By far one of the meanest, the badest and the most hard-working piece of cookware you’ll ever find on this entire planet— original gangsta!
You can cook your hash potatoes to the crispest, it’ll give your steak the craziest sear, use it for baking cornbread or garlic knots or simply, bake the tastiest pizza (just kidding, this is probably the easiest way to make tasty pizza).
The point is, Cast-Iron pan is an all-around workhorse and truthfully no other pan comes close to its league. Then there’s the mysterious myth-packed lore that a lot of us tend to get sucked into.
Cast-iron loving cooks are opinionated, some claiming that cast-iron pan needs to be taken care of like a delicate piece of flower, while others hold their pans high saying that my cast-iron cooks evenly well and is completely non-stick.
So many untested claims. Perhaps it’s time to put these myths to rest. We’re about to give you 5 Most Requested Cast Iron Cookware Myths from a bunch of questions that people have been asking us about cast-iron.
Myth #1: “Boiling water in a seasoned cast-iron is a no-no.”
Did You Know? When you’re boiling over 212 degrees, some of your seasonings are bound to turn loose from your pan. Yes, the black oily film will slowly start building up and if that goes into your food, there’s no doubt they’ll taste bad.
Realistically: You can boil water or cook beans in them. But they are not going to cook right. If you plan to cook stew, use a stew pot where its material is made out of enamel, and the only reason for that is because they are not seasoned like a cast-iron pan.
Myth #2: “You can’t cook acidic foods in cast-iron”
Did You Know? Any well-seasoned cast iron can handle acidic food with impunity. But before you get ahead of yourself, we do caution, against jumping into meal plans that contain tomatoes, citric juice or barbeque sauce. The high acidity in these ingredients will eat into your seasoning, eventually causing your cast-iron seasoning to turn loose. Over time it will start developing decay around the pan.
Realistically: It’s not to say you can’t cook these acidic foods in a cast-iron pan. You can. There’s just extra care to it, especially after you’re through cooking food with the acidic ingredients. Proper cleaning is essential here.
Be sure you clean it out with good hot water, leave no residue from whatever it is you just cooked, dry it out thoroughly and finish off by seasoning again. One other recommended tip for cooking any acidic based food is to hold off cooking in a newly purchased cast-iron pan.
Myth #3: “Never shock cast-iron with extreme temperature changes”
Did you know? Cast-iron don’t evenly spread heat easily. The thermal conductivity, meaning the material’s capacity to distribute heat to all parts of the pan is around a third to a quarter that of the material of an aluminium. So if you were heating up your cast iron, the only spot that will receive heat is the spot where the flame was under it.
Realistically: Imagine taking out your cast-iron; which is probably feeling about 40 degrees, you wouldn’t just set it on fire, especially in colder months or while your out camping in the cold wilderness. If you’re thinking well into passing this pan down to your future generation, you might want to kick the habit of shocking your cast-iron.
Always pre-warm your cast-iron. While pre-warming on the burner, rotate it around a few times till it sets to be at least body temperature. If you can place your palm in the pan and feel the warmth, its safe to start cooking.
Remember, with gradual pre-warm, there has to be a gradual cool down too.
Myth #4: “Wait! My cast-iron is well-seasoned but my food still sticks”
Did you know? When you’re searing a piece of meat you’re actually locking in the flavour. You’re shutting the door on both sides of that steak or whatever your searing, in order to keep the moisture and flavour intact.
Many people say my cast iron is well-seasoned and it has a pretty shine to it, but when I fry a piece of meat in it, why does it stick?
Realistically: You’re placing a cold piece of meat and putting it in a pan that’s not as hot as it should be. Let the meat warm up a little after taking it out from the refrigerator. It has to be hot, so when the meat hits the pan it won’t stick and hold.
The trick before searing is to heat up the oven to 400 degrees F and place the cast-iron upside down on the top rack to prevent pooling. Leave it for about 15 minutes so you can get the pan to be ready and hot.
Myth #5: “If you wouldn’t eat it, don’t put it in your cast-iron”
Do you know? This golden rule is pretty controversial. Words straight from the horse’s mouth - probably from the fourth-generation cast-iron user. Soap won’t destroy your pan. Warning: Your mother, spouse, grandfather, grandmother or friends may harbour hard feelings regardless.
Realistically: With the saying, I wouldn’t put something in my cast-iron pan if I’m afraid to put it in my mouth goes with three things:
- How I take care of rust?
- How I season?
- How I clean?
After you’re through with cooking, you’ll need to clean your cast-iron and get rid of any residue. It’s okay to use a mild soap or none at all, so you can prepare for re-seasoning again. You’ll also need to completely dry it out. When drying use paper towels or a lint-free cloth.
The one thing you really shouldn’t do? - Soaking it in the sink for long. Best to reduce the time in between the first time you start cleaning it to when you start drying it and re-seasoning your pan. Let it sit on your stove top till dinner is done if you have to.
Want to keep your cast iron cooking for 100 years or more? Keep these in mind:
- Clean, clean and clean after using. Instinctively, cleaning after yourselves should be habitual anyway.
- The more you fry and sear the better your cast-iron. Use your pan, like a lot! The more you cook in it, the better the seasoning becomes.
- Re-season it. Rub with light layers of vegetable oil, preferably while it's still warm. Based on affordability, availability and effectiveness, use melting shortening oil or canola oil like the Lodge’s Seasoning Spray
Now that wasn’t so confusing, was it? If you have more myths we missed out, share it with us!