Last month I was very excited to intention to scientifically re-season my cast-iron skillets. In any case, I had be taught that Cooks Illustrated actually useful the tactic and I had full faith of their expertise.
I stripped my pans full of enthusiasm and hope of getting a fantastically shiny, simple, black coating to my favorite skillets throughout the kitchen. I adopted the really helpful steps for stripping with an oven cleaner and whereas it did take away various the gunk, it did not completely strip the pans. I tried metallic wool, which labored way more poorly and in the long term the one issue that totally stripped the pans was a wire-wheel drill attachment. It was a time-consuming course of, nevertheless I lastly obtained the pans stripped and was ready to maneuver on to the next step.
I adopted all the remaining steps precisely as instructed. It was foul work smoking and stinking up the house with cold-pressed flax seed oil, let me let ! After the actually useful 6 coats, I was not glad with the extent of safety. It appeared merely as skinny and difficult as a result of it did after the 2nd coat.
Perhaps the error I made was persevering with to make use of coats. Although it would want been visually imperceptible, possibly the seasoning was too thick. Nevertheless after admiring the shiny black pan for days, I lastly melted in some butter and added diced onions and celery to saute. As a result of the greens cooked they began to be peppered with bits of darkish black coating that was rising in quantity by the second. The beautiful seasoning was flaking off into the meals!! I’m merely grateful I didn’t strive it out with a cut back of meat or one factor equally useful!
I had been warned that this may occasionally happen earlier after posting the hyperlink to the re-seasoning method on Fb, so lastly I wasn’t shocked. Upset, nevertheless not shocked.
In the long term, I was able to boil water in each skillet and the coating merely flaked correct up. As quickly as they’ve been cleaned once more up, I’m merely starting from scratch, seasoning with bacon grease or lard, in a thin layer and baking them low and gradual throughout the oven each morning after I bake bread. When the bread is accomplished, I’m leaving the oven on until lunch dishes are carried out and letting the pans cool off with the oven. They’re lastly wanting once more to common and I’m wanting forward to having my favorite skillets obtainable for my use as quickly as as soon as extra!
(You might even see how the skin and take care of was chipping away after being utilized to the heat of the burner.)
Lastly, lard is a helpful useful resource I can produce on the homestead as a by-product of pork manufacturing making it practically free and easily accessible. Flax seed oil is expensive and harder to hunt out, so any extra, I’ll be sticking with good earlier lard when caring for my cast-iron. And in between seasoning your cast-iron skillets, try a cast-iron conditioning bar to take care of your skillets in tip excessive kind!
How do you re-season your cast-iron?
