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Uh oh...non-cook + cast iron = calamity?
Raynaga
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So, I'm not much of a cook. I enjoy doing it, but I don't enjoy the frequent visits by 'emergency personnel' and 'costly damages.'
I once started a fire with a pop tart. Enough said.
My girlfriend, in a kind but perhaps over ambitious gesture bought me a cast iron skillet with which to cook various cookeries.
Tonight I made a steak with it. I had to retreat to my porch for about an hour until the smoke all cleared out.
Steak was good!
The downside is the skillet now looks...off. Picture below:
I know you aren't supposed to put them through a dishwasher, or use soap on them. So I've used water and paper towels, and it seems to make it worse.
Have I destroyed this thing within 24 hours of getting it, or is there some secret to cast iron skillet wielding that I am not aware of?
Thanks in advance.
I once started a fire with a pop tart. Enough said.
My girlfriend, in a kind but perhaps over ambitious gesture bought me a cast iron skillet with which to cook various cookeries.
Tonight I made a steak with it. I had to retreat to my porch for about an hour until the smoke all cleared out.
Steak was good!
The downside is the skillet now looks...off. Picture below:
I know you aren't supposed to put them through a dishwasher, or use soap on them. So I've used water and paper towels, and it seems to make it worse.
Have I destroyed this thing within 24 hours of getting it, or is there some secret to cast iron skillet wielding that I am not aware of?
Thanks in advance.
Raynaga on
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It's virtually impossible to destroy cast iron. If it's not cracked, you can fix it.
http://www.lodgemfg.com/use-care-seasoned-cast-iron.asp#3
The Lodge website has lots of good care tips. For future reference, after you wash and dry it you should be putting alight coating of vegetable oil or shortening on it to keep it seasoned.
Like RUNN1NGMAN said, it's nearly impossible to destroy one. I just sprinkle kosher salt in mine and rub it around with a dry paper towel, no water or anything.
edit: Also I hate electric stoves.
edit 2:
In my opinion, Olive Oil is the worst, Canola is ok, but as long as you're not allergic, Peanut oil is the best. Both canola and peanut have high smoke points.
The smoke problem is almost definitely the oil's fault - look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_point - I tend to use a spray canola oil fairly sparingly. You probably used a vegetable oil or possible a virgin olive?
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And yeah, everything I read said you put a little olive oil on the steak, but all I had was...uh...vegetable oil.
So I used that. On the steak, not the pan, and with a little steak rub. So looks like I didn't totally screw that part up. Maybe I used too much? No brush to spread it with, so I just kind of did a dollop on each side and slathered it around with my hand.
On the oven bit I read that as well, but baby steps here - instead of the 30 seconds to 1 minute per side and then transitioning to the oven, I did 3 minutes each side on the pan and then devoured. Outside.
My place still smells like smoke, steak, and char.
Good to hear I haven't ruined it completely, looks like I just have to get a brush, some soap, and start the skillet over from scratch after scrubbing the hell out of it.
Mmm...
I set off the smoke alarm a few times at our apartment when cooking. 8-)
As others mentioned, there's quite a range of oils that are acceptable. I don't think vegetable oil is really a problem, just not ideal. For the food I mean, your kitchen air may be another matter.
To blatantly regurgitate advice from Alton Brown's cookbook "I'm Just Here For The Food," a cheap spray bottle will work for spreading the oil without creating a greasy mess. And in any case, you'll want to let the meat sit on a resting rack of some sort for a few minutes after the oil and rub to let the excess drip off.
Also, you should pick up a copy of said cookbook. It's not as heavy on recipes as many others out there but it goes into the science of cooking so you understand how different methods work better and therefore how to lessen your chances of screwing them up.
Searing alone can result in a tasty steak. Three minutes may have been too much though that depends on the thickness and how well done you want it.
I have yet to not have my kitchen smell in a similar way after preparing a steak, but experience has put the emphasis on the steak smell more than any smoke or char smell. I hardly mind given that I think they should make a steak scented potpourri.
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If she seasoned the skillet with butter that may very well have been what was burning
Though I've been most happy with peanut oil as a cast-iron seasoning fat, so whatever works for you
Get uncured bacon. Cook it. Let the grease cool a little and then put through a sieve (something basic), let it cool the rest of the way, et voila, lard. BTW that bacon you cooked up will probably need some salt & pepper seasoning, but you can do that according to taste.
Anyway, now that you have lard, slather it with a paper towel all over the pan. Then I essentially do the same thing as Alton, put it on the oven for an hour. Lard won't make it smoky, although it doesn't taste as good as butter (but won't burn like butter). The reason I like it more is because it's kind of silly to buy Crisco just to season a pan, but if you have it around it can't hurt. Basically any fat will work, because what you do when seasoning is putting a layer of carbon on the iron. In your case, it looks like the "alchemy" wasn't done to completion as all the goop burned off instead, which is why your kitchen smells like burnt ass. Once it's seasoned properly you'll have a nice slick pan.
So my advice is to scrape all that existing black gunk off your pan and then season it yourself. It's not hard, it just takes a little time.
That's another thing: multiple coats is good. It builds up a nice thick layer and makes the seasoning much more stable and can get you to the promised land of a completely baked in no-stick decliciously flavored indestructible pan.
Also, don't cook anything acidic (like tomato based pasta sauces with browned meat) in your cast iron, that shit will eat away at the seasoning and fuck it up, something else I learned the hard way.
And it looks like it was initially seasoned with butter. I'll look into getting some Crisco.
You really don't need to worry about the acidity. There's actually something to be said for the extra iron you get. One article in favor.
Put another way, I'd gladly take some iron over Teflon from a non-stick pan.
What about margarine? I use that when I'm not cooking with oil.
I always figured the added iron was a bonus. I was worried for a bit there than I was damaging it or something.
I'm not entirely sure, but my instincts say helllll nooo.
For seasoning anyway, margarine's probably not a problem for day to day cooking.
If you're using it for cooking, whatever. Plain margarine is loaded with trans fats which are actually bad for you, though. The non-trans fat stuff has less fat content than butter, though, so it would probably be worse for seasoning a pan, although I've never tried it. A quick google says "don't do it."