Cast Iron Skillet 101: How to season, cook in, and wash your skillet for a lifetime of use!
For as much as I love being in the kitchen and cooking, a few things still intimidate me. Risotto (I get really nervous about keeping up with all the stirring), fancy baking like a macaroon, and up until recently, the cast iron skillet.
I’ve owned a cast iron skillet since our wedding, but never really took the time to learn about it. Sure, I’d use it too sear a steak, but in day to day cooking, I was hesitant about the use and clean up of the pan. Then this Tasty video about cooking and caring for cast iron popped up on my newsfeed and I was inspired. I realized right away that my main issue was most likely that my pan needed to be re-seasoned.
What is seasoning? Cast iron is a porous surface, so seasoning a pan is when you bake oil into the surface to keep food from sticking to it. Some cast iron is sold seasoned and others aren’t, but all cast iron can be reseasoned at any point if you find your food starting to stick.
How to Season a Cast Iron Pan
1: Don’t be intimidated. It’s so much easier than I imagined! Also, preheat your oven to 500 degrees, or as high as it will go.
2: Scrub the entire pan with steel wool and a gentle dish soap. This blew me away because the one “rule” I thought I knew about cast iron was no soap. While it’s true during day to day use, to season it, you need to really get down and dirty. Don’t just scrub the cooking area, scrub the handle and backside as well.
3: Rinse and dry. Rinse thoroughly with hot water then dry with a dish towel. You want to make sure the all the water is gone because cast iron is very susceptible to rust. Because of that, put the clean pan on the stove on medium high heat until thoroughly dried.
4: Cover the entire pan with a thin layer of oil. The word on the street is that flaxseed oil is the best of the best because it dries the hardest and creates the best nonstick surface, but canola oil is also a fine option.
5: Wipe off all excess oil. It’s really important that you only have a thin layer of oil, otherwise your pan will come out of the oven sticky.
6: Place in your 500 degree oven for 1 hour, then allow to cool. With this step, you are baking it so high to get the oil past its smoke point to actually seep into the pores and create a solid surface on the pan.
That’s it! You are ready to go with a newly seasoned cast iron.
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Cooking with a Cast Iron Skillet 101
Always preheat the pan on low before adding anything to the pan. It doesn’t heat up evenly and will not warm up fast; give it 5-8 minutes to lowly warm up. Don’t ever put cold food in a cold pan.
Don’t move the food around. I never realized how often I made this mistake with meats. I would try to go flip it and it would stick. That means it wasn’t ready yet. Now I wait another minute and once that beautiful caramelized crust forms, the meat gives easily and I know it’s ready to flip.
Go light on the acidic foods. Until your pan is well seasoned, they can strip the pan of its seasoning and result in discoloration of the pan and a metallic taste. (more: what not to cook in a cast iron)
Washing a Seasoned Cast Iron
Don’t wait for pan to get completely cold to clean. Fairly soon after using it you will want to was it. If the pan is too hot it could crack but if its too cold then the food will stick.
Don’t use soap. Just use a salt, hot water, and a non metal sponge to scrub.
*Edited to add: at the suggestion of a reader, I purchased this product to clean my cast iron and have been thrilled at the results!**
Towel dry and just like before, make sure it’s super dry by heating it up a bit on the stove.
While still warm, add a thin layer of oil to the surface, heat it up until the oil is smoking, then allow to cool completely.
That’s it!
It sounds like more work than it is, I promise.
So why go through all this to cook with cast iron?
It stays hotter than other pans, which makes it ideal to serve it.
You can start dishes on the stove and put them right into the oven.
The iron from the pan actually leaches into the food (that’s a good thing!). This is one reason I cooked with cast iron more while I was pregnant; to help me get more iron in my diet.
They last forever and get better with age and more seasoning. Start with a good, quality skillet, like this one, and you will be passing it down to your grandchildren one day.
Do you use a cast iron skillet?
Why or why not?
What kitchen or cooking tasks intimidate you?
Rebekah Martin says
I started cooking with cast iron a few years ago, and I love it. I think I need to give it a really good re-seasoning, though. It hasn’t actually ever been seasoned, I don’t think. Whoops. But I do love cooking with it. It’s amazing.
Annie says
Your kitchen is so beautiful! I have a cast iron pan that I never use because I’m so intimidated by it, every time I cook with it I never know how to clean it or keep it seasoned. Thanks for the tips!
Brittany Dixon says
Thanks Annie! And since you are a little intimidated like me (and if you eat meat), start with using it to sear something. It will covert you instantly! 🙂
Renee Groskreutz says
My Cajun grandmother gave all 16 of her grandchildren 2 things when they moved into their first home: a cast iron skillet and a rice cooker. The only way to make a good roux for gumbo is in a cast iron skillet. Although I grew up reseasoning my mom’s and my skillet- I still appreciate your practical step by step approach and the tip about using salt water for everyday cleaning. Thanks!!
Brittany Dixon says
Can your grandmother please come teach me how to make a proper roux?! You can add that to the list of things that intimidate me. Or that I lack patience for 🙂
…and now I’m craving gumbo!!
Mollie K says
How often do you season it?? My boyfriend actually got me one for Christmas and while I love, love cooking in it, I am still figuring out the whole cleaning the pan thing.
Thank you!
Annie says
Very helpful! Love your outfit in the pictures too – can you give details??!
Brittany Dixon says
Thanks Annie! The top is from Stitch Fix from about 2 years ago and my jeans are my current favorites- midrise skinny Sevens!
Heather says
Cast iron has always seemed like one of those things that would take too much work, but I think I definitely want to start using cast iron. I love the way certain foods taste when cooked in cast iron as opposed to a regular pan. Time to just go for it and season my pan and not worry so much about ruining it. Ha!
Katy @ Dirt to Delish says
Sounds like I have been using my cast iron pan all wrong! To be honest, I’ve never really taken the time to research how to use it. I thought it was odd that meat would stick, but turns out I’m just too impatient to let it go for another minute! Planning to use these tips and season my pan over the weekend! 🙂
Kelli H (Made in Sonoma) says
I grew up with my dad using cast iron skillets but I never liked them. A couple years ago when I was trying to bring my iron levels up, my ND mentioned I should start cooking with one and I have been ever since. Love it!
Leah S says
Completely off-topic, but can you tell me where you got your shirt? It’s really cute!
Brittany Dixon says
Thanks Leah! It’s from Stitch Fix about 2 years ago I believe. So comfy!
erin says
I am so conflicted with my cast iron. I love it for things like searing meat and then baking it in the oven. However, I can never get eggs to work in it. It doesn’t matter how well seasoned I think it is whenever I try to cook something like eggs I get a huge mess that requires serious scrubbing and re-seasoning. So with that I am always scared to use it for much more than searing and baking meat. Any tips?
Megan says
Haven’t tried this yet but my sister gave me this tip regarding the sticking egg problem – use both oil and butter in the pan, instead of just one. Good luck!
Brittany Dixon says
Oh I will have to try that too! Thanks Megan!
L says
I’m afraid you’re mistaken–cast iron does NOT heat up quickly. However, it does hold the heat longer and distribute it more evenly than other materials, so that’s why it’s important to heat it on low instead of raising it right up to high. Patience is key with cast iron.
Brittany Dixon says
Oh shoot, yes you are right! Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
Megan says
I bought a cast iron pan after watching chefs use it on cooking shows all the time. Honestly, I forget to use it most of the time, but my husband and I have been trying to use it for searing our meat. When I’m done I always have to google how to clean it because I just can’t seem to remember. Now I have a one-stop shop for my cast iron pan!
I really want to try making home fries in it soon. I think it would give it the perfect crisp (as long as I can be patient and allow it to get there!). I’m thinking a breakfast for dinner night!
Thanks for the tips.
Katie says
Thanks for this post! I received a great cast iron skillet for Christmas (not this last year but the year before!!) and it hasn’t been touched yet! So, thanks for the tips on how to season it. I guess I have been a little intimidated by it. Also, I had no idea that the iron absorbed into food- pretty neat!
Laura says
I use my large cast iron a LOT. Last Saturday every meal came out of it. I love it for breakfast foods, Spanish egg tortilla (pop the whole thing in the oven), deep dish style pizza, quesadillas, deep fried or blackened fish, searing, etc. Once I made the most beautiful pear tartin in it (like the Spanish tortilla, it gets baked then “flipped out”). I use it so often I just make sure it stays oiled but I skip the extra heating step you mentioned after cleaning. I do use soap if I cooked fish or onions. I’m not sure if you listen to The Splendid Table on NPR (podcasts available for free online) but they had a great guest speaker a few months ago on cast iron which was very interesting.
Laura says
Meant “pear tarte tatin”
Kat @ where the sidewalk ends says
Have you seen this for cast iron pans? It has TOTALLY changed my life. We used to have a whole routine to clean our cast iron pans that included salt, oil, voodoo (half kidding)…and then we got this. We use it to scrub it out, and just toss some oil in it. Done and done. https://smile.amazon.com/Ringer-Original-Stainless-Cleaner-Patented/dp/B00FKBR1ZG/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1484949043&sr=8-4&keywords=cast+iron+cleaner It has 4000+ 5 star reviews on amazon, so it’s not just some crazy lady on the internet talking. enjoy!
Brittany Dixon says
Oh my goodness I need to order on of these stat- thank you!!
Sammy says
I never realized that the iron from the pan actually gets into the food, I will use my skillet more often now! Thanks for the tips!
Laurie says
Cast iron can be used for so many different dishes. It is important to know how to clean it properly. Great information on how to do so, thanks for sharing!
Will says
Well written instructions. If you do get a chance to try seasoning with flax seed oil I highly recommend it! The chainmail you use is really great for knocking off cooked on bits. Thanks for your post.