Steamed Hams Are Real

[kphoger]

cast-iron skillet

I've been scared of the whole seasoning process and not understanding how one cleans a pan without using soap.

I bought a Lodge brand 12-inch cast-iron skillet at Dillon's (the kind with two small handles rather than one long handle), which was already decently seasoned when I bought it.  But, after that...

Step 1 – After first purchase – Turn your oven to a high cooking temperature, say 400°F or so.  Scrub the pan thoroughly with soap and water, to get rid of any extra substances that might have been applied.  Rinse it, dry it, and spread a thin amount of cooking oil all over the pan, inside and out.  An oil with a high smoke point is best for this step, but your kitchen is going to get smoky soon no matter what.  Put a drip pan on the bottom oven rack, and set your freshly oiled skillet upside-down on the top rack.  Bake it for an hour, turn off the oven, and leave the pan inside to cool down gradually.  Then take it out and wipe any excess oil off with paper towels or some fancy-schmancy microfiber towel, depending on your level of snootiness.  You can do this first step more than once, for good measure, but you don't have to.  I think I did it two or three times.

Step 2 – For the first several uses – Now it's time to start using it.  For the first several uses, avoid cooking any acidic foods (such as tomatoes or wine), and use plenty of butter/oil/lard/whatever you're using.  Don't be surprised if food sticks to your skillet at this point.  It hasn't yet developed a good non-stick seasoning yet.  When it's time to wash up, scrub the skillet with warm water only.  You can use a Dobie scrubber pad, or anything that's only mildly abrasive (don't use steel wool).  If stuff still won't come off, then sprinkle some coarse salt into the water and let that be your abrasive.  Don't use any dish detergent at this point, because you don't want that eating away at your feeble layer of seasoning.  One great tool is this little thing originally intended for cleaning stone bakeware.  This process will become easier as time goes on, because eventually less and less food will stick, until eventually it's rarely any big deal to scrub.  Also, you will eventually have to worry less and less about being careful.

Step 3 – After every use – This step is hotly debated.  If you poll twenty cast-iron skillet users, you'll find fifteen opinions on what to do next.  Here's what I do.  Don't shoot me.  After I've scrubbed the skillet, I wipe it dry with paper towels.  Then I put it back on a burner–dry–on medium heat until it's hot enough that I can't stand to even touch the edge anymore.  Then I take it off the heat, put a nickel-sized bit of cooking oil in, and smear that around with paper towels.  The goal is to create a very thin layer of oil all over the cooking surface.  I always do the inside walls too, and some people even do the outside (I don't).  Then I let it cool down on the countertop.  Once it's totally cool, I wipe out any excess oil and put it away.  I do this every time, but it's no big deal if you miss a time here and there.

Notes:

a.  Eventually, you can use dish detergent once in a while, IF you're confident you've got a good layer of seasoning already.  If you're not confident about that, then just use coarse salt and some elbow grease.  You don't want to eat away at poorly built-up seasoning, nor do you want to risk the iron taking on the flavor of dish detergent.  Personally, I still never do.  Hot water and maybe some coarse salt, and it always comes clean–even eggs and cheese, if you use enough elbow grease.

b.  It doesn't matter much what type of oil you use for daily seasoning.  I personally use high-oleic sunflower oil, but the main thing is just not to use any solid/opaque type of fat.  Like, don't season it with lard or Crisco or something.  I use what I use because it's one of the two kinds of cooking oil we keep in the house.

c.  You don't actually have to wash it every time at all.  If your cooking fat didn't get terribly burnt- or nasty-looking, then you might get away with just wiping it clean.  If, however, too much junky stuff is left behind, then that will probably smoke next time you heat it up on the stove.

d.  I almost always use plastic or wooden utensils in my cast-iron skillet.  Plenty of people use metal, and that's fine, but just do so with the same caveat as note (a):  do so only if you're confident in the quality of your seasoning.

[triplemultiplex]

I'm lazier than that with my cast iron.  I just scrub out the bits with a paper towel under a stream of hot water, then dry it off.  I have a plastic scraper thingy for stuff that doesn't want to come off with just a little water and elbow grease.  Then maybe every year or two, I'll season it in the oven with a fresh coat of oil.
I love making hashbrowns in that sucker.  Can't beat that nice, even heat to get them crispy and awesome.

[kphoger]

You don't actually have to wash it every time at all.  If your cooking fat didn't get terribly burnt- or nasty-looking, then you might get away with just wiping it clean.  If, however, too much junky stuff is left behind, then that will probably smoke next time you heat it up on the stove.

I'm lazier than that with my cast iron.  I just scrub out the bits with a paper towel under a stream of hot water, then dry it off.  I have a plastic scraper thingy for stuff that doesn't want to come off with just a little water and elbow grease.  Then maybe every year or two, I'll season it in the oven with a fresh coat of oil.

I've tried that several times before, but whatever's left often ends up smoking when I heat the skillet on the stove the next time.  The seasoning has also built up unevenly before when I've done it that way.  So I scrub it and oil it (almost) every time.

[Scott5114]

Alton Brown on Food Network actually deep-fries his burgers in peanut oil. I'm interested in giving that a try, since I haven't been able to make a decent burger any other way.

Update: I tried this and it was awesome. Just deep fry the patty at 320° for 60 seconds. Best burger I've ever made for sure. Might have been the best I ever had if I hadn't whiffed the execution with the buns (tried something fancy with butter and sandwich bread since we didn't have burger buns, but it just ended up being soggy).