Cooking with Cast Iron

I love cooking in cast iron. It distributes heat evenly, you get traces of iron in your food (which we all need) and if you are as nostalgic as I am it will take you back to yester-year. Plus, food just tastes better cooked in cast iron.

For YEARS I have tried to season my cast iron and it has never truly worked. I would still get a black film on my towel when I would wipe it, food would stick, it was impossible to clean, and it would get sticky... until now. I finally found a way that really works. It's so much better for you to cook with cast iron than the non-stick stuff that's out there, safer too.

So, here it is, here's a tried and true method for seasoning your cast iron. You might set aside a good part of a day to do this.

Caution! This method will create a lot of smelly acrid smoke. If you do it inside, be VERY SURE to have incredible ventilation. I opened both of my kitchen windows, turned the ceiling fan on in my kitchen and turned the vent fan on over the stove and I never had a problem with smoke in the house.

The first thing you want to do is get rid of the wax/mineral oil rust-prevention coating that came on your cast iron. Do that by using SOS/steel wool pads, lots of soap, lots of very hot water and lots of scrubbing. NOTE: This is the one and only time that you're cast iron should ever come in contact with soap. OR... I just put mine in the dishwasher and then moved on to the next step.

As soon as you've gotten rid of the last of the wax/mineral oil, rinse your cast iron thoroughly in very hot water, dry with a clean towel and place in a 250 degree oven to get bone dry. After about 20 minutes, take out of the oven (using hot pads / gloves) and rub in an extremely light coat of Crisco with a clean low-lint rag. Cover all surfaces, inside and out. (If your coat is too thick, it won't stick and will flake off with use.)Place your cast iron back into the oven, upside down so that no excess melted shortening can accumulate on the cooking surface. I placed a jelly roll pan lined with foil on the rack underneath the cast iron to catch any excess shortening that dropped. Crank the oven up to 400 - 450 and bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, venting as much of the nasty smoke as you can. Then, turn off the oven and allow everything to cool to room temp, without opening the oven.At this point, you should have a shiny black coat on all surfaces. (If you'd followed the usual advise and done it at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour, you'd have a sticky, brown coating, which is what I kept getting.)

Then, just because you want to be a bit obsessive, repeat the Crisco coating and baking process two more times. After the third pass through the oven, your cast iron will look (and cook) like treasured heirlooms from your grandmother. Please take the time to do this process a total of 3 times, it is really worth it!

Care Tips: Try to avoid stewing things, especially acidic things like tomato sauces, the first few times you use your cast iron. It's best to do a bit of frying with adequate fat at first. When you're done cooking, simply rinse out the cast iron with very hot water and a nylon "scrubbie." No soap, as it tends to remove your hard-won seasoning and can be tough to rinse out fully. If you have stuck on bits, don't fret. Simply put the cast iron on the stove and bring an inch or two of water to a boil, with a lid on. The heat will loosen whatever is stuck and you can then scrub and rinse with hot water. Dry the cast iron immediately and place back on some heat. Melt a touch of Crisco, spread around in a very thin layer and heat until smoking. Then allow to cool and put away. (This will not only add to your seasoning, it will sanitize the cast iron.)

Happy Cooking!!