Lesson learned today:
Do not season the skillet with tallow. Lard works great. Crisco works. Even olive oil is kinda okay. But beef fat is not a good plan....
Don't ask me how I know. But if you come over, you may want to bring nose plugs.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
How often do you need to season cast iron? My grandmother gave me a large set of cast iron pans when she died. I've used a couple of the skillets infrequently with good results, but not the rest.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how often you have to season them, but I do it frequently. Some people say you should never wash them, but just wipe them out with a paper towel. I'm not comfortable with that, especially when I've cooked bacon or zucchini, and the paper towel comes out all icky-brown or icky-green. If we fried eggs or pancakes, then I'm okay with just wiping it out.
ReplyDeleteBut if I make hamburgers or stir-fry or pork chops or hash browns, I'll wash the skillet in water (NO SOAP!), dry it thoroughly, and re-season. I know I lightly season the skillet at least 4 times a week, and sometimes even more than once a day. But I'm not talking about the "hour in the oven" seasoning. I just mean I get the skillet good and hot, wipe it (with a kleenex) with a quarter- or half-teaspoon of lard, and then let it cool.
I didn't start mu cooking career ;-) with old iron. It seems to me that new iron takes a lot more care with seasoning than the 60- or 100-yr-old iron. I know my 15-yr-old skillets need more attention than the stewpot handed down from my father-in-law and who-knows-who before him. But regardless of how old they are, if I treat them liberally with fat and season them "too often," I have a non-stick coating that would make any Silverstone or Teflon skillet green with jealousy!
OK, so I'm an idiot. What's tallow?
ReplyDeleteLard is pig fat.
ReplyDeleteTallow is cow fat.