The best way to care for cast iron is to actually use it

I hate talking about cast iron. It’s just a pot (or a material that makes pots, Dutch ovens, etc.), but it’s a pot that takes all the geeks to the garden, like “My seasoning method is better than yours.” Thing. They love to talk about thermal conductivity and polymerization. I’ve persuaded people to pay to write about food on two themes that I’ve been doing my best not to think about since I quit my job at Honeywell.

Thermal conductivity and polymerization are related themes — and I reluctantly touch on the second one — but all this geeky story shifts focus from the most important cast iron tip out there. : The best way to take care of your precious castings Iron pot With this.. Cook foods, especially greasy foods. After eating that food, clean the pot and cook something else. If you repeat this many times, you will find that the pot gets better and less sticky each time you use it.

Unfortunately, this results in polymerization. When oils and greases are heated to high temperatures, they break down to form long chains of molecules that bind to the surface of the pan.This creates a non-stick coating that geeks are always doing, and that’s what makes it possible as well. Wash the cast iron pot with soap..

Washing cast iron with soap and water has been accepted for almost a decade, but there are still geeks who get weird about it. However, there is no reason to be weird about this particular pot. If you don’t believe me, believe in Kat Kinsman. Kat Kinsman is a very smart woman with a master’s degree in blacksmithing and she happens to be Food & wine. Two years ago, Kat wrote:Don’t wonder about cast iron“She documents the restoration Really unfriendly and rusty pot She found it in an old chicken coop. In essence, except for cracks, it proved that you can’t really fuck these pots past repairs. That makes them very valuable. Cast iron does not require your baby, your commotion, your anxiety.It just has to be Cooked in..

Kat called Mike Otterman, CEO of Cast Iron, to make sure he didn’t have to do anything weird about cleaning cast iron. LodgeTo get his cast iron care routine, and it’s neither weird nor geeky:

After dinner, scrape off with hot water. Especially when using salmon, rub the inside with soap. Then I put it back in the low burner and straighten the rest of the kitchen. When it reaches a warm temperature, spray the oil, turn off the burner, wipe it off with a paper towel, and leave it on the burner until it cools. Then obviously never get rid of it. It looks better after cooking than when you started.

However, cleaning is only part of the cast iron care equation. Again, the best thing you can do with a cast iron pot is With this Many times. If the pot is new, follow the manufacturer’s “First Use” instructions before starting cooking and never stop. (Lodge bread is ready to use as soon as it is out of the box, pre-seasoned and ready to use.)

Start with greasy ones that are less likely to cause sticky problems. I usually cook a lot of bacon. Then roast the vegetables or chicken. Wipe off, wash if necessary, dry and re-grease. Bake butter cornbread bread. repeat. Try cleaning it right away. But don’t worry if you don’t clean it. No matter how jerky the pot is, you can clean it again. You can leave it in the sink by your roommate or spouse to restore it to its gleaming glory. (If you doubt this, see where Kat started with her Chicken shed bread.. ) The more you cook, the less sticky the cast iron will be. Eventually, you will be able to fry eggs there. This is what geeks consider to be the “properly” seasoned cast iron pot holy grail.