Cast Iron cookware and cooking

Is it as good as a lot of people seem to think? I got a couple of pans (frying, grilling) as gifts and am eager to give them a try. Never done it in all my years of screwing things up in a kitchen.

When it says light coating of oil, what kind of oil is best to use?

Thanks. I'll hang up and listen.

 

First, they really are that good -- they are workhorses and you can do so many things with them. We have a variety of cast iron skillets, pans and casseroles. Really, though, you can use a cast iron skillet in any number of ways from searing a steak (not something we do, but most people will) to stir frying vegetables to cooking hash browns to making a deep-dish pizza in the oven.

You can't screw it up. Every time you cook, you are just adding to the seasoning, and that is why stuff not only cooks well, it tastes great. We always start off with a coating of olive oil, but depending on how you cook, you can use vegetable oil. ... or even (although I have never done this) lard, crisco or bacon fat.

To season: Start by washing it really well with soap and water. Then dry it well. Then coat it pretty well using a paper towel (top, bottom, all over) -- as I said, we've used olive oil. If there is a lid, coat it, too. Then place them in a preheated oven -- the higher the temperature the better. You might want to put a pan underneath to catch any drippings. Let it cook for about an hour. Then let it cool down and repeat -- coat and cook it again. We'll usually do it at least twice -- the more you have patience to do it several times, the better.

The first couple of times you use it, after you wash the skillet, you might want to coat it again (top and bottom) and cook it on the stove top -- I don't know what kind of stove you have. We have gas. I am not sure how well this will work with electric. But when you start getting a little smoke turn off the fire and cover it and let it cool down before putting it away.

 

This one claims to be preseasoned? Is that possible? Should I do the oil thing anyway?

 

Yes and yes. It means they coated it with something already. It keeps it from rusting before it gets bought. You can probably use it right out of the box. But whatever they did might not last--it's probably not a a killer coating and baking, they way you'll get from doing it yourself several times. So yeah, you might want to still season it yourself. Anything you add to it can give it that much more of a good coating. It's all good.

 

All valid complaints. They do not heat evenly on a stove. If you put it over a small burner, the outsides are not going to be as hot as the middle. But cast iron does get much hotter than the typical aluminum pan, which is nice. And in the oven -- they are great for stove top to oven recipes -- they do heat evenly. I don't find cleaning them to be a big deal. We don't put cook wear in the dishwasher, anyhow. Also, oiling them before putting them away isn't a big deal. It takes less than 2 minutes.

 

Wait - one of the things the cast iron cookware makers brag about is the even heat distribution. AND the ease of cleaning.
They are indeed heavy. Real heavy.

Since I don't have a dishwasher, that part won't be a problem. All the instructions say very clearly, no soap. Yet I should soap it once and season it before using?

Crisco makes about 100 kinds of oil. Vegetable? Canola? Peanut?

I may just go back to shit you throw in the microwave. This is way too complicated for me.