With our new glass cooktop (the first we’ve ever had) I’ve been reading all about the thousands of ways you can screw it up. The most discouraging was to not use cast iron.
Our Emeril cast iron that we use everyday had a lot of build up on the sides from over the years. We always clean the cooking surface, but the sides and bottom…not so much. I tried to clean it up with a thick paint scrapper and a Lodge chain mail pad so nothing burns to the cooktop, but I couldn’t get it as good as I wanted. So, I decided to strip it and start over.
I started a fire in the backyard, threw it in and re-seasoned it. I didn’t know fire pits got so hot. I used an infrared thermometer to see what it was at. I was reading in excess of 800 degrees and the base of the fire wouldn’t register (in excess of 1000 degrees).
While I was waiting for our beloved skillet to return to bare bones, I looked up a video on the process to see what was next and found that I was supposed to wait until the embers cooled and bury it. If you put it in at full heat you could warp or crack the iron. Oops.
All is well though. The skillet came out a mess, but after seasoning it, it’s looking good. I used canola oil because it’s what we had on hand, but the videos I watched recommend flax, grapeseed, or coconut oil. I didn’t see the point in buying an oil that I wouldn’t normally use.
Since I wasn’t using a fancy oil, I had to bake ours at 475 for 30 minutes at a time and apply oil in between bakes. I did it the recommended 4 times.
I used it this morning to cook the kids some sausage and bacon. I think it’s too early to try eggs, so I cooked them in another pan and they stuck like glue, but that’s just a steel pan so I don’t have to worry about scrubbing off any seasoning. Nothing stuck to our cast iron though and it will only get better from here.
I have to say, it was kind of fun and satisfying taking it from looking like total crap to looking new again.
