Denise Baron, culinary director of Red Heat Tavern in the Boston area, tells SELF that she recommends repeating the process two or three times a year after the inaugural seasoning, in order to maintain the nonstick coating and protect the surface of your pan. VanTrece suggests the same. (You should also reseason if you have to clean your pan with harsh soap—which, as we’ll get to, is not advisable, precisely because it can strip away the nonstick coating, Baron says.)
Reseasoning a little (or a lot) more often than that definitely won’t hurt, though. In fact, it will only help to keep the pan in awesome shape. “I like to reseason after every use,” Stephen McLellan, a chef and cast iron master with Smithey Ironware in Charleston, South Carolina, tells SELF. McLellan’s recommended reseasoning method is to preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit while cleaning the skillet after cooking, apply a thin layer of oil to the pan’s surface, put the pan in the preheated oven upside down, and turn the oven off. “Then just forget it there until the next time you cook,” McLellan says.
Do you put oil in a cast-iron skillet when cooking?
Cast iron has a reputation for being naturally non-stick, but you still might need to add some fat to your skillet depending on what you’re cooking and how well your pan is seasoned.
A cast-iron pan that’s fresh out of the box isn’t going to perform like Teflon. That’s why, as we mentioned above, seasoning it is so important. With a proper first seasoning, and proper maintenance over time, though, layers of fat (and flavor) will gradually build up on the skillet’s surface, nixing the need for extra oil. “Eventually the oil and fat seeps into the pan itself and bonds with the cast iron, making it less sticky,” VanTrece says.
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Superb seasoning won’t happen overnight though. “It can take four to six months to get to the stage of being really well-seasoned,” McLellan says. In the meantime, use a tablespoon or so of oil when you’re cooking foods that don’t naturally contain much fat (like vegetables or chicken or fish without the skin on it) Baron says. Ditto for egg dishes, like a scramble or chickpea and brussels sprouts frittata.
Any of the cheapest and healthiest cooking oils, like vegetable oil, safflower oil, and canola oil, do the job, as well as butter. And naturally higher-fat foods like beef, chicken, or salmon with the skin on, might not need any extra oil at all. (Hello, skillet chicken thighs with cabbage and quinoa.)
Cleaning a cast-iron pan
After cooking with a cast-iron skillet, you’ll need to de-gunk it with a little care. Your basic goal when cleaning cast iron is to get rid of any food bits without stripping the pan of its hard-earned seasoning.
VanTrece likes to do this while the skillet is still warm, before the grime gets a chance to harden or get crusty. “Use some coarse salt and a little water and scrub it with a stiff brush, then dry it completely,” VanTrece says. “Don’t leave it in the sink or soak it, because it will rust.” If you want, you can brush the pan with a very thin layer of oil to keep the pan’s surface from drying out, and then it’s ready to go for next time.
Source: SELF
