My Cast Iron Pans | Use and Care Part 2 - this beautiful farm life

I LOVE MY CAST IRON PANS AND HERE I SHARE HOW I ACHIEVE AND MAINTAIN THEIR NON-STICK SURFACE. COOKING WITH CAST IRON IS A JOY WHEN THEY ARE CARED FOR.

My cast iron pan collection includes 3 skillets 8", 10" and 12" — This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small monetary compensation at no extra cost to you. I appreciate the support and love you all have shown this little farm blog. I will only recommend products I use and love!
*See my full disclosure here.*

If you missed Part 1 of my cast iron series, be sure to go back and read it. I give a brief history of my years using cast iron including a sad story about grandma’s cast iron.

And I show all my different cast iron pans I use on a daily or weekly basis in the farmhouse and tell you what I cook in them. If you are thinking of purchasing any cast iron I even give recommendations on which pieces to purchase first in that post.

Tips on cooking with a cast iron pan

Following is my best tips for successful non-stick cooking with your cast iron pans

always preheat your pans for a few minutes on medium
rub on a small amount of cooking oil/fat if absolutely necessary and allow oil to heat
after putting your food on the preheated pan allow it to sit for 30 seconds or even more until the bottom edge is seared or sealed off before stirring or flipping. This way it will just slip right off without even leaving a mark. Even scrambled eggs!

my cast iron pans large deep skillet with my One Pot Sourdough Skillet dinner — Watch for a post on my One Pot Sourdough Skillet Supper!

Daily care of cast iron pans

If the pan is only lightly soiled just scrap it out with an old towel or a paper towel and shine as needed with a tiny bit of oil
Use only hot water and the scraper to quickly wash/scrape off any particles that might be stuck to the pan.
Either dry with paper towels or an old cotton towel. Some people actually set the cast iron on the stove top over a low burner and heat dry it.
Lightly oil with cooking oil as necessary to keep your pan looking like new. Be sure to buff out any extra oil in the crevices and on the surface.

Scrape dirty pans with plastic scraper and then wash with scrubbing dish rag in hot water
lightly soiled pans like this one with dry flour from baking bread can just be dry wiped
after dry wiping
then oil pan well inside and out with a good high heat cooking oil, such as avocado, coconut, lard or tallow
buff well with a clean paper towel for a smooth luster

Things to avoid with cast iron pans

soaking in water
using them to boil water
acidic foods like tomato sauce – wash them off quickly after use
soap – if you absolutely cannot get it clean without soap, it is ok to use the very occasional dab of mild soap to surface clean the pan but be sure to follow the above steps to rinse, dry and re-oil right away.

My cast iron pan collection includes 2 round flat griddles 10" and 12" — These round griddle see hard use in our home. The surface is not as pretty and shiny as some pans because our kids don’t always do a good job of cleaning and oiling, but they are still completely non-stick after heavy use!

How to restore and season old cast iron pans

I have only restored and seasoned a few pans on my own over the years. It really isn’t a hard process. It takes a few hours of scrubbing, heating, oiling, and heating and oiling some more. Properly done a good seasoning will last for years if treated well.

But, for exact details on how to clean and restore an old pan, I highly recommend the Cast Iron Restoration and Maintenance video by Jeffrey at the Culinary Fanatic. His basic steps are as follows:

My Cast Iron Pans asparagus galette made with einkorn and Dubliner — Coming next week, my Cast Iron Asparagus and Egg Galette made with einkorn flour. Just in time for Mother’s Day brunch! Watch for it!

Restoration and seasoning steps

He puts his old rusty, crusty pan in the oven upside down and uses the self-clean oven cycle to clean his pan the first time.
Next, he scrubs it with soap and water until clean and smooth
He then thoroughly dries it, up-side-down, in a warm 200° oven
If it is not smooth enough he uses a cup brush on a drill to smooth out the inside cooking surface of the pan and repeats steps 2 and 3.
He then removes the warm 200° pan and coats it inside and out with Crisco shortening. Don’t panic! It is only for this one time heavy seasoning process that should last several years if maintained properly. If you are really apposed to Crisco you can try pure lard or tallow, but they don’t tend to hold their seasoning as well over time.
Then, before returning to the oven he wipes it out and buffs it very thoroughly to make sure there is no excess oil on the surface and it is all buffed smooth.
Next he then returns it to the oven, upside-down, turns up the temperature to 300°, and bakes it for 15 minutes
He then pulls it out and buffs it once again with a clean dry paper towel to get any extra oil off the surface.
After this, he then returns the pan to the oven, always upside-down, at 400° for 2 hours.
At this point, turn the oven off to let it cool.
Often he repeats this process for a second round of seasoning to get a really good, long-lasting seasoning on them.

My Cast Iron Pan collection includes 1 large dutch oven and a game roaster — My large round dutch oven on the left is the one pictured below in the Pinterest graphic with 2 large whole chickens in it. It sees heavy use in our home. I used the game fryer on the right to cook a huge 10 pound pork loin for Easter.

My Cast Iron Pans Part 2 Video

Ok…your turn!

PLEASE… I love your comments! Let me know what you think! Did you enjoy this post? Do you use and enjoy cast iron like I do? What is your favorite pan?

Pin this for your Cast Iron Pinterest board

Here is a link to my Cast Iron Cooking Pinterest Board with many great recipes you might want to try!