I scrap my cast iron with a metal spatula after every use and my cast iron skillet is slicker then a nuns. my eggs never stick and I never get sick from not washing my skillet, it gets washed and scrubbed after every use. And by the way I don’t use crap skillets mine are Wagner or griswal
Excellent. I came here to say the exact same thing. I scrape the hell out of my pans on purpose. Scraping only removes the weak seasoning, if any. Anything removed is quickly replaced by new seasoning. So if you scrape your pans well, you get layer upon layer of very tough seasoning. If you don't, you get spots of weak seasoning layered on top of each other that are bound to flake off at some point. Or a lumpy bumpy surface with bits of food stuck in the seasoning. Which will also flake off. Scrape your pans people. Scrape them well, and you will build up the toughest seasoning possible.
This is an excellent comment… I have a very flat/sharp spatula that “evens” the remaining layer in the pan and my pans are like glass and black as a piece of onyx … cast iron and a well developed seasoning make these pans make most of Cowboy’s list not correct…
@@Steve.._. dude I started watching Kent an hour before I made that comment. Within that time I had seen multiple videos of him without buttons on. You’re proving my point once again lololol
When I left home, age 17, my mum gave me a good dictionary and a good cast iron pan. 50 years on I still use that pan daily, often 2-3 times. My mum insisted all the kids learn to cook, starting young. By age 13, all of us could plan, prep & cook complete family meals, each the "duty cook" in rotation. Our cast iron pans were used all the time. Mum liked wooden spoons & spatulas - easy on cast iron. These life skills, learned young, are invaluable. In our family school graduations include the gift of a new cast iron pan. With rising food prices and shortages, cooking from scratch is a survival skill, even more valuable than when my mum insisted we learn. My cast-iron pan & Dutch oven get lots of use. Thanks for posting!
I grew up knowing how to heat things up, my father did most of the cooking. My mother could fry some awesome chicken, but that was about it. I'm 60 years old now and took over the cooking in the kitchen in my wife's and my house about 10 years ago. With a little time and dedication I've become pretty good at it. I'm no chef, but I can whip up some pretty spectacular meals. When trying something new, I tell my wife "hey, I can always scramble some eggs". She's cool with that.
I always use my cast iron pot to cook gumbo (a kind of cajun and creole stew). It's not the best for the seasoning and I reseason it more often than usual, but it's the only way I can maintain that authentic gumbo flavor that brings me back to my childhood. From roux to trinity, to broth and to meat it's all cooked in the pot.
When I was young..about 16, I made spaghetti to keep my parents from having to cook after work. I made the very horrible decision to make the sauce in cast iron. The sauce picked up so much iron taste. Mom was happy I made dinner for them, but highly disappointed I did it in the cast iron. My mom re-seasoned that poor cast iron like 10 times over the weekend. No good deed go's unnoticed. She simply hugged me, and said follow me, you're going to learn how to season this weekend....I learned from that mistake 💯%
Had my frying pans for over 40 years and I’ve never had any of these problems. I do pasta, beans and spaghetti, clean your pan mediately after putting wiping of oil on it and keep it in the oven when you cook
Same! I cook every meal on cast iron, I’ve got a pan and a flattop that I put the pan on and I never have issues boiling when it’s a clean pan. I can use soap on all my cast iron and it’s fine because I seasoned it so well. But I cook with it every day so youre damn well sure I’m gonna have well seasoned iron
I inherited my two big pans - and one of them my mother inherited from HER mother. Yes, you shouldn't CLEAN your pan with a metal scraper (you shouldn't need to). But metal utensils to cook with are the best. I deglaze all of the time with my flat end spoon or a spatula.
Cast iron is the Trump of the cooking world. Hyperbolic BS all the way down. It's a pan. Cook in it, clean it afterwards, wish you had stainless steel that's lighter and easier to keep clean. You can clean stainless with a steel scrubbing pad or a sand-blaster. Soak it and it takes no time at all. Repeat. Meanwhile cast iron flakes if you look at it funny. Hope you like those black flecks in your food.
Same! I cook almost everything in my cast iron skillet. Boiling water shouldn't remove seasoning, but it will remove any oil left behind by people who don't use soap at least once in a while.
I always use a metal turner in cast iron and to scrape it. I also use soap and water to clean it. I found tht cast iron is resilient. I've had the same pan for over 10 years. Works great. Thanks for the advice.
Nothing wrong with soap and water, but you can definitely scratch into your seasoning with metal. Using it to turn things is one thing, but digging something stuck on it with metal is going to damage it, I don't care how long you've had it. But you do you!
@@randominternetprofile8270 If you didn't struggle with reading comprehension , you would know that the person you're responding to was talking about the seasoning. Not the cast iron itself. When people say don't do these things with a cast iron skillet, it's because it will remove the seasoning, not that it will destroy the whole pan. It's obvious if you pay attention to what is said rather than just looking for a reason to argue and pretend like you know what you're talking about.
I have done literally everything you should never do to a cast iron skillet. And it's still nice and black every single time clean it. I never have to scrub hard. I personally oil and bake my skillets every time I wash it so I can use it however I want.
This is why I am the only one that touches my Great Grandmother's skillets and dutch ovens. Almost 100 years old and the best cookware I have ever used.
Same here. My mother has my great, great grandmother cast iron pan, and ill be getting it next. I'll be the first man to receive it in well over 100 years.
@@emmanuellagace152 That's pretty neat Emmanuel. Continue to take care of it. I bought my first cast iron in 2007. It's an 8 inch Lodge. It is the greatest peice of cookware I have ever owned. I've baked, fried, sauteed and everything else in it.
@Emmanuel Lagace The Golden Pan! I've been Searchin' my whole life- "um, Captain, excuse me sir, but no you haven't" -1st Mate (a paraphrased joke from either Dexter's Lab, or 2 Stupid Dogs...I'm forgettin' rn, but love those classics). Cool though, it should be an interesting pan for being around for so long. Wonder how the flavor is at this point when cooking tbh.
I started using one for steaks. I use peanut oil to get it 400-450°. 4mins flip add butter and onion baste 4 more mins. Just started using cast iron skillet for hash browns too. 5 mins each side med high. Still have a lot to learn on cast iron
I still put tomato sauces in mine and use a metal spatula and it seems just fine. Been doing it for years. I also let it heat/season with a fresh film of oil every time I'm about to use it though.
You cannot reseason a pan like that. The chemical reaction that is seasoning is between metal and oil. All you are most likely doing is getting burnt bits in the scratches.
@@aniquinstark4347 No you are forming a molecular bond between the first layer of oil and the metal. Additional layer of polymerized oil can be added but the whole thing with seasoning is to START with as smooth a surface as possible, add the first layer, polish it, and then add additional layers but the key of seasoning is getting the initial layer, chemically bonded to the metal, as smooth and flawless as possible. If add layers people call it seasoning it but it does not have the same property as the polymer chain bonded to the metal. And if you gouge it you are not getting the same kind of smooth, nonstick surface back that you had before the gouge and it will be more likely to chip off and into your food unless you take the time to polish it back out smooth and reseason so it has the proper bond again. I do not advocate purposefully adding too many layers after the initial one and make sure to properly wash and dry it and it should be fine. Because ultimately everything you are forming beyond the first layer is a plastic and has not reacted with the iron. And the thicker it is the more likely it will be your tools can dig into it. Yeah a lot of things call all the layers seasoning but the first layers makeup is different and is what enables everything people want out of the pan. Remember start with a smooth pan, add layer, polish layer Maybe add 1-3 more layers for aesthetics and minor toughness increase Then just try to maintain a smooth surface. If you gouge it smooth the area back out back to metal and reseason or prepare for burnt food and oil to polymerize in those little crevices. I hope this explains what I meant. You do not reseason a pan by polymerizing more oil on it. You are just making a thicker layer of plastic and if you do not do it carefully you will end up with food stuck in your pan. Better to keep the layers as thin as you can. If you do not agree with me then... I dunno you do you then.
I remember a kitchen manager at a TGI Friday’s opening an entire case of fajita skillet plates on a particularly busy and and subsequently insisting on using them right away without so much as a wash, let alone seasoning. Every single one rusted immediately.
I cook everything in my cast irons, literally everything, no issues. In fact it's all I own besides one pot for when all I need is boiling water for my coffee.
This has recently become me asf lmao, I have a big and small pot and and a small and big cast iron. Only even have the big pot because I make broth sometimes 😂
Noticed he did say not to cook acid-based ingredients "NEW" cast iron. Or cast-iron that hasn't been seasoned. I also use stainless steel specialist in my cast iron. Just not items that have sharp corners or edges warforged that can gouge.
I just run some HOT water in ours. Let it sit if needed. Then 95% of the stuck on food, easily comes out, in just a few minutes. But then dry them, ans season asap.
When I was young I used to use a cast iron Dutch oven…that oven was my Grandma’s, then my Mom’s, now it’s MINE. Guess what I used to make in it…Spaghetti sauce! It was so well used and old, nothing harmed the finish. I guess I’m just lucky! I’m 65 and still using it♥️
I make beans in my cast iron dutch oven all the time. Make tomato sauces and pasta in my cast iron wok too. My wife did let some tomato based food dry in my cast iron pan and it ate the seasoning off and I had to reseason it.
That just means you actually seasoned it properly. Most cast iron myths exist because people confuse a dirty pan for a seasoned pan. If your pan ain't hitting at least 500, it ain't getting seasoned. It's getting dirty.
I like to take a new pan (especially the rough castings) and before seasoning, grind and polish the cooking surface first. This gives the pan a super slippery bottom after it is seasoned and provides better heat distribution under the food.
I have 3 of my Great Great Granny’s cast irons and I swear you can’t hurt them. I have left them outside for way to long and I still was able to bring them alive again, lol.
Ruby, I gave one to my 1st daughter n law and she didn’t appreciate the value so I decided to give the rest to my daughter that way if she feels the same I’ll just snatch them back. LOL
the chain mail things are only curved. His scraper has sharp points. Those points can go through your seasoning. Curved chain mail won't go through the seasoning because it isn't pointy. However, it is easier to say, "DO NOT use metal to scrub" as opposed to "DO NOT use pointy metal to scrub"
I really like the plastic scour daddy's by scrub daddy for hard messes. I dampen it, squeeze it out REALLY well, and so far it's taken everything off for me. I do oil the plan after this when I do it
Most importantly forgot to mention is wash lightly and place back on heat to get rid of that moisture. Then after a quick rest light coat of oil and wipe away excess for storage with CAST IRON!
I basically always get mine smoking hot and add about a table spoon of oil swirl it around, and dump it into the next pan. Then I just stick em in the oven to cool slowly and soak up the excess and wipe em out with a coffee filter. Since I use em twice or so daily I honestly rarely wash em anyway, I just wipe it out with a paper towel and it's done. Haven't had to re season them once and my parents were using them long before I was born 25 years ago.
My rule is the cast iron pan never leaves the stove. To clean it I just heat it up, pour a little water in it and wipe it out with pepper towel or rag. Once it's clean I wipe some oil on and around it with rag or towel as it cools
One of my daughters brought me a large cast iron skillet today. It had some rust on it and she knew I would be able to clean and season it for her. It looks brand new!
@@twistedhillbilly6157exactly, hes treating it like cheap Teflon, and metal utensils actually helps the texture and surface finish, water and metal would only damage weak flaky seasoning that needs to be removed anyways.
@@wesman7837 There is the wonder material. It's entirely natural and has a million different uses. You may have heard of it before. It's called wood. Alternatively, you could use a grass based product called bamboo.
@@wesman7837 based on the fact that your plastic is melting in there, I can tell you by cheap shit and since it has an affected your cast iron, I'm kind of wondering if that's in fact even cast iron. I'm thinking your brains also one of the cheap things you keep around
I’ve never had an issue with any of these things. I fry tomatoes for breakfast all the time. My favourite flipper is metal. And I use steal wool (no soap, just hot water) to clean it. And the worst cleaning jobs get boiled water. And it’s the most non-stick thing in my house. Even out preforming my non-stick pans and pots. I’ve had this pan 25+ years. Still my favourite. It also gets pan deep fried foods on a regular basis.
This was a great arguement on why I should never own a cast iron pan. If cleaning the pan is more complicated than what I cook in it, there's a problem.
See that's the thing you're wrong about. People over complicated and that's how they mess it up. A cast-iron is one of the easiest things to clean ever. Literally just use water and a scrub brush. If your pan is well seasoned then the stuff should just come off easy
My husband cooks jambalaya in big cast iron pots. It’s the absolute best way to cook it. He always uses metal spoons. I’m going to have to make him watch this because he won’t listen to me about it.
You can absolutely use metal in cast iron. The polymer coating created by seasoning a pan is way harder to damage than you think. You can also wash your cast iron with mild dish soap like dawn.
I use metal exclusively in all my cast iron. If you boil water you just release all the oils laying on the surface that have not yet polymerized. It won’t ruin it, just coat with oil. I use acid foods, just don’t leave them for a long time, it leaves a bad taste in the foods. Lye strips the finish and most soaps used to contain lye. Most don’t now, so they are fine to use but be sure to coat with oil after you dry it (that oil will be the next layer to polymerize). I got my first cast iron skillet from my grandmother, and it is still a user. I have a collection of gatemarked and BSR I use every day.
@@carolhughes5867 see that's what I do with mine after I wash them if I make like hamburger helper in the big one I oil it down after I rinse it out early will I use soap tho it I have an it didn't effect it at all.
@@-demise what do you have to scrape up? Seasoning is a thin layer of a polymer created by heating oil past its smoke point. That polymer is way tougher than stainless steel or aluminum. Anything you scrape up from a cast iron is rust or burnt on food.
I’m in love with the way he says ‘tomato’. It’s 2023 and I never thought I’d be wildly entertained as a British person in my 30s watching a gentleman cowboy in his 60s from the USA both entertaining me and educating me on the use of cast iron skillets of which I own none of!). Wild algo times!
You dah man Kenny! Been watching your videos for years. And enjoy so much when one pops up. The only problem is I want to run to the fridge and cook somthing because 98% of the videos make me hungry as heck. And your “Cowboy Coffee” is still my favorite and I share it with anyone who ever camps with us. Just saying thanks and God Bless!
I feel like perfectly pristene cast iron is like brand new work boots. sure looks nice, but if you baby it You're defeating the purpose. we've had tomato based sauces for a lot longer than we've had Teflon. you can use metal if you're not going going buck wild, and it's useful for getting out those stuck on bits. you can boil water as long as you clean it after. if you ruin a layer of seasoning, just scrape it back down and make some bacon. cast iron can be the most difficult thing to work with if you let it be, but it can be the easiest.
That last part, as a restaurant worker, you only use metal utensils on cast iron. Always scrape the pan after use. Washing is done once a day but a cast iron griddle is scraped after each food and kept hot all day so it's sanitized. You season every day so it's not an issue. After a few times, you're only scraping food because the seasoning is so thick it would take a lot more work to scratch it. Edit: this is the same for a cast iron grill. A grill should be scraped often and oiled each time.
Water on the pan to clean should be fine. If you have something stuck, heating up the pan and directly pouring in hot water from your sink will instantly get it off.
Cast iron is called: "The original non stick cookware!" If seasoned and the person knows how to cook nothing will be able to stick and washing and cleaning with water is a faux pas- meaning water should never touch it unless when using it to cook. Wipe it out and hang out of your way!
I use metal all the time on my black stone if you know how to clean it properly it’s not bad but I add lots of oil every time I’m done and have a nice seasoning starting
Your black stone is stainless steel and has nothing in common with cast iron! Cast iron actually holds the flavor of the food that has been cooked in it because it is porous while stainless steel is not porous and doesn't hold the flavor unless you don't clean it!!! That is the reason all professional kitchens have stainless steel pots, pans and cooking surfaces, it does not absorb flavor!!!
@@randyherringshaw6325 black stone does not make stainless cook tops at this time they are made of cold rolled steel which is cast iron one simple search would tell you that they offer cast only
I love all of Kent's content, but I don't understand the "no metal" rule. I always cook with a flat metal spatula. If something sticks, I use the flat metal spatula to scrape it off while I'm cooking. If I don't do that I'm going to have to scrub at it with something at least mildly abrasive (salt, scrub brush, maybe aluminum foil) until that cooked food comes off, and by then I will have lost just as much (or even more) seasoning as I would have lost with the metal spatula. I've been doing this for years and my pans have great seasoning.
If you preheat the pan PRIOR TO adding any food or oil, you'll be have much less burning of food onto the surface. Eggs, bacon, 'taters, and other foods will slide around the pan- cast iron is the original "non stick" surface.
I know he says no water, but when I got stuck on bits, I fill the pan with enough water to cover the bits and let sit for 20 min. Or so. Come back and makes removing it much easier. Gets kind of gross and slimy, but beats all the extra elbow grease.
@@shiestyone1713 I do this after cooking...but add water when its hot( and after wiping it out with paper toweling) . Water boils out most everything, then turn off the heat, let soak a bit, cool, and flush it all down tge sink with lots of cold water. Never use soap- just water and SS scrubber.
@@williamevans6522 the "don't use soap on cast iron" thing is a myth. Just because the seasoning is made from oil and soap cuts oil doesn't mean soap cuts the seasoning. Once those oils have been heated enough to create the seasoning they become polymerized which is what makes them hard, and soap doesn't affect them like that anymore. Just don't soak it and dry soon after any washing.
I have a wok, dutch oven and 5 pans. Lol I couldn't let them go. I season them regularly with lard and or flax seed oil and never have problems. It's like everything else, maintenance is key.
@@RCGshakenbake I made my cast iron wok into a birdbath for my parrots, you can't get it hot enough to use without burning the seasoning off if you use a wok like it is intended to be used, fortunately, I have 2 steel wok's and the CI was a made in Taiwan import so no big loss.
Sorry, Ken but my go to method of cleaning burned on or hard to remove stuff is to fill it with water to just above the food and boil it for 5 minutes. Most of the time it comes right out. Then a quick reseason and all's good.
It all depends. If you're cooking in outer space, then you want to scatch the surface. You need that extra surface to grab and hold the food in the pan. Don't limit yourself to just this world
It just needs to be hotter with more fat (butter, oil, whatever that is) when albumin denatures it bonds to the metal, but with a good seasoning or either of the aforementioned things, you should be all good.
I basically break every single one of these rules all the time. In fact my flat metal turner was one of the best things I ever did to my cast iron. The seasoning may be thin but it is such a flat even surface now I can just shake off fried eggs.
Here’s funny .. I got my first cast iron 10 years ago.. my mom has had hers over 50 years. I ask her mom yours always looks amazing.. how do you take care of yours. Her response “ I wash it with soap and water, the dry it”. Nothing else… and it still looks amazing. She only ever uses metal utensils. She said just don’t leave it wet… solid advice and mine works great.
I do the same thing. I've had mine for over 13 years. I don't always wash it with soap and water, but when it needs it I do. I also only use metal utensils in it. Lol. It's cast iron ffs. It'll be fine and you can always reseason it.
This is why I stick 😁 to stainless steel. That's how momma did it and now I'm old and can't handle the weight of cast iron. I believe you are teaching what is better and healthier for us all. If you know anyone with anemia, they SHOULD be cooking with cast iron.
Good morning, Kent! As a subscriber I always look forward to starting my day with one of yours and Shan's videos. Because of its brief duration, this one fell under the heading of "Shorts". That word is placed at the end of the title. At first glance it looked as if it said: "Never Put This in Your Cast Iron Shorts" Good advice! One way or another, you always give me a good morning chuckle! God Bless!
Ya, my wood and bamboo spatulas aren't thin enough or sharp enough... i always use a stainless steel spatula in my cast iron... i also cook a lot of sausage and bacon on them, and use a good amount of butter and avocado oil, and don't really have any issues. My pans don't have a ¼ inch of seasoning like some old heirlooms, but I get by....
@@lostpyper6973 Used most of our cast irons for about 15 years straight now. We also have some 40s and 50s cast irons. Been on camp fires and stove tops. Even reseasoned on a campfire a couple times. My cast iron is also all sanded smooth so that tends to make it more like a nonstick pan. If one gets a little worn out my wife reseasons it.
The metal parts not necessarily true. You can scrape crud off with a metal utensil. If you season correctly, you create a very tough polymer thats more durable than you think. I mean you dont want to white knuckle and scrape until your wrist breaks obviously, but as a preclean method, it's totally fine.
As a chef, this man knows what he's talking about and explains it quite well. Tons of people don't know about putting acid based sauces in cast iron. Its okay to use tomatoes in the dishes, but not sauces that you cook for long periods of time.
I found out the hard way what you just said not to do to our Cast iron frying pan so now I start cleaning my pan with a brush it doesn’t mess it up is and it keeps the seasoning on the pan
My granny had the best cast iron pan. No matter what i do, mine doesn't seem as good. Course she had probably had it and seasoned it forever. And then again, maybe it was just cause that was granny's and her cooking was so good, lol.
That's new. I uae my mother's. About 75 years old. You can wash that thing with SOS pads and will not hurt it. Just make sure it is dry when you finish with it.
@@rubynelson1164 I bought a nice old Griswold frying pan at an estate sale for a great price, in very good condition too. Gee, the stories that old cast iron pan could tell! 🍳
I’ve been using my various cast iron pans, skillets, griddles, etc… for the past 15-25 years… the only thing I worry about is dropping & cracking them😂
