How to care for cast iron cookware

What seasoning actually is

Seasoning is cooking oil that has been heated past its smoke point and bonded to the iron - a hard, glassy, naturally non-stick finish you build and maintain yourself. It is not grease sitting in the pan. Done right, it is dark, even and slick, and it is the only coating a cast iron skillet ever needs.

How to season cast iron cookware

One oven cycle builds a fresh layer. You will need neutral oil - grapeseed, canola or sunflower - an hour and a 450°F oven.

1. Wash and dryHot water, stiff brush, towel dry. Then two minutes on a burner to evaporate every last drop - water is the enemy here.
2. Oil thinlyHalf a teaspoon of oil wiped over the whole pan - cooking surface, walls, underside, handle. Then wipe again with a dry towel until the pan looks almost dry. Most failed seasonings come from too much oil, not too little.
3. Bake upside down450°F for one hour, pan on the top rack with foil or a baking sheet below to catch drips.
4. Cool in the ovenLet the pan cool with the oven. The finish hardens as it cools. Cook on it - every fry-up adds another micro-layer.

How to clean cast iron cookware

Clean it while it is still warm. Hot water, a stiff brush or a chainmail scrubber, and a wipe dry. For stuck bits, simmer a little water in the pan for a few minutes first - that lifts almost anything. Then dry thoroughly and rub the surface with the faintest film of oil before storing.

The soap question, settled

Modern dish soap is fine in small amounts - the old taboo dates from lye-based soaps that stripped seasoning. A quick wash with mild detergent will not hurt a seasoned finish. What actually damages cast iron is soaking it in water and letting it air-dry.

Rust removal and restoration

Scrub the rust off with steel wool or a wire brush until you see bare gray iron, wash and dry the pan, then run a full seasoning cycle in the oven. Surface rust is a maintenance issue, not a death sentence - the pan underneath is unchanged.

Strip everything back to bare metal, re-season, and keep cooking. Restoration is the quiet advantage of cast iron: there is no coating to destroy, so no pan is ever too far gone. Even a yard-sale skillet found rusted solid can be brought back to cooking condition in an afternoon.

When food sticks

Food sticks when seasoning is thin, heat is too low or the pan has not reached temperature before the food went in. A well-seasoned cast iron pan at proper heat releases food nearly as well as non-stick. Warm the pan first, add your fat, then the food - and let a crust form before you try to move it.

Dry it immediately after washing, oil it lightly before storing, and never let it sit in water or the sink. After cooking acidic foods, clean promptly. A pan stored dry with a thin oil film simply does not rust in a normal kitchen.

Acidic foods: the one real limit

Bare cast iron is a poor match for long-simmering acidic foods - tomato sauce, wine braises, vinegar dishes - because acid breaks down seasoning and pulls iron into the food (you will taste it). Desserts with delicate flavors can pick up metal notes in a freshly re-seasoned pan. Cook those in enameled cast iron instead.

Briefly, yes - a splash of wine deglazing a well-seasoned skillet is fine. Hours of tomato sauce are not. Acid attacks the seasoning and leaches metallic flavor into food. For acidic cooking, enameled cast iron is the right tool; that is exactly why we make both.