If your cast iron doubts have been keeping you away from this invaluable tool, lay your
fears aside. There are so many ways to make good use of your cast iron skillet that you
may never get to them all. Here, we list some of the best uses.
You have, no doubt, heard warnings never to use your cast iron skillet to cook tomatoes
because the skillet's iron can leach into your food, leaving a nasty taste. America's
Test Kitchen tested that theory by simmering tomato sauce over medium heat in a well-seasoned
cast iron skillet for at least 30 minutes.
Testers found that there was no discernable metallic taste to the tomato sauce. Once the
sauce had cooked for longer than 30 minutes, however, metallic flavors did appear in the
sauce.
What America's Test Kitchen concluded was that the seasoning on a cast iron skillet
helps keep the acid from the tomatoes from interacting with the iron content of the skillet.
The upshot is that you can definitely use your well-seasoned cast iron skillet to make
many tomato-based dishes. Keep your simmering to no more than 30 minutes, don't store the
leftovers in the skillet, and use baking soda to scrub out the skillet. Baking soda is a
base, which will help neutralize any lingering acid.
Cast iron is a perfect vessel for cooking eggs because it is so good at retaining temperature.
That means every time you cook your eggs, they're going to turn out pretty much the
same. Just be willing to make a few modifications.
One is that you can't skimp on preheating your cast iron pan, which could take several
minutes. Also, take your eggs out of the fridge a few minutes early. Letting them approach
room temperature helps keep the eggs from sticking to the cast iron surface.
Finally, you should only use a sturdy metal spatula when cooking eggs on cast iron. Only
metal will properly dislodge eggs from the cast iron's surface. With those minor adjustments,
you'll even be able to make scrambled eggs using your cast iron.
The taste and texture of seafood is greatly enhanced by cast iron cooking. So, it's unfortunate
that some cast iron critics claim you should never cook fish and other seafood in a cast
iron skillet, as it is supposedly too delicate to subject to cast iron's less-than-smooth
surface.
But if your fish is sticking to your cast iron, it is more likely the result of not
having cooked the fish long enough before you tried to flip it, or that you didn't use
a metal spatula.
Some also claim that fish and seafood allegedly leave behind a stink that never quite goes
away. But there are several ways to eliminate fish odors from cast iron, including scrubbing
your skillet with soap and, once again, baking soda.
If that strikes you as too labor-intensive, then you can take a page out of Cook's Illustrated
and simply bake your clean, empty pan in a 400° Fahrenheit oven for 10 minutes.
Pancakes cooked on cast iron just feel so much homier than pancakes cooked on non-stick
surfaces. And that makes sense, considering pancakes have been around since the stone
age, well before cookware was invented.
If you try to cook them at too high a temperature, they'll burn without cooking on the inside.
If you overcompensate by lowering the heat too much, they don't really cook at all. Plus,
pancakes cook best when the batter rests at room temperature before cooking.
To make pancakes in your cast iron skillet, swipe the cold skillet with a bit of shortening
and heat for at least five minutes on medium. Before you pour your batter, make sure a drop
of water dances on its surface. And, as with eggs and seafood, use a metal spatula.
Hoecakes are classic Southern fare that may look like pancakes but are most definitely
not. Hoecakes are meant to be sturdy enough to act as a, quote, "shovel" for whatever
else you're eating with them.
According to their origin story, the "hoe" in their name refers to the flat, metal gardening
implement — because they were supposedly first cooked on gardening hoes heated in the
fireplace.
The next most authentic thing is a flat-bottomed cast iron griddle. To whip up a batch, simply
whisk a cup of cornmeal and a cup plus two tablespoons of boiling water. Allow the mixture
to cool for 10 minutes while you heat up your cast iron skillet over medium heat and add
a spoonful of oil.
Pour the batter into six-inch circles and cook for 10 minutes. Flip with a metal spatula,
cook for another eight to 10 minutes, and enjoy a plateful of authentic Americana.
Perhaps the best way to make Southern fried chicken is in your cast iron skillet — provided
that your skillet has sides that are at least two inches tall. The reason is that cast iron
is so good at retaining heat that your frying oil should not significantly drop in temperature
when you add the chicken.
In fact, cast iron skillets are sometimes referred to as "chicken fryers," according
to Dummies, which suggests heating your frying oil to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and using an
instant-read thermometer to make sure it's reached that level before you start frying.
And when you're done cooking, here's something else to be happy about: cooking with oil at
that temperature will add a layer of seasoning to your cast iron skillet.
While steak lovers will endlessly debate the best and only way to make a proper steak,
the fact is that you can't go wrong using a cast iron skillet. Once it's heated it will
reliably retain its heat. And when you're cooking steak, that matters a lot. Chef Giada
De Laurentiis explained how she corrals the intense heat of a cast iron skillet to cook
a steak without opening the oven..
"The reason I love the cast iron pan is because it kinda acts like a grill. So think about
how you grill. It's the same idea."
Simply massage olive oil and kosher salt onto both sides of a thick steak, heat your cast
iron skillet to high, then add your steak and do absolutely nothing for three to five
minutes. That's how long it will take for the salt, oil, and meat proteins to develop
the perfect crust.
Using an iron skillet to cook your steak also allows the meat to cook evenly without burning.
And no juices will drip through grill grates, causing unwanted flare-ups.
Lucky for burger lovers everywhere, Smashburger materialized in 2007, founded on the singular
notion that burgers should be "smashed" into a patty shape with a spatula while cooking.
As it turned out, it's not the squishing that is problematic, but doing so over a slatted
grill.
That releases precious juices into the flames, diminishing the taste while also risking flare-ups
and burned meat. And for anyone who isn't wedded to very-thick burger patties, there's
a lot to be said for smashing a burger — which simply cries out for the reliably super-hot
surface of a well-heated cast iron skillet.
So, go ahead and smash that burger on your cast iron skillet. You won't be disappointed!
It used to be that s'mores were a treat reserved for campfire season. Eventually, of course,
people realized you could cheat your way to a s'more in the microwave, but since this
involved placing a cold sandwich into the microwave to melt, the process felt remote.
With a cast iron, however, you can have a s'mores-making experience that is as close
to the campfire version as you can get without making an actual campfire. Simply lay your
s'mores sandwiches onto a cold cast iron skillet, set the heat to medium, and watch as your
s'mores come to life.
If you want to use your cast iron to make s'mores for a crowd, preheat your oven to
450° Fahrenheit, break your chocolate into pieces, place them in your skillet, and top
with marshmallows. Place in the oven for seven to nine minutes or until the marshmallows
are golden brown. Serve with graham crackers for dipping.
Technically, a Dutch baby is really just a crepe-like pancake — as opposed to a fluffy
buttermilk pancake — that you cook in the oven without flipping. When done, it comes
out lighter-than-air as a result of its high ratio of eggs to other ingredients.
Recipe developer Nathaniel Lee said a Dutch baby is a:
"Bready, buttery skillet full of deliciousness that, when topped with fresh fruit and powdered
sugar, becomes a treat you and your [lucky] guests will long remember."
While you could certainly make a Dutch baby in another oven-safe dish, the fact is that
nothing compares to a Dutch baby cooked in a cast iron skillet. Lee explained cast iron's
ability to retain heat evenly enables your Dutch baby to rise properly without burning
its edges.
If you want to bake a pie and you don't have a pie pan on hand, you can make do with one
of those disposable pie tins you can find in your supermarket's baking aisle. But disposable
tins tend to be flimsy and are often too shallow to contain a bubbling filling.
So, to avoid a massive oven cleanup, you'll have to place your disposable tins on baking
sheets, which also become part of your cleanup detail.
To avoid this, use a cast iron skillet. Just make sure its diameter is consistent with
your pie recipe — usually nine or 10 inches in diameter — so that you won't have to
make adjustments for recipe volume or baking time.
Baking chocolate chip cookies ordinarily requires, in addition to the mixing of the dough, a
laborious process of dishing out dough onto multiple cookie sheets. You can skip most
of that work by using your cast iron skillet to make a single, giant chocolate chip cookie.
Plus, the hot bottom and tall sides of a well-seasoned cast iron create a great crust on the cookie.
And this treat can go straight from the oven to the table for a fun, hands-on dessert.
To make a cast iron skillet chocolate chip cookie, you can use any recipe for chocolate
chip cookies. But while you don't need to make any recipe adjustments from your regular
"cookie" recipe, you do have to double your baking time.
Cheese fondue, which was all the rage at dinner parties during the 1970s, is finally making
a comeback in the U.S. But you don't need a fondue pot to make your own cheese fondue
— not if you have a cast iron skillet or deep pan.
"This is a gorgonzola, Gruyère medley."
"This is a three-cheese blend plus nacho cheese sauce medley."
Simply rub a garlic clove inside your cast iron skillet or pan, then chop it and add
it to the skillet along with one-third cup of dry white wine and one tablespoon of whiskey.
Bring to a boil over medium heat, then slowly add eight ounces of grated cheese and two
teaspoons of cornstarch.
Stir constantly, lowering the heat if the mixture begins to boil. As soon as the cheese
is melted, remove the skillet from the heat and place it on a heat-proof surface. The
fondue will stay hot and melty thanks to your cast iron skillet's ability to hold heat.
If you have a cast iron skillet, then you can make an authentic-tasting pizza even if
you don't own a pizza stone. Preheat your oven, lining it first with a cookie sheet
or aluminum foil for easy clean-up. Place your clean ungreased cast iron on your stovetop
on high. While it's preheating, assemble your pizza and slide it into your hot cast iron
skillet. Cook in the oven according to your recipe's directions.
You can also use your cast iron skillet to cook frozen pizza or to make your own French
bread pizza. For this, you'll be turning your skillet over and using its underside. Preheat
your oven while heating your cast iron skillet on your stovetop. When it's good and hot,
turn it over, place it on a cookie sheet in the oven, place your pizza on top, and bake.
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