Re: Cast Iron Pan

May 16, 2010

Hey Alyssa,

I'm sure this is a late chime in, but I LOVE my cast iron. Here is what I do.

Liightly oil the pan. Place it upside down over aluminum foil in a 500 degree

oven for a couple hours. It's best to do this a few times.

When you use it, you always want to preheat it. Never put food in a cold pan or

it will stick. The fisrt few times you use the pan, food might stick. That's

ok... it's still seasoning. When you get done cooking your food, if it does look

like food's stuck, put some warm water in it and heat it up until the water

bubbles and use a metal spatula to scrape the stuck stuff off the bottom. Never

put cold water in your hot cast iron skillet or it could crack. I find cast iron

is easier to clean when it's hot so I usually bring it to the sink when I'm done

cooking and clean it with hot water immediately.

When I'm done cleaning it, I put it on a burner on very low and let the heat dry

it completely. Then I put a little oil in the skillet and completely cover the

inside with a very light coat of oil. This keeps it from rusting during storage.

I had to do this for a while until my pots were totally seasoned.

If I cooked the food in the oven, I'll wipe the pan out with a towel and put it

in the hot oven to dry. If you don't dry the pan, it could rust. My sister has

had the same cast iron pots and skillets for over 15 years and still oils them

every time she uses them and will not use soap on them. I use soap just don't

soak it in soap because it does absorb.

Hope this helps,

Misty Kimble

CD - no meds

SCD - 2 + years

>

> My mom just brought home a brand new cast iron pan with a lid that she

> got from a yard sale! Now....what do I do with it?? I know you have to

> 'season' it, but I have no idea how to do that except that is has

> something to do with oil. What kind of oil should I use? I've heard

> that you aren't supposed to wash it after you use it, but could that

> get kind of gross? Any tips on caring for an iron skillet are

> appreciated! It doesn't seem like the non-stick stuff would be good to

> cook your food on because of whatever chemicals they use, so that's

> why I wanted to get an iron pan. Just not sure what to do with it =)

>

> Peace =)

> Alyssa 16 yo

> UC April 2008, dx Sept 2008

> SCD June 2009 (restarted)

> Azathioprine 75 mg 1x per day

> Prednisone 30 mg 1x per day

>

May 16, 2010

Hi Alyssa. Great buy! I have cast iron skillets that I am the third generation

to use. My Grandmother gave them to my Mom when she set up housekeeping in

1938! They are still perfect. My Mom used them for decades and then passed them

to me when she just couldn't handle the weight of the pans anymore. She cleaned

them with coarse salt. I don't recall her ever washing them with soap and I

don't either. I do a lot of camping and hiking and have the big skillet at the

permanent camp that we have setup on our very remote land that we visit

frequently (plus a dutch oven that we bought recently). When we go out there, we

use solar power and as little water as possible, so I can't imagine using my

oven every time to dry them. It would waste too much energy. The salt works

better than soap and water and it saves resources, too. Have fun with your new

find.