Properly “seasoned” cast iron pans will have a patina like this, and foods won’t stick.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED

OPINION

There are good cooks…and there are those who simply like the trappings of good cooks. The easiest way to tell who’s who in the kitchen is to look at their equipment and utensils…and whether they use them.

For example, good cooks almost always have a supply of cast iron pans…and use them. Some - let's call them less serious cooks - might have cast iron pans…but they rarely use them. Too much work, they often say.

Most good cooks have a variety of pans…and rarely are they matched sets. There’s nothing wrong with, say, having a ceramic non-stick pan…but cast iron is simply more versatile…and can be just as non-stick when handled properly.

The trouble is…there are more myths about cast iron pans than the Greeks had about ancient gods. My mom had nothing but cast iron skillets…and would not let anyone wash them…not even my dad…who cooked with them the most.

(DON THOMPSON / iNFOnews.ca)

If anyone had ever used dish detergent to clean her skillets…they would have probably ended up on a future episode of Dateline. The woman had a temper and a short fuse.
Her mother…and probably her grandmother…passed along the mythology…no soap on cast iron.

First of all, you can use soap…but only after proper “seasoning” of the pan. More on that later. Yes, you have to do certain things to keep your cast iron in perfect shape…but if you do, they’re really almost bullet-proof.

I once found an old cast iron frying pan in a shed of an old farmhouse in North Carolina. It was rusty…and plenty ugly…suffering from decades of abuse. I cleaned it up using some cooking oil and steel wool…even removing some remnants of some haphazard seasoning efforts from years gone by.

A Google search of the internet might scare you about cast iron re-seasoning…and we all know that if it’s on the internet…it’s true! Nonsense. Use steel wool or chain-mail scrubber to loosen edges or uneven flakes of old seasoning. Then, wash the pan with soap and water…then dry it thoroughly.

The next step is to line the bottom of your oven with a sheet of foil to catch any drips, and preheat the oven to 450-500°F. Use a soft cloth or paper towel dipped in a neutral cooking oil to rub the entire surface…inside and out…of the pan. I like peanut oil because it has a high flash or smoke point.

Don’t use too much oil…no drips or runs on surfaces when you hold the pan vertically. Then, put the pan upside down on a oven rack and bake it for an hour. Turn off the heat, but leave the pan in the oven…until it’s cool.

Do it on a cool day, and use an exhaust fan or crack windows. I seasoned that antique cast iron I found a couple times the first month…and cooked with it a dozen times. In a few months…I could slide a fried egg out of it on to a plate…as well as any non-stick pan.

If you missed a spot seasoning the pan, just repeat the oiling, baking, and cooling until you're happy with the result. By the way, seasoning is nothing more than oil that's been polymerized at a high temperature…bonding to the cast-iron and creating create a perfect non-stick finish.

Cast iron skillets should have a satin-like patina…and the more you cook with them using oils and butter…the better.

Most of us are familiar with Lodge cast iron…one of the biggest manufacturers in the U.S. and Canada. But be on the look out for older brands…Griswold, Wagner, Birmingham Stove & Range, Chicago Hardware Foundry Co., Columbus Hollow Ware Co., Favorite Stove & Range and Vollrath Manufacturing.

You can find these older cast iron brands in antique stores, flea markets, garage sale, estate sales…and sometimes just stumbling around old, deserted farm sites. If you have any doubts whether it’s cast iron…use a magnet. It will stick to cast iron but not aluminum.

Finally, cast iron pans are heirlooms…to be passed from generation to generation. Every time I use mine…I think of my parents…and lots of good food, of course.

— Don Thompson, an American awaiting Canadian citizenship, lives in Vernon and in Florida. In a career that spans more than 40 years, Don has been a working journalist, a speechwriter and the CEO of an advertising and public relations firm. A passionate and compassionate man, he loves the written word as much as fine dinners with great wines.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor.

News from © iNFOnews, 2025