You Can Wash Your Cast Iron Skillet!
You Can Wash Your Cast Iron Skillet!And other cast iron truths Big Nonstick doesn't want you to know
I’ve heard a lot of lies swirling around about cast iron cookware. That you’ve got to fill it to the brim with fat to season it. That you need to season it after every use. That you can’t use metal tools with it or cook acidic ingredients in it. And the biggest lie of them all: That it can’t be washed with soap. These cast iron lies run so deep within our consciousness that no matter how many well-respected institutions try to tell you otherwise, like America’s Test Kitchen and Serious Eats (and ahem my cookbook), someone will not believe it. The anti-washers are as loud and wrong as the antivaxers. (I can only assume Big Nonstick is behind it.) But this lie hurts you because cooking in cast iron is awesome and easy. Let me show you how and why, and join me in the dark side. What Is Cast Iron, Actually?
Cast iron is exactly what it sounds like: iron that’s been melted down and “cast” (poured into a mold). It cools into a solid, dense, heavy piece of cookware. That density offers a few pros and cons:
Types of cast iron:
Why Cast Iron?
I spent the first half of my career in restaurant kitchens where the burners have more BTUs than your home stovetop can legally crank out. In restaurants, I cooked almost exclusively on stainless steel, which heated up fast, and it didn’t matter that it didn’t retain heat as well because there was a flamethrower underneath it. Crackly sears and blistering sautés were easy to achieve. Cut to—working at my first test kitchen developing recipes for home cooks over a home burner with home kitchen gear. I felt like I had to learn to cook again. Now, after years of developing recipes for home cooks and cooking on gas, electric, and induction stovetops, the only thing that lets me get close to that restaurant heat is cast iron cookware. If you take the time to thoroughly heat it, even the weakest burner can get you a Delmonico-level sear. Seasoning Out of the BoxSeasoning is not a spice. It’s the layer of polymerized oil that builds up on the surface of cast iron over time, creating a naturally non-stick, rust-resistant, acid-resistant coating that gets better the more you cook with it. Most new cast iron comes pre-seasoned from the factory, but that factory seasoning is just a starting point To season a new pan:
You only have to do this full seasoning process for a new pan or if the seasoning has been stripped off. This can happen if the pan gets white hot for an extended period of time, is scrubbed with abrasives, or put in the dishwasher. But take care of your pans, and you’ll likely never have to do this again. How to Clean It After Daily Use
This is my most frequently asked question. The answer: JUST WASH IT! You know how to do this: soap, water, sponge, scrub, rinse, done. The dish soap of modern times is perfectly safe to use with cast iron. Now, 100 years ago, soap was harsh and would strip away the seasoning, so folks had to scrub their pans clean with salt. But it’s the future. You’re reading this on a glowing glass screen in the palm of your hands. Soap has also made leaps and bounds, I promise. After washing, thoroughly dry your pan because it can rust. Most days I simply place it on the dish rack. When I’m feeling extra, or the seasoning is looking like it could use a little love:
That’s all folks! You can do this! Here’s a list of my favorite cast irons and cast iron related things. Now go forth and sear like you’ve never seared before. Recipes to Make in Your Perfectly Seasoned Cast Iron
Saganaki with Walnut Vinaigrette The traditional Greek dish of fried cheese that some Athenian restaurants flambé tableside, using a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to put out the flames. Here, that classic gets a makeover with crunchy walnuts, floral honey, and fresh parsley. Serve it alongside crusty bread or crackers for a spectacular appetizer that'll have your guests cheering, "Opa!" Get the ingredients here. Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie It’s not just cute, baking a cookie in a cast iron skillet gets the edges extra crispy and caramelized while the middle is molten and gooey. This is a small batch recipe so enough for two or just you. Get the ingredients here. Pan-Seared Flank Steak with Peaches and Greens Perfect for this parasite girl summer we’ve been having, so you can enjoy the best of summer produce safely. The peaches and greens are cooked in the pan juices, yielding a sweet, spicy, slightly bitter sauce to go with the steak. Get the ingredients here. Sizzlin’ Skillet of Broccolette AKA my girl dinner when Ham’s away and the kid’s asleep. It’s really just an excuse to eat cheese, but veggies are involved so it’s healthy. A blazin’ hot skillet helps the brocolette char while staying crisp-tender. Get the ingredients here. 🌈 Cookbook Rainbow 🌈
Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson The book that sent an entire generation running to buy Dutch ovens, and for good reason. Robertson’s country loaf is baked in a covered cast iron pot, and the results are genuinely impossible to replicate any other way. If your Dutch oven has been sitting in the sideboard next to that cornbread pan, this is what gets it out. BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts by Stella Parks We love Stella. She is one of the most meticulous bakers alive. And homegirl loves a cast iron skillet, using it for baking cobblers, upside-down cakes, cornbread, you name it. This is also an extraordinarily researched and funny book that treats American baking with the respect it deserves. Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way by Francis Mallmann Mallmann is the cast iron philosopher king, who has devoted his life to the relationship between fire and iron and things cooking directly on both. The techniques in this book are meditations on what happens when intense heat meets a heavy pan. It will make you think about your cast iron collection completely differently, and possibly make you want to cook outside.
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