A Yankee's Guided to Cast-Iron

Oct 21, 2020
3 min read

So you cook with this pan but you don't wash it?

Cast-iron wasn't a staple in my household growing up. My mother, the best cook in the world, seemed to have every pot and pan you could imagine in our kitchen. And if she didn't have something, my father, the best baker in the world, would have it at the bakery (follow @elmwoodpastryshop on Instagram). But a cast iron skillet in a stereotypical New England kitchen?

Yeah, we didn't have one.

I'm not saying that New England home chefs don't cook with cast iron. What I'm saying is that it's more common for Southerners to cook with cast iron. So, as a Yankee in the South, here's my guide to cast-iron.

"No one is born a great cook, one learns by doing." — Julia Child

What I've Bought

After years of watching Food Network, I decided to buy a cast-iron skillet (finally). One Google search later, I stumbled upon Williams Sonoma's website. That's where I found the Lodge Seasoned Cast Iron Skillet (bonus points for being made in the USA). I bought a 12-inch skillet and five days later, I was cooking with it!

Seasoning and Cooking

What I didn't take into account was how different it was to cook in cast iron versus a normal skillet. The first step is to season the skillet. Seasoning is when you take a few drops of your favorite vegetable oil and wipe it all over the skillet. Then you place the skillet on the burner and set the heat to medium-low. A few minutes later, the skillet is seasoned and ready to go! Admittedly, I skipped this step in all of my excitement (oops).

The next step is to start cooking. I decided to make a skirt steak as my first dish in the skillet. Here's what I learned from the experience.

The skillet distributes the heat perfectly! My old skillet seemed to get hotter one side, which led to uneven cooking times.
While it's 12-inches, the depth of the cast iron skillet means that it has more room for food.
The weight of the cast-iron makes it harder to tilt the skillet and baste the steak with butter. However, this doesn't mean that it's impossible to baste.
Invest in a handle cover! You can burn yourself by grabbing the handle if you aren't paying attention.

In all, my steak came out perfectly and my first meal with a cast iron skillet was a success. That just left the clean-up.

Cleaning Your Cast Iron

As all of the food blogs and YouTube videos mention, you can't wash your cast iron with soap nor can you put it in the dishwasher! Cast iron keeps in the flavors from your previous meals. My first tip is to let the pan cool off, but not completely! The longer you wait, the harder it'll be to clean it. Depending on if you have a lot of oil in the skillet, pour out the oil and wipe out the excess with a paper towel. For the burnt-on bits, move your skillet to the skillet and fill it with some water. This is where the stainless steel cleaner comes in. I got mine off of Amazon (see link below). This scrubber and a little elbow grease scraps off all of the burnt bits.

Once you give the skillet a final rinse off and wipe down, it's time for the final seasoning. Like when you first receive the skillet, you have to season your cast iron before you put it away. It's the same steps as before, though, if you want to season your skillet in the oven, that works too.

Oh, one more tip! Cook bacon in your cast iron skillet! The natural fats in the bacon seasons the skillet beautifully. Final thoughts: the Lodge Seasoned Cast Iron Skillet gets a five-star recommendation! Test it out and happy eating!

This is Vienna, signing off! See you later!