It's The Seasoning That Counts

It's The Seasoning That Counts
By Melanie R. Craig

It is strange to think it now, but cooks have not always been able to enjoy the benefits of no-stick cookware. And, even these days, there are some people who just prefer not to use non-stick and decide to stick with more traditional items. In fact, in my experience, you are unlikely to find any non-stick pans or trays within the confines of a commercial kitchen. Many professional chefs too, it would seem, prefer to stick (or should that be not stick) with cast iron pots and pans.

Of course, cast iron cookware is much stronger and more durable than its modern non-stick counterparts. And many cooks will swear to you that cast iron has the benefit of retaining the food's flavour in a way that non-stick does not. That's great, but the food can stick to cast iron cookware can't it, and it is no fun at all to spend an entire afternoon working with a scraper or wire brush on a burnt pan while using your free hand to mop all of the sweat from your brow.

Fortunately, with the correct seasoning you can keep your non non-stick pans in tip-top condition with no sweat at all.

Here's how to do it:

(i) Heat the oven to 300 degrees.

(ii) Coat the pan/tray etc with lard or grease (note: vegetable oil or cooking sprays will not season the cookware correctly. So do not use).

(iii) Place the pan/tray etc on the middle rack of the oven and and bake for 15 minutes.

(iv) Remove the pan/tray etc and pour off any excess grease or lard.

(v) Return the pan/tray etc to the oven for a further 2 hours.

(vi) Repeat the process as needed.

A lot of cast iron-favouring-cooks recommend repeating this process several times before using the cookware, as with each subsequent seasoning the bond becomes stronger. There are also those who further recommend that, for the first few uses, the cookware be restricted to the cooking of greasy foods (bacon etc) to give the bond an added strength.

Re-seasoning

If the seasoning has not taken properly, or if food starts to stick to the pan (which might happen after a while) you will need to re-season.

Here's how to do that:

(i) Wash the item of cookware that needs re-seasoning. A steel wool pad is best for this.

(ii) Dry thoroughly.

(iii) Then follow the normal method for seasoning, as detailed above.

Once your pan has been correctly seasoned it is most important that you look after it and only clean it in the correct manner. This means no soap, and nothing abrasive like steel wool. If you do use these things the seasoning will be lost and it will be back to the sink with a sweaty brow and a scraper.

So how do you clean your cast iron cookware without losing the all important seasoning?

It's easy:

Rinse the cookware while it is still hot and if there is any food stuck to it then gently scrape it free. And that's it! It's simple. In fact it's as simple as one two three:

(i) Season your cookware

(ii) Re-season as and when necessary.

(iii) Look after it for life!

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