CAST IRON COOKING
The virtues of cast iron cookware are several: it takes any heat, from very low to super high; it retains that heat, if necessary for the recipe; over time, it develops a nonpareil non-stick surface; and it’s fairly easy to care for, by and large eschewing soaping and scrubbing. Backpackers often “clean” their cast iron Dutch ovens with gravel or river sand.
Cast iron cookware also lasts a lifetime—or more than a lifetime. George Washington’s mother “gave and devised” one-half each to her two grandchildren her “iron kitchen furniture,” her cast iron cookware.
So why is it that so many cast iron skillets and Dutch ovens while away their own long lives in the nether regions of the kitchen cabinetry?
I spoke to a few home cooks to find out why. “It’s not fashionable anymore,” says one; “too heavy,” says another.
One fellow doesn’t have “adequate ventilation” in his kitchen, believing that, for example, searing and then finishing steaks at the necessary high heat will trigger his smoke alarm. (Easily remedied or avoided, and to better end; see sidebar “Cast iron skillet steak”.)
And myths about cast iron persist: “I can’t reduce my (acidic) tomato sauce in it.” Or cook with wine or other acidic foods in it. Or “Cast iron is a pain to maintain.” Or clean, or keep from rusting.
As the first president’s mother might have said to these cast iron naysayers, “Pshaw!”
Cast iron’s non-stick surface, if lovingly established as the apex of a patina of any cooking metal, may not be as slick as fry-a-nude-egg Teflon, but nonetheless it will take higher heat than the latter, still be nearly as slippery and, to some folk’s minds, safer for it.
The key to cast iron’s patina and an answer to many of these complaints is what’s termed its “seasoning,” the polymerization (or to use a less techie term, “plasticization”) of the cooking fats or oils with which it comes in contact both during cooking in it or care for it.
Stovetop or oven (or even burning charcoal) heat breaks down these oils into large-chain molecules that then bond to the iron itself in a never-ending layering - if the dang pans are used, people - that becomes impermeable to (mild) acidity, makes the pan facile to clean and maintain, and resistant to rust and oxidation.
Thank you; several myths and prejudices busted.
In the end, it’s cast iron’s way with heat that selects it as a preferred ware for some cooking. It just makes common sense, when you think of it.
John Hinman, proprietor of Hinman’s Bakery and one of the region’s top pie makers, answers his own question “How often do you get a pie when the top is done but the bottom is still soggy? A lot.
“With cast iron, the fact is that when the pie is done, because the pan keeps so much heat, the bottom continues to cook. The pan nurtures and finishes the cooking, plus it continues to force moisture in the form of steam out through the top’s vents.”
Sounds like a win-win. Right Mother Washington?
RECIPE: Cast iron skillet steak
“I really prefer my cast iron skillet to cook steaks,” says Jack Yara, assistant butcher at Oliver’s Meat & Seafood Market in Denver. “It’s how I usually recommend to people that they cook theirs, too.
“Cast iron is the most consistent cooking surface for that (surface) caramelization that is the difference between a well-cooked steak and a poorly cooked one.”
Here is Yara’s step-by-step method of “grilling” steaks indoors on a cast iron surface.
“For a one-and-half-inch thick steak, take it out of the package and let it get to room temperature. Salt it before cooking it; that draws out moisture from it. People think the moisture is blood, but it’s really just water that’s retained by the muscle. Getting rid of moisture means that it will brown (in the pan) instead of just steaming.
“Oil a 12-inch (cast iron) skillet generously; I prefer canola oil because of its higher smoke point. When it just starts smoking, sear the steak three to four minutes on each side and then place the pan, steak and all, in a (preheated) 350-degree oven and finish it to your desired temperature.”
The oven placement is key to finishing the steak’s cooking slowly; you cannot cook a steak that thick even merely to rare much less medium-rare - without burning, not browning or caramelizing, its exterior. Just use an instant-read thermometer to reach the interior temperature that you desire (for instance, 140 for medium-rare), being sure to let the steak rest for a minimum of five minutes before tucking into it to allow the juices, as Anthony Bourdain puts it, “left undisturbed and unmolested, to redistribute through the resting meat in a lovely and rewarding way.”
CAST IRON CARE
The best care that you can give your cast iron cookware is to use it. Over time, cooking fats and oils will form “seasoning,” a slick, nonporous, non-stick, impervious, hydrophobic patina, the breakdown and plasticization of the oil molecules into stronger molecules that bind themselves to the iron itself. Once the seasoning is set, so are you.
It is OK to cook with lightly acidic ingredients—or, if highly acidic (such as lemon juice or tomatoes), quickly—if the seasoning on the cast iron is solid and present.
Clean up cast iron by merely wiping it with paper toweling or a stiff, nylon brush or nylon scraper under hot, running water (metal brushes and pads aren’t overly harmful—unless they contain soap or detergent—but by and large aren’t necessary either).
Reinforce the seasoning by drying the cookware in a warm place (the turned-off, cooling oven is ideal) and then, when the pores on the cookware are dried out, wiping a fine film of vegetable oil over all (avoid any animal-based fat). Finally, once again wipe clean or gently buff with dry toweling and store in a dry cupboard or cabinet.
Stubborn, burned-on foods can be removed by simmering some water in the pan or pot, to cover, then brushing or scraping away.
Because, contrary to common thought, cast iron heats well though unevenly (and even sports its share of hot spots), if using on stovetops, place the cookware on a burner nearest in size or diameter to the cookware itself.
Be sure to have plenty of insulating oven mitts, thick kitchen towels, or silicon heat pads on hand when using cast iron anything. It’s easy to forget that a handle on a piece of cast iron cookware can be severely hot.
Yes, old, rusted cast iron (yay, flea markets!) can be rescued. You may read how-to online on several sites.