Cast Iron Cooking Guide — Full Recipe & Transcript

[00:00] This is by far the most [music]

[00:02] inexpensive, durable, multi-use tool you

[00:05] can possibly buy for your kitchen, and

[00:07] everybody is afraid [music] to use it.

[00:09] Not anymore. This is your all-inclusive

[00:11] guide for using [music] cast iron from

[00:14] the beginning of seasoning to cooking

[00:17] with to cleaning. This is the only guide

[00:19] you'll ever need, so let's begin. Before

[00:21] you start cooking, we're going to talk

[00:23] about [music] seasoning. Don't get

[00:24] scared. Relax.

[00:27] >> [sighs]

[00:28] >> What the hell is seasoning? All you're

[00:29] doing is creating a protective layer of

[00:32] essentially built-up polymerized oil.

[00:34] That's oil that's basically just been

[00:36] blasted so hard with heat into the pan

[00:38] that it's created a hardened layer

[00:40] that's essentially [music]

[00:41] invisible to the eye, but your pan will

[00:43] look matte. Number one, it prevents food

[00:44] from sticking, [music] but number two,

[00:45] it creates a protective layer that keeps

[00:47] your pan looking like this all the time.

[00:49] You can even use soap. When you have a

[00:50] proper seasoning, which is that layer on

[00:52] your pan, it's essentially protected for

[00:54] life. Every time you cook in it, you

[00:56] don't even need to re-season it usually

[00:57] if you keep cooking with it because as

[00:59] you cook, you increase the layer of

[01:01] seasoning. Whether you have a pan that's

[01:03] sitting somewhere in your kitchen that's

[01:04] up and you think is unusable or

[01:06] you have a brand new pan, I'm going to

[01:08] show you what to do. Now, if your pan is

[01:09] up and it's sitting somewhere,

[01:11] maybe you're thinking about throwing

[01:12] away. Maybe there's rust on it. Maybe

[01:13] there's food all crumpled up on it. It

[01:15] looks disgusting. [music] You can still

[01:16] use it. You can fix it with what I'm

[01:18] about to show you next, which is the

[01:20] stripping portion. First step, you're

[01:21] going to be doing something that you

[01:22] might think is wrong. And well, you

[01:24] know, sometimes two wrongs make a right

[01:26] because this pan is also in a state of

[01:28] what I would consider raw. That's going

[01:30] to go into a sink, into a bowl, or some

[01:33] sort of a container. We have a bathtub,

[01:35] something that it'll fit in. Or you

[01:36] could even plug up your sink and fill

[01:37] that up. That works, too. So, you're

[01:38] going to cover it with equal parts water

[01:40] and white distilled vinegar. So, mix

[01:42] that around. Make sure that it's

[01:43] thoroughly combined, and you're going to

[01:45] let that sit [music] for at least an

[01:47] hour or around two hours. You don't need

[01:49] to strip the pan every time. You'll only

[01:51] need to strip it when it's super

[01:52] up. But if you do need to re-season your

[01:54] pan, simply revisit the seasoning

[01:56] portion of this video. Now, after it's

[01:58] soaked, we're kind of there. A lot of

[02:00] the up is gone. This is

[02:02] already starting to come off. So, at

[02:03] this stage, you're going to sprinkle on

[02:06] baking soda, which obviously is going to

[02:07] react with the vinegar. And then, you

[02:09] ever seen one of these? These are so

[02:11] dangerous. Oh my god. Metal [music]

[02:13] scouring pads. Be very careful. Maybe

[02:14] wear gloves if you don't have rough and

[02:16] tumble hands. Just get in there. You'll

[02:18] notice that I'm scrubbing in circles.

[02:20] Don't just scrub like

[02:22] Think about it, right? Circles are the

[02:23] best way to scrub. I don't know why.

[02:25] Just scrub in little circles and trust

[02:27] me, okay? You can dunk in your vinegar

[02:28] mixture, scrub. Now, the point here is

[02:30] to do two things. Number one, clean the

[02:32] pan thoroughly, get all the out of

[02:34] it. But, number two, you want to strip

[02:35] the pan a little bit. The pan is going

[02:37] to look a little bit more silvery than

[02:38] black. And you're just going to repeat

[02:40] this with your entire pan. The inside of

[02:42] the pan, the walls on the inside, the

[02:43] outside, the [music] bottom, the handle,

[02:45] everything. Now, once that pan is

[02:47] stripped, you can season it. Look at

[02:49] this guy. It's looking a lot less

[02:51] up, but still up. It's okay. I

[02:52] know you're seeing like, "Oh my god, I

[02:54] rubbed all the sort of black pan look to

[02:56] it." Don't worry. It's going to come

[02:57] [music] back. You're seeing a little bit

[02:58] of raw cast iron in there, and that's

[03:00] okay. So, we're going to wipe this out,

[03:01] get it as dry as you can get it with a

[03:03] towel. And you're going to see some of

[03:04] that soot, some of that metal shaving on

[03:06] your towel. So, I would recommend using

[03:08] a tea towel that you probably don't plan

[03:10] to keep after this. [music] I would only

[03:11] wash it with like towels if that makes

[03:13] sense. You might look at this and go,

[03:15] "Oh, this is dry. You're ready to roll,

[03:16] right?" It's not. Cast iron is porous.

[03:19] If you put your hand here, you can

[03:20] immediately see the condensation cuz

[03:21] there's still water emanating in those

[03:23] pores. So, to get that out completely,

[03:25] we're going to take it over to the

[03:26] stove, set it on medium high, explode

[03:28] your kitchen also, and then you're just

[03:30] going to let this sit for like a minute

[03:31] or two until you don't see any more wet

[03:33] spots on the pan. That just guarantees

[03:35] the pan is totally [music] bone dry. You

[03:37] want to do this as quickly as possible

[03:38] because it will start to get a little

[03:40] bit of surface rust. That's okay. We'll

[03:42] wipe that off in a second. Okay, our pan

[03:43] is dry. Take it back over to your linen.

[03:46] Now, from here, we're going to use

[03:47] organic flaxseed oil. This is the

[03:50] optimal oil to use because we

[03:52] essentially want it to completely

[03:53] [music] oxidize in the oven. Flaxseed

[03:55] oil is basically begging to oxidize.

[03:57] Drizzle some of that on there and then

[03:59] using a towel again, the towel that I'm

[04:01] going to throw away, going to wipe

[04:02] [music] the whole thing out. And you're

[04:04] going to see a lot of stuff come off

[04:06] your pan doing this. The oil is part of

[04:09] not only the seasoning process, but the

[04:11] cleaning process. You're going to get

[04:13] everything. Get the handle, the inside

[04:15] of the handle, get this little hangy

[04:17] hook thing, the edges, [music] and the

[04:20] walls of the inside of your pan. You're

[04:21] going to flip it over. You're going to

[04:23] do the same thing on the other side. I

[04:25] want you to get not just the bottom, but

[04:27] the sides of the bottom. [music] I want

[04:29] you to get the underside of the hook

[04:31] dangly hanging foot side and then

[04:33] finally I want you to get [music] the

[04:34] whole underside of the handle, the sides

[04:36] of the handle, absolutely everything,

[04:38] guys. So, that's not apparent. And then

[04:39] you're essentially just going to wipe

[04:41] off all of that oil. At this stage we

[04:43] are ready. If you have a up cast

[04:45] iron pan, it is now ready to be

[04:47] seasoned. [music] If it wasn't this

[04:48] stage, you were just ready to add in

[04:49] your seasoning, now you're on to your

[04:51] seasoning stage. So, we already have

[04:53] applied the oil. If you want to feel

[04:55] extra good about yourself, you could

[04:56] always add another layer, but the key is

[04:58] this is the most important part about

[05:00] seasoning cast iron. Although you're

[05:01] wiping the oil on, you're coating the

[05:03] surface of the pan, your goal with your

[05:05] towel should be to wipe off as much of

[05:07] it as you can cuz it's going to leave a

[05:09] very thin veneer no matter what you do

[05:11] cuz it's in the crevices, in [music] the

[05:13] pores of the metal. If you do not wipe

[05:15] it out enough, what will happen when you

[05:17] season this and I know you guys have

[05:18] experienced this. My pan was sticky

[05:20] after I seasoned it. That was because

[05:21] there was too much oil in there. You got

[05:22] to basically leave the thinnest [music]

[05:24] veneer possible. Your goal should be to

[05:25] basically try to wipe it all out. We are

[05:27] ready to pop this in our oven. First, on

[05:29] the bottom of your oven, place a sheet

[05:32] tray and then directly on the rack above

[05:34] that, which would be your middle rack,

[05:35] you're [music] going to set your pan

[05:36] overturned this way down directly over

[05:39] your sheet tray. The oven's totally

[05:41] cold. It's off. Close that, start

[05:43] [music] it, and then you're going to set

[05:44] that to 500° F. Now, once it's preheated

[05:47] to 500 degrees Fahrenheit, you're then

[05:49] going to leave it at 500, but the second

[05:51] that they can dings and says, "I'm hot."

[05:53] Set a timer for 1 hour. Now, we have a

[05:55] beautifully seasoned pan. It's matte.

[05:57] Nothing's feeling sticky in here. This

[05:58] is ready. Now, how do we cook with this?

[06:00] There are three main ways to cook with

[06:03] cast iron. Number one is possibly the

[06:05] most important thing, and I think most

[06:07] people do not get this. It's cast iron,

[06:10] you got to be really careful. My god,

[06:11] might get up. Literally, just use

[06:13] it like a normal pan. Obviously, it is

[06:15] not a nonstick pan. You can get it close

[06:17] to that, but let's not

[06:18] ourselves. It's not a nonstick pan. But,

[06:20] it is a cheap pan that has stainless

[06:22] steel capabilities. Cook with it

[06:23] normally. You can make things like

[06:25] steaks in it, crab cakes. I don't know

[06:26] why I went to crab cakes. I think I

[06:28] really just want a crab cake right now.

[06:30] Saute vegetables, make chicken thighs,

[06:32] make pancakes in it. Use it like you

[06:34] would use stainless steel or even a

[06:36] griddle, for example, right? These are

[06:38] great for things like steak. You get

[06:39] your pan, set your burner to a medium

[06:41] high, let that get hot, add a little bit

[06:43] of oil in there, add a steak that's been

[06:44] seasoned to your liking, sear for 2 to 3

[06:47] minutes, flip, sear for another minute,

[06:49] add in some butter, baste it if you

[06:50] like, take your steak out, slice and

[06:52] serve. And guess what? You would have

[06:54] done the exact same thing with

[06:56] stainless. It's just cast iron. If

[06:57] anything, you could beat this up even

[06:59] more. You could use different tools that

[07:00] you maybe don't want to use in your nice

[07:02] stainless. The second way, this doubles

[07:05] as your oven's best friend as well as

[07:07] serveware. You can [music] serve your

[07:09] guests with this pan cuz it looks cool,

[07:11] looks nice, right? You can bake things

[07:12] in this like cobblers, like pies, like

[07:15] pizzas. And it can go in and out of your

[07:17] oven constantly with very minimal

[07:19] cleaning. But, the most important thing

[07:20] is because it's so

[07:22] heavy and thick, it doesn't heat up as

[07:24] quickly as stainless steel. I wouldn't

[07:25] make a pie in a stainless steel pan. You

[07:27] could, but frankly, you risk burning

[07:29] because the metal is so thin and the

[07:30] crust ends up burning. But, this can

[07:32] handle all of your favorite baked goods.

[07:34] And when you serve this with a bubbling

[07:35] mac and cheese or a bubbling cobbler

[07:37] [music] in the center of a table, I

[07:38] mean, it looks nice. You could give

[07:40] someone a metal spoon and they can

[07:43] they can do this all they want. This pan

[07:45] is almost indestructible and it still

[07:47] looks nice. So, for example, with a

[07:49] cobbler, you would take a cold pan, you

[07:51] don't need to set it on the stove, add

[07:52] whatever fruit you want to [music] add,

[07:54] sugars, spices, etc. Toss it together,

[07:57] macerate it, top it with whatever drop

[07:59] biscuit dough you want, and bake it. It

[08:01] is the easiest dessert, but look how

[08:02] beautiful this is. You set that on a

[08:04] table, put a big fat scoop of vanilla

[08:06] ice cream, and let it melt, let people

[08:07] scrape at that, they're going to be

[08:08] happy. And all of a sudden they're going

[08:10] to be like, "Man, I should get [music]

[08:11] my cast iron seasoned." Yeah, you

[08:13] should, Sally. I know you're using your

[08:15] oven as a storage space and you're

[08:16] leaving it there, and I know it stinks a

[08:18] little. And number three, the final

[08:20] thing. This isn't just a pan, this is

[08:23] also a fryer, right? A shallow fryer or

[08:26] a deep fryer. In this case, it would be

[08:28] a shallow fryer cuz it's pan, but if you

[08:30] get a pot version, it becomes a deep

[08:31] fryer. It's [music] the perfect thing

[08:33] for deep frying because when you drop in

[08:35] your fried foods in this pan, for

[08:36] example, you're making a chicken cutlet

[08:38] or chicken katsu, that oil temperature

[08:40] is going to retain heat much better than

[08:42] it would in stainless steel because of

[08:43] all of the heat that's retained [music]

[08:45] in the pan itself. Baking and frying are

[08:48] the two things that cast iron does that

[08:50] stainless steel can do, but actually not

[08:52] as well. And that's hard for me to

[08:54] admit, but it's true. For example, add

[08:55] in just enough vegetable oil to fill it

[08:57] up halfway, we heated it until 350° F,

[08:59] we have a beautiful breaded chicken

[09:01] cutlet that goes in and fries for about

[09:03] 4 to 6 minutes until it's crispy, golden

[09:06] brown, and cooked throughout. Then you

[09:08] just set it down, maybe serve it with a

[09:09] little bit of katsu sauce and Kewpie

[09:11] mayo, some fresh green onion, and guess

[09:13] what? This is actually the easiest

[09:15] method to clean because you just toss

[09:16] your oil as you usually would, and then

[09:18] just give it a little wipe, maybe a

[09:19] little bit of hot water in there, that's

[09:21] done. The point in frying is the oil

[09:23] [music] goes in, you heat the oil to a

[09:24] specific temperature, you put the food

[09:25] in until it's done. That's it. It's

[09:27] amazing. But Josh, what are all the

[09:28] things I'm not supposed to cook in a

[09:30] cast iron pan? Everybody told me I

[09:31] should never put tomatoes in a cast iron

[09:33] pan, or it will literally turn into a

[09:35] demonic void that unleashes the

[09:37] hellscape that's been residing in the

[09:39] center hot magma of the earth and it

[09:41] will take over the rest of the world

[09:43] mineral engineer AI to compete against

[09:45] me and my work. That's a fair concern

[09:47] these days. You can put acidic foods in

[09:49] them, it's fine. Just be aware that the

[09:51] longer [music] that they sit in there

[09:52] the more likely they'll start to have

[09:54] kind of an iron flavor. Don't let them

[09:56] sit in there for too long. Don't let the

[09:57] pan cool down [music] and then spoon it

[09:59] out of there. The point is get it in,

[10:00] get it out of the pan as quickly as you

[10:02] can. Try to avoid too many acidic

[10:04] ingredients. The one thing that I don't

[10:06] love using cast iron for and I really

[10:07] would advise not using it for is just

[10:10] boiling water. It's really not great for

[10:12] it. I'd rather you go get a cheap

[10:13] aluminum pot that you keep to the side

[10:15] for pasta and just [music] boiling water

[10:17] stuff in general. I don't think that

[10:18] this is the right pan for boiling any

[10:20] kind of water. So don't do that. And

[10:22] then the third and final thing and this

[10:23] is not a no-no zone, it's more of just

[10:26] like a

[10:27] it's not my first pick is really really

[10:29] really delicate high-fat fish. Yes, you

[10:31] can blacken fish in this really nicely,

[10:33] but if the fish is something that will

[10:35] fall apart in the pan, I would opt for

[10:37] frying that fish in this pan like

[10:38] breading and frying and shallow frying

[10:40] or deep frying or doing some sort of a

[10:42] blackening where there's a lot of oil in

[10:44] the pan. Not a no-no, you just need to

[10:45] be super aware of how you use it. So the

[10:47] best way to clean this pan is while

[10:49] [music] it's still warm or hot. So

[10:52] usually what I do is first I have my hot

[10:54] pan that I've just finished cooking this

[10:55] steak in. First you'll sprinkle the pan

[10:57] with a generous amount of salt, scrub

[10:58] that with chain mail or a metal scouring

[11:00] pad, remove [music] any stuck-on debris,

[11:02] then take it to your sink, add in some

[11:03] hot water, scrub aggressively. Don't use

[11:06] [music] any plastic to clean this while

[11:07] it's this hot cuz the plastic will melt.

[11:09] Rinse it out with water and it's good as

[11:10] new. Once that's done, you need to dry

[11:12] it immediately and completely with a

[11:13] towel [music] and then if you're going

[11:14] to take it a step further, I would

[11:16] recommend that you set it over a medium

[11:18] or low heat burner until all [music] of

[11:21] the liquid has been evaporated off the

[11:22] pan even after wiping it down cuz

[11:24] sometimes it gets stuck in the pores.

[11:26] That's it. It's 10,000 [music]

[11:28] times easier to scrub off any

[11:29] particulate matter that's stuck to it.

[11:31] If the pan is ripping ripping, ripping

[11:32] hot, just be cautious adding water

[11:34] that's too cold because you can [music]

[11:35] crack the pan sometimes if you

[11:37] completely submerge it in ice cold

[11:39] water. A lot of people over-obsessed

[11:40] with oh, you do this, don't do this.

[11:42] Cast iron pans are essentially

[11:43] indestructible. Unless you manage to

[11:45] find a way to crack one in half, it's

[11:46] likely still usable. You just got to

[11:48] learn how to fix it. And once you learn

[11:50] how to use [music] cast iron, it will

[11:51] last not only the rest of your life, but

[11:53] your children's life, their lives, etc.,

[11:56] etc., etc. Do we have a study yet on

[11:57] when cast iron runs out? I don't think

[11:59] society is old enough yet. I'm not a

[12:01] history buff, guys. If I'm wrong here,

[12:02] just just leave me alone. Subscribe.

[12:04] Love you so much. Bye.