If you fancy yourself a skilled home cook, as I do, you have doubtless heard chefs, food bloggers, and that annoying guy down the street sing the praises of cast iron.
“It’s the original non-stick pan!” they’ll tell you.
“It adds flavor and gives great sear!” they’ll say.
I call BS.
Well, not entirely. Do you remember that scene in “Meet the Fockers” where Dustin Hoffman, who plays Ben Stiller’s dad, talks about how he has used the same skillet since Ben was a little kid, and has never washed it? I have no doubt that, with that level of long-term heavy use, you’d get a sweet, well-seasoned frying pan that would do you right.
The theory goes something like this: the cast iron is porous, so as you use it, the oils from the food you cook actually change the chemistry of the iron, and over time it develops a patina of built-up oils and becomes nonstick and amazing and we love it and tralala. To accomplish this, you’re not supposed to wash your cast iron pan- and definitely never use soap. Instead, you wipe out the food after you use it, wipe in a little salt to get rid of any food bits and a bunch of shortening to help build up the non-stick coating, and over time, you develop an heirloom-worthy piece of cookware, all for under $15!
But I’ve had my cast iron frying pan for three years now and I’m still struggling to figure out how to get it to get that amazing seasoned interior without, you know, leaving a bunch of gross food particles in there after I use it. I cooked a frittata in it once, and hoo boy was THAT a bad idea. I spent over an hour (literally) going at it with salty Crisco to try to get the caked-on eggs out of there.
But I do like the idea of the thing, and I like the piece itself- sturdy, holds heat well, it can go from stovetop to oven no problem- all good things.
So when I saw that Lodge was releasing a line of pre-seasoned skillets, which come with that fun patina of non-stick already installed, I thought: FINALLY. Enough of this “doing it like our grandparents did” bs. I want the quick fix!
I have only tested the tiny version of the pre-seasoned skilled, but I can say: it’s cheap, it’s sturdy, it looks good, and it’s a heck of a lot more non-stick than my sad-sack home-seasoned version. If you don’t have a cast-iron skillet yet, start with the 12 inch size- it’s practical and plenty big enough and would make an excellent weapon in the event you’re ever robbed while you’re cooking.
I would still recommend not putting too much faith in that “pre-seasoned” claim and start by cooking things that take a lot of fat or oil- like frying hash browns, or caramelizing onions- so you don’t end up permanently melding your food to your pan. And if you’re ever tempted to cook a frittata in the thing: reconsider.
Lodge cast iron frying pan $12.99 on amazon.
k
Yeah, cast iron is great for a lot of things, but eggs are not one of them. Bacon, yes (or basically any kind of meat), but never fish, eggs, or anything with tomatoes in it (the acid in the tomatoes will cause iron to leach into your food, ick).
Martha Stewart recommends a half cup of kosher salt and a wet paper towel to clean cast iron, but I’ll confess that I’ve used my kitchen scrubber on it with no real adverse effects (and I’ve even used soap on it, gasp!, when there’s something particularly gross sticking to the sides. Just follow up with a nice pan full of bacon. Or some fried chicken).
July 6th, 2009 @ 10:40 am
Jenny
Did you know you can season your existing cast iron (or any metal) pan? You basically put oil in it and heat really hot in the oven for a few hours (Google “Season Cast Iron Pan” for lots of recipes.
I had a Calphalon stainless steel pan that EVERYTHING stuck to until I did this – voila! perfect non-stick, without any scary chemicals.
September 28th, 2009 @ 3:16 pm
DougD
What a great post. I love my cast iron pan and have cooked many many meals in it over the years. I can cook everything in it, including eggs, but the pan must be well seasoned, and hot, and no-fat cooking techniques will NOT work. There is a reason french cooking has a bunch of butter in it. Butter tastes great, but it also lubricates your pan as you cook.
You don’t need allot of oil/fat in the pan, especially once its well seasoned. When I get a new pan I season it.. never use soap to clean your pan, and usually, a little hot water and paper towel will get it clean.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2001030_season-cast-iron-pan.html
Another trick chefs will share is that the pan must be hot to start with. Now this is not smoking hot, but the cast iron pan works best when it has had a chance to slowly get hot. I have an electric stove at home. When I start the prep process I put the pan on very low heat, it can sit there for 10-15 minutes and not start to smoke, and it is ready to go when I am. Then I turn up the heat, depending on what I am cooking, and off we go. After I am finished, I let the pan cool to roomish temperature before wiping it out, or washing it with hot water.
November 3rd, 2009 @ 8:42 am