Any housewife dreams of a large spacious kitchen, which will be equipped in accordance with modern technologies. But that's not all. Each of them dreams of high-quality cookware that can simplify the cooking process thanks to its characteristics. All housewives dream of acquiring a cast iron saucepan, cauldron or frying pan. High quality tableware guarantees high quality cooked dish.
Cast iron is the material from which most best dishes. Cookware made from such material has been used since BC. Cast iron is environmentally friendly, reliable and durable, nothing can spoil it. Cast iron frying pans are very popular. But often, careless handling of dishes leads to them deteriorating over time. short term. Before you start using a cast iron product, you need to do several steps that will extend the life of your kitchen equipment.
Preparing a cast iron frying pan for use
At production enterprises, all cast iron products are necessarily treated with sealant. This procedure will avoid the formation of rust on the surface of the cookware. Therefore, do not rush to cook food in only purchased kitchen equipment. Please take care of your health and wash it thoroughly before use. warm water with regular detergent. If you find rust on the surface of the dishes, do not rush to get upset, you can get rid of it with a steel wool, but just don’t overdo it. To dry a cast iron product, place it in the oven at a temperature no higher than 200 degrees.
Ignite cast iron frying pan possible using 2 methods.
1 way. Calcination in sunflower oil
Like all frying pans, cast iron must be greased before first use. sunflower oil. Thin layer Grease both sides of the pan while it is still warm. You only need to grease the outside of the frying pan the first time; there is no need to carry out this procedure in the future. After the pan is greased, it needs to be placed in the oven upside down. It should remain in the oven upside down until the smoke disappears. Grease the pan and allow it time to cool. If you follow the advice, you will find good result: The dishes will have a shiny appearance, will be easy to clean and heat evenly.
Please note that if the cookware has a plastic handle, it will not be possible to bake it in the oven. Plastic can easily melt, which can lead to unpleasant and dangerous situation called fire.
Method 2. Heating a frying pan with salt
This method appeared a long time ago, and is still used today, recognizing it as one of the best and most reliable. The essence of this calcination is that salt is poured into a hot frying pan, and then the dishes are calcined in it for 20 minutes. The salt must be stirred constantly. After the time has passed, the salt is poured out of the pan, after which the dishes are washed with warm water and dried.
Caring for your frying pan after preparing it for use
Of course, the service life of a product depends on its quality. Buy cast iron pans from reputable brands and cook better than anyone else. Low-quality products will immediately give themselves away. Uneven heating of the surface, non-brilliant color - all this indicates that the frying pan you purchased is not one of those quality products.
To keep the surface of the pan smooth for a long time, use wooden spatulas. They will in no way cause any harm to your dishes. Do not leave a cast iron product on the fire without food or water. This will damage the non-stick coating, which will reduce the life of the cookware.
Let the pan cool on its own. After cooking, do not rush to cool it under running water. The dishes should be washed after they have cooled completely.
It needs to be washed after every use! No matter what you cook, it leaves behind burnt oil and carbon deposits that damage the surface. Food will constantly burn in damaged areas, which will lead to difficulties when washing dishes.
Dishes require delicate care, as any experienced housewife knows. Unpretentious and easy-to-use kitchen tools are a rarity, and most of them do not allow you to achieve the desired culinary effect. show the opposite example. They rightfully enjoy considerable popularity among chefs, but at the same time they are demanding utensils to maintain. Compliance with the rules of care ensures convenience in the cooking process, allowing you to diversify the menu, giving dishes the best gastronomic properties. Those who want to succeed in the culinary business should know how to heat a cast-iron frying pan and other products made from this metal.
Why do you need to heat a frying pan?
The calcination procedure is determined by several aspects. Firstly, it rids the surface of kitchen utensils of traces of industrial protection. Before releasing products to the market, manufacturers treat products with special lubricants that protect them from harmful effects. Understanding how to properly calcinate a new one will ensure chemical safety for the product. Secondly, calcination provides the cookware with optimal characteristics for subsequent use. In particular, frying pans are endowed with non-stick qualities and protection against corrosive processes.
Calcination traditions
This care measure came to Russia from Central Asia. In many ways, the understanding of how to properly heat a cast-iron frying pan came from Kyrgyzstan. Salt, as well as goose and lamb fat, were used as a “activating” cleaning product. This combination provided a good effect and contributed to improving the performance of the device. By the way, Asian cuisine requires very strict cooking conditions and, consequently, the use of utensils. This is the reason for the development of appropriate techniques for servicing frying pans.
Modern calcination recipes
Today, the answer to the question of how to heat a cast-iron frying pan is largely related to classical technology. At the same time, the range of products used during calcination is quite wide and does not require serious investments. This can be salt, the most common one at that, as well as one of the oils common in Russia - usually vegetable oil is chosen, but there may be others. Marked of course, may become the best option, however, purchasing it on the market can be difficult.
Modern housewives are usually faced with the need for calcination immediately after purchasing a frying pan. You cannot cook on it, since the coating “from the factory” requires not only thorough washing, but also cleaning with a disinfectant effect - at this stage it is worth turning to the question of how to calcinate a new cast-iron frying pan and bring it into the proper form for cooking.
Where is the best place to bake?
The procedure itself does not require special preparations, however, it is worth considering the place and conditions for its implementation. You must be prepared for the fact that smoke is generated during calcination, and in such volumes that neighbors may think that there is a fire. For this reason, it is better to organize this event on clean air. Many people will ask the question “how”. You can heat a cast iron frying pan outdoors over a fire. This good option, if you plan to process a large model, the cauldrons are also effectively exposed to thermo-salt effects from different sides. In a kitchen, especially a small one, such tasks become more complicated, causing a lot of trouble.
If the frying pan is small or it is not possible to carry out the operation outside the kitchen, then maximum ventilation should be ensured. Methods for removing smoke will also allow you to adjust the procedure and help you determine how to calcinate a cast-iron frying pan under specific conditions. When everything is provided, you can prepare the object itself and the necessary products.
Calcination procedure
You should start by pre-cleaning the pan. It needs to be washed and dried. Next, it is placed on the fire and slowly warms up. You can add salt when the dishes have reached optimal temperature for frying - as a rule, a coating 1-2 cm high is formed. The secret of how to properly calcinate a cast-iron frying pan lies precisely in the uniform distribution of crystals over the entire surface. There is no point in increasing the heating temperature, since thermal processes must occur systematically and deeply. Salt has the necessary properties that allow it to penetrate into the pores of cast iron and eliminate harmful substances.
When performing the procedure, you should stir the salt. We must not forget about the edges of the pan, which must also be baked. If you use deep dishes, you need to provide in advance the possibility of installing them on their side. At this stage, the question will certainly arise about how long to heat a cast-iron frying pan and how to complete this process. It takes no more than 20 minutes. For small models, 10 minutes is enough, and thick specimens and cauldrons, accordingly, require more time. There is another method of counting, which provides indication by the color of the salt. Finding dark shade, it signals that the work is completed and processing can be stopped. The used salt is thrown away, and the pan is washed and dried.
Which pans need to be heated?
Cast iron cookware is available to customers in two versions - after special treatment and without it. For all representatives of the second category, the answer to the question of how to heat a cast-iron frying pan with salt is relevant, since they are not prepared for use. The matter is more complicated with enamel frying pans and models with factory settings. As a rule, they already have certain protective properties and are more prepared for food preparation processes. However, to be on the safe side, it is recommended that new cookware be thoroughly rinsed and oil-baked. These operations will not cause harm, and a beneficial result will be ensured.
Formation of a protective layer
The use of salt ends here, but for greater effect it is worth performing the other part of the calcination - using oil. It is advisable to use a refined product for this in order to initially reduce the volume of smoke. In describing the procedure for calcining a cast-iron frying pan with salt, the distribution of the bulk cleaner is important. The heated surface is filled over the entire area and slowly continues to heat up. The duration of such heating is 10-15 minutes. If in the first case the cleaning effect was important, now the kitchen tool must acquire a protective coating.
The main quality that is achieved at this stage is non-stick. It is even compared to a Teflon layer, but this is not entirely fair. The fact is that polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon), by definition, does not enter into reactions that contribute to burning processes. Calcined cast iron, in turn, only makes it easier for products to lag behind their surface, which, however, is important.
Having figured out how to heat a cast-iron frying pan before using it for the first time, it’s worth mentioning the old ones. There is no need to rid them of factory grease, but if the dishes for a long time was not used or was poorly cleaned, then heat treatment with salt will also not be superfluous.
More about the operating rules
Calcination in itself is a useful operation for caring for cast iron frying pans. At the same time, there are a number of other operating rules that will increase the ease of use of this cookware, as well as make the cooking products healthier and safer. Cast iron pans do not tolerate moisture, so they should be thoroughly wiped and dried after use. At the same time, if there is fat or oil left after cooking, then you should not pour it out - such coatings have a beneficial effect on pores cast iron surface, creating a protective layer.
Many modern women They believe that they should occupy one of the most important places in the kitchen of every housewife. There is no need to rush to abandon your grandmother's legacy. After all, cast iron frying pans are the safest in the kitchen for preparing a huge variety of dishes.
On such surfaces you can prepare perfectly smooth and thin pancakes, as well as meat, the crispy crust of which will arouse great appetite even before you taste it.
If you treat your cast iron frying pan with care and properly care for it, it will become an indispensable item in the kitchen for many years. To avoid disappointment while cooking, you need to prepare the surface of the pan for frying. To do this, they use a technique called calcination. There are many recommendations for calcining pans, either using only vegetable oil or adding salt.
Why heat a frying pan with salt?
This type of cookware for frying food was popular both many years ago and today due to the material from which it is made. Cast iron is a porous metal. We do not visually notice pores on the surface of the product, but there is a huge possibility that particles of products can get into them, forming unpleasant odors. As a result, food will begin to stick to the dishes and rust will appear. To solve this problem as quickly as possible, you need to heat a cast iron frying pan with salt. Also, quite often, manufacturers lubricate their products with machine oil, which needs to be disposed of. The point of your work is to clog all the pores formed during the heating of cast iron, artificially forming a non-stick layer.
How to properly season a cast iron frying pan with salt?
To begin with new frying pan Wash well with a sponge and a small amount of detergent. Don't forget that this is the only time it can be used. After you have washed the dishes, you need to wipe them well and cover the bottom with a 1 cm layer of salt. The frying pan must be heated over low heat, stirring the salt periodically until it turns brown in color. This process will take you about half an hour, then you need to throw away the salt, and wash the dishware with warm water and dry it well.
The next step is to heat the pan with sunflower oil for 20 minutes. This procedure repeat twice with changing contents. After the frying pan has cooled, you can safely fry pancakes and cook meat on the treated surface.
It takes a little effort to heat the salt in a frying pan, but the results will surprise you. Food will not burn, and cleaning the surface will become much easier. Do not forget that when damp, such dishes are prone to rust, so you should make sure that there is no liquid left in them. In any case, after washing the frying pan, dry it and wipe it with oil. 
How to properly heat a cast iron frying pan in the oven?
Many newly purchased products are baked in the oven before first use. To do this, just wipe the surface of the pan with vegetable oil and, after tipping it over, put it in the oven. Calcination time is one hour at a temperature of 180°C. Then the frying pan is pulled out, left to cool and rubbed again with vegetable oil.
Now that you know how to heat a cast iron frying pan, it will forever become your good friend and assistant in the kitchen.
If you decide to purchase cast iron cookware, know that before you start cooking in it, you need to carry out initial processing of the product.
Cast iron pans,braziers, cauldrons(cauldrons) and frying pans at the enterprise undergo mandatory factory preparation - that is, a safe oil film (which protects the products from burning) or machine oil is applied to the products.
Therefore, before using cast iron cookware for the first time, you must:
Clean the cast iron product using salt to remove dirt and various impurities.
Then you need to create a non-stick coating on the surface of the product from vegetable oil (which, under the influence of high temperatures polymerizes, turning into film).
For this we need:
Paralon sponges (2 pieces);
Refined (important!) vegetable oil(odorless olive oil is ideal for frying);
Large rock salt(many);
paper towels
There are two methods for preparing cast iron cookware for first use. We'll tell you more about them - all you have to do is choose the one you like best.
Before first use, we recommend that you first wash your cast iron cookware under hot water using a sponge or brush (non-metallic) without using any detergents. You can use regular or laundry soap.
Then you need to wipe the product dry and heat it.
Method1 .
The process of calcining cast iron cookware consists of two stages.
Stage first . The method of calcining cast iron cookware using kitchen salt - we clean the product from foreign impurities and grease.
It is necessary to pour salt into a cast iron pan so that it completely covers the bottom with a thick layer.
The burner must be turned on at a sufficiently high power.
Be sure to open the windows or turn on the hood.
It is necessary to heat the dishes for about 30 minutes, stirring the salt thoroughly.
After some time, the salt may darken - this is normal, as this means that it has begun to absorb factory grease and other impurities. The salt must be poured out and the product must cool down.
After this, the cast iron cookware must be washed under running hot water and then dried.
Stage two. The method of calcining cast iron cookware using vegetable oil creates a kind of non-stick coating.
After the first stage, pour vegetable oil into the cooled dry cast iron product and begin the calcination process for 20 minutes. For this procedure we use the average power of the burner.
Let the dishes cool - the cast iron product is ready for use!
Method 2 .
We unscrew the handles of the frying pans and stewpans so that they do not interfere.
Turn on the oven - let it warm up to 180 degrees Celsius.
A washed and dry cast iron product must be calcined over a fire in order to get rid of the factory coating:
We place the cast iron product on a large burner - the fire should be slightly below maximum. When the bluish smoke that appears disappears after a while, it means the fire can be turned off.
You will notice how the black color of the cast iron product begins to change to gray, which is more natural for cast iron cookware. Our preparation ensures that the coating becomes stronger and acquires a beautiful black color.
A hot cast iron product must be rinsed with plenty of cold water.
Cast iron is not afraid of temperature changes. In production during manufacturing cast iron cookware is exposed to repeated exposure to high temperatures, so it is not afraid of hardening.
If, after your actions, the cast iron product is deformed or a crack appears on it, it means that it is low quality cookware that should simply be thrown away.
To dry quickly, place the product on the fire. Then pour in kitchen salt and begin calcination - we have already described this process in the previous Method No. 1.
After the calcination process is completed, throw away the salt and rinse the cast iron product again with cold water.
After this, place the cast iron dishes on the prepared paper towels and dry them well.
Place the cast iron product on the fire for a few minutes, just a little, to dry completely.
After this, you will be able to see all the small imperfections on the dishes. This is normal - don't be alarmed.
And now that the dishes have been cleaned from production processing, we begin the process of soaking them in vegetable oil:
Lubricate each part of the product thoroughly with a sponge. The oil will be absorbed, disappearing right before your eyes.
Why are we doing this? Then, when the vegetable oil fills the imperfect rough surface of the cast iron product, under the influence of high temperatures it turns into a natural, shiny, perfectly smooth non-stick coating! So the game is worth the candle!)
The dishes, greased with vegetable oil, must be placed on a paper towel. Remove any spills with a new paper towel.
Dishes upside down bottom up(so that droplets of oil can drain!) place in a preheated oven to 180 degrees.
It is better to put film or foil on the bottom of the oven so that they can be easily removed if a few drops of oil do drain from the walls of the product.
Leave the cast iron cookware in the oven for three hours (the longer the better).
During this time, the vegetable oil will dry and turn into a durable film - a strong, durable, smooth non-stick coating. EIf you wish, you can repeat the oil impregnation and firing procedure again (but this is not necessary).
Now your cast iron cookware is ready for use!
As a result, you get cast iron cookware with a beautiful black color - this depends on the firing time and the quality of the oil.
The cookware may be yellowish, but this will go away after cooking in such a cookware several times.
N Our instructions on preparing cast iron cookware for use will help you enjoy cooking in cast iron frying pans and cauldrons.
As a result:
Nothing in cast iron cookware there won't be burn and stick (unless, of course, you follow the rules for caring for cast iron products!);
Treated cast iron skillets, cauldrons and Dutch ovens will not become covered with rust;
Cast iron cookware will last you a long time!
Tips for caring for cast iron cookware:
- Manufacturers coat cast iron products with a special lubricating compound, which is designed to protect the cookware from corrosion - this lubricant has an unpleasant odor and prevents quality cooking dishes, and only calcination will help get rid of it.
- After the calcination procedure, a non-stick film is formed on the surface of the cast-iron frying pan, thanks to which nothing sticks to the pan.
- Cast iron has a porous surface that actively absorbs food particles and fat, which subsequently leads to the formation of a layer of burning. In order to avoid such consequences, you need to increase the protective properties of the frying pan - this is where calcination will help.
Advice. Before direct calcination, it is recommended to rinse the cast-iron frying pan with hot water using a regular sponge or a soft non-metallic brush, but without cleaning agents - only laundry or cosmetic soap is allowed. After washing, the dishes must be dried thoroughly.
Calcination with salt
The simplest and quick way calcining a cast iron frying pan - using salt. Here you can use ordinary and familiar table salt. The sequence of actions is as follows:
- Place a layer of salt on the perfectly dry bottom of the pan - at least 1 cm thick. The bottom of the dish must be completely covered.
- Turn the oven burner to medium power.
- Place the cast-iron frying pan on the fire and heat for 20-30 minutes - this time is enough for the salt to warm up properly and absorb foreign substances. In this case, the sorbent must be mixed regularly and thoroughly.
- When the salt has noticeably darkened, you can complete the calcination.
- Wait until the cast iron cookware has cooled somewhat and remove all contents.
- Once the pan is completely cold, rinse it under warm running water and dry it - now the protected kitchen utensil is ready for use.
Oil calcination
A more serious and labor-intensive option for calcining a frying pan is using oil.
First, you need to put any type of vegetable oil into a cold and dry pan - the composition should completely cover the bottom of the pan. Using the same oil, use a paper towel to lubricate the inner walls of the product. After a few minutes, use a new towel to remove any oil spills from the walls. Subsequent calcination can be performed in two ways:
- On the stove: turn the burner to medium and heat the cast iron skillet for 15-20 minutes.
- In the oven: preheat the oven to 150-180 degrees, turn the dish upside down and place it inside. Heat the product for 40 minutes, then turn off the oven and leave the dish for another two to three hours.
Advice. Place on the bottom of the oven food foil to protect it from oil contamination.
In both cases, after baking is complete, wait until the pan is completely cool, wipe it with a paper towel, and then rinse with hot water and dry.
Thus, if you want the joy of buying a cast-iron frying pan to not turn into disappointment from a spoiled dish after the first cooking, the dishes must be calcined before use. This will not require much expense or specific knowledge: ordinary salt and vegetable oil are what will reliably protect your new kitchen tool from all troubles.
How to heat a cast iron frying pan: video
