Simple rules for cast iron care
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- Опубліковано 26 тра 2022
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Taking good care of your cast iron (or carbon steel!) cookware starts with understanding the chemistry it relies on.
𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 (𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲) 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀:
-www.castironcollector.com/seas...
-cookingissues.com/2010/02/16/...
-www.scienceofcooking.com/scie...
-chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelv...
𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗵𝗼𝘄-𝘁𝗼𝘀:
-www.cooksillustrated.com/arti...
-www.cooksillustrated.com/arti...
-www.seriouseats.com/how-to-se...
-www.seriouseats.com/how-to-se...
- • How to Season Cast Iro...
𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿-𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗸𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰:
-Will Dichtel, Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University
-Michael Kessler, Dean & Professor at the College of Engineering at North Dakota State University
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As a chef I stand by this video completely. If you care for your cast iron pans like this, you'll enjoy them for the rest of your life.
And your children and their children can use the same pan. If cared for properly they will last an extremely long time, and they can take a fair amount of abuse too.
@@weepingangel2564 I came here to write exactly that. About future generations, too, using the pan. 🙂
I have my grandmother's cast iron (for the past 20 years). They're in great shape and they will go on to my teenager as they move on in life. Cast iron is life.
Tri-ply will last a lifetime as well and be better in every way when it comes to cooking.
My grandma did, my dad did, and now I do too!
Fun fact, this is the same way many blacksmiths, myself included, make our work weather resistant. Plant hangers, bird feeder hooks, door hinges and hardware, any metal work that's going to be outside can use the same technique of seasoning to prevent them from rusting from the elements. I'll often get a finished piece to a "black heat" by heating the metal to a cherry red color, and then allowing it to cool slightly until it's no longer glowing, but obviously still incredibly hot. Then I'll take a thick rag that's been dabbed in canola oil and gently rub the piece. This creates the same polymer layer as it would on a cast iron pan, and can let a piece of metal work last for years and years outside without much worry of damage.
It's still a good idea to occasionally clean and oil items that have been out in the rain, but my first scroll work plant hanger, which I made for my mother in law, has been up for about a decade without more than a couple small rust spots and next to no maintenance.
Totally the same thing you do to take care of an offset smoker. Rub the outside of the whole thing with a little (emphasis on a little! Don't want it to get gummy) oil every time you use it and it will stay rust free from quite some time.
Do you have any videos?
@@lethalslaughterband5498 I don't but my go to channels for all bbq awesomeness are HowToBBQRight, Chud's BBQ, Cooking With Ry, Big Lew BBQ, Baby Back Maniac, and a few more... I'm sure the algorithm will show you if you search those cats
Thanks
I use a mixture of linseed oil and beeswax. Also a farrier and blacksmith.
The biggest mistake people make with cast iron pans is throwing them away because they see rust. This is the most definite no-no. Most damage is fixable. Either fix them yourself or give the pans away to people who will fix them.
Agreed. Any mistakes can be fixed, so people shouldn’t really worry about ruining a cast iron pan.
Treat it like what it is: a hunk of metal. If you treat it nice, it will do great. If you treat it bad, don’t worry, you can always buff it out and start again.
A lot of people throw them away during the initial patina/seasoning as well because it gives off a bronze hue. So many new or novice cast iron owners I interacted with think it's rust when in reality it's the start of a great seasoning
Shush... This is how I've scored incredible bargains on high-quality vintage pans. So many morons send their rusty pans to thrift stores. You'd be amazed. I've bought 90-year-old Wagners and Griswolds for as little as $5. Last week I scored a vintage 70-year-old Lodge 9-inch skillets for $10. This was back in the day when Lodge made pans with absolutely smooth cooking surfaces. 🤫
@@JacksonWalter735 that’s good to know, I’ve got a couple of carbon steel pans (which I bought because I wanted to be able to scrape and serve with a spatula) and I’d noticed a fine bronze coloured speckling on the surface. It claimed to be pre seasoned and said to just make sure to spread the fat around while using it to keep it good, but maybe I’ll spend a while seeing if I can build it up further.
@@kaitlyn__L yes that is the way. I literally just finished making eggs in a Debuyer crepe pan I got off of Facebook for a few bucks because they thought it was rusting. I uploaded that short to my channel and you can see how it's still bronze with a few black spots. It will darken over time, but it's still nonstick while being bronze 🤷
Inherited a cast iron pan and dutch oven a few years ago. The previous owner had not taken care of them (they were stored in a shed with camping gear,) so they were just completely rusted.
A couple hours of scouring with steel wool to remove the rust, thorough washing, then a couple hours of careful seasoning, and they've been perfect ever since.
You can get scouring bits for hand drills to make that task easier
Good of you to recognize the quality under the rust and bring those gems back to life!
If you come across more rusty pants just throw them in a fire to burn off any of the built up carbon scale and rust. Keep them really hot but not glowing orange. Let it air cool and scrub with a steel scrubby with soap and water. Finally, season with bacon grease and wipe off as much as you can and you're good to go. I've restored many cast iron pieces this way over the last few decades. People just make it more complicated then it needs to be.
@@williamganley4739 Burn it off! Huh. I saw someone put a badly scaled pan in an electric oven and run it through the self-clean cycle which is evidently hotter than just baking at top temperature. That seemed to do the trick too.
When I was younger, I had a friend who worked on tugboats. The cook on the boat used plain salt to season the pans. When the pan is clean just rub table salt in the pan and just keep rubbing until you see a bit of a shine. Once that's done you can use it. When you're done with it just rinse it out and let air dry. I've been doing it this way for years and it works wonderfully. The only time you'd have to resalt is if you've washed with a degreaser like dawn. Otherwise it good to go!!
I have 3 go to cast iron cooking pans, one being a square skillet. They all used to belong to my great grandmother. Needless to say the seasoning on them is incredible, I use soap and scour them all the time. I can cook bacon, scrape the bottom of the four inch putty knife, and fry eggs completely non stick in all of them. Nothing like a couple of fresh eggs fried in bacon grease in an over 100 year old cast iron skillet.
Yup. I have a 1930's lodge I have had to strip and I cannot, cannot, cannot get the last layer off. I've been spraying and sanding and washing and baking for weeks now and I just now got 95 percent of it off.
People fret far too much over cast iron...the real secret is...the more you use them, the better they get. you can watch all the videos you want about care and seasoning...and your egg will still get destroyed in a fresh skillet. Cook a few steaks on that bad boy...and notice the difference. I flip eggs on mine like it was a teflon pan...
Danos noticias de tus arterias 😂
Cook a Cajun roux in one …. Instant seasoning
Soap had lye. Most dishwashing liquids are detergents not soaps. Detergents and soaps are different from each other. But, I think the main reason for the no soap rule is that someone has experienced a poorly rinsed pan. "Don't soak cast iron" is a good idea. It is better to be safe than sorry. But, where is the dividing line time wise between a rinse and a soak?
I stopped worrying so much about using soap occasionally on my pan and using normal oil opposed to flax seed oil. Glad to see science backing up why it has been working so much better for me now.
Canola oil is the one to use, that's what Lodge includes in their care kit. Other oils will probably work with varying degrees of success, but canola oil is both cheap and effective at seasoning cast iron.
I polished my cast iron smooth on the inside. Organic flax seed oil works fine for me. Supposedly the best stuff is good grade linseed oil but that’s not easy to get in the US.
Flaxseed becomes too brittle at higher temps & flakes off, can’t avoid it if you do steaks & other high heat foods. From my research, refined avocado oil has the highest smoke point & strength.
@@YaH_Gives_Wisdom I can guess the reason why your flaxseed coating peeled off the surface. Usually, it happens if you haven't thoroughly cleaned your pan from the previous build-up. For seasoning a pan with flaxseed, I heat it over an open flame. Chemical substances don't clean the pores of the cast iron, and then the layer peels off from the pan. This is from personal experience.
@@andriidorohov2044 I would some what agree except this doesn’t happen with other oils like avocado. Also, I tried flaxseed with a completely brand new pan & same result, so I have to conclude it is the flaxseed. Avocado has never flaked for me.
That’s really good to know, I watched an Adam Ragusea video on pans and he talked about seasoning cast iron pans, but didn’t go to deep on what the oil was doing when it became a seasoning, I liked how you explained how it almost turns into a plastic like material and that’s what gives it those properties.
Adam Ragusea is an ignorant hack
That video said that flaxseed was the best oil so Idk who is right
Do some detailed research :)
Flax seed is great because of a high smoke point, but it can flake easier than other oils.
Emphasis on can.
With normal usage, you shouldn't have any flaking and if you do, as said in this video, normal cooking repairs it no problem.
@@marceltelang7825 Do you really need "the best", though? You're getting different answers at different places because people have been using their pans differently throughout the centuries, and there's a hundred different ways to do it, and all are fine. You don't need "the best" way. People have used cast iron cookware in parts of the world where they even didn't know what flax is.
@@zorkan111 This is what put me off cast iron before, I though it was too much maintenance, like "omg don't wash it, don't touch it, don't use it"
it wasn't until I realized dude... people have been using cast iron before they had the internet, before we had cars, before plastics, before they even knew what germs were... I think you're going to manage this "technology".
Step 1: cook with it
Step 2: wash it
Step 3: if rusty.... proceed to step 2
If grandma from the age before they had railways can maintain a cast iron skillet, I think a 30 year old man in 2024 can do it too, without "failing" to the point where the food is inedible. I'm pretty sure grandma didn't use "top of the line best of the modern world oil" to get that perfect seasoning, I'm pretty sure most people used the pan to cook food, and if it was sticky at least you got so food.
finally an answer that's backed up with a proper scientific explanation, I actually understand the process now instead of all these "this is how you do it because the person who told me was really confident about it"
It really is amazing how much confidence can sway the average person.
... ...
*Says so confidently*
😅 (Couldn't resist)
I found that ultra-fine steel wool helped a lot when initially getting my carbon steel pan seasoned. The first several uses are the hardest and having a quick way to smooth down rough spots without undoing all of my progress made it much easier. Now that it's evenly seasoned I rarely have to use it.
I found 2 cast iron pans on the side of the road in boxes of stuff they were throwing away. My intro to cast iron began that was 1982, one pan was from the 1800s the other was a Griswold number 12, and I’m still using them today, my daughter talked me out of the big one since all the kids are grown and gone. Yep, 100% recycled cast iron! Got to love them.
I find cast iron cook ware may times during the year. One day I found a pan that I loojed up and it was rare. I ended up selling it on e bay for two hundred seventy five dollars.
Makes me wonder just how many other pans were worth money, that I sold to the scrap yards.
The 1800s??
I have a cast iron skillet that has to be at least 100 years old. It was passed down from my grandmother to my mother and then to me. Since I received this skillet as a young newlywed, and I am almost 80 now it could very well be even older. I do follow the rules in this video and still love my frying pan. It’s the best for frying meat!
1:21 the lick
damn, good ears
damn, good ears
damn, good ears
Crespo, saludos! Igual mirando un poco de cocina lol
,???
I have been bitten by the cast iron bug for years now. It's been a roller coaster ride. I have a nice collection, still working on creating the PAN CAVE in my MANCAVE, lol. Over time I have 3-4 favorite pans that I use on a regular basis. The seasoning is so nice the clean up is a piece of cake (excuse the pun). My 2 cents on seasoning is have patience ! I agree with the you tube channel owner about everything she said. Remember No one will fight over Teflon cook ware, but they will fight over well maintained castiron. I will get off my soapbox now. I have to get back to seasoning a late 1800s antique roaster given to me. Cheers TS
I’m a 32 year old adult and I cannot believe how helpful and informative this video was to me
You'll get older and learn more then!
what does your age have to do with anything here?
@@TahitianTreatSkeetJuiceJr leave it to the internet for interactions like this! Haha. I involved age because the longer you live, the more exposure to experiences you have. I was surprised that I didn’t know all the awesome things in the video
Very true. We use an ERIE pan from 1896 almost everyday. Hadn't been used in almost 50 years, but it was taken care of and was almost ready to use right away.
Thats an early Griswold pan. Excellent
The rust is my seasoning
Your explanation and illustrations are terrific. The procedure shown in other videos on simply seasoning a pan was so confusing. Now I understand what to do even more than the instructions of how to do it because I now know WHY. Thank you!
Very much on point. The worst thing about Cast Iron is there is so much bad info out there on it. Crazy non-true things I've heard about cast iron include things like people thinking, "It absorbs flavor so if you use it on a gas stove it'll taste like propane!" or "You have to season with fancy expensive oil like rapeseed oil". And then of course there's the myth about soap and water being unusable on it.
I clean and re-season cast iron for myself and two estate sale companies. It isn't uncommon to get a pan from the mid to late 1800s that can be made as good as new. They are not disposable pans if they've been cared for, that means no wire brushes, heat damage, or cracks. Medium rust can be dealt with, I've seen people give up on perfectly good pans and can't believe it when I finish grandma's old skillet. I enjoy seeing their face when they first see it. Priceless
do a few videos
@@Lina-ws3by You know I've thought about that. I'm retired and frankly don't want a job or the experience of working with youtube. I find most of my pieces at estate sales then restore them but there's only so much to see. It's the same with every piece so I wouldn't expect many subscribers. There's only so many of us that are this mentally disturbed. In our defense we don't hurt anyone or cause problems.
What you would see at Cast Iron Restoration is an electrolysis tank used in every cleaning. (I don't touch aluminum, cast iron cleaning is easy but that stuff). No vinegar or acid rust removers. No power tools or heat used for cleaning. Repairing a warped bottom skillet. Making spatulas from new Lodge skillets. And the main thing you'd notice is a butt ugly old guy doing an awful filming and editing job. You'd quit half way thru and think "this ole fart has cast iron for brains". The bad part is I'd have to agree. Watch a few ring finder videos, that's about how they look. I like to get their piece after they've tried and given up. Then they can't believe it came clean and it's free. I usually won't charge an older person or friends. I compiled all the restoration prices I could find on the internet. The average price to restore a #8 skillet is $30. Some of these people may not have an extra $30? The Lord has blessed me throughout my life and I don't have to charge them. We all win! If you've made it till now bless your heart. You must be as bored as I am...
Thank you for taking the time to explain why soap isn't a big deal when washing cast iron. I've done it with my twenty year old skillet and catch heck from anti-soap zealots.
The great thing about cast iron is once you get used to it, it's not that difficult to take care of. I wash it, I scrub it, I use soap and sometimes I let it soak. It's fine. If I see that the seasoning is thinning, I give it a few coats and it's good as new.
I tell people "it thrives on neglect". I have adhd and can't follow a strict complex routine with something like cookware. I only use cast iron to cook, basically do whatever with them, and they just stays smooth, glossy, black and slick decade after decade.
I literally do nothing to care for my pan outside of washing it and drying it. After 5 years of use the seasoning thats built up takes care of the pan for me at this point
I just discovered this channel and I love it so much. You combine two things I care deeply about. And thank you for debunking soap (and flax)! I can’t tell you how many people still believe that myth!
Flaxseed oil is known for its ability to form more durable polymers compared to sunflower oil. This is due to its high content of alpha-linolenic acid, which tends to create more stable and stronger polymer bonds during the oxidation process. It's a chemical aspect. Now, as for why seasoning pans with flaxseed oil might be considered a myth, it's because some argue that the process isn't as effective as believed. I'm still figuring out what to use for my pans myself.
I'm a guy and I have never been into kitchen stuff before, but since I bought my first cast iron pan last week, my sister is getting annoyed about how obsessed I have gotten in a short time over a cast iron pan 😂😂.
I truly want to master the art of seasoning the cast iron pan and its maintenance that keeps it brand new for generations to come. ✌🏼
I have a completely stick proof cast iron skillet. It has been in my husband's family over a hundred years with a great coating. Been washing with dish soap and drying in the oven for years. The seasoning hasn't been affected at all. Have bought more pans at garage and farm sales that often have great old pans too.
I dry mine on the stove. Just set to medium heat and takes less then a minute. I season on the stove too.
THANK YOU!!! As a guy who barely scraped by in chemistry in school, your clear explanation made it fairly easy for even me.
As someone who has made a chemistry project about the aging of food oils with varying degrees of saturation to compare how quickly they age, I can attest that we could not get the seasoning out of the beakers we used any more, even when scrubbing with the rough side of a sponge in hot, soapy water. Things like acetone or alcohol had no visible effect on it, either, nor did scraping it with a metal spatula. In the end, we had to throw the beakers away.
Just for reference: We chose coconut oil as a mostly saturated oil, olive oil as a mostly singular unsaturated oil, sunflower oil as a mostly double unsaturated oil and linseed oil as a mostly triple unsaturated oil. Only the coconut oil did not create a polymer layer during our tests because it barely has any unsaturated fatty acids.
How did the olive oil do against the two seed oils?
One thing you could have tried is to fill the beakers with an NaOH solution. This dissolves seasoning quite well.
У нас в лаборатории "кипячение" грязной стеклянной посуды в неконцентрированной азотной кислоте решало любые проблемы с загрязнениями органического характера.
A cast iron frying pan is hands down one of the best things I’ve brought. I initially brought it to cook on the fire out side and it’s made it’s way inside and gets used daily. Sometimes multiple times a day.
Thank you! Turns out I got into cast iron just this week, and I've been digging through piles of websites trying to figure out from all the conflicting information what is the science behind it. I do wish that you had given instructions on how to season the cast iron, because what you were showing in the video was quite different than most of the videos I've seen so far. I'm also interested to know if the seasoning is safe? Part of the reason we got away from Teflon is concerns about cancer.
I've had success seasoning both in the oven and on the stovetop. If you're new to cast iron, I'd start with the oven, since there's a bit more room for error! We showed stovetop in the video since it's a bit easier than filming in the oven :) As far as safety, as long as you're airing out the kitchen when you season (it does get smoky) and using your pan properly (e.g. not cooking on a bare pan, since that could leach a lot of iron), cast iron is likely a much safer (and greener!) option than Teflon.
@@MinuteFood Thanks! Does the pan need to be warm/hot when you apply the oil? Is there any risk of the pan being in the oven for too long at temperature? And what temperature is too high in the oven? Thanks again!
@@davidalearmonth The pan does need to be hot when you apply the oil, mostly to make sure it's bone-dry first. Also if you're seasoning in the oven, you should coat the entire pan with oil, not just the cooking surface, to protect the whole thing from rust. You can't really leave the pan in the oven for too long (remember that the pan is going to spend a lot of time at temperature over its life as you cook with it), but an hour or two is plenty of time. Just don't leave the oven on and unattended, for safety's sake. And as far as temperature goes, just crank your oven to its highest setting. A home oven can't get hot enough to do any damage to sturdy cast iron (or the polymerized seasoning layer). And every time you cook with it, after you wash it, get it hot again and wipe it down with another thin layer of oil to protect it from rust. If you do that and use the pan often, you shouldn't even really need to worry about seasoning, since that layer of oil will polymerize a bit the next time you cook with it.
@@davidalearmonth I’m no expert with cast iron, but just focusing on the science talked about in the video: I would imagine oiling a warm or cold pan would make little difference. The idea is to eventually have the oil heat up to polymerize, and that’s at a much higher temperature than just a warm pan (I feel it would be dangerous to apply directly to a scorching hot pan, so even if that was better, I would not recommend). Using a warm pan might cut down on your waiting time, since the reaction temperature will be reached sooner after putting the oil on and popping the whole thing in an oven. But how much difference a few minutes less of heating up in this long process seems negligible, as this isnt a race.
One thing good thing warming the pan up would do is dry the pan. After you clean the pan with soap and water, it’s obviously wet (or at least damp). Warming the pan would drive off this water and prevent rust from forming as the pan sits. This would also prevent water from interfering with the coat of oil that you are applying, possibly avoiding an uneven seasoning.
@@OGSumo the idea is that beating the pan causes the metal to expand, and this allows the oil to “grab the pan” and really get into every nook and cranny
Thank you for posting this. I got a new oven with a cast iron griddle a few months ago, and trying to research using and caring for cast iron cookware has been so frustrating. It's amazing to me that people have been using cast iron cookware since probably the Iron Age and yet there is no clear consensus on anything and so much bad advice about it on UA-cam.
I would love if you covered induction cooking someday. From what I know it's more envirement friendly since it doesn't need gas and the rate of change of the heat is quite diffrent from traditional gas cooking and I would love to learn more about it.
Thanks - we'll put this on our list for the future!
@@MinuteFood You could say you're putting it on the burner. Sorry I don't want to make anyone salty so I'll sea myself out.
@@christianrolle2548 Putting it on the back burner to simmer for later? xD
@@kyokoyumi I think I’m already kind of heated, have had enough of getting roasted.
As long as the cast iron isn't heavier than what the induction cooktop can handle, cast iron is perfectly fine on it. But, you might want to put something down to keep the skillet from scratching the cook top.
My mom bought me a huge 13 inch cast iron skillet. I’m amazed. My cooking is so much better, and I really can’t burn food with it!?
Had no idea how the polymerization worked, but all I do is wash out my pan and wipe it down with oil!
Thank you for the awesome videos! ❤️
The thickness of the cast iron more evenly distributes the heat, reducing hot spots and helps prevent burning.
I bought my first cast iron pans from Lodge in 2016, suffered through the first week of not knowing how to season it, and then never looked back. Great stuff!
I got my cast iron pan from lodge too because it was cheap, then I used a palm sander to quickly sand through the coarse pre season with rough grit paper and then reseasoned. The results were the ability to fry an egg non stick style after just a few layers of seasoning.
This must be officially the most useful video on cast iron pans out there! Thank you!
Ok. As a self-proclaimed seasoning expert I came into this video think it was just another fluff video.
This is all true. Much respect to whoever did the research for the video.
Impressed.
Agree. I’d suggest avocado oil, also.
Flaxseed oil makes a great polymer at first, but it flakes off.
I am at least the 3rd owner of a 16" cast iron pan. It was my grandmother's then my father's. I'm not positive it wasn't handed down to my grandmother. She passed in 1995, & I didn't get it from my father until 2013, when he moved in with my wife and I. It is actually getting a little thin in the middle. But I love that pan.
I was cleaning out my aunts garage and found Grandmas cast iron. I was so happy to get pans with who knows how many years on them. Griswold no 5 and no 6. Wasn’t even rusted. They been stored in shed for close to a decade.
One thing: to avoid warping the pan, especially the larger sizes i.e. a #10, bring the pan up to temperature some what slowly. Do not just put a cold pan on high heat. The center of the pan will heat up and expand a tad causing stress with the cooler rim of the pan. Once a pan is warped there is no fixing it. Also after emptying the pan and while it is still hot, deglaze the pan by adding a small amount of water while scraping with a spatula. This will help get the crusty bit off.
Does this also apply to induction, or only gas?
@@Mario-fn7po Both I should think. Metal expands with heat like water does to a dry sponge. Best to put the pan on medium and do some prep. Check to see if the rime is hot before going too high. Given the cost of a good iron pan why risk it.
That’s one thing I miss about my traditional electric, slash a double edged sword of the instant heat of gas. It would take 5-10 minutes to heat up the hot plate anyway, let alone the pan, so you could safely set it at your desired final temp. Gas requires a lot more fiddling up and down the whole time.
An old roommate of mine busted a skillet of mine that way. Just broke in half.
@@kaitlyn__L oi
Wow, this is the first time I'm seeing the need for seasoning and how it works through actual science. It all becomes clear what I must do to treat my cast irons well. Thank you for this!
A friend gave me a cast iron pan as a gift and I was scared of it because I had heard about how finicky and hard to maintain they were. I did something wrong the first time and it immediately rusted. I let it rust in a cupboard for about a year, and then I unexpectedly got the day off of work because of some bad weather and decided to make it my day project to fix it. I scoured all the rust off that sucker with vinegar and steel wool and seasoned it with corn oil like three times until it was perfectly black and glossy. I've been cooking EVERYTHING on it now and everything turns out beautiful and nothing sticks to it. I actually like cooking now because of it and look for new things I can cook in it.
I just got my first cast iron skillet, and this video was a blessing.
After every single time I cook with my cast iron I use a chain mail scrubber with coarse kosher salt and a little water to scrub it well, then rinse it out with water, put it back on the burner to get all that water gone, let it cool slightly (but not completely) and apply a thin fresh layer of canola oil. My pan still looks brand new!
My wife and I regularly use a cast iron skillet which my grandparent bought new when they got married back in 1915. My grandmother used it for around 50 years, then my mom used it another 30+ years. My wife and I use it now, but when we leave this world the old iron skillet will be good for another century or more.
BTW: The one granny got in 1915 is Lodge cast iron. The company had been around for ~19 years when she got married. The company is still around today, making quality cast iron. BUT, be prepared to grind their "pre-seasoning out and re-season the pan, since they leave such a rough surface that it is horrible to try to cook with. The cookware is heavier than most, and the best you will find.
I have been collecting old rusty cast iron pans for a long time and have restored all of them . Everyone of my son's and daughter have one and taught how to take care of them . I still have my grandma's pans and deep fryers . Good vid .
Still use a pan that's over 80 years old, bottoms gotten more than a bit rusty over time, but it cooks well and hasn't broken unlike most of the other pans at some point. Steel or others with seperate handle pieces eventually build up a wobble and then break off at some point, single solid cast piece... it'll weather the ages. And tastes good too for many foods.
I cook on a 168 year old cast iron pan and it's like 14 inches wide and just doesn't care, it is way heavy tho
I've inherited cast iron cookware from both my late father (who was a chef) and from my 90+ year old MIL. Some of these pieces are pushing the century mark and are still going strong. Since I have an induction stove, they are almost all I use and so get re-seasoned pretty much every day. They'll go to the kid once I'm gone and will be good to go for decades more.
They will last until an incompatible heating technology is invented if cared for properly. (And considering induction is compatible and will probably he the standard for the next hundred years I can't even imagine how to make a stovetop incompatable with cast iron)
Its far more likely someone doesn't properly care for them than they go obsolete due to incompatibility with future stovetops. (And people can restore them up until the rust into dust which for something as thick as a cast iron skillet would take like 200 + years exposed to the elements.
Great video 😀 I needed this because 10 years ago I got some cast-iron pots and pans for my 50th birthday and only used them once because they started to rust. They are clean today, but stored away. I didn't know about seasoning them with oil. Now I'm 60 this month I have the time to do this and get some good use out of my cookware. Thanks again.
The best and most accurate information I've come across on cast iron. The seasoning information is on point as is the cleaning...wipe it when you can, scrape if needed, soap and water with a scrub pad if needed... quickly wipe dry and a bit of heat then a thin layer of oil in a warm/hot skillet...... the only restrictions i have with cast iron are cooking with vinegar, tomatoes, or thick cream based.... for those I go to SS or enameled cast iron
FINALLY someone shows the science of seasoning and how and why it works. Thank You!!!
After I cook I clean it then dry it and oil it before heading it up again, never had a problem doing it that way, and according to this it really just creates more layers of seasoning
The most comprehensive common sense video on 'how to' with these pans. Thank you.
My old boss once found a rusted out cast iron dutch oven at the dump. He took it home and re-seasoned it. Good as new!
That’s disgusting. It’s seasoned with dead raccoon intestinal juices, decomposed garbage and 27 diseases…. Enjoy your breakfast, cheap ass 🤮
So what you are saying is that the longer you use the pan the better it gets?
One other tip I've learned is that if you do end up with a small rust spot, you can just heat some strong vinegar over it to reduce it before you re-season
This can also help to undo a very uneven seasoning, where layers have flaked off. I used a 50/50 solution of vinegar and water and brought it to a boil for 5 minutes to reduce the unevenness before seasoning again.
When I first moved out of my parents house, my father gave me a cast iron pan he found at the dump. A Wagner, about 75 years old and in rough shape. I cleaned it up, reseasoned it and it has been in heavy use ever since. I've added a few more cast iron pans since and they are my favorite pans for my favorite dishes. Coincidence? I think not.
Yes! So glad you went through the science on this! As it is, I still don't use soap that much, just let whatever I was cooking with reseason it for me.
This is a great video! Especially for non-chef, non-scientists. Thank you so much!
Man I love cast iron because it is essentially never toxic and very hard to break. Like I've used modern skillets and if they cool too fast they will warp and bend. Also, cast iron can use induction heating effectively, and that's a big plus as induction is significantly more efficient than gas or electric (personally I find the term electric a bit silly as induction also uses electricity but eh).
It just depends on the pan your getting and it's type. The more mass in your pan the easier it's going to be to retain heat and keep the heat even across the pan. IIRC Cast Iron's actually not the best about thermal heat transfer but it's mass basically counteracts that. You basically have to heat the entire mass of pan to heat the food and since it has so much mass it takes longer to give up it's heat which means more even heat across the pan.
But if you get a high quality pan you can get a lot of those qualities. For example if all-clad sells 5 ply stainless steel pans which are layers of stainless steel, aluminium, and and sometimes copper all sandwiched together to add that mass you need and also you gain some of the benefits of each material. The downside is a 10 inch fry pan will cost you around $180 vs a cast iron pan at $45.
It's an important distinction, but induction and regular electric do use electricity, but induction causes the molecules in the cookware itself to vibrate and generate heat internally, rather than a massive resistor cause that same vibration indirectly.
Such a learning curve for me! When I started making flat breads and tortillas mine started to season and i understood this thin layering effect. Now if I need good seasoning I spend some time burning buttered bread slices or makes batch of tortillas.
Thank you for this! I restored a rusty cast iron belonging to my aunt and got it nicely seasoned but I've hardly used it until now because of all the "no soap" and "no scouring" messages. It's always left me thinking it will be such a pain to use.
Now I'll probably give it another layer of seasoning and use it tomorrow!
This is by far the best and most descriptive breakdown of seasoning I have come across. Great work!!
I find the easiest way to maintain my cast iron pans is to simply wash them with a small amount of water when still very hot. That's basically a deglaze. Just deglaze when hot, hit it with lots more water to rinse the deglaze and cool it, a quick and gentle scrub and then a wipe with a paper towel and it's ready for the next cook. It takes 15 seconds.
i boil some water in it for a few minutes then dump it outside, wash with a sponge under hot water then dry on stove and heat some oil until it smokes ....this pan is going to last forever ..
Such good tips in this video! I have cast iron pans that have been passed down from when my grandmother was first married and they are perfect for cooking!
I love cast iron. I really got into it when I restored a couple old Griswolds. They’re almost all I cook with
I had no idea. I've always been struggling with pans that became sticky and hard to cook in over time. I just assumed the "anti-stickiness" coating was wearing off and it was time for a new pan. I never considered improper seasoning.
Thanks for educational video! :)
I hope you are talking about cast iron pans, because it will not work on conventional pans that you see in markets. These ones do not work with seasoning dear
Good explanation. I was leaning toward stainless steel for my new pans but decided to learn to use my 2 cast iron skillets instead after watching this.
You can season stainless steel just like cast iron but I believe flaxseed oil or grape seed oil is the best for stainless
@@zleggitt1989 This is incredibly interesting thank you, we actually do have a stainless steel pan so I will probably try this out sometimes. :)
2:05 THIS explains why the flaxseed oil I used to season a restored skillet flaked off! For months I was scratching my head wondering why. Now I know. Thanks!
When my mother inlaw passed away, she made sure I got her cast iron skillet. It's now about 120 years old (belonged to her grandmother!). One thing she taught me, is that if you do wash it in the sink using a mild dish soap, rinse it thoroughly, towel dry it and then put it on the stove burner super hot! It will dry it all the way through the metal. While still hot, rub a little light olive oil back in. Good as new!!!
Is Olive oil what is used to season by chance?
@@maylin1986 almost. It's the "light" version. About the 3rd press or 4th press. I have since changed over to canola oil. Also is zero taste (the light olive oil is pretty much zero taste as well).
That was a great video!! I have been using cast iron and high carbon steel pans for years, and everything you said here was 100% accurate based on my experiences. I also experienced that the harder flax-seed oil seasonings flake away fast, and didn't understand why!
I've always used bacon grease to season my pans and it works great. 🤷♂️
This is so helpful. Thank you to everybody involved!
I used cast iron pan(?) and canola oil everyday and never realized they are so neatly combined. Great video!
Season with canola, but don't cook in it!
If you are new to cast iron Kent Rollins has great videos on everything you need to know about cast iron.
Yeah, I'm about to follow his advice and take a little sander to my 10" Lodge that came with that horrible, rough pre-seasoning. Nothing I've done in over a year has helped it to become non-stick. My 60+ year old pans, on the other hand, are smooth as glass, and I've never had trouble with them. Time to strip the Lodge back to iron and building anew. I was thinking flax oil till I saw this. Guess I'm going with ol' reliable canola.
I used olive oil for cooking for years. Recently switched to cast iron and olive made it almost non sticky within few days of regular cooking.
That what I do too, for "medium" flavored oils medium to medium high heat should be okay for them. For me that's like a "5" out of a ten and I rarely need to crank THAT high anyways.
When I first got my cast iron skillet, the coating it had was primarily anti-rust and otherwise wasn't very good, and trying to season it wasn't very effective. Then one day, I got out my electric buffer with a sanding disc, and I scoured the surface until it was mostly reduced to bare metal. After that, I started applying new layers of seasoning and it turned out a lot better.
This is really cool to get a peak at the involved in the chemical reactions.
I feel like cooking is a great way to have some context for learning chemistry.
Waiting on my first cast iron pan to get delivered.
Congratulations! Out of the 1000s of cast iron bullshit videos on UA-cam, you have produced one of the few videos that provides 100% accurate information. I have been cooking with cast iron for more than 30 years. This is how have always kept and maintained my pans with no problems.
Crispy fried eggs cooked on the cast iron are next level. 🍳👌
I knew the process, but not the science.
Knowing the science makes it all so much easier to remember and makes it common sense.
Thank you, this is terrific
I love my cast.. especially my Dutch oven... best braise ever... took tears to season it to the point it is now... truly gets better with time
I season my pans with Polytetrafluoroethylene.
Hows the perfluorooctanoic acid?
Great point on the science-based but not scientific assertion that "flax seed oil is good for seasoning". Yes it polymerizes more, but not better.
EDIT: I was calling Sheryl Canter's blogpost unscientific, not this video, in this comment. She used the scientific knowledge of oil composition to make a prediction. But that was the end of it. The scientific method calls for an experiment.
It actually said flax oil DOESN'T polymerize better, since it's too unsaturated...
@@adrianblake8876 Read my comment again? I was commending them for pointing that out.
@@phisgr Ahh, yes... edit your comment and then tell me I misread it...
@@adrianblake8876 UA-cam should have a Haha reaction like facebook. I need it right now.
@@adrianblake8876 I'll assume you're commenting in good faith here. You should remember some of the words from my "original" comment. Can you construct a paragraph that uses them but demonstrates the misunderstanding?
Great video and advice. We've found that we can achieve much of the same thing by wiping the pan with oil when putting it away. Then heating it up to a high temperature before adding food the next time. No rust. Good non-stick surface.
Nice video, but the portion about adding iron to your diet is incorrect/misleading. This myth was disproven by America’s Test Kitchen. The video does a great explanation of the resilience of seasoning and how it acts as an effective barrier. This is exactly why an insignificant amount of iron will leech into your food.
Also, not addressed in the video or by ATK is that people cook vegetables, deep fried meats, fried eggs, etc., not acidic sauces as it can impart a metallic or “tinny” taste. This happens because it, like with aluminum cookware, would simmer acidic sauces like tomato sauce, for a long period of time. Just like what would happen with water, as pointed out in the video, it can eventually reach the underlying iron layer. It may not be significant enough to be a good source of iron for your diet, but my guess is that it is enough to alter the taste. This probably why enameled cast iron pots are often used instead.
Buy yourself a nice cast iron pan once in your life and save yourself from buying nonstick over and over and over again 👍
Honestly, I've never found nonstick cookware to be particularly nonstick.
Nonstick cookware don't hold up all that long, maybe a couple of years.
I inherited several cast iron pans. Only one was seasoned well. Two things I've never been sure of when seasoning. What temperature of heat should be used, and what length of time should be spent in the seasoning process. Thank you for this video. Very helpful!
I find an amazing number of cast iron skillets in second hand stores. All of mine were rescued from places like that. I have even given a couple of them away to people who needed them.
Interesting that cast iron has more carbon in it than carbon steel. Since the definition of regular steel is iron with carbon.
Steel is processed differently than cast iron is. Cast iron is literally just iron that's been cast into a specific shape. Steel goes through the smelting process and from what I can tell, some carbon will be lost in the process. High carbon steel is steel with a higher carbon content than other steels.
Steel only has a tiny, tiny amount of carbon. It took many years to figure out how to heat raw iron enough to remove the carbon.
0:13 The bottom right is a "Does Bruno Mars is gay?" reference?
Haha, is that a game grumps reference?
Incredible information about cast iron that was explained so simply! 😊 We just got gifted a dutch oven and heard a lot of differing information so this helped a ton. Thanks so much! Now off to cook up some tasty flavors! 🍳
Thank you for bringing some solid chemistry to this video. There is so much misinformation out there about cast iron care.
Salt makes a nice scrub on cast iron to help food rub off.
It also helps with getting rust off too
I love the made up comments at the start of the video. Some good motor oil jokes in there.
I have an 8 inch cast iron that I used to make an omelette for my wife every morning for 8 years. When I was done I would wipe it out with a wet paper towel while it was still hot. It's the best pan I own to this day.
Too much people spreading/repeating wrong informations about what oil to use... I bought flaxseed oil just for the pan because it was recommended on several places...
It looked good until it started to pop off after just two or three times of usage...
It was a lot if work to remove the bad layer and redo it correctly, but now I'm really happy with the pan.
I wish I had seen this video earlier.
Every once in a while, I take my cast iron pans to the shooting range. Then, I shoot them with my 9mm pistols. It makes a wonderful KLANG and it let's my pans know whos boss.
😂😂😂
Iron Pans when I melt them into an iron axe 😨😰😨😰
Dontcha know? a good iron pan makes for a powerful melee weapon with reliable "random" crits! :P
@@ElNeroDiablo not as good as a fish
@@IdaeChop I just want the Caber to be unnerfed so I can one-shot light classes without random crits or shield crits, okay?! ;_;
I used to main Sniper, and even then I used to love sticky-jumping across 2fort and cabering the enemy Snipers harassing mine! ;_;
I have some of my great grandmothers cast iron. Season, soapy hot water, and re-seasoning is the key.
So odd! Just last weekend, I saw 2 cast iron pans on sale at Marshalls. Never owned a cast iron pan, but was in the market because I see SO many recipes and have heard raves about its versatility. Ive always shied away because I had no idea how to care for them. Bravo on this vid! I shall now use them with confidence!
“I’m not going to go into seasoning” -cheeky playful tone. Then proceeds to go into seasoning… that’s this whole video. You literally talk mostly about seasoning. Yet you say “I’m not gonna tell you HOW” nice, now you’ve made it confusing again
Could do without the moralising lecture at the end...