I've recently been making a lot of sugo all'amatriciana in my cast iron, which involves deglazing the pan with a bit of red wine vinegar before stirring in tomato paste and simmering down - I've not seen any ill effect on the seasoning of my pans at all. Maybe when working on seasoning a pan it's not advisable, otherwise I can't see any reason not to cook acidic foods when you've got a well seasoned pan
Got my first cast iron pans
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I've recently been making a lot of sugo all'amatriciana in my cast iron, which involves deglazing the pan with a bit of red wine vinegar before stirring in tomato paste and simmering down - I've not seen any ill effect on the seasoning of my pans at all. Maybe when working on seasoning a pan it's not advisable, otherwise I can't see any reason not to cook acidic foods when you've got a well seasoned pan
Bacon. Lots of bacon.
This makes me curious, as I've had others tell me similar things. What does the cooking surface of your pan look like? Some older pans, as well as higher priced pans have a flat machined cooking surface, while newer/cheaper pans have the rough casting left behind. I wonder if there's a connection between the smoothness of the surface and the effects of the acids. My cheap rough cast lodges seem to have issue with acids.
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I know Tomato based sauces darken.
The surfaces of both my skillets are black - one is a new Lodge pre-seasoned thang and the other's an old, glassy smooth bare iron Le Creuset. I've not noticed a damaging of the seasoning on either pan from acids, but I did make a point of baking a few extra layers of seasoning onto the Lodge when I first got it
I'll second the bacon idea. I prefer animal fat for seasoning.
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Picked up the 5 quart Dutch Oven yesterday, along with the brush that Lodge makes and two silicone handle covers. Yeah, I may have got another scrubber cheaper, but this one is clearly labeled Lodge, so I won't accidentally use it for something else.
If you happen to find an old pan at a yard sale or whatever and it's missing some chunks of it's coating grind some egg shells into there and toss it in the oven. The egg shells will turn to carbon and fill the gaps beautifully.
Thats probably my problem then. Mine are well seasoned, but only through daily use. I've never baked any more seasoning into them.
It's easy enough to do - wipe some groundnut oil (or anything else with a very high smoke point) all over the pan and then wipe it all off with kitchen paper, you'll be left with an extremely thin layer of oil on the pan. Then all you have to do is turn it upside down, put it in a cold oven and turn it up to its highest temperature and keep it there for an hour. Then just switch the oven off and let the pan cool. Repeat this a few times, et voilà!
Also I know most of you know this preheating a pan is key to food not sticking.
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Yeah, I found that out pretty quick
. Is it me, or does food taste better out of cast iron?Yeah, I found that out pretty quick
I think it does. Maybe because it is more evenly heated?
Love my cast Iron and it makes food that taste great.
Just staying at my folks' place for the night and taking advantage of their large open plan kitchen and I'm having to use their nonstick pans. There's something soulless about anything Teflon coated, I find them very awkward to use now, having to maintain such a high heat under them
I use mineral oil on mine. I have a 5 gal cast iron pot, round bottom with legs that we use on an outdoor burner to make soups, gumbo, and chili. It does not get used that often and I discovered that vegetable oil or animal fats would turn rancid with time, mineral oil does not. I wipe the pot dry before use, then after use a hose with nozzle adjusted for a small strong stream to give it a kind of pressure wash cleaning, then warm back up and apply oil. My wife has arthritis and does not like the weight so all my cast iron has been reduced to outdoor use, so I keep in in a big plastic cabinet on the deck. By treating this way after about 5 years no rust. and pots are always ready to use.
High heat kills teflon.
And Teflon under high heat probably does no good to your lungs.
Since we began buying and using our cast iron, the All Clad just doesn't get used anymore. 4 pieces of new cast iron wipe the floor with the stainless.
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