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My husband and I have unresolvable differences
If only I had known before I married him. :(
He insists that it's bad for the iron to oil it before it's completely dry because otherwise it traps water underneath the oil layer, but I can't see how that could possibly be worse than letting it RUST. My lot in life is to find rusting cast iron cookware lying about the kitchen on a semi-daily basis and oil it back to health, like the Sisyphus of skillets.
ETA: Tone is always hard on the internet, but I hope it comes through that this poll is flippant and I don't actually think it matters all that much. The thing I love best about cast iron is that it is literally INDESTRUCTIBLE and couldn't care less if you let it sit around and rust or oil it immediately, whether you use soap on it (his way) or no soap (my way, although I have slowly come around to the Way of Soap). QED: the fact that we've been doing this for 20 years and the cast iron is still exactly the same regardless of which of us is in charge of it. The point of the poll is that there is no point. All of that being said, oiling it is obviously the right way and I am glad so many of you agree that he is WRONG.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 65
What is the proper way to care for cast iron cookware?
View Answers
Wash, wipe dry, oil
26 (40.0%)
Wash and allow to air dry at its leisure like a BARBARIAN
7 (10.8%)
You are both wrong and I'm going to tell you about it.
13 (20.0%)
Well, your first mistake was cooking in cast iron in the first place.
19 (29.2%)
He insists that it's bad for the iron to oil it before it's completely dry because otherwise it traps water underneath the oil layer, but I can't see how that could possibly be worse than letting it RUST. My lot in life is to find rusting cast iron cookware lying about the kitchen on a semi-daily basis and oil it back to health, like the Sisyphus of skillets.
ETA: Tone is always hard on the internet, but I hope it comes through that this poll is flippant and I don't actually think it matters all that much. The thing I love best about cast iron is that it is literally INDESTRUCTIBLE and couldn't care less if you let it sit around and rust or oil it immediately, whether you use soap on it (his way) or no soap (my way, although I have slowly come around to the Way of Soap). QED: the fact that we've been doing this for 20 years and the cast iron is still exactly the same regardless of which of us is in charge of it. The point of the poll is that there is no point. All of that being said, oiling it is obviously the right way and I am glad so many of you agree that he is WRONG.
no subject
If I was mean, I'd check "Well, your first mistake was cooking in cast iron in the first place." I watched my mom fuss with cast iron (but the wrong kind of fussing) and decided it wasn't for me. But you like it, so my opinion doesn't matter.
(I'm also impressed with your strength. I need both hands to lift a 9-inch cast-iron skillet and, since I'm short, lifting it high enough to set on the stovetop is problematic. I keep a 4-inch high stepstool in the kitchen {made it myself} for easier stove/counter reach, but there's not a lot of space for extending a foot if I need to brace.)
Everything I've read says, "Wash, wipe dry, oil" is the correct way to go -- though I'd wait for 30 minutes or so for evaporation before oiling, to take care of the faintest residue of moisture left even after wiping. Or, as others have suggested, put in warm oven or on warm stovetop to encourage the evaporation before oiling.
Although -- depending on what you're cooking, you may not need to wash each time you use it. My dad said that his mother didn't wash if the cooking used or produced lots of oil, like cooking bacon or deep-frying chicken or fish. She'd just pour off the oil or bacon grease, wipe up the food residue and excess oil/grease, then put the lid on to keep out dust. Since she used it daily, the oil/grease didn't have time to get rancid, and the pan was already seasoned for the next cooking session.
.
no subject