How do you cure an iron skillet?

Question

I loved to use it but whenever it gets even just a little wet, it rusts.

Also, is the iron from using it good for you?

Answer 1

Any Iron that may be leached from using the skillet cannot harm you ,it can only be good for you.


1. "Scrub it very, very clean. Use a hard plastic scrub pad rather than steel wool.
2. Rinse it very well and dry with a lint free towel.
3. Liberally coat the inside with cooking oil. ( Olive OIl Prefered. ) Use something with fairly high heat tolerance like peanut oil.
4. Bake it for a good hour or so at about 350 degrees.
5. When it cools, clean out the excess oil with another lint free towel.
6. Give it a second very light coat of oil and bake it for 10 more minutes.
7. Use the item. Be careful to not use it for something that will remove the seasoning like a deep dish pizza. (Beware of intense heat items.)
8. Clean it well with as little soap as possible and gentle cleaning.
9. Apply the oil and bake again for 30 minutes or so.
10. After this second going over, you end up with a cast iron skillet that is virtually impregnable. If it isn't, give it another short curing session. Also, rub it with oil every so often and then wipe it out to help. "

Answer 2

Looks like you got the basic answer--oil it after use. I'd like to add a couple of other tips I've heard and used.

Oiling it and baking it is how you start a fresh cast iron skillet. But *don't *bake it at high temperature or for very long. You just want to expand the metal enough to absorb some oil. Maybe 200 degrees or less for a half hour.

Don't cook acidic foods, like tomatoes, in the skillet until you have it thoroughly cured, or seasoned as some say.

I use one of those green nylon scrubbers with little, if any, detergent to clean cast iron. This seems to help smooth the finish on the inside.

After using and cleaning the skillet, warm it up a bit and oil it. When it cools down, wipe off the excess oil. You only need a light coating.

If despite all your care it gets gnarly, don't panic. You can always scrub it down to the bare metal and start all over again.

JMB

Answer 3

Basically, heat the skillet on the stove on medium low. Then wipe the inside surface with your favorite cooking oil---just a thin layer. Let it warm a couple minutes, then turn the burner off. Let the pan cool to room temperature. Wipe with a paper towel. Store until you need to use it.

After you use it, DON"T wash it with soap. Just use water and scrub with salt. If you 'need' to use soap, then always dry by placing on a warm burner until water evaporates. Then rub a drop of oil into the cooking surface with a paper towel.

Your new iron skillet will probably look like steel and as it ages it turn a lovely black---then it is a great skillet!!! Seasoned---is the word not cured. A well seasoned skillet is more 'non-stick'--not teflon but you need to use less oil to cook with.

Iron skillets add iron to food, especially tomatoes and other acidics. This is not only safe but good for you. Although some would argue that the body doesn't absorb this form of iron well.

Add a tiny pinch of sugar if your tomato sauces taste too metallic!

PAnoledge

Answer 4

If you did not intially cure or season it, grease it w/a tblsp. of plain veggie oil, not salted greases such as butter. Place it upside on a cookie sheet or foil in an unheated oven. Turn oven to 250 deg. After about an hour, remove and recoat w/oil, careful not to burn yourself. Return to oven promptly. Keep oven at 250 for another hour or so, turn off heat, leaving skillet inside. Let it cool in there, overnight if possible.

For the first few times after this and when used, cook foods which have a high fat content and low water content like bacon or hamburger. As soon as it's cool enough to handle after using it with those foods, wipe it out thoroughly with a cloth or crust of bread even (Little House on the Prairie style:)) and do not wash every time you use it. When you do wash, do so with warm water water and mild soap. Rinse and dry promptly with cloth or paper towel. NEVER use a dishwasher. Store it upside down or with a dry paper towel inside to prevent moisture collecting. Don't heat while empty or overheat it.

Reseason is spots occur. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Answer 5

Most newer iron skillets already come seasoned or cured.The older ones need to be seasoned every once in awhile.Basically wash with water,don't submerse it is soap and water,because it will rust if you do.After you dry it off,take a spoonful of shortening and put it in a preheated oven at about 350 or so.When the shortening is melted,coat the skillet then let it cool down.After it has cooled,rub the shortening in and it is ready to use.

Answer 6

Use it, wash real well then coat with a little oil or grease from like bacon or crisco and store it with a little oil on it. Some simply just give it a cursory cleaning and do not clean off the grease that well from when you last used it. It will eventually build up a layer that the oxygen cannot penetrate and it will stop rusting.

Answer 7

clean it, remove the rust, coat it with oil (vegetable or olive oil) and put it in a warm oven for 25 minutes or so. Yes, iron transfers to your food from the pan, and the levels that it gives you are acceptable and good for you. Do not take a multivitamin with iron or iron supplements if you are cooking frequently in iron pans.

Answer 8

Curing/Seasoning technique prepare your pan with the help of scrubbing it with warm soapy water, ensuring there is not any foodstuff residue or rust, and dry it thoroughly. heat the pan up slightly, and stick to a coat of melted shortening to the interior and outdoors. Liquid cooking oils at the instant are not recommended. Preheat your oven to 350 tiers and positioned your cookware in upside suited, on a foil-lined cooking sheet, to seize any drips. in case you utilize a non-lined baking sheet, it is going to require a good scrub afterwards - the foil saves on the cleanup. Bake for extra or less 20 minutes. If it starts to smoke, shrink the temperature with the help of 10-15 tiers until it stops. this would develop the time with the help of a jiffy, yet won't harm the treatment. Drain off any extra grease, and positioned the pan lower back interior the oven, this time the opposite direction up, for a million to 3 hours. A re-seasoning would in basic terms require 0.5 of that element. turn the oven off, and enable the pan cool down needless to say previously removing it. you presently have a pro forged iron nonstick cooking utensil which will final a life-time with suitable care.

Answer 9

First wash it with warm soap and water. Dry it well. Use oil and rub it in very well. Place in a 300F oven for 1 hour. I do this every time I use it. It will never rust, and yes the iron is good for you.

Answer 10

clean it well, then grease it and heat in the stove for 5-10 minutes so the grease soaks in. Don't use soap to clean it after that, and a patina will develop.

yes, the iron does get into your food and is good for you