Be prewarned, this is long but if you're just learnin' to cook with CI it's worth it. A lot of what I learned about cast Iron cookware in learned from my mom who learned from her mom and they used them exclusively since for over a 100 years continually between them so far.
Some will agree and some will not but what I do if something gets really burnt on and doesn't just wipe out or come out with salt I'll boil a little water in it and this'll usually get underneath and lift it off or worst case before I'll burn it off I'll heat it to a high heat and then hit it with hot water from my sinks spray nozzle. To date I've never had a pan that's in use go beyond steaming it off with the hot water. After that you just usually have to preseason like normal , maybe a little more oil before usin' it the next time.
One thing you should always do is take care of your CI maintenance and pre-prep as quickly as possible. The reason is because even a properly seasoned CI pan can be a pain to clean if it sits too long.
This is what turns most people off, they don't do the prep/seasoning correctly and don't correctly clean up afterwards makin' continued use an annoyance, especially when you can just grab one of the many Teflon pans most of us still have and continue to use. That's what most first time CI users do and the pan get put away and not used again.
CI has a naturally rough surface, even the best seasoned pans use the seasoning as a barrier layer and when stuck food is left on the pan. Gravity and capillary action will pull the contaminates (the food) under the barrier layer (seasoning) and adhere to the cast makin' a bigger pain to clean. This is why it's important to season a pan well, I'm not gonna say properly because there's no right way to do it only wrong ways. What ever works best for your kinda cookin' is what you use. CI pans improve with use, the more you continuously use it the better it'll get as long as you do the maintenance.
If you treat it right you'll find like most people that it'll become one of your favorite kitchen tools. A CI pan or dutch oven is a most versatile tool I would strongly recommend joining a Cast Iron forum or site for tips, recipes and to speak with people who know what they're talkin' about because they're constantly using them and know what works.
Here's a few tips from another site I've saved to send to people who are just startin' to cook with CI that I've found informative and helpful and another I remembered the
link for. Good simple advice on that link there.
someone I can't remember said:
- Food sticks when chemical bonds form between the food molecules and the metal.
- Very hot oil helps to reduce sticking by instantly and continuously heating the food until it's surrounded by a layer of steam from its natural moisture content boiling. Let the oil get nice and hot before adding food.
- Very hot oil also binds with the pan, so food can't. This is the principle behind priming the pan in the first place.
I have some theories regarding particular problem foods:
- Most of the molecular bonding occurs from proteins. Egg whites are mostly protein.
- Frying potatoes creates surfactants in the oil, which cause oil and water to mix. This reduces the effect of the protective layer of steam. (Some people save and re-use cooking oil -- though it can impart a delicious flavor to later meals, it will also build up surfactants if the same oil is used too many times.)
- Also, keep in mind that acidic foods like tomatoes will break down the protective patina and may make foods stick more readily.
Also I keep a dedicated pan for sweet desserts and if I wanna cook fish I'll use baking parchment for fish so the fishy smell doesn't permeate the CI. You have to be careful in that aspect, CI has flavor memory and can retain ghost flavors in the seasoning. Remember the seasoning is basically a barrier layer, a patina between the metal and the food.
On a final note, there is so much more info on a Cast Iron Cooking Forum? I know there's a lot of you folks out there who are CI knowledgeable nut I can almost guarantee you that there's still stuff to learn, there's a new generation of CI cooks doin' stuff the purist never would attempt.
Personally I'm fond of the recipes that the different nomadic cultures made. These were the people who traveled huge distances across varying environments where they cooked with diverse ingredients and almost always, because weight and space are at a premium when traveling would carry the most durable, utilitarian cooking tool available, cast iron skillets.
Alright I written this much, here's a couple of more links.
AltRecipes
32 recipes for cookin' in a cast iron skillet.
