Cast Iron
A good skillet lasts forever. There’s no amount of char that time and effort can’t remedy.
This comes with a big caveat: you can’t fix pans with synthetic nonstick surfaces. Once they degrade, the inevitable destination is the garbage, minus the PFAs you’ve already ingested.
A properly seasoned cast iron pan is nonstick: polymerized oil bonds to the iron, creating a hard, slick cooking surface. Even fried eggs slide like water off an otter. Best of all, every use reinforces the seasoning. But damage does happen. At some point, if the surface gets rough or divotted, there’s not much to do besides strip it and start over.
Chemical versus mechanical. Lye breaks down oil. If I had ten pans to recondition and a proper workspace, I’d probably go the chemical bath route. But I like to avoid harsh substances when possible (and I’m a bit of a masochist), so I go the other way: elbow grease.
Start coarse and finish fine. It’s a lot like stripping and refinishing wood. Use a heavy duty chisel to remove the bulk of the seasoning. Smooth everything out with steel wool. This takes awhile.
Vinegar. Mildly caustic, a short vinegar bath helps loosen buildup and lift rust. Fill the pan and let it sit for one hour as an interim step between the chisel and steel wool.
Thin layers of oil. Once the pan is stripped, washed, and dried, oil the entire surface (inside and out). More oil is not better. Buff the pan to thin the oil as much as possible. A thick coat will just chip off after it hardens. There’s no substitute for successive thin coats.
450℉ for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Polymerizing oil requires high heat. The stovetop is faster, but it’s uneven and smokey. The even heat of the oven is superior for a full re-seasoning. Do at least three coats. Five is better. For each one, when time is up, turn off the oven but leave the pan inside. Let it cool slowly and completely before adding the next coat.
Nothing gets a good sear like cast iron. This week we’re searing cabbage and serving it with Asian pear, miso brown butter, and pickled pepper relish. Recipe drops on Friday. We’ve also got a cast iron re-seasoning demonstration video for you.
We’re glad you’re cooking with us.
Cheers,
Sten and Mac
Chef Snacks
Restaurant Lingo
Char is not seasoning. Polymerized oil is shiny. So if the black surface of the pan is dull or ashy-looking, it’s just that - ash. Scrub that shit off.
Caring for your cast iron is not quite as simple as the old “never wash” rule. Remember how lye breaks down polymers? The “never wash” rule was based on harsh, lye-based soaps. Mild detergents are generally okay. Still, over-washing and long soaks are not advisable. And for the love of god, please never put your skillet in the dishwasher.
The bottom line: there’s no one-size-fits-all procedure. If there’s buildup, you’ve got to remove it somehow. To begin with, cook with plenty of oil. Monitor the temperature so you’re not unnecessarily charring things. Cast iron pans retain an incredible amount of heat: they rarely require anything above medium, even for a hard sear. Deglazing the pan helps.
Try washing the pan without soap first. If that doesn’t work, add a little dish soap. Don’t use steel wool or abrasive brushes. Most importantly, dry the pan immediately and apply a light layer of oil to protect the seasoning.
