Adventures in Cast Iron Part 1

As some of you may already be aware, I follow a couple of cast iron blogs on this site. I have learned a lot about cast iron in general from doing so, though have found myself struggling with a few things in my own care of my cookware, particularly when its come time to recondition it. I learned through a lot of trial and error that while the methods for doing so on Black Iron Blog are very accurate, when it comes to the final stages of heating up your pan and putting down the oil to build up the patina, there is a lot to be said about the oven and burner you have available to you to accomplish this. Generally, the idea is simple:

1. Strip the pan.
2. Remove the rust.
3. Dry the pan thoroughly.
4. Put your pan in the oven and get the oven NASA hot.
5. Remove the pan and wipe down with oil on all sides, return to oven to let oil soak in and start to develop the patina.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5.

Simple, right? Not necessarily.

For one, NASA hot does mean what it says. Having an oven that can get your pan hot enough is really key here. Most ovens that come with your average apartment, suburban or city, I've found, simply do not get the pan hot enough, even if you leave it in the oven for an hour. I cite Alton Brown's note in the first episode of Good Eats: Steak Your Claim, where he talks about putting the pan on the burner after having it in the oven, so that it can get even hotter. This is very important if you have such a range.

Let's talk about ovens for a bit

First of all, let's presume that the oven you have says it goes up to 500 degrees. This really needs to be tested, so get yourself a good (emphasis on good. While you don't need to spend $80 on an oven thermometer, go to a good cooking supply store and ask a lot of questions. You'll find one in your price range that will be accurate for a long time.) oven thermometer that goes up to at least 500 degrees and put it in the center of the center rack of your oven, turn the oven on, and let it heat up for... let's say 20 minutes. If your oven is new, and is clean, your thermometer may actually get up to 500 degrees.

However, if your oven is older, or is not so clean, your temperatures may vary quite a bit. You may find that you have to leave the oven preheating longer, or may find that the oven is far hotter than 500 degrees and there's smoke coming out of all the vents, as well as the door. Yuck! Clean your oven if you need to, or run it through a self cleaning cycle if it has one, then wipe it down to get rid of the ash.

You will likely want to perform this test with the thermometer in several different locations in the oven, as many apartment ovens simply do not heat evenly. Once you establish an understanding of how your oven works, and what temperatures you can get out of it, then we can move on.

For the sake of following the steps above (more specifics in the link to Black Iron Blog), I would like to show you the awful results of my first attempt to season my pan in the craptastic oven that I have. Going strictly by the book (website), this is what my pan looked like afterwards:

Awful, no? The oil didn't have a chance to get soaked into the iron, and it mottled all over the pan, creating an uneven coat and a pattern that looks like the surface of The Starship Enterprise. Even after several more attempts to "remedy" this, things just did not work out, and I ended up having to shelve the pan for a bit until I could revisit the process again. What I ended up doing surprised me, but it worked well.

However, that is another entry, and I'll have to leave you hanging for now. (Yes, mean girl I can be, but this is a blog, and you're meant to read until I say you are done! Mwahahahahahaha!) 

*ahem*

Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter in my Adventures in Cast Iron, and we'll talk more about the oven, the rangetop, the oil, and the methods. I think you'll be surprised at the results.

Happy cooking!