Can You Cook on Unseasoned Cast Iron? Yes!
The non-stick properties are in the cook, not the cookware! Conventional wisdom says that the seasoning on a piece of cast iron cookware is what makes it non-stick, but that's just not true. With the right mix of heat and oil, it's possible to cook on a rock without food sticking. The key is matching the temperature and technique to your food! Sure, seasoning makes it easier to cook without the food sticking, but even a well-seasoned skillet risks stuck food or damaged seasoning if the cook doesn't have appropriate amounts of heat and oil. So the point is that you shouldn't chase the perfect seasoning...figure out how to cook with the right temperature and technique and the seasoning will develop.
So I began testing the conventional wisdom of cooking on cast iron by doing things like frying eggs on and baking cornbread in unseasoned skillets, and I wanted to record my findings so I decided to add a cast iron section to my webpage, and share some of the tests here. For transparency, sometimes links like the Amazon ones are affiliate links, meaning I'll get a few cents if you buy something from there...but it doesn't change your costs at all because it comes from advertizing budgets. It'll help pay hosting costs for the page.
| Fried Egg Test on a Completely Unseasoned Skillet |
In this video, I do the fried egg test, but I use a cast iron skillet with absolutely no seasoning on it. Just by getting the right amount of heat and oil, I fried two eggs without them sticking to the pan. There's really nothing special about doing it--just get the heat/oil mix right and any pan is non-stick.
I used an electrolysis tank to clean this Taiwan Tank skillet down to the metal (electrolysis instructions here), scrubbed it clean with dish soap, then cooked the eggs on bare metal.
The flexible stainless steel spatula in the video is my favorite for frying eggs because it's so thin and slides right under the eggs.
Have a question or comment? Post it here and I'll reply!
| Scrambled Eggs on Cast Iron |
Some people think cast iron cookware isn't the right tool for making scrambled eggs, and even though they can make fried eggs in cast iron skillets, their scrambled eggs end up sticking. But again, this just means they don't have the right mix of temperature and technique. So I made a simple video showing how I make scrambled eggs several times a week on a cast iron Lodge griddle.
I like my scrambled eggs fluffy, so I move them around a bit in this video instead of letting them cook for a while while I go do something else. Again, it's just another technique to get the kind of eggs I like; leaving them for a bit wouldn't cause the eggs to stick to the griddle unless they started to burn.
Just like in the Fried Egg Test on Unseasoned Skillet video, I used my favorite Stainless Steel Cookie Spatula that's super-thin and flexible. It slides right under the eggs, especially if I spray a little bit of Pam on it. And if other foods get stuck to a skillet, I can scrape at the right angle to avoid damaging the seasoning.
Have a question or comment? Post it here and I'll respond!
| Baking Cornbread in a Completely Unseasoned Skillet |
The non-stick properties are in the cook, not the cookware! I recently made a video of frying two eggs in a completely unseasoned cast iron skillet, and the eggs didn't stick. I did it to show that seasoning isn't what makes cast iron cookware non-stick...or at least not the only thing. It's using the correct temperature and technique, which almost always means finding the right mix of heat and oil. Then, someone asked if I could do the same with cornbread...and that's a great question, so I tried it.
In this video, I used a completely unseasoned #6 Three-Notch Lodge skillet. I bought it at a yard sale, stripped it in the electrolysis tank, cleaned it in the sink, tested it for lead, and put it in the oven to dry while I prepared the cornbread. That's where this video starts.
And you can see at the end that the cornbread pops right out, leaving only crumbs that I cleaned out with a paper towel.
Here's the recipe I used: Skillet Buttermilk Cornbread from kitchme.com.
The Silicone Hot Pad is very handy, partly because it can't absorb food or liquids while I'm cooking. I even put them in the bottom of the sink when I scrub newly-stripped skillets to protect the sink, and I use them when I'm seasoning cast iron so the hot pad can't absorb the oil before I can wipe it off the pan. You can get some from Amazon at the link above.
Have a question or comment? Let's talk about it here!
Please email me with any questions about this project and I'll try to answer them!
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