Comments on: Cast Iron Care: not for the germaphobic

By: April

April — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 23:18:03 +0000

I love the title of this post. It’s *so true*. That was my first reaction, when I was reading on how to care of cast iron. “What about the germs?!” I mean, I already knew hot water did more to kill germs than the dish soap did, but, it was just so weird to me. I got over it, though.

By: Saving a cast iron skillet « One Particular Kitchen

Saving a cast iron skillet « One Particular Kitchen — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 23:42:45 +0000

[...] the next step was to re-season it in the oven, then put it to work. The perfect first [...]

By: Pineapple cornbread « One Particular Kitchen

Pineapple cornbread « One Particular Kitchen — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:38:34 +0000

[...] Naturally, I baked it in a cast iron skillet. [...]

By: admin

admin — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 23:22:39 +0000

Andrea, what kind did you get? If it’s pre-seasoned (the pans will be black) then you’re good to go right out of the box. If it’s unseasoned (silver, not black) then you’ll want to wash the food-grade wax off with very, very hot water, a stiff scrubbing brush and soap. This is the only time to use soap on your cast iron. From there you can carry on with seasoning your cast iron as in the post; the part below “What to do if your cast iron is a little less than kitchen-ready?.” Hope that helps!

By: andrea

andrea — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 22:54:31 +0000

What am I supposed to do if I have a new set of cast iron? I read that the company puts a coating on it that I need to remove and am afraid to do anything because there seem to be so many different opinions…

By: Daphne Alt

Daphne Alt — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:29:40 +0000

Hey Erin! I also love cast iron, but would like to strip one of my great grandmother’s pans that I use all the time. It has a lot of stuff gunked on the bottom that just irritates me. It looks like several years of gunk, not just a left on stick as you were describing with the potato/salt method. Do you have a proven method to strip all this off and re-season it?
Hey girl! Do you have a picture of it? I would be wary of taking off too much on a pan that old. I can tell you that I tried the self cleaning oven cycle on a pan and it was a colossal failure — created rust! I would try salt/oil and a stiff brush, then bake on some more oil and see how that looks.

By: Max Caviar

Max Caviar — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 03:25:06 +0000

i agree that what you describe is satisfactory for a skillet that is already pretty well seasoned. but for years i battled with CI skillets’ tendency to have food adhere to it until i came across one cleaning tip that changed everything for me. whenever the skillet gets gunked up with sticky or cruddy stuff that won’t seem to come off with just hot water and a stiff brush (or your fingernail, bleh!). pour a small mound of course sea salt in the skillet, then dump some oil over the salt, then scrub the oil/salt mix into the skillet with a rag in a circular motion until the stuff comes off, and it always does. the salt will often turn brown as you go, but it usually takes less than a minute to get it perfectly clean. then just wipe the salt into your sink and your done. though the salt can definitely cut right through your patina if you scrub too hard, since there is oil already in the mix, any exposed raw CI is instantly coated with more oil so it doesn’t oxidise in a split second as it tends to do.

By: Crispy oven roasted potatoes « One Particular Kitchen

Crispy oven roasted potatoes « One Particular Kitchen — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 14:35:20 +0000

[...] a large cast iron pan melt a pat or two of butter over medium heat and add a Tbsp. or two of olive oil; adjust amounts [...]

By: BBQ chicken pizza « One Particular Kitchen

BBQ chicken pizza « One Particular Kitchen — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:54:41 +0000

[...] baking time pull out some refrigerated dough, form it into a ball and set it in a olive oil brushed cast iron skillet to rise for about 45 [...]

By: Cast iron: a cautionary tale « One Particular Kitchen

Cast iron: a cautionary tale « One Particular Kitchen — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 20:52:23 +0000

[...] to remember: I have a love of cast iron. A serious, deep, and abiding love. And the pretty, shiny skillets to prove [...]