How to CookCast Iron
Watch and Learn: 5 Cast-Iron Skillet Tips & Tricks
by Hannah Petertil
• April 22, 2015
• 5 Comments
Inspired by conversations on the Food52 Hotline, we're sharing tips and tricks that make navigating all of our kitchens easier and more fun.
Watch KatieQ shares her top five cast iron skillet tips and tricks. Hint: Water is the enemy.
Cast iron pans are shrouded in mystery (at least it feels like they are). How do you care for them? Cook with them? Season them? Store them? Clean them? Even buying the right one can feel like a struggle. But thankfully they are not as scary many may think. KatieQ has a quick list of her top five cast iron tricks that will help you overcome whatever iron-clad fears you might have and ultimately help you realize that cast irons really are everything they are cracked up to be. So get ready to bake, roast, sear, grill, fry, and eat your way to cast iron devotion—and if you are already there, we want to eat dinner at your house.
Tell us: What's your tried-and-true cast iron trick?
Comments (5)
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Am I the only one who thinks food from cast iron tastes like .... cast iron?
I always wash my pan with a tiny bit of soap as I do heavy searing on it with marinaded meats and such. Then onto the stove to completely heat dry it. When it's cooled run a paper towel soaked with a little oil all over including the back of the pan. Have t for years still going great :)
I clean my pan by sprinkling about a cup of kosher salt, add some water to make a paste, then fold up a bunch of paper towels and clean the pan. Rinse with water, dry well (!), rub it with some oil, and store for the next time.
+1. Worked for me for decades now. And though I very rarely see it recommended, it's always done the jobs of cleaning and preserving (I learned on a 1960s childhood camping trip, with sand after a fish-fry).
The best way to dry a cast iron pan and get it ready for the next use - is to stove-dry it. Put in on a burner, turn on the burner, and let the heat burn away moisture. Remove from heat and splash in a little oil - all ready now for next use.
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