Cast Iron and Carbon Steel needs a lot more care than stainless steel and non-stick cookware. But we’re here to help! Here’s some basic instructions on how to care for your cast iron and carbon steel, as well as how to season your cookware. Just remember, each brand of cookware has their own particular care instructions, so those are the best to refer to.
Cleaning:
– Clean with hot water and a bristly brush, don’t use steel wool or it will take off the seasoned surface. Also avoid soap to ensure that the seasoned layer stays intact!
– If there is some food that doesn’t come off with a brush, simmer a small layer of water for a few minutes to help loosen any residue.
– Before storing, using paper towel rub a light layer of cooking oil (not olive oil) over the pan.
General use:
– Cast iron and carbon steel cookware are all metal utensil safe.
– Be sure to slowly heat up your pan. Even though they can take a high heat, putting them straight onto high heat can potentially warp the cookware.
– Avoid running your hot cookware under cold water, the temperature shock can warp your cookware as well!
General tips:
– Avoid cooking acidic foods such as tomatoes, and citrus, as the acidity can strip the seasoned surface. However, some brands (such as Lodge) are perfectly fine to use with acidic foods. So check with your brand first!
– Rust can happen, so it’s recommended to hand dry your cookware and don’t store until completely dry! If it does rust, it can be remedied. Here’s a video on how to restore a rusty pan.
Seasoning:
! PLEASE NOTE !
Not all Cast Iron and Carbon Steel needs seasoning. Check the instructions that come with your cookware to make sure
– Preheat your oven to 200ºC.
– To season your pan, first scrub your pan using a stiff brush with hot soapy water.
– Rinse off and dry completely. You can even gently heat it on the stove (very low heat setting) to ensure that the surface is completely dry.
– Then, using paper towel apply a very thin layer of cooking oil all over the cookware (yes, even the outside) as evenly as possible. We recommend grape seed oil but any oil with a high smoke point is suitable, don’t use olive oil! It’s important that the layer of oil is thin, you’ll know it’s too thick when the pan come’s out slightly sticky.
– Place your pan upside down in your oven (this prevents pooling), ensuring that you have a tray covered with foil on the lower rack to catch any drips.
– Bake for at least 1 hour.
– Turn off the oven, and allow the cookware to cool down inside of the oven.
– Once it’s cooled down, you’re ready to go! You may need to repeat the process several times to produce the suitable surface that you’re after. Watch the video’s below to see the end result for the both cast iron & carbon steel!
