How To Season a Cast Iron Skillet and Recipes.
By moonlake
Skillet Being Seasoned In My Oven
Cleaning and Seasoning the Cast Iron Pan
How to season or cure a cast iron skillet. Clean the skillet very well first with soap and water, dry completely. Preheat oven to 350. Place vegetable oil or shortening in skillet and apply with a soft cloth or paper towel. Place foil in center of oven. Place skillet upside down in middle of oven. Bake for 1 hour and turn off oven and let the skillet stay in oven until cool.
After cooking with skillet clean with mild soap and water. Skillets need to be cleaned with soap and water or the oil will become rancid. Dry by placing on hot burner. Remove when dried, this is the way my Mom always did her skillets. Never place in dishwasher.
If skillet gets sticky then it needs to be re-seasoned.
My Mother, Aunts and Grandmother always cooked with cast iron. Mother makes her corn bread in the cast iron on top of the stove. I need to get that recipe from her. She will be 90 in May.
When I was a kid it was our job to clean the kitchen. We had to put the cast iron skillet on a burner to dry. Mother never dried it with just a towel.
When we would find old cast iron skillets at rummage sales a family member of ours would put them in his wood burner for us and burn all the crime off of them. They might stay in that burner for days. You could also do this in a fireplace or burn pit outside.
Cooking with cast iron will also add iron to your diet. That's got to be better than adding teflon.
Brands of Cast Iron Skillets
Griswold, Lodge, Wagner and John Wright. Emeril makes a pre-seasoned cast iron. Paula Dean also has cast iron.
Griswold is no longer made but can be found in yard sales, this brand is what most of mine are.
I have been told that Lodge is American made and I know they have them at Walmart and Target. They are pre-seasoned.
Lodge cast iron made in South Pittsburg, Tennessee. Take a tour during the Cornbread Festival. I think that would be fun. I like taking tours of factories and companies. I remember years ago touring Betty Crocker kitchens in MN.
This lady uses a different temp then I do but gives you the idea.
Blackberry Cobbler In Cast Iron Skillet
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Cornstarch
- 1/4 cup cold water
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 4 cups blackberries, picked over, rinsed & drained
- 1 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons butter, cold, cut in small pieces
- 1/4 cup boiling water
In a large bowl, stir together the cornstarch and 1/4 cup cold water until cornstarch is completely dissolved. Add 1 cup sugar, lemon juice, and blackberries; combine gently. Transfer to a cast iron skillet, about 8-inches in diameter.
In a bowl, combine the flour, remaining sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Blend in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 1/4 cup boiling water and stir the mixture until it just forms a dough.
Bring the blackberry mixture to a boil, stirring. Drop spoonfuls of the dough carefully onto the boiling mixture, and bake the cobbler on a baking sheet (line with foil to avoid a mess) in the middle of a preheated 400 degree F oven for 20-25 minutes or until the topping is golden. Serve warm.
Bacon-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin
Bacon-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin
1 pork tenderloin (about 1 pound)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 sprigs fresh thyme
4 slices bacon
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 small fennel bulbs, cut into eighths
8 dried apricots, cut in half
Heat oven to 400° F.
Pat the pork dry with paper towels. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and 1/2 teaspoon of the pepper. Top the pork with the thyme and wrap it with the bacon. Heat the oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork and fennel. Season with the remaining salt and pepper. Cook the pork for 2 minutes per side. Add the apricots. Transfer skillet to oven and roast for 20 to 25 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes. Slice the pork and serve with the fennel and apricots.
Yield: Makes 4 servings
Do You Own An Iron Skillet?
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Lodge Foundry
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How To Season a Cast Iron Skillet and Recipes.
Comments
With this oven it's easy to keep clean just turn it on and walk away. I remember the days of Oven Off and how I almost killed myself spraying that stuff. Thanks for leaving comment.
It was called Easy Off.
It is kind of a shame that most people have moved away from using cast iron these days. I seasnoned mine in a similar manner the first time, but I find that using a spray like Pam after I have washed it keeps it working well. After drying (on the burner as above), I apply a light spray and then spread it evenly with a paper towel. My wife uses lighter weight, often non-stick pans. I go for the cast iron. I never let it sit long when I am done. I find it best to clean it as soon as it is cool enough to handle.
I'll have to try that. We like corn bread in our cast iron. My Mom makes her corn bread on top of the stove in a cast iron skillet.
I have had cast iron for years and never knew you were supposed to season them. I will have to do that tomorrow. And I can't wait to try out the recipe. Looks really yummy.
Thanks ADB for posting hope you enjoy the recipe.
Thank you so much for this posting. I have two cast iron skillets and I am going to go season them now.
Your welcome thanks for posting.
I have a question for any of you about iron skillets. Mine are already seasoned. We did it outside on an open fire. I'm glad to find out this way, too. I shoulda called you before I did mine. Anyway, I'd like to know how you clean your skillets. My greatgrandmother always said to never wash them once they are seasoned because it could make some things stick. She always kept 2 skillets for cornbread and biscuits only. Nothing else was allowed to be cooked in those 2. She cooked the bread then took it out of the oven and immeditately flipped it over into a dish and wiped the hot skillet with a milkcloth, then she'd put it up until the next use. She never washed it. It was always clean, just never washed with detergent. They were spotless and smooth. And nothing ever stuck in those 2 skillets. Have any of you ever heard of this?
Yes I know lots of people don't think they should be washed. I don't think my grandmother washed hers. I do mine but not heavy washing just a fast wash with a little dash of soap. I worry about them becoming rancid.
Thanks for posting.
Good to know. My husband thought I was crazy. I catch him washing mine as he feels like you do. And then I have to reseason it. But it works out. It's clean and it don't stick lol. Thanks for the answer. Great hub!
Thank you.
Where were you yesterday when I was trying to fry chicken? My cast iron dutch oven got rusty in our move last year. I was taught to never use soapy water on my seasoned cast iron. I still have a cast iron skillet my mother got from her mother (and an ironing board made in 1939). I'd just die if anything happened to either of them.
blessings,
julia
julia ward - a BLINDING heart = a writer's blog - www.ablindingheart.com
We often buy cast iron at rummage sales many times their rusty and I just scrub all the rust off and then season them.
Thanks for stopping by...
Iron skillets are must hav's down south. My sister recently bought a new one that was pre-seasoned. We thought that was so cool.
I never knew why 'seasoning' was important, but I do now. Love my skillet.
newsworthy thanks for posting. The new iron skillets are great but always nice to have an old family favorite.
Mike Kage thanks for posting. Glad my hub was some help.
I LOVE using my cast iron skillet. I seasoned mine the same way you instructed. Great Hub!
duxrluvly thanks for stopping by and for comment.
Time to purchase a new cast iron skillet and season it properly. Thanks very much for this Hub. Skillets Up!
Your welcome thanks so much for stopping by.
I picked up a Griswold skillet at a resale store and it was so encrusted that it took a long time to SOS it all off then season it. But since then, it has been my favorite pan. Love the flavor it imparts to the food!
Good buy. We look for them when we to yard sales.
Thanks PegCole 17 for stopping by my hub.
I didn't know why people like 'Seasoning a Cast Iron Skillet and Recipes' but after reading your hub, now i know.
I appreciate your advice on washing the cast iron skillets. Often we were taught not to wash them but I could never do that. I was doing it right and didn't even know it! Thanks for the hub.
Shaun75,
Thank you, for stopping by and visiting my hub.
tillsontitan,
Thank you, for stopping by my hub and leaving a comment. I'm like you I have to wash.
Yay . . . know I know what to do about my sticky iron skillet :) Thanks for recipes - stove top cooking is much easier.
YogaKat, Thanks for stopping by. Your welcome.
This talk of seasoning and curing takes me way back to the days of no fast or quick anything. Everything was freshly raised or taken fresh off the land, except salt and pepper. It all required a lot of hard work, but the harvests were plentiful.
I placed about a tablespoon of oil on a towel and wiped a new cast iron all over, then, I placed it on a low burner on the stove top and let it heat for about an hour. I think I like your method better. In the oven the heat will be even. The instructions on my new cast iron Dutch oven says "no soap." How am I supposed to wash that thing without soap and hot water? I think I will season it your way and wash it with soap as needed. It is a Lodge and I love to deep fry and cook soups in it.
I have this deep cast iron skilet that belonged to my grandparents. It has legs and is old. What am I to do with a skillet with legs? It looks silly standing over an eye on a stove. I also have an old iron wash pot that belonged to Mom. It is outside, rusty and I suppose I will put flowers in it. Mom kept beautiful cacti in it for years. I can't handle the thorns.
Loved this hub! Voted up, useful, interesting.
Levertis Steele,
Do your ever use your pot with legs in the oven, the legs would have to go between the wires but what the heck, I bet it's great to cook in. An old iron wash pot I've never seen one. I know lots of instructions say no soap but I just don't want the oil on it to get rancid.
Thanks, so much for stopping by and for the vote.
Lodge is the only producer of cast iron cookware that actually manufactures their products in the USA. For that reason, I will only buy from Lodge, not from any of the others.
I consider both Emeril and Paul Deen to be unpatriotic Americans because they sell cheap imports made by cheap labor from China while they (Emeril and Dean) rake in more profits.
That said (and as I step down from my soap box), I enjoy my Lodge cast iron cookware, particularly the smaller skillet in which I bake cornbread. I learned a long, long time ago how to season cast iron cookware. Thanks for sharing this lesson with HP readers.
I didn't know that about Lodge. I hate it when things come from China.
So glad you stopped by and left comment. I appreciate it.
These pans are great for cooking baking and just about anything. My Mom used them I use them. I am so glad not you can buy them at Target and Wal-Mart already seasoned. Sames a little time!
2besure, Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Yes, it's nice that the new ones are pre-seasoned.
A great hub and I dare say not too many young brides today know how to season a cast iron pan. My grandfather gave us one as a wedding present now almost 40 years ago. It survived a house fire 22 years ago. How I love blackberry pie! Thanks for this great recipe, my mouth is watering and I am now craving a good blackberry cobbler.
Fiddleman, Thanks so much for stopping by. What a nice gift your grandfather gave you. I can sure see why one would survive a fire. When we're long gone cast iron will still be around.
Blackberry cobbler is a good recipe with a big scoop if ice cream.
Moonlake, thanks for the tip on placing my skillet legs between the wires of the oven rack. I will try it.
We took the grandchildren camping a couple of weeks ago and had a fine outing, fishing included. We cooked on an open fire and enjoyed it so much. My son used a long-handled skillet on large rocks. That gives me an idea for that skillet with legs! The kids are looking forward to another trip in April.
Levertis Steele, So glad to hear you had a nice camping trip. Sounded great. Thanks so much for stopping again and leaving a comment.
I love my iron skillet! I also read somewhere it is good for you if you are anemic? not sure if it is true, but I guess particles of iron leave the skillet and end up in the food which should be good for you.
alexadry, I would think it would be good if you are anemic. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. I appreicate it.
ajcor 3 years ago
the inside of your oven makes me feel incredibly ashamed!