Tara J: How do you “season” and care for cast iron cookware?
I’m buying a “pre-seasoned” cast iron Dutch oven.
* What does it mean to be “pre-seasoned?”
* Will I need to “season” it again? (I’m pretty sure I have to.)
* How do I “season” it?
* Do I need to clean it any special way?
Thank you for your help! You can probably tell I don’t cook very much.
Answers and Views:
Answer by cancer6962
New! Pre-seasoned Ready to Use Cookware
Introducing Lodge Logic and Pro Logic a brand new way to cook with cast iron.
The majority of Lodge cast iron we offer comes pre-seasoned, and is ready to use. At the plant an electrostatic spray has been evenly applied to all surfaces of your cookware, then baked-on at extremely high temperatures. Now you can use your cookware right out of the box, washing and caring for it as if you had seasoned it yourself.
Lodge Manufacturing’s “Lodge Logic” amd “Pro Logic” pre-seasoned, ready to use cookware eliminates the time and effort of seasoning your new selection, and will look and preform better than home seasoning.
A new piece of seasoned cast iron cookware can be used right from the start. After washing the pan with warm water (no soap), dry thoroughly. Before cooking prepare the surface with a thin coat of melted shortening, or vegetable oil. After cooking, clean the utensil with hot water and a stiff brush. Never use a harsh detergent, as it can remove the seasoning. Towel dry thoroughly.
Store your cast iron cookware in a cool, dry place. Do not store lids on the cast iron pot or pan to allow air circulation.
What is seasoning?
Seasoning is preparing the cast iron cookware for use. There are two objectives in this process:
1. Coat the cookware to prevent rust; and
2. To create a natural, permanent non-stick cooking surface.
Seasoning is an easy, but very important first step when using cast iron. Unlike synthetically coated cookware, cast iron can be seasoned, re-seasoned, and its cooking surface restored. When you season a cast iron utensil, you are preventing rust and providing the cookware with a natural, permanent non-stick surface. Remember: Seasoning takes time and repeated use before a pan develops the shiny, black surface like your grandmother’s cast iron cookware. A black, shiny skillet is a well-seasoned skillet.
How do I season
1. Wash utensil in hot, soapy water. Use soap this time only. Rinse utensil and dry completely. Discoloration on towel is normal.
2. Apply a thin, even coating of melted shortening (Crisco, Wesson, etc.; do not use butter or butter flavored shortening) to the utensil with a soft cloth or paper towel. Apply inside and outside (NOTE: If your utensil has a lid, make sure you season it as well.)
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place utensil on top shelf of oven, upside down. Place aluminum foil on a baking sheet and put on bottom shelf of oven to catch any drippings. Bake in oven for one hour, then turn oven off and let utensil remain in the oven until cool.
4. To clean utensil after use, use boiling water and a plastic scrub bun or brush. Do not use soap, unless you are going to repeat the seasoning process. Do not put in dishwasher.
5. Always wash immediately after use, while still hot.
6. After washing utensil, dry thoroughly, then spray lightly with
vegetable oil, (Pam, for example), wipe with a paper towel, and store. Never store utensil with lid on. (Cast iron needs air circulation.)
7. Do not use utensil as a food storage vessel.
8. To remove heavy food or grease build-up, scour with steel wool, SOS pad, etc., then re-season.
9. Deep fry in Dutch ovens at least six times prior to cooking beans of any kind. Re-season utensil after cooking acidic foods, such as beans or tomatoes.
10. Follow these simple steps and your Lodge Cast Iron Cookware can last a lifetime.
After cooking, clean the utensil with hot water and a stiff brush. Never use a harsh detergent, as it can remove the seasoning. Towel dry thoroughly.
Answer by botygyProper seasoning occurs over time. You can start the process, though, by coating the interior with oil, I’d use peanut or grapeseed oil, and baking in a HOT oven for 30 minutes or so. Remove and allow to cool. As to cleaning, there’s one hard and fast rule–no soap! When done cooking, I just heat the pan ’til it smokes, run it under hot tap water and wipe it out with a paper towel. I’ll sometimes lightly grease it before putting it away.Answer by suecq
It means that the company who produced the cast iron has treated it so that it will not rust, if taken care of properly. I like to season all my cast iron myself. It’s really fairly simple. Rub a good quality vegetable or olive oil into the pot on the INSIDE (cooking surface side). Wipe excess off with a paper towel. Heat over a stove burner until the surface becomes really hot and sort of “smokes”. Turn off the heat, don’t disturb the pan. WHEN IT HAS COMPLETELY cooled, wipe the excess with a paper towel. Repeat once more.
TO clean seasoned cookware, rinse while hot under running water. Use a scraper (NOT A SCRATCHER) to remove stubborn food particles. Wipe dry with paper towels. Allow to air dry thoroughly. DO NOT use soap on these products. About every half dozen times you use it, try to remember to re-season it. Eventually, it will build up a “coating” on which food will NOT stick, even when not washed with soap, if properly handled after cooking. I have used cast iron for 40 years with excellent results….Do NOT use cast iron for acid based foods, such as tomato sauces. It does not perform well under these circumstances.
Answer by kgracedouglassPre-seasoned actually doesn’t mean a whole lot as you are going to wash the pan I presume before using. The terms “seasoned” and “cured” are pretty much interchangable when it comes to cast-iron.
Wash your dutch oven in hot soapy water. Dry. Pour a little bit of cooking oil in the pan. Heat so oil is warm. Take a paper towel and wipe oil around, coating the inside well. DO NOTHING to the outside. Wipe out any excess oil. You are done.
You do this to prevent rust after washing and between uses. Don’t overdo, just after using every time.
I try to avoid using scratcher pads. Just soak in very hot water for 15 min or so if something is stuck on, and usually it cleans up easily.
BTW, good choice! Nothing like making fried chix in lard in a big cast iron pan! Yummy!
P.S. I really disagree with the soap comments. I have been cooking w/cast iron for over 20 years, and with proper seasoning (curing) you will not get the build up. Besides, would you really trust your health to rising out a pan after making chix? Or if you didn’t get to the dishes until the next day? Maybe I worry about a cleaner kitchen than most, but I cook from scratch every day and have done this for decades. P.S. My dad was a USDA health inspector and I really promote washing all dishes, pans, and utensils.
Answer by bingo_grams_7IN A SLOW OVEN 200 PUT A COUPLE TSPS OF OIL IN PAN AND LET IT SEASON FOR ABOUT 30 MINUTES
REMOVE AND WIPE EXCESS OIL WITH PAPER TOWEL
I RUB SEA SALT IN IT AND PUT PAPERIN BETWEEN PANS WHEN PUTTING AWAY PAPER PLATE OR PAPER TOWELSAnswer by Robert
Pre-seasoned cast iron would is just that – the manufacturer processes the cookware to supposedly allow the purchaser to use the item without any further seasoning. This is not the case – even so-called pre-seasoned cast iron should be properly seasoned by the user/purchaser.
Coat the cast iron with a film of oil – bake the cast iron at approx 400 degrees F for 30 to 60 minutes. Let it rest. You can do this step as many times as you want but two should provide the coating required.
Then each time you use the cookware it will continue to season.
To clean seasoned cast iron – just use paper towels to remove any food stuffs left after cooking. You can use a damp non-metallic scrubber to get the real hard stuff off – but never wash the cookware or use harsh scrubbing products as you would other cookware.
Answer by David HTara,
All of the above answers are good but have a major fault in the seasoning process which I will answer in a few moments but here are the answers to your direst questions. I have been cooking in cast iron for over 27 years and the past 15 years teaching about camp Dutch oven cooking and cast iron care.
“pre-seasoned” cast iron is cast iron which has been seasoned at the foundry where the pots and pans are made. This is done while the cast iron is still quite hot at over 600 degrees F. You can cook in any pre-seasoned cast iron pot or pan right out of the box after a quick rinse, Which i do not recomend, but I have done teaching classes to show students it can be done and is ok. I recomend putting the cast iron through at least one seasoning session before using it the first time. But that is my preference and it works well for me. Seasoning directions follow and you do not need to worry about scrubbing off the coating to keep the iron from rusting, now protected by “pre-seasoning”.
Cast Iron Basics
(some of the most important things you need to know!)
Seasoning: Cast iron may be heavy, but with a proper seasoning, is the greatest type of metal to cook in. But, you need to keep your cast iron free from rust and well seasoned to make it “stick free”.
When someone buys cast iron from the store, the foundry (manufacturer) coats the pot or pan with a coating of some sort to keep the item from rusting. This is done by spraying with a type of varnish or dipping it into hot paraffin wax. This protective coating must be cleaned off before seasoning your cast iron.
If your Dutch oven is made by LODGE, the protective coating is a sprayed varnish coating, which must be scrubbed off. Heat the Dutch oven inside your home oven to 200oF., then with a hot pad, lower the oven into hot soapy water, and scrub the Dutch oven with a S.O.S. pad. Scrub the inside and outside of the Dutch oven very well, rinse well, and towel dry. Then place the Dutch oven back into your oven at 225° to dry for about 10 to 15 minutes. The only way to dry cast iron is to dry it completely. I do mine in the oven because, the heat is not concentrated in one spot, as it is on the stove top, which can cause minute cracks.
If your Dutch oven is made by any of the other companies that make outdoor Dutch ovens, the protective coating is dipped paraffin wax, which can be burned off. Do this outdoors in your gas B.B.Q. or, a kettle type charcoal B.B.Q. like a Webber. In a charcoal B.B.Q., use Mesquite charcoal for fuel because it burns much hotter than briquettes. Start the charcoal or light the gas B.B.Q., set on high and pre-heat the B.B.Q. When the charcoal is white, spread it out a little so that is not to close to the cooking grate. Place the oven onto the cooking grate, upside down, and close the lid on the B.B.Q.
Heat the oven to 450° to 500° for 15 minutes. Close the B.B.Q. and cook the Dutch oven for about 1 hour at 450° to 500° , or until the oven stops smoking. Cool the scrub the oven and dry as directed above.
To season the Dutch oven, place the oven upside down on the cooking grate and warm the oven for 10 to 15 minutes at 450° to 500° . With hot pads, remove the D.O. and rub a light coat of lard, bacon grease, white Crisco, or vegetable oil, using a paper towel
Coat the inside and outside of the D.O. and lid. You only need a light coat of oil, you don’t want the grease to be dripping off the oven. Place the Dutch oven back onto the cooking grate and cook the Dutch oven for about 1 hour at 450° to 500° , or until the oven stops smoking. Remove the oven from the B.B.Q. with hot pads to cool. If the D.O. is a glossy brown color, not black, return to B.B.Q. to cook about thirty more minutes. By doing this outside in the B.B.Q., you don’t have to fill the house with smoke and set off the smoke detectors.
Cleaning: Cleaning cast iron is really quite easy and simple. As the same principal with seasoning, there are as many opinions as there are cooks. The methods I have found to work for me are written hereto share with you. However, as you cook more with cast iron and outdoor Dutch ovens, you will find a method that works best for you and your style of cooking.
Right after I am finished cooking in my Dutch ovens, I like to a spray bottle filled with a solution of 4 parts of water to 1 part of apple cider vinegar to clean and sanitize with. Scrape out all the extra bits of food with a spatula then spray the solution into the hot Dutch oven and wipe it out with paper towels. Sometimes, I need to spray and wipe out the oven several times to get it clean. But, it works well and the vinegar has other uses as well.
Many people will tell you to never clean cast iron with soap and water. I have found this to be an excellent way to clean cast iron and use soap and water frequently myself. Be sure that cast iron is warm, to free the food from the pores easily, and to rinse the cast iron with hot water very well to remove all of the soap.
The last and most important thing to do after cleaning your cast iron is not applying more oil to the iron. But, is to dry it completely over or in a heat source, to keep it from rusting. When drying cast iron, don’t get it to hot. It only needs to be about 225o for the moisture to evaporate and dry out. Once the pot, pan, or Dutch oven is cleaned and dried, place a paper towel inside with a little of the paper towel going to the outside to “wick” out any moisture from inside the pot and lid. Be sure to store your cast iron dry, without oil to keep it from turning rancid.
Storing: As mentioned before, cast iron needs to be stored absolutely dry, free of any water, or oil. The water will rust the cast iron. The oil may turn rancid, especially if stored for a long period of time. Personally, I dry my cast iron in the oven at 225o for 30 minutes, after towel drying. So that I don’t burn my hands, I just leave the cast iron in the oven until the oven has cooled down, about 45 to 60 minutes. When I’m camping, I dry my cast iron over a few coals, about 6, 4 under the bottom and 2 on the lid of the Dutch oven. Only keep the cast iron until the water evaporates. Then remove the cast iron from the heat source with hot pads and place paper towels inside the pot and place the lid on the pot. Be sure some of the paper towel lays over the edge of the pot to the outside to wick any internal moisture to the outside of the pot and into the air.
Once cast iron has been seasoned, unless it has not been cared for properly, does not need to be re-seasoned after you use it. So, why store it with more oil in the pot, pan, or Dutch oven. The oil will turn rancid, becoming sticky, smelly, and spoiled; just like food that has been around for to long in the refrigerator. The oil also attracts dirt, dust, and other things flying around in the air, like bugs. So don’t apply any oil to your cast iron until it is warmed up just before you use it and put food into it. Take care of your cast iron and, it will take care of you.
Temperature: judging temperature is an important skill that needs to be practiced when cooking with a Dutch oven. First off, use only name brands of charcoal. Once you find a brand that you like, stick with that brand. That way you become familiar with how it burns, how long the coals last, etc.
When cooking in a Dutch oven, use the 2/3rds rule. The 2/3rds rule is not based on fractions of any number of coals. But, is short hand for figuring out how many coals to use for a 350o to 375o oven. Take the diameter of the oven for the bottom coals and subtract 2. So, if you have a 12” oven, take the diameter (12”), subtract 2 (10 coals). That’s the 2 in the 2/3rds rule. For figuring the number of coals for the top heat, again take the diameter of the oven and add 3. So, if you have a 12” oven, take the diameter (12”) and add 3 (15 coals). That’s the 3 in the 2/3rds rule. This rule works for any sized oven from 8” to 16”.
Just remember that things like wind, moisture (rain), ambient temperature, etc. have effects on oven temperature. Wind and humidity or moisture cool the oven so, you need to add extra coals. A hot summer day will need less coals than a cool fall day. In the summer, when baking breads, I simply let the Dutch oven sit out in the sun and led the heat from the sun warm the oven to let the dough rise. The rest of the year, I use a few coals to warm the oven.
When frying in a Dutch oven, use only bottom heat. To simmer, remove a few less than half of the coals and cover. Using briquettes provides a consistant heat source and burn at the same temperature according to the brand. Different woods, when burned down to coals, burn at different rates and temperatures. So, practice with different wood sources to become familiar with each woods characteristics. Just remember when cooking in a camp fire, use only the coals, not the flame to cook with. Also, don’t use bottom heat, pile the coals around the Dutch oven and on the top.
Tools: Here’s a short list of some tools and utinsels that you should have in a “Dutch oven kit” carried with you every time you cook in your Dutch oven, weather at home or out on the road. There may be a few more things you may need, but this is what I carry with me every time I cook Dutch:
News paper (lighting charcoal)
Lighter or matches
Charcoal chimney
Charcoal
18” tongs (for handling hot coals)
Small and large knife
Steel (for sharpening knives)
Large spoons, slotted and solid (for stirring and serving)
Spatula
Vegetable peeler
Whip (mixing)
Cutting board
2 spray bottles (1 for oil, and 1 for vinegar water)
Paper towels
Aluminum foil
Measuring cups and spoons
Lid lifters
Wash pan
Small damp towel or cloth
Hot pads or mitts
Cooking Table (12” minimum height)
I hope that you take these ideas and tips with you on your adventures and “run with them”. They
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