Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption
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natty
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recycling a cast iron skillet- any tips?Hi all,
a friend of mine was going to throw out and old cast iron skillet so I saved it. It's sticky and blackened with gunk, whre he didn't clean and then left it ontop of a cupboard, so I have taken a wire brush to the base of it to get the gunk off but left the sides which I'm happy with being black. What's the best way to go about making it useable and caring for it. is it right that you should'nt wash it but just wipe it after use and rub oil into it?- will food stick to it? I'm desperate to stop using nonstick pans because of the cheminal pollutants that end up in the food so would love any pointers on how to use a cast iron pan.
cheers guys, Nattty 
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tahir
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There'll be (I suspect) several opinions on this shortly
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sally_in_wales
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Best way is to reskin it by coating it with fat and then burning this on. Gareth sometimes mutters about salt being part of this process, but I remember more doing it to my bakestone with a big lump of suet and having to abandon the kitchen whilst the smoke died down. Once you have a nice smooth black carbonised non stick layer you can wipe it but never scrub it clean. We reskinned a cauldron on a campfire once too, that was fun
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dpack
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thats what i do
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RichardW
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Yep hot oil & salt. Used to do it all the time to skillets & omlet pans ect when I was a chef.
justme
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dougal
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All of this relates to conditioning the un-enamelled inside of a cast iron pan.
The idea is to abrade away (salt crystals) any stuck stuff, while gradually building (and not removing) a thin smooth coating of carbon from burnt oil...
Such pans are best if used pretty much constantly.
If it must be put away, then lightly oil it's surface (with cooking, not mineral, oil!) before putting it away, and then wash the oil off before use.
Washing should be, as with a steel wok, a matter more of wiping it rather than scrubbing it - so as to avoid damage to the fragile film.
Incidentally, handled well, there really shouldn't be any risk fom cooking in a non-stick pan. As to whether the factories are more or less eco-friendly than an iron foundry, well that's a whole different discussion!
Care of cast iron - remember its fairly brittle, so don't shock it, whether by dropping it, putting it cold straight onto a ring set at a high heat, or even putting it hot into washing up water... treat it gently, and it could last a lifetime or more - which certainly is better than almost all non-stick finishes!
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natty
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Hi Ok great thanks for that everyone,
so I pour some oil in and a pinch of salt and then let it burn away until the pan is black- (making a lot of smoke). Afterwhich I just use and wipe clean as necessary, and add a little oil if I'm putting it away. Ok seems easy enough to give it a go!
As for the non stick- I have jut been getting paranoid since it's a cheap one and I noticed black gritty bits appearing in my food when I was cooking with it (no not burnt food!) and after a while I could actually start to peel layers off the bottom. I was worried I'd been digesting it! And I read somewhere (possibly guardian) a small article which said they had found the non-stick coating substance in wild polar bears! Anyway I'm sure there's some study somewhere to say pretty much anything we do is harmful, but I do like your point about the foundry.
Cherrs everyone, 
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Pilsbury
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Normally to clean mine i put it on the heat with a handful of salt in it and warm it up. the heat helps loosen anything stuck in the pan then rub gently using a DRY cloth of kitching roll so the saly acts as an abrasive and scrubs the pan clean, it migh take a couple of goes but it will work.
Then i put the oil in , normally about 1/2 a pan full and heat it up until it is smoking, then carefully pour out the oil into something heat proff and polish the inside of the pan with kitchen roll and pop it back on the heat while wiping the inside with the oily kitchen roll. this gives the "non stick " finish you want.
If the pan still sticks after you use it first just clean it with salt and burn on more oil, it will take time but is well worth it as they can last a lifetimes
As a note please remember all the stages above mean using very hot salt that will burn badly and boiling oil so it is only sensable to bre careful
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dougal
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Excellent explanation Pilsbury!
But I'm going to quibble on a couple of details.
As I said above, the idea is use the salt as an *abrasive* - which means rubbing it into the pan, to scour it clean of built-up gunk. | Pilsbury wrote: | | As a note please remember all the stages above mean using very hot salt that will burn badly and boiling oil so it is only sensable to bre careful |
That is to say hot salt - which looks just like cold salt - can burn YOU nastily. Take care!
You should NOT have much oil in the pan when you 'smoke' it. Just a really thin film of oil, to lay down a very thin layer of carbon. Smoke a puddle of oil (or more) and you run a serious likelihood (not just a theoretical risk) of a significant fire. Take care! Please!
Just use a minimum of oil to *coat* the surface.
Smoking deep oil is dangerous and isn't going to lay down carbon below the level of the surface of the oil.
Just use a *lick* of oil, and burn it onto the surface. Repeat multiple times by all means, but DON'T use much oil each time.
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natty
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Oops, So the salt is for rubbing the pan before the oil goes in! 
Ok, will give it another go then. And I will be very careful. thanks for the clearer instructions Pilsbury. And especially about amount of oil to use, dougal, as I was beginning to worry over how hot it was getting and desperatey trying to remember school lessons on how chip pan fires started!
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Nanny
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my mom used to scrub her cast iron frying pan witha bit of sand then wipe with oil
that was maybe.....45 years ago and i am still using the pan here as i inherited it from her when the family stopped camping and went into hotels for their holidays
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hedgewitch
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| Nanny wrote: | | when the family stopped camping and went into hotels for their holidays |
You're family's gone posh, then, Nanny?  If mine started going to hotels I'd think they were after nicking the towels  
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Nanny
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| hedgewitch wrote: | | Nanny wrote: | | when the family stopped camping and went into hotels for their holidays |
You're family's gone posh, then, Nanny? If mine started going to hotels I'd think they were after nicking the towels |
more like when the kids all grew up and left home my parents could afford to do more than sleep on the ground for 2 weeks
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hedgewitch
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James
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As Woody Guthry once said,
"Keep ya Skillet Good 'n Greasy all the time"
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