"Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take but by the moments that take your breath away?"

Author: Unknown

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Seasoning Cast Iron Skillets....The Right Way

    I have been married for 38 yrs. I bought a set of cast irons pans during the first year of my marriage from walmart. I have used them a few times over the years, but I really didnt like them. My son liked to make deep dish pizza in it occasionally. I had problem with them sticking even tho I seasoned them several times. Well to be honest I did what I thought was seasoning  I used them. I would use, wash with soap and water, then dry over heat on the stove just until fully dry, then rub a light coat of oil on them. 
    What freaked me out was that EVERY time I wiped them with an oiled rag, my rag always came back black as coal. No matter how many times I rubbed it down. I couldnt stand the idea of this getting into my food. Plus, it still stuck unless I cooked with oil in it. 
    Well recently, I read another method to season. I decided to give it a try. I didnt have any thing to lose. This method is as follows:

1. Wash pan well. I even used a scrubbing pad. A Brillo pad. I scrubbed till it felt good and smooth on the bottom. Then rinsed well.
2. Dry with a towel.
3. I rubbed each skillet with crisco shortening and a rag. Inside and out. I read you could also use coconut oil.
4. Place upside down in oven with aluminum foil on the rack under them.
5. Turn oven onto 350 degrees. Heat for an hour. then allow to cool down.
6. Repeat steps 3-5 two more times. for a total of 3 times in the oven.
I couldnt believe how shiny and smooth my pans came out. Even better than when I purchased them.

Plus they passed the rag test. I rubbed them with a towel and the towel comes back clean. Absolutely no black.
Just look at that shine!
I understand they recommend only washing with water and no soap. Some people say they use soap. But either way, do not let them air dry. dry on a hot burner then put away when cooled.

No comments:

Post a Comment