Caring for Your Cast Iron Pans by Lynn Whitlark If you have cast iron pans (and you should) here are some basic tips for taking care of them so they live a long and productive life -- and will still be in good shape for your great grandchildren to enjoy.... 1. Did you know that everytime you cook in a cast iron pan, you get trace iron in your diet? That's a good thing, by the way. Save you having to take it in those nasty little multi-vitimin tablets.... 2. To "season" a NEW cast iron pan, (give it that matte black non-stick surface) use VEGETABLE OIL on a paper towel, and wipe a thin coat over the entire surface of the clean, DRY pan. Put it in a 400 degree oven for 1 hour, then turn the oven off and allow the pan to cool down with the oven. After that -- YOU'RE READY TO COOK. 3. Each time you use the pan, either spray it inside and out with PAM or another cooking spray, or wipe it again with a thin coat of vegetable oil on a paper towel. 4. NEVER put cast iron in the dishwasher. 5. NEVER leave cast iron soaking. Wash it with hot HOT water and dry it immediately. 6. Each time you wash and dry the pan, either spray it inside and out with a light spritz of PAM, or wipe it again with a thing coat of vegetable oil on a paper towel. 7. NEVER cook a tomato based soup/sauce or other tomato dish in cast iron. The acid in the tomatoes removes the "seasoning". (the non-stick coating) 8. If, somehow, your pan becomes rusted, or if some of the "seasoning" chips or peels, you can remove all the seasoning and start fresh by putting the rusted or damaged pan in a self cleaning oven and then setting the oven to self-clean. You also have to leave the pan in there to cool down with the oven..... Then just wash it and dry it, and start fresh with a new seasoning. 9. If, somehow, your pan is in REALLY bad shape (like a few I've bought at antique or junk stores....), then do the self-cleaning oven trick of #8, then clean any additional rust away with a metal bristle attachment for an electric drill or a Dremel tool. This is cast iron after all. It's not like you're gonna scratch it or break it. 10. Did you know that a Pyrex 10" lid fits many of the cast iron dutch ovens and round skillets? As long as your round iron pans are standard sizes (like 6", 8", 10"....) then any standard lid will fit on them. 11. Avoid cooking watery soups in cast iron. This is the same problem as "soaking" them. |
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