6 Things You Should Never Do to Your Cast Iron Skillet

my love cast iron So deep and persistent that I don’t even let my husband clean my beloved cast iron skillet. There are many myths about healing, considerateand cleaning cast iron, I subscribe to very few.in fact it is here 6 things you should never do with a cast iron skillet

My deepest apologies to the wonderful makers of Lodge. Le CreusetBut buying a brand new cast iron skillet is a sacrilege to me. This is especially true at thrift stores and antique stores where the shelves are crooked under the weight of so many perfectly working pans. No, there are no new irons. Used cast iron is worth looking for, season yourself.

Again there is a bit of history to back up my thoughts. Old frying pans were once polished before sale as part of the manufacturing process, but as cast iron sales increased in the 1950s, many manufacturers abandoned the polishing step. This means that modern cast iron skillets have a slightly bumpy surface that can only be smoothed out with regular use and seasoning. Buying a used skillet, even if it’s from the 80’s, means it’s already been polished.

Cast iron cookware gets better with use. Cooking with cast iron may seem tedious at first, but it actually makes cooking easier with every use. Seasoning the pan after use forms a thin layer of polymerized oil that protects the pan and gives it a non-stick surface. If the pan is only used a few times a year, this “non-stick” coating will be very thin and prone to scorching and damage. If you do regular frying, searing and sautéing in cast iron, cook eggs It will make it much easier in the long run.

“Don’t cook acidic foods in cast iron” is a bad rumor many cooks have heard. In fact, leaving cast iron soaking in a sink is more harmful than tomato sauce or soap. Because cast iron is porous, it can absorb moisture and eventually rust if exposed to water for an extended period of time. A short soak doesn’t hurt much, but I avoid soaking for fear of forgetting and ruining the cure I worked so hard to develop.

For really stubborn stains, bring a few cups of water to a boil in a pot and use hot water to scrape the stain off. Discard the hot water and dirt, clean the pan, dry it, oil it and store it as usual.

These green metal scrubbers are the bane of my love of cast iron. I’ve never hesitated to use a metal spatula on the pan while cooking, but a steel wool scrubber doesn’t serve as a good remedy.with a little kosher salt instead clump of oil All the cleaning power you need to make cast iron whistle clean.

Let me admit that this is a sin I have committed against my castings for a long time. Since the oven is relatively dry and close to the stove, it seems like a very ideal place to store a heavy skillet when you use it regularly. However, if you accidentally put a cast iron skillet in the oven to preheat, the hardener will slowly be removed. Instead, store the skillet with your other pots and pans. Also, don’t forget to put a paper towel between the pans to protect the curd from abrasion and atmospheric moisture.

This is an admittedly odd tip I picked up from the people at the lodge. They ship, store and sell cast iron with a piece of paper between each piece. Not knowing their logic, I tried storing my favorite skillet with a paper towel and never looked back. Now, with paper towels, I can stack other pans on top of the cast iron to soak up any moisture left over from cleaning.

Despite all the legends and lore surrounding cast iron, we seem to forget that these pans were forged from cast iron, a metal destined to stand the test of time. Admittedly, I was annoyed because her husband left my cast iron skillet soaked in soapy water overnight, but it still didn’t damage the skillet. I cleaned it, dried it on the stove and scrubbed it with oil. And it lived to cook another day. they are resilient. But to keep it in that condition, it needs to be consistently cared for.