4 ms·

I just cook on it everyday, olive or cooking oil, never scrape it clean, just wash with hot water. Same way my grandma did. Nothing sticks. Maybe this is overc

I just cook on it everyday, olive or cooking oil, never scrape it clean, just wash with hot water. Same way my grandma did. Nothing sticks. Maybe this is overcomplicating things.

neild 4y ago
I have several cast iron pans of varying vintages and styles. They see a lot of use. And my experience is that the quality of the seasoning just doesn't matter that much. If the pan is hot and there's oil in it, almost nothing sticks even if the seasoning is indifferent. The stuff that does stick (tortillas are terrible for leaving carbonized residue on the pan) will do so no matter how good the seasoning is. It doesn't matter, though, because I just scrub it off and the pan still works fine. Oh, and a bit of dish soap is fine, too. Doesn't seem to bother the pan any. There's a whole vaguely macho culture around cast iron and the fiddly rituals for producing the perfect surface, but you can just ignore all that and cook on the things and they're fine.
clmul 4y ago
I have a similar experience with stainless steel pans. We use them for everything (also eggs, which people seem to find especially hard on the internet). After getting used to the pans (especially cooking on the right temperature), I just don't get the obsession people have with non-stick pans and seasoning. Additionally, there is something else I wonder about: people often seem to be recommended those pans "requiring" seasoning from a health-conscious perspective, but to me it seems like everything that is involved in seasoning could be worse than just using a non-stick Teflon or ceramic pan to begin with. I mean, isn't seasoning basically burning oil and making a layer of burnt stuff at the bottom of your pan? Can't this stuff flake into your food? I can't find much about this on the internet, so maybe I'm wrong, but it just doesn't feel right to me.
- tbrownaw 4y ago
  I assume it's a similar thing to "non-GMO" being presented as more healthy. The more clearly artificial something is, the worse it's supposed to be for you.
kilpikaarna 4y ago
My experience (and habits) exactly. Just use more fat than you think you need, even for greasy foods (especially bacon). Wash with hot water and a brush, and turn upside down to dry or wipe off. Explicit seasoning is a smoky mess, usually best avoided. One thing that does make a huge difference though, is the surface finish of the cast iron. I had a fancy new pan that was basically unusable compared to some old flea market finds, because it had the raw cast surface, while the old ones had been ground smooth. Ended up taking an angle grinder to it (after which the raw metal was obviously exposed, and it did need seasoning) and the difference is night and day!

I just cook on it everyday, olive or cooking oil, never scrape it clean, just wash with hot water. Same way my grandma did. Nothing sticks. Maybe this is overcomplicating things.

neild 4y ago

I have several cast iron pans of varying vintages and styles. They see a lot of use. And my experience is that the quality of the seasoning just doesn't matter that much. If the pan is hot and there's oil in it, almost nothing sticks even if the seasoning is indifferent. The stuff that does stick (tortillas are terrible for leaving carbonized residue on the pan) will do so no matter how good the seasoning is. It doesn't matter, though, because I just scrub it off and the pan still works fine. Oh, and a bit of dish soap is fine, too. Doesn't seem to bother the pan any. There's a whole vaguely macho culture around cast iron and the fiddly rituals for producing the perfect surface, but you can just ignore all that and cook on the things and they're fine.

clmul 4y ago

I have a similar experience with stainless steel pans. We use them for everything (also eggs, which people seem to find especially hard on the internet). After getting used to the pans (especially cooking on the right temperature), I just don't get the obsession people have with non-stick pans and seasoning. Additionally, there is something else I wonder about: people often seem to be recommended those pans "requiring" seasoning from a health-conscious perspective, but to me it seems like everything that is involved in seasoning could be worse than just using a non-stick Teflon or ceramic pan to begin with. I mean, isn't seasoning basically burning oil and making a layer of burnt stuff at the bottom of your pan? Can't this stuff flake into your food? I can't find much about this on the internet, so maybe I'm wrong, but it just doesn't feel right to me.

tbrownaw 4y ago
I assume it's a similar thing to "non-GMO" being presented as more healthy. The more clearly artificial something is, the worse it's supposed to be for you.

kilpikaarna 4y ago

My experience (and habits) exactly. Just use more fat than you think you need, even for greasy foods (especially bacon). Wash with hot water and a brush, and turn upside down to dry or wipe off. Explicit seasoning is a smoky mess, usually best avoided. One thing that does make a huge difference though, is the surface finish of the cast iron. I had a fancy new pan that was basically unusable compared to some old flea market finds, because it had the raw cast surface, while the old ones had been ground smooth. Ended up taking an angle grinder to it (after which the raw metal was obviously exposed, and it did need seasoning) and the difference is night and day!