Here, briefly, is a quick and dirty (clean?) cast iron tutorial.
1. What is a cast iron skillet??
Cast iron skillets look like this
They are usually found on the shelf over the stove, they are uniformly gray, and they are heavy as all fucking hell.
We also have three woks that are made of cast iron, which needed to be treated in the same manner. That includes the two smaller ones and the massive one that would fit Antonia inside. They look something like this.
2. Why do we need to clean them??
If cast irons aren't cleaned, they rust. That looks like this.
When they rust, we cannot eat out of them. Rust is bad, and unhealthy to consume.
3. How do we clean them??
After cooking food in a cast iron skillet, it is your responsibility to clean it. Not the dishwasher's.
Once your food has left the skillet, you can use water from the faucet and a metal scrubber to clean the debris from the pan.
Do NOT use soap at any point in this process. Our skillets are "seasoned" with oil, which protects them, and soap eats away at that protective layer.
After scrubbing the food out of the pan, return the skillet to the stove, heating it until all the water in the skillet has evaporated.
4. How do we season them??
After the pan is dry, add a small amount of oil (olive or canola are fine) to the pan, and using a clean rag, apply it evenly around the inside surface of the pan. Never use animal products (lard, bacon grease, fish oil etc.) on the cast iron cookware. They are strictly vegetarian.
Do not leave pools of oil in the bottom, please.
Return the pan to the heat, allowing the oil to heat and absorb into the porous iron material. Please take care not to overheat the skillet and burn the oil! (You can tell because burning oil smokes.)
5. How do we store them??
Being careful not to burn your tootsies, return the pan to the shelf above the stove, stacking them small on top of big (duh).
Aaaaand you're done!
For the 3 of you who read this far in the tutorial- congrats. You have an attention span longer than a goldfish. If you have any questions, or want an in-person tutorial, please let me know.
Love and Kisses, DA KAIZAH (Emily)!