Tutorial on Simple Cast Iron Care

Are you intimidated by the thought of using and cleaning a cast iron pan? Do you wonder what technique other people use? Is it really as hard as it seems? It doesn't have to be! I like to keep things simple, and that usually involves figuring out my own way of doing things. People first started using cast iron pots around 200AD, so rest assured that it does not have to be complicated. I'm here to share how I clean and quick season my cast iron pan that I have come to love.

Why do I call it "quick season"? Because the typical method of seasoning (heating the pan with a coating of fat so it forms a naturally non-stick layer and prevents rust) is to rub with oil/fat then roast on high heat in the oven for an extended period. I did this once when I first got my pan, but after that I have used my quick method and it's worked out well! I do it on my gas stove, and it takes less than 5 minutes.

As I've gotten older and cooked many types of meals, I've really come to loathe all of the "non stick" pans that are out there. Without fail, one by one, they have started to stick. Not to mention the nasty chemical coating chipping off--where does it got? In your food! Using a cast iron pan is all part of my goal to take things back to a simple and traditional method. A well seasoned pan can cook eggs, pancakes, and all sorts of things without sticking! Here's how I do mine....

If I had some little bits that stuck during cooking (this was zucchini fritters and some of the cheese burned on) then I soak it in a bit of water while I eat to help loosen up the burned on bits. *Don't soak longer than a couple of hours or you risk causing rust spots!*

When I'm ready to clean it, I just use my hand to rub them off and dump the dirty water out. If your pan is generally clean after that, you can skip this step! However if there's still a few bits you need to scrub then I take my salt and liberally sprinkle it into the pan. You can also use coarse salt for a bit more abrasion.

I wet my scrubber with hot water and wring most of the water out, then just start scrubbing the pan in a circular motion to use the salt as an abrasive cleaner.

Once all the bits are loose, I just rinse off the salt with hot water and use my scrubber once more all on the inside to make sure the surface is all cleaned off.

Now for the "quick season" part! Put the pan on your gas stove on high heat for 1-2min. You want ALL the water droplets to be gone.

Now the pan is clean and dry, but a bit dull from scrubbing off some of the natural seasoning. So get your vegetable oil ready and a paper towel and while the pan is very hot still you want to drizzle just a bit of oil in the middle. Maybe a teaspoon to half tablespoon.

Take your folded paper towel (protect your fingers from the hot metal!) and in a circular motion you want to spread the oil out all over the inside of the pan. Go up the sides and even over the handles. Flip over your paper towel to continue spreading the oil and coating it with a light layer. You don't want any pooling of the oil, just a light coating where you can see the shine all over.

And that's it! Let the pan cool completely before putting it away. It's all ready to start cooking at your next meal! Once you get this method down, it only takes a few minutes.

If you're ready to try out a cast iron pan for the first time, just keep in mind some tips:

• The handle gets very hot! Have a towel or pot holder ready before you grab it while cooking
• They are pretty heavy, be very careful if you need to lift or pour something while cooking
• The metal is thick and needs a few minutes to heat up before you add food to it
• No soap! It feels weird to not use it, but trust me--it's ok!
• A little rust is no big deal! You just need to scrub it off with steel wool, rinse, then reseason well

If you have a new cast iron pot, I do recommend a thorough seasoning before you begin to use it. If you take good care of it you shouldn't have to repeat this very often. I've had my pan for years and have only done it the once. If you are having issues with food sticking, feel free to season it again. Click HERE for an easy description on how to do it.

Keeping Busy Around the House

There's always something to be done here, and with my BIG trip coming up in only 7 days I have a lot to get taken care of! Fall is knocking on our door, but the garden is still in full swing! I've been happily harvesting beautiful tomatoes and watching my beets and carrots grow every day. All of the herbs are lush and green and I use them as often as I can in cooking and herbalism.

Our Barlett pear tree finally gave us some good pears, and we got them before the deers! We put up a protective fence around the tree this summer and it seems to have done the trick to keep the fruit on the tree. We just harvested a bounty of 6 luscious organic pears and all of us have enjoyed sharing them. Yum! The apple trees will be ready very soon.

 

Nick came with me to a required skills lab at my hospital since it was pretty casual so we used him as a "patient" for some examples! 

I've been very busy adding new products to my online store and beefing up inventory for all of my upcoming fall and winter craft shows! Orders come in slowly but surely, and my products that are being sold locally in Elba, NY are very popular! I love being able to use my self-taught knowledge to share these goodies with others and turn plants into medicine for healing.

I let the boys enjoy a fun movie night before school started and they watched "Gulliver's Travels" and ate popcorn together.

I've been doing yard work and gardening when I can, and trying to stay ahead so there's less to do in the fall and next spring. So far I've been keeping up pretty well, and even able to prune back some overgrown trees and shrubs. I found this guy in an arborvitae!

The boys are enjoying their new teachers at school, and I am gearing up for a huge trip that I leave for in only 7 days! Be sure to check back soon for a fun trip report after I get back...

Hiking NY: Backpacking Haystack Mountain

Last week I took my first official backpacking trip of the season with Brad. We both had brand new bags to try out!

I haven't been able to make it out to the Adirondacks much this summer so I was definitely not in shape for a long and hard hike. I was planning  a loop that gave us the option for 3 high peaks, but I anticipated only doing 2. Reality made us only do 1 haha! I was supposed to do this trip a couple weeks ago with a few others but ended up canceling due to bad weather and poor trail conditions.

We arrived to the Garden trailhead around 4pm and found a spot to park, then hit the trail toward a tent site that was about 3 miles in. It didn't take long to get there and we had dinner going by 6pm.

There were a few water crossings on the way to the tent site, and more along the trail the next day.

We found a nice flat spot to set up the tent, and we were the only ones around!

The next day we hit the trail by 8am ready for a day of adventure. There was rain forecasted for the afternoon, so that was also a big factor in how far we would go.

Just past our tent site we came upon the Johns Brook Lodge area with their cabins and lodge facilities.

Continuing on to Haystack!

A few more miles down the trail we started to ascend more, and once we passed the sign for Slant Rock the trail got much more steep and rocky. Many spots had us scrambling up rocks.

After finally making some headway we got a slightly intimidating view of the summits before us--the false summit of Little Haystack (left) and the high peak Haystack (right).

Both summits were very exposed and involved much scrambling and navigating some steep rock slides. Here Brad is waiting patiently for me at the top of the false summit.

This is the view looking back from the false summit to where we came from.

Making our way up the actual summit continued to be very challenging and required a lot of concentration and caution.

Once we got up there around 1pm the view was amazing! We could see the clouds moving in. The wind was very gusty and the temperature very chilly on top. We crouched behind a rock to eat lunch and rest for about 30 min, then were on our way back down.

With the way the weather was changing, my leg fatigue, as well as the late afternoon, I decided we were not going to take the junction and try for Basin high peak as well. This would be the one summit for this trip!

It started misting on us around 3pm on our way back to camp and the winds were picking up. We made it back to the tent around 5pm and were just able to cook dinner before the rain started. We tucked into our tent by 6pm and just relaxed until dark.

The storm continued on for most of the night, but thankfully by morning it had stopped enough to let us get packed up without getting soaked. We got back on the trail by 8am to head back to the car, and more rain moved in about 15 minutes into our hike. We stopped to put our pack covers on and continued on thru the mud! 

It only took about 1.5hrs to get back to the car and the rain was coming and going by then. Another successful trip!