Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Lovely to read about oil that doesn't come messily out of the ground.

Hi,



Josh, Since flax seed oil has a shelf life of a few months, I assume it turns rancid very quickly. Your idea of sticking to mineral oil is a good one. Mixing the mineral oil with beeswax is the way to make a harder sealer.



Fitzie, I am certain this will work. I cook almost every day with my carbon steel pans and I am really anxious to try this on the pans.

Tim

Thanks, Tim. If this snow ever clears up, I'll run out and purchase some!
Fitzie

Okay, it took a little longer than I thought, but here are the pics. This is a 12-inch Lodge pan. I am working on a smooth surface pan now.

Still need to work on my picture posting skills. It's too late tonight, though.

Hi,

What do you think about the surface? Is it worth the time?

Would it be practical to do 2 pans at the same time?

Tim

It certainly improved the Lodge, which is a rough-surface pan. I'm working on a Wagner smooth-surface pan right now. Neither of them had great seasoning to begin with. I'd say if you need to do it anyway, it's definitely the way to go. I will likely do my Griswolds as well, even though they're in good shape.

What I'm wondering is how do I maintain them now? I've always been an "oil it after using" sort of person, but I was using a saturated oil to avoid rancidity between uses. Apparently, those are the fats that polymerize least well. Do I just add another layer of flax seed oil and bake it on occasion? If so, how often? I'm thinking that, since I'm not washing with soap, there will always be a thin layer of whatever I cooked with in it, anyway. Do I remove that with a bit of soap, then add another layer of seasoning? Do I use the CI maintenance method of drying over a medium flame, then a quick swipe with an oiled paper towel -- maybe with an oil more appropriate to cooking, but still a good polymerizer (is that a word?) like peanut? Am I over-thinking?

Jes,

Sheryl Canters blog has a lot of information following the article. You can even ask questions and she seems willing to answer. I spotted the following in this section"

Once your cast iron cookware has been seasoned, how do you clean it after cooking a meal? I read that a lot of people never use detergent while others say detergent is okay. Do you re-oil after cleaning?

Hi, Jill. Glad you liked the articles!

I handwash my cast iron cookware with dish soap and a nylon sponge (nothing abrasive). I towel it dry, stick it in the oven, set the temperature to 200 degrees, and leave it in there until it’s bone dry (just a few minutes). Then I take it out and lightly oil it with avocado oil, which is highly monounsaturated and won’t go rancid. Olive oil would work, too.

If you have burned on food that’s stuck really badly, boil water in the pan and it will loosen. I have a cast iron grill that got really badly caked with burned whatever and I got it loose without any scrubbing by boiling washing soda mixed with water. Washing soda is like baking soda, but stronger. It’s next to the clothes soap in the store.

I don’t know where people get the idea that washing with dish soap will remove seasoning. It’s very difficult to remove seasoning – you need oven cleaner with lye. Dish soap doesn’t harm the seasoning at all.

Tim

I don’t know where people get the idea that washing with dish soap will remove seasoning. It’s very difficult to remove seasoning – you need oven cleaner with lye. Dish soap doesn’t harm the seasoning at all.

I've always wondered at the "don't use soap" wisdom, particularly combined with recommended use of abrasives such as salt. I think this one should be put up to more methodical inspection. Anyone know McGee or Myhrvold?

I am excited about this. I have been wanting to find me a 12-inch cast iron pan for a while. This just might do it for me.