cast iron cookware care

[Gary Fowler]

I am very careful about food safety. I have a friend in Iowa with a multi-year crust in his 12" cast iron skillet he is very proud of. He claims pan is perfectly sanitary. His wife, who is a nurse practitioner, will not eat food cooked in this "seasoned" skillet. .

I have seen lots of old skillets with a baked on crust on the outside that has accumulated over decades and is basically carbor, it doesnt hurt food quality. NOW on the interior is a different story. The inside should always be cleaned to metal and no food scraps or baked in grease allowed to form.
I just use my cast iron to bake in and most of the time, a quick wipe with a paper towel is all that is needed to clean it up and remove any excess oil. If I needed to clean the outside, I would just use a power brush to remove all the crusty material but not touch the inside.
I think everyone has the right idea about seasoning after cleaning.

 

[Egon]

Using a needle scaler on a hot CI pan/pot should help alleviate any built up stress? It should also help carbon migrate to the nodes and make it stronger? Yes---No ?

 

[TomSeller]

Isn't it easier not to use soap than have to boil it off after you have cleaned the skillet?

I don't use soap much but if the polymerized oil (seasoning) is done right, soap should not bother it. Soap removes oil, but if the oil is polymerized properly it can take the soap. I would use a light amount of soap just in case. I do not cook anything acidic in cast iron, like tomatoes. The seasoning should protect your pan, but reality is there are spots not properly seasoned. This is a good link to understand the flaxseed seasoning process. Note that flaxseed oil turns rancid for those storing it.

Chemistry of Cast Iron Seasoning: A Science-Based How-To

I store mine with a light coat of coconut oil, but season with flaxseed.

 

[Jstpssng]

My mother gave me an old 10_quart dutch oven that had spent too many years in the cellar; I was forever getting the mildew smell out of it so that I could use it. I stripped it down to the bare melting, boiled vinegar, and kept overheating it on the stove top.

 

[RobertN]

My Grandmother used to take her CI camping each year. On one camping trip a year, she would put her CI in the camp fire and cover with coals; let it bake off the crud/carbon on the outside. Then pull it out and reseason. My Mom still uses some those CI pans and Dutch oven.

 

[TomSeller]

My Grandmother used to take her CI camping each year. On one camping trip a year, she would put her CI in the camp fire and cover with coals; let it bake off the crud/carbon on the outside. Then pull it out and reseason. My Mom still uses some those CI pans and Dutch oven.

Yep. The thing that I don't understand is how the crud builds up on these old pots. I am guessing sloppy cooking and food runs down the side? I have been using mine for years and have no buildup. But I do use an induction cooktop, which cast iron is perfect for, I have never used my cast iron on a gas top.

 

[SPIKER]

Yep. The thing that I don't understand is how the crud builds up on these old pots. I am guessing sloppy cooking and food runs down the side? I have been using mine for years and have no buildup. But I do use an induction cooktop, which cast iron is perfect for, I have never used my cast iron on a gas top.

It all depends on the cast itself as some of it is more porous than others, oil DOES penetrate THRU the cast iron and carbon builds up on the outside as it burns off. Using it on Gas or Electric where heat is hotter on the OUTSIDE helps the oil to migrate towards it as oils do travel towards the heat. Induction cook tops actually forms the heat internal and along it's surfaces in magnetic contact with it so all thru the cast.

M

 

[Richard]

I did the electrolysis method and they came out looking pretty brand spanking new but for a scuff here or there. Did an excellent job.

 

[RobertN]

So... Learned as a Scout leader. Never tell the boys they can clean hard to remove "stuff" from a Dutch oven by using a pine cone as a scour pad.

We have an Asst Scoutmaster. GREAT guy. Still involved even after his two sons Eagled and are in college. But some years back, he started telling the kids they could clean a camp Dutch oven with a pine cone. Trust me when I say, 12 year old boys can remove the seasoning from said Dutch ovens easily with a pine cone...

The Quartermaster had the fun of re-seasoning them at home...

 

[RobertN]

Do not allow Cubmaster to burn things in the camp Dutch oven. We had a Cubmaster use our Troop gear for a Webelo over niter. He made a couple Dutch oven's full of dinner stuff. Well he burnt on. Bad.

He wound up taking it to work(he is a welding instructor), and after getting most of the burnt stuff out, bead blasting it the rest of the way... That Lodge DO had a nice finish when he was done though. It was really nice after it was seasoned again. Until some boys cleaned that one too, with a pine cone...