I seasoned my cast iron once before using it, baked a dutch baby, then a chicken pot pie in it and after the chicken pot pie the glossy finish seems to be gone in most of the central flat area of the skillet.
What did I do and how do I fix this/prevent it from happening again?
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>cast iron thread
saged
you didn't do anything wrong! cast iron needs to be seasoned/cared for regularly. basically just wash it with salt and water, dry it completely, rub it down with some oil, and stick it in the oven for a bit:
But I only cooked twice with it and I already need to get my entire kitchen smelling like burnt oil for hours again?
I admit I only did one layer which is why I'll try to get at least 2 the next time I do it. Still, I don't get how simple recipes like that could get polymerized fat off the surface. I bascially have to use a metal scraper on my baking sheets when I want to get that stuff off.
yeah man i don't know what to tell you. i tend to use mine 3-4 times, and each time i wash it, dry it, and rub it with just a smidge of oil and dry it again on the stovetop. after the 4th or 5th time, i do the full oven treatment.
how do you deal with all the smoke? My kitchen fan works but isn't top notch.
I realized cast iron was a meme and switched to stainless steel with copper core.
Stop being such a fucking baby. It will season naturally the more you cook with it. Stop being so OCD about your shiney seasoning not being so shiney.
there is 0 seasoning on I can assure you. I wouldn't mind if it was just that, but when I rub my finger on the surface I get literal iron dust on my finger. I'm not eating iron dust. I know the human body needs iron but I don't want to get it like that.
Then u did a shit job of seasoning it. Live and learn
Open up windows and doors, fan on full blast. The more you use it the less it will smoke as time goes on, you just have to power through.
You can cook most things in cast iron, but the real question is should you? The more often you cook things that are acidic or dry out the pan, the more often it needs to be reseasoned. I only use mine for steaks or other meats and veggies. Everything else is better off on the non stick. Unless your building a sauce and need high temp, in which case steel is best.
Most common mistake people make with cast iron pans is not heating them up enough before adding food to them.
They put food or lightly warm pan and all goes south, food sticks very badly.
Also don't be paranoid with frequent washing using soap (or even salt) and water.
I almost never wash my cast iron pans (and I use them almost every day), I just use blue shop towel (much better than regular paper towels)
and wipe the pan when is still hot/warm.
No need to wash them to some insane perfection level with water after every use (unless you use them like once a month then maybe but even then
they will be fine just wiped), and to dry them and to put oil on them again. Too much work and too many unnecessary steps in my opinion.
Don't babysit them too much, they will be fine, just make sure you heat them enough before adding food to it.
>after the 4th or 5th time, i do the full oven treatment.
this is overkill. I use my cast iron almost every day, but I only re-season *maybe* once per year.
>Stop being so OCD about your shiney seasoning not being so shiney
this cu/ck/ speaks the truth. With cast iron, the first few times you use a brand new, already seasoned pan you should only be cooking bacon or sausage in it. The idea is that you want to cook some food that will naturally release a lot of fat and leave a thin film behind after you wipe it out. The next time you pre-heat your pan, that thin layer of fat from the previous use will add to the seasoning layer. Over time, this will build up a robust layer that protects the metal from oxidation.
You also don't need to bother with salt water EVERY time you use your cast iron; that is also overkill. The best cleaning method is to pour out any excess fat, wipe away any food particles, and then wipe it out with a clean paper towel. If you need to, you can use a non-scratch scour pad, gentle pressure, and hot water to get rid of stubborn food particles (pic related). After that, just dry it with a paper towel and then put the pan somewhere with plenty of airflow. There is no need to heat it back up to dry, as the heat will only accelerate any oxidation that may occur due to water droplets left in contact with unseasoned metal.
tl;dr cast iron pans are robust tools that actually require far less maintenance than Tasty would have you believe
>how do you deal with all the smoke?
If you are putting on the right amount of fat, you shouldn't get much smoke. If there is smoke beyond the first 10 min, you applied too much fat. All you need is a very thin layer. Start with a few mL of fat and make that cover the whole pan. You should be able to feel the layer of fat but not see any build up.
>They put food or lightly warm pan
should read,
They put food on lightly warm pan
this is good advice. there is literally no need to do all the asinine bullshit in the Tasty video. Just wipe out all the food particles and hang it up until next time.
>9781816
what said. if you're doing it right and using oil with a high smoke point (i.e. almost anything but olive oil) there won't be much smoke.
dat smell doe
I tried cooking bacon in my pan right after I seasoned it but it just got a bunch of nasty brown bacon residue stuck to the bottom. I managed to get it off with a sponge, but I think it stripped the seasoning with it. I didn't have an oven to reseason it with because I had lost control of my life at that point so I just kept using it and somehow it seems to have mostly reseasoned itself. there's a few spots that look kind of brown or gray when the pan is dry, but when I oil it everything is shiny and black. should I try to strip it and reseason it now that I have an oven again, or should I just keep using it as is?
I would just keep using it, unless you see significant luck of coating in those spots.
As this user said,
>The next time you pre-heat your pan, that thin layer of fat from the previous use will add to the seasoning layer. Over time, this will build up a robust layer that protects the metal from oxidation.
Also this,
>Most common mistake people make with cast iron pans is not heating them up enough before adding food to them.
>They put food or lightly warm pan and all goes south, food sticks very badly.