The obsession with cast iron like it is some kind of magic ritual is honestly really weird. After you cook with it, wash it with water and dry it with some paper towels, that’s it, no need to make it more complicated than it really is.
If things are sticking to your pan, use more oil in your pan; with enough oil, you can cook on a rock and make it nonstick.
Just wash it with dish soap like everything else, use a soft scrubber like everything else.
If you have an actual polymer layer, it won’t be harmed.
Dry it off, throw it on the burner. Get it hot, give it a touch of oil, and store it.
I mean it’s a lump of iron it still won’t be harmed you may just need to scrape some rust off and reseason.
Well, yes, but let’s not be intentionally obtuse eh?
“Harm” in this case refers to the seasoning (polymer layer), which takes time and effort to repair if it’s significantly damaged.
In the same way that scratching a wood floor is harming it (you can just resurface it), or denting your drywall is harm (you can just repair it).
I see someone has chosen violence today
It’s insane to me that people don’t wash them and call it seasoning.
It’s apparently a different story when someone seasons their underwear.
We do wash them, I clean mine by boiling water in them, scraping any stubborn bits with a wooden spatula, rinsing it out under running water and wiping them down with a clean towel and heating the pan again to evaporate any remaining water. No microbials will survive being boiled and then heated again, anything stuck to the pan dissolves away in boiling water and a clean towel will wipe away anything else. After that I add a few drops of oil and wipe down the still hot surface with the thinnest possible coating of oil.
Seasoning for cast iron doesn’t mean holding onto previous flavors. It definitely shouldn’t taste like last night’s dinner. Seasoning in the context of cast iron is the build up of thin layers of polymerized oils from heating them up in a clean pan that forms a durable protective finish that is incredibly non-stick.
So more accurately parallel your underwear example how cast iron is cleaned, if you took your underwear, boiled the hell out of them, used something to give them a scrub, rinsed them out well and then heat dried them.
Your method sounds great and I’m sure it works well, but I just want to make sure you know that modern dish soap won’t damage your seasoning at all.
Just FYI, you do wash cast iron, you just don’t use detergents on it. One common method is to dump a handful of salt and a tiny splash of water into the pan and start scrubbing. You can use a gentle dish soap, but I’d avoid using the dishwasher, because those detergents will be a lot stronger and will actually ruin the seasoning (as well as linger on the surface and end up in your food, which is also bad).
Modern soaps/detergents don’t contain lye, which is what ruins the seasoning. It’s the humid drying of a dishwasher that causes it to rust. Nothing to with the detergent.
Dawn has lye, that’s why it works so well
As a mild ph adjuster, you would have to soak your cast iron in Dawn (platinum only) for hours, which would ruin your seasoning no matter the detergent used.
Someone doesn’t know Sodium Hydroxide is Lye
I do, the lye is not to aid in cleaning and it doesn’t have enough to ruin a seasoning.
There’s a difference between knowing something is in it, and why it is in it and what it can do.
Soda has caustic and corrosive ingredients, it doesn’t mean it’s going to dissolve your intestines lmfao.
“The caustic ingredient in a soap is not to aid in cleaning” You, that’s you, demonstrating a single digit IQ.
I use a little dawn on mine now and then and it’s still basically like glass. Just put a little oil on it afterwards. Never the dishwasher though omg
Cooking has been a hobby of mine for decades now. I have gone through a lot of phases in cooking, especially early on.
I have used cast iron, carbon steel, stainless steel, and a dubious flirtation with all aluminum.
16 years on now and this is what I reach for 100% of the time:
Skillet/sautee: cladded stainless. Both standard side and high sided.
Dutch Oven: Enameled cast iron.
Pots Pans: Cladded stainless steel. For smaller 1qt to 2qt I like All Clads D5 for its heat retention. Larger than that I like the D3 for its lighter weight
Grill Pan: cast iron. Hate the excessive weight though
Non-stick: Ceramic coated aluminum. What ever Americas Test Kitchen recommends that year. I consider these disposable items. I stopped using TEFLON a long time ago.
I used cast iron skillets for several years. I found them to be finicky. Heat retention was stupidly high and that’s not always a good thing. Excessively heavy and god forbid you attempt any sort of tomato based sauce or anything acidic for that matter. Circumstances forced me to use stainless steel and I just found it matches my needs in a kitchen much better than cast iron. It gets used, it gets cleaned and I put it away. No having to have the vaginal juices of a thousand virgins on hand to make sure it doesn’t destroy the next egg I try to cook.
I consider cast iron skillets like safety razors. They had their day, but continue on because of a dedicated set of die hard users. Nothing wrong with that, just not my thing.
The above goes for carbon steel as well, although it usually isn’t nearly as heavy.
Cast iron is to sear the bajesus out of steak. Nothing else can blacken the steak crust to my satisfaction without inadvertently overcooking the middle.
I hate it for everthing else.
A tiny cheap teflon pan just for 1-2 fried eggs and nothing else.
Then SS all-clad as the go-to for everything else.
Been having good experience with the hexclad teflon pan although handwash only. I believe it is generally disliked because it is marketed as “dishwasher safe” which is absolutely false. When handwashed it holds up very well.
Nothing else can blacken the steak crust to my satisfaction without inadvertently overcooking the middle.
Cooking at such temperatures is really bad for you. It will give you literal ass cancer eventually.
Ugh. You wanna know the secret to cooking on cast iron/carbon steel? Just cook with it. Put fat in, get it hot, put your food in. It’s really that easy. Wipe it out when you’re done, rub some oil on it. That’s it. You can even cook tomato sauce in it, it’ll be ok. People have been using cast iron to cook all kinds of things, acidic and not, for literal centuries. This myth that cast iron/carbon steel pans are these delicate special snowflakes that need constant attention and maintenance needs to die.
The polymerized coating on cast iron is stripped almost immediately with anything acidic. It’s basic chemistry.
Put some fat in the pan… You mean exactly what I do with my stainless steel?
Also cooking the way you describe builds up carbon, which is carcinogenic.
What needs to die is the emotional attachment people have to a technology that has its place, just not for every day cooking.
My grill Pan and Dutch ovens are cast iron. But they are Enameled making them a lot more useful. ,
Your “basic chemistry” doesn’t match up with the lived experience of the plethora of people that frequently use cast iron/carbon steel. And yes, it doesn’t matter what type of pan, including non-stick, if you want your food to taste good you’re probably gonna start by heating up some fat. You’re only building excess carbon in a cast iron/carbon steel if you leave on bits of burnt food and season over that. If you clean your pan properly (with soap and hot water, because that’s totally allowed), that won’t happen. Tons of people cook with cast iron/carbon steel every single day and have absolutely no problems with it. And don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying everyone should only cook with cast iron/carbon steel, all I’m saying is using those pans is way less finicky than you’re making it out to be.
“basic chemistry” linseed oil is acid resistant so stfu.
Lol so mad
But they do need special maintenance, compared to Teflon pans or ceramic pans, they are the most finicky and hard to work with.
There are a lot of things people have done for centuries. Being old doesn’t make something superior.
The problem with the people who prostletyze cast iron, is they usually assume that everyone cooks like them, but the reality is that cast iron is generally a pain in the ass. I mean just the fact that you need to cover the entire pan in oil Every time you put it away should be enough of an indicator.
Oh hell no. Nonstick pans have to be babied - plastic spatulas, gentle sponges, and they get worse with time. Cast iron you almost cannot destroy, and gets better and better with use. Scrub away with chainmail, scrape with a metal spatula, it doesn’t care. Too hot? Doesn’t care.
no. Teflon pans are just the worst. silicone utensils only and never turn the burner over half or your budgie dies. BTW your theory about oil coating is idiocy.
Lol so mad
I bet I’d get this joke if I had ever used a dishwasher in my life
You’re not special for washing dishes in a less efficient way that’s worse for the environment. If you’ve just never had access to one, ignore me, but Ive definitely known a surprising number of people who have dishwashers in their apartments but refuse to use them. If that’s you, you’re probably doing life wrong.
Anyway there’s nothing that unique about the dishwasher itself, washing cast iron in hot soap and water and then leaving it to air dry will strip the protection of the polymerized oil and then trigger the pan to rust. Nothing to do with dishwashers as a technology except if you wash a pan by hand you’re likely scrubbing it less effectively and not willing to spend 1-2 hours spraying it with hot water. If you stick the pan into the washer for 15 mins, immediately rinse, dry, and re season, it’s not particularly different from washing by hand.
Ewe 😆 Cute grand stand but I grew up living in spare bedrooms and in a homeless shelter for a bit. Not pretending to be special because we couldn’t afford luxuries like that. Keep soapboxing in meme posts though, makes you seem important.
As I said if this wasn’t a choice you should ignore me.
You baby your cookware and debate the differences of each type.
I don’t even know what type of cookware I have.
We are not the same.
If you don’t care why post on a thread to tell people how little you care?
Clearly making a fun joke about my cookware ineptitude. Also I didn’t say I didn’t care, I said I didn’t know.
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That just gets me excited to start a fresh new seasoning. Starting from bare metal is a good feeling
Why do you hate cast iron?
It feels super greasy and filthy, and everything you cook sticks to it. Give me stainless steel any day.
That’s just a dirty pan. Actual cast iron seasoning isn’t sticky or dirty because it has no impurities from the food, it’s actually polymerized with the cast iron and it should look make the pan look black and glassy. I wash mine with Dawn soap and hand dry it, and it makes Teflon look like a joke. I can heat it without any butter or oil, drop in a glob of egg yolk, and it’ll slide like it’s skating on Astroglide. You’re having a skill issue and you need to get good.
I wash mine with Dawn soap and hand dry it,
Yeah, I think the big hangup for a lot of people is that detergents used to contain lye which would react with the steel. No longer the case. Folks will seriously refuse to clean their pans which is gross AF.
React with the steel… in the cast iron? I’m confused
Steel is like 98% iron. Sorry for the mistake.
But cast iron doesn’t contain steel, it contains iron and carbon
What do you think carbon steel is made from?
Cast iron and steel are largely similar materials, cast iron just has the carbon precipitated out of solution instead of trapped in a crystalline structure
dawn literally has lye in it
From what I can see, it’s used to balance the pH. So I assume a small amount.
it’s fucking lye, doesn’t take much
What exactly is your argument here? I use Dawn; it doesn’t appear to affect my cast iron pan. Many people online use it to clean their cast iron with no ill effects.
I mean, they use the stuff to clean off ducks after oil spills. I suspect whatever concentration it has is not high enough to have any caustic effects.
So clearly it does take “much.”
Does this also apply to the caustic and corrosive ingredients in a soda?
It’s phosphoric acid, doesn’t make much, yet it’s safe to drink. See how fucking moronic that argument is you muppet?
In this thread are people trying to use one tool for everything.
You don’t use a screwdriver for everything.
Likewise, in the kitchen, you don’t use the same utensil for everything.
And I’m sorry, for the people that have one fork, one knife one knife, one pan. No. Unless you live on shit food, you can’t cook with just that.
If you actually want tasty food, you’ll need some hardware. There’s just no way around it.
Disclaimer, I’m French, and an actual cook (non practising).
I find it amusing that as someone that actually spent years learning how to cook, and that I took the took the time to understand the chemistry and logic of cooking, I’m downvoted because:
- I’m french (because a fair number of users are idiots, and yet I’m still here to face them)
- or they believe they can cook with a microwave (a US affectation)
- or maybe it’s just a jest across the atlantic, since we made them a country, they hate us for some reason as a joke, haha.
Well now you’re getting downvoted for complaining about downvotes
I just reseasoned my 12” Lodge today! A lot of nasty smells coming out as I took off layers and layers of old seasoning with barkeeper’s friend. But now it has a non sticky, glassy smooth new sunflower oil seasoning. Very slick!
Does anyone know how to avoid having bacon foul up the seasoning? Seems like it always reacts chemically and incorporates proteins into the seasoning which make it nasty and dry and flaky rather than smooth and glassy.
Scrub it clean with soap, then put the pan on a burner to heat dry it. At the end, rub a very thin layer of fat on it. I use clarified butter. It’s a cumulative process, you won’t see all the benefits of nonstick all at once.
That butter is going rancid on the surface.
You… hate cast iron? Of all things people could hate, cast iron is the choice here. Mmaight.
Cast iron has a weird cult following. It’s like the jahovas witnesses of cookware
Oh no people like something, better start calling it a cult so can we can get views.
Social media is such shit.
I wash my cast iron with normal dish soap and steel wool, and if I’m too lazy, I put it in the dishwasher. I’ve been doing this for 20 years. I don’t “season” it. It’s a pan, no more, no less. The main advantage is that you don’t need to worry about scratching the shit out of it.
Needs a tiny little bit more fat than a non-stick if you want to make an omelette.
I know you’re a troll but the idea of cooking on a dish soap infused cast iron is filthy lol
I’m not a troll. But the amount of magical thinking around cast iron amuses me to no end.
“dish soap infused” lol. Tell me, are your kitchen knives “infused” with soap, too?
