Forged Iron Cooking-ware Seasoning
If you're hot for cast-iron cookery-ware, then you are in a proud minority. These days, it's been confined to a focused market, but old schoolers and numerous professional cooks swear by it, so you are actually not alone!
If you have never tried your hand at cooking with something so old ( and heavy ), you really should know that it isn't like cooking with the other pots and pans you may have in your kitchen. The chief difference is that the iron must be correctly seasoned.
Now, a lot of people will make it plain that you need to "never wash" a cast-iron pan. Perhaps yes, and maybe no. It's true that you can simply blast it with heat when you're finished cooking ( put it empty in the stove, set to 500 degrees for an hour or thereabouts then take some steel wool and work the black flakes off the bottom ), but whether or not you do this as your sole method of cleaning the pot or pan, you still have to properly season it and keep it seasoned. Here is how :
one ) Whether you wash it or no, periodically heat blast it as explained above. This removes the grit and other crud that will build up on the cooking surface over time . If you want to go Old Skool here, fire up your grill out back, or let it sit without delay on the coals of a camp fire for the same result.
2 ) If you have washed the cookware in water, give it a day or two to dry. Better yet , put it back in the stove as per step 1 and let the heat leech the last of the moisture out before you move on . Once you are completely sure it's dry, coat the bottom with a generous application of bacon grease. Do not use store purchased oils. Don't use lard or butter or anything else. Bacon grease. Old school, remember? That is the point, and seasoning with bacon grease will give it that special Oldschool flavour. I'm not kidding. Use anything more and your results will not be nearly as good. If you don't listen to me and choose some short cut here, you'll either live with food that doesn't taste as good as it might, or eventually you will come around and try it my way. Oh, and coat the lid too!
3 ) Stick both back in the stove ( 500 degrees ) ( or grill turned up as high as it will go, or immediately onto the coals of an open fire. Put both the lid and the pan ( or pot, or whatever ) face down, so that as the grease heats up, it will all at last drip out. ( If you're doing this in your oven, put something underneath it to catch the drippings to save you some cleanup later ). Let it do its thing for no less than an hour.
4 ) After an hour, let it cool, then do it again. You need to do this an overall total of three times to get it properly seasoned.
And that's it. Annually, you will want to go through the steps above, and if you wash your pan in water ( heaven forbid ), then you'll need to go through the above steps after each washing. As to particularly the way to cook with cast iron, it's no different really, just bear in mind that if you're employing a hot spot on the oven, to turn the heat up slowly, as quick changes in heat could cause cracks, but otherwise, the stuff is insanely sturdy and will probably last longer than you may!
If you have never tried your hand at cooking with something so old ( and heavy ), you really should know that it isn't like cooking with the other pots and pans you may have in your kitchen. The chief difference is that the iron must be correctly seasoned.
Now, a lot of people will make it plain that you need to "never wash" a cast-iron pan. Perhaps yes, and maybe no. It's true that you can simply blast it with heat when you're finished cooking ( put it empty in the stove, set to 500 degrees for an hour or thereabouts then take some steel wool and work the black flakes off the bottom ), but whether or not you do this as your sole method of cleaning the pot or pan, you still have to properly season it and keep it seasoned. Here is how :
one ) Whether you wash it or no, periodically heat blast it as explained above. This removes the grit and other crud that will build up on the cooking surface over time . If you want to go Old Skool here, fire up your grill out back, or let it sit without delay on the coals of a camp fire for the same result.
2 ) If you have washed the cookware in water, give it a day or two to dry. Better yet , put it back in the stove as per step 1 and let the heat leech the last of the moisture out before you move on . Once you are completely sure it's dry, coat the bottom with a generous application of bacon grease. Do not use store purchased oils. Don't use lard or butter or anything else. Bacon grease. Old school, remember? That is the point, and seasoning with bacon grease will give it that special Oldschool flavour. I'm not kidding. Use anything more and your results will not be nearly as good. If you don't listen to me and choose some short cut here, you'll either live with food that doesn't taste as good as it might, or eventually you will come around and try it my way. Oh, and coat the lid too!
3 ) Stick both back in the stove ( 500 degrees ) ( or grill turned up as high as it will go, or immediately onto the coals of an open fire. Put both the lid and the pan ( or pot, or whatever ) face down, so that as the grease heats up, it will all at last drip out. ( If you're doing this in your oven, put something underneath it to catch the drippings to save you some cleanup later ). Let it do its thing for no less than an hour.
4 ) After an hour, let it cool, then do it again. You need to do this an overall total of three times to get it properly seasoned.
And that's it. Annually, you will want to go through the steps above, and if you wash your pan in water ( heaven forbid ), then you'll need to go through the above steps after each washing. As to particularly the way to cook with cast iron, it's no different really, just bear in mind that if you're employing a hot spot on the oven, to turn the heat up slowly, as quick changes in heat could cause cracks, but otherwise, the stuff is insanely sturdy and will probably last longer than you may!