HOME HOME
a trusted kitchen tool
The Cast Iron Pan story by Doug Smith
The neediest cooking utensil at our home, a cast iron pan, requires constant care and attention. Neglect it for too long, or put it away wet, and it will most certainly rust. Scrub it too hard, or let a drop of dish soap hit its surface and you might remove the seasoning you spent weeks and months building up one seared steak at a time. Knowing this, it’s still one of my most prized possessions. The humble cast iron pan, a classic trusted tool, has always been naturally non-stick. It demands a little bit of patience from its caretaker. A healthy layer of seasoning doesn’t happen after your first or even eighth use of the pan. It’s a continual process. Yes, I have messed up attempting to cook an egg before the pan was seasoned well enough, which ended up in a scrambled, gummy mess. One morning I woke up to a nightmare; someone had put my pan in the dishwasher. Not sure how that happened. There were times when I have left it to soak in soapy water in the sink overnight, too lazy to clean it after making dinner, again stripping it of all its non-stick properties. Gradually, I learned how to take proper care of this tool and it has paid off time after time. The more confident I felt cooking with cast iron in the kitchen, the more hopeful I grew that I might one day be able to share my new found love for the cast iron pan. We have created multiple recipes using one of my hand me down pans that I love more and more each day. Now when I notice the first signs of
54 54
VIPMagSC.com VIPMagSC.com
February April 20202020
rust, I don’t panic. All I need to do is clean the pan with a little paste made from sea salt and olive oil. After a few minutes of tender care, my cast iron pan once again forgives me. Eventually, I felt like I could also forgive myself for not taking better care of my beloved pan. These days, my cast iron pan lives on the stovetop. With daily use, it’s a diligent reminder of all the progress we’ve made together. Years later, it still holds me accountable. When I notice areas of the pan starting to rust, it’s usually a sign that I need to slow down and pay more attention to the pan. Along with meal planning, cooking with my cast-iron pan and giving it a healthy oiling is now part of my weekly routine. Since inheriting my first one, my cast iron collection has expanded. I have a good selection from the small 6-inch skillet, in which I found will cook an egg perfectly, to multiple hand-me-down 12-inch pans that I cook everything from fresh vegetables to putting the perfect crust on blackened fish. What I have found is that my kitchen cabinets are overflowing with the equipment I use now and then like a food processor, an immersion blender, crockpot, and the list goes on and on but it’s my cast iron pans that ask the most of me and that’s ok because they also bring me lots of joy.
Get more from Doug Smith by
following him on Facebook and
Instagram at "Doug the Food Guy".