Cast Iron Pans
Paint It Black
If you’ve used cast iron pans you’ll know just how good they are for cooking. If you haven’t, ask yourself why.
Cast iron pans have great heat distribution and retention. You can take cast iron from the hob and transfer it straight to the oven.
Cast iron cookware lasts years and improves with age, unlike modern non-stick pans which deteriorate with usage as the non-stick coating gets thinner and thinner.
One of the few drawbacks with cast iron cookware, is it takes a little more work in preparing them for first use, and then keeping them in a clean usable condition. Cast iron cookware is definitely NOT suitable for the dishwasher. You need to clean by hand.
Seasoning Cast Iron
From new, cast iron pans have to be seasoned, before they’re usable or the cast iron will rust, souring your food and causing discolouration. To season cast iron pans can take a little work. The process of turning the gun metal grey into a black beauty takes time and patience.
Brand new pans, often come coated with a light protective coating, to prevent rust during transport. The coating must be cleaned and removed before the seasoning can begin. Use a scouring pad and detergent to scrub the new pan and completely remove all traces of the protective layer to get back to gun metal iron.
Next, preheat the oven to 500 – 550 deg F (260 – 290 deg C). While the oven heats up, fire up a gas burner and place the cleaned pan on it to ensure it is fully dry. Let it stand for a couple of minutes for the heat to dry it out.
Once the pan is dry, lightly coat it with a thin layer of Olive Oil. Make sure there are no gaps or misses in the oil layer you applied. If you don’t have Olive Oil, you can use corn oil or sunflower just as well.
Place the pan in the oven for 15 – 20 minutes. Caution. The pan will be VERY HOT. Use oven gloves to the take pan out the oven and wipe off any excess oil that has pooled in the pan.
Put the pan back into the oven, upside down (inverted). This will allow any excess oil to run off the pan and prevent pooling at the bottom, which will not harden and remains tacky for a long time, spoiling your smooth, non-stick surface.
Leave the pan in the oven for 2-3 hours. This process will cause a lot of smoke. So ventilate the kitchen, by opening doors and windows to get a through draft, before you start.
To properly season a new pan you need to repeat the process at least three times. Finally cook the pan in the oven for another 3-4 hours without adding any oil. This will bake/harden the final coating. When your done, the pan should be black or near black in color.
What we are trying to do is build up a carbon layer to protect the cast iron. The carbon layer will resist rust and provide a natural non-stick coating way better than any commercial product on the market.
Cleaning Cast Iron
Don’t use abrasive cleaning pads or detergents on the pans, as they will remove the carbon layer you are trying to build up.
To clean your pans, use hot water and kitchen towel to remove excess oil, fat or any other deposits. If you need to use a soft brush with the hot water water from a running tap. Don’t immerse the pan in water. That will only only lead to rusting of your pans.
Storing Cast Iron
After cleaning, oil the pan lightly with vegetable oil and store away from water or moisture. The little effort it takes to look after Cast Iron Cookware, is repaid ten fold. The pans give years of excellent service and as an added bonus, they are great to cook with.
Overview
Let’s have a quick overview of what the process does, and what we are trying to achieve.
Here’s a brand new cast iron pan. Its gun metal gray. It contains little or no carbon.
Here’s a piece of coal. Its black. Coal contains a lot of carbon.
Here’s carbon fibre. Its black. Carbon fibre contains a lot of carbon.
Here’s a seasoned cast iron pan. Its black. Seasoned cast iron pan contains a lot of carbon in the coating.
Your probably getting the idea about now.
The whole idea of seasoning Cast Iron Cookware is to lay down a good thick, even, hardened layer of cooked on black carbon. The seasoning process converts the oil to a beautiful black non-slip carbon layer.
The seasoning process lays down carbon on the iron surface. The carbon that has non-stick properties and provides a degree of rust protection.
Now you know!