look at the color of the chicken cooked on my skillet below!
Cooking With A Cast Iron Skillet Options:
- Lodge Cast Iron Skillet: A great basic option.
- Calphalon 12" Skillet: A larger skillet option.
- Set of Three Skillets: Great for a variety of skillet sizes if you are all in on cast iron!
And there you have it, my five critical lessons I learned whiles cooking with cast iron this past year. It's an evolving process with both trial and error, but it is worth it and for a non toxic, heavy duty pan, a cast iron skillet can't be beat!
Plus you can even cook desserts or homemade chicken pot pie with pastry in a cast iron skillet!
