have shared my love of cast iron, and written about how to properly season cast iron, but today I want to share some tips for cooking and caring for your cast iron.
Don’t be intimidated by the extra steps cast iron requires. Once you get the hang of it, it’s no harder than any other cooking vessel! Just takes a little intention and dedication. There is definitely need for grace when learning how to use these gems in your everyday life. But, with persistence, a few helpful tips and trying some different techniques, you’ll soon embrace the benefits these pans have to offer.
1. Season your cast iron
My first tip is, clearly, to be sure and properly season your pan. I cannot reiterate this enough, an improperly seasoned pan will leave you screaming for the hills as meal after meal burns and sticks to the bottom of your pan. NOT FUN!
2. Cook with fat
Add fat to your pan when cooking. Look at this as an opportunity to get adequate amounts of butter and coconut oil into your diet. Remember, fat is good for you. Embrace it…enjoy it…your body, taste buds and brain will thank you for it.
3. Preheat your pan
Cast iron cookware has a much more even cooking surface when it comes to heat distribution. This prevents foods from scorching in the center of the pan, while remaining raw on the edges. Your food will cook evenly, but you need to be patient and allow your pans to preheat.
Every stove-top, oven, BBQ and fire-pit cook at different temperatures, so I really can’t give exact guidelines when preheating your pans. Different foods need different temps, but remember, it’s easy for your pan to become too hot very quickly (if this happens, just remove your pan, let it cool and start again).
Preheating is one of the most important steps when cooking eggs in a cast iron pan (along with using enough fat). Eggs are a funny thing, they naturally want to release from the pan when they’ve cooked long enough! So, whether it’s a fried egg, scrambled eggs or an omelette. Preheat your pan, drop in a good amount of fat, add your eggs and let them be! When they release from the bottom of the pan (assuming it’s properly seasoned), they’re ready to flip! If your yolk isn’t runny by the time your egg releases, your pan was too hot, so take notes!
4. Cast iron's nemesis is water
If you’re like me, when you’re done cooking you like to fill the pan up with hot soapy water and let it soak a while. DO NOT do this with a cast iron pan! Soap will break down the non-stick surface from your hours of laborious seasoning, and if water is left on your cast iron pan, it doesn’t matter how well seasoned it is, it will want to rust. It’s just what happens! So, resist the urge to soak your pans, never use soap and check out the next tip.
5. Cast iron cleans best post haste
I know, I know…but the benefits from the cast iron make this awful trait worth while.
Once finished, try to at least scrape your pan down with a plastic scraper (add pretty link for http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-SCRAPERPK-Durable-Polycarbonate-Scrapers/dp/B0039UU9UO) immediately after cooking (use caution as your pan will still be very hot!). Once your pan is no longer scorching hot, you can then run tepid or warm water over your pan to help loosen any remaining food.
Take precaution when running water over your hot pan and never run cold water over a hot pan (any pan, not just cast iron). As your pan heats, it expands on the molecular level, if the metal cools off too quickly, the molecules constrict too quickly, which can cause warping to the pan (it’s something called thermal shock…cool, right?…No?)
6. Give your pans a little protective coating of oil
Yes, I know we’ve already properly seasoned our pans, but that doesn’t mean we get to neglect them between each use.
Once your pans are nice and clean (without the use of soap, right?), pop your pan back on the burner to dry out completely (cast iron likes to hang on to tiny water molecules invisible to us, but detrimental to the pan…hello rust!). Once your pan is dry, grab a paper towel or terry cloth and a little lard, tallow, bacon grease, coconut oil or ghee and swipe it all over the inside of your pan.
Turn off your burner and let your pan sit on the burner until cool. Then, wipe down the inside surface again (essentially removing any excess fat/oil).
