Common Problems with Cast Iron Cookware and How to Solve Them

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Solutions to the problems

Cast iron cookware is fantastic, but it doesn’t come without its own problems. Fortunately, they are easily solved with little care and attention.

Properly cleaning and seasoning the cast iron after each use will keep it serving you for decades.

Read more articles about Cast Iron to learn how to use and care for it.

Preventing Food from Sticking

There are many reasons why food sticks to cast iron.  The main reason is that there is insufficient fat between the ingredients and the cast iron surface.  Let’s break this down further to see why this happens.

The surface of cast iron is porous, and under close inspection, has a very rough surface.  Even if it seems smooth to you.  Proteins, fats, and proteins bond to the metal when heated.  But one of these items can help you with the other two.

Fat is the natural item that will help separate the cast iron surface from the protein or starch.  But there are some rules to follow to make this happen successfully.

The surface of the pan must be hot, the oil must not be hot, and the food should be placed in the pan and left alone.  The surface of the pan expands when heated and it absorbs more oil when it is placed in the pan.  When the oil finally heats up, it has done a sufficient job of absorbing the oil to create a barrier between the metal and the food.

Less oil is needed when cooking if the pan has been seasoned well.  With a great season coating, the fats have already polymerized on the surface of the metal.  But, improper care and super high heat without oil can burn that seasoning away.

The main thing to remember is a hot pan, cold fat, and then add food when the fat has heated to the proper temperature.  Then leave it alone until the surface of the food is cooked and crusted.  If you start moving it around immediately, you prevent the surface of the ingredients from sealing up and making it harder to bond to any of the rough surfaces,

Three Things That Ruin Cast Iron Cookware

There are three things that can ruin cast iron cookware.  Those three items are acid, extremely hot temperatures, and water.  When you cook with acidic foods, the acid eats the oil seasoning from the surface and allows moisture to oxidize the cast iron.

Remember that acidic foods and leaving your cast iron wet are two no-nos.

Cooking with extremely high heat will ruin your seasoning finish.  I’m speaking of heat over a flame or on a grill.  The cast iron will be fine, but the finish that you worked so hard to perfect will burn off.  You can put it back on and cooking at the proper temperatures will not harm the finish.

Besides, I’d be afraid to see the dish made on a skillet that hot, unless it is fajitas.  In the case of high-heat cooking such as fajitas, dedicate several fajita pans for this purpose.  Doing so allows you to keep using cast iron for this purpose without harming your everyday pans

When to Get Rid of Cast Iron

It takes a lot of abuse to get cast iron cookware to the point of throwing it away.  Quite frankly, if you allow this to happen, then cast iron cookware is not for you.  Cast iron cookware requires care.  It is not hard and time-consuming, but it must be done.

The three main reasons to throw cast iron away are:

1. Warping
2. Cracking
3. Severe rusting that causes pitting.

Sometimes with repeated high heat, cast iron can crack but it is not likely.  What I mean by this is years of keeping your cast iron over intense heat in a fire.  It can also crack and warp if it is extremely hot and cold water is poured in.  But these are not normal conditions that would be present in home cooking.

The main reason that would cause you to have to throw cast iron away is if it was allowed to rust to such a point that the surface is severely pitted.  Again, this is not a normal condition and if so, cast iron should not be your choice of cookware.

You should never put your cast iron in the dishwasher.  The harsh detergents, high heat, and prolonged exposure to moisture are all the conditions needed to ruin cast iron.  Just don’t do it and wash your cookware by hand.  It literally only takes 1-2 minutes and your cast iron is clean.

Conclusion

As you can see, even though there are a few problems with cast iron cookware, but they are easily avoided. So cook all you want and enjoy a great cooking surface without any problems.

You can also check out the Wagner and Griswold Society for more information about vintage cast iron.

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