Yes, you can season the pans for frying, sautéing, or baking in cast iron cookware like pans, pots, or skillets with butter, but it's not the right choice to season it for the first time. Butter immediately starts to smoke when added to a heated pan because cast iron can withstand a lot of heat.
Yes, it is safe to use butter in a cast iron skillet. Cast iron skillets are versatile and can be used for a variety of cooking methods including sautéing, frying, and baking. Butter is a great option to use in a cast iron skillet as it has a high smoke point and can be used at high temperatures without burning.
When cooking in cast iron, you should add a little oil to the pan before adding your food. This helps ensure the food doesn't stick, and it helps build layers of seasoning. You can generally use whatever oil you prefer, as long as the cooking temperature is below the smoke point of the oil.
Acidic foods (unless you make it snappy)
Acidic foods (like tomato sauce, wine-braised meats, etc.) enter the red zone when they spend too much time cooking in the skillet. It's particularly important to not marinate anything in a cast-iron pan, as many marinades are quite acidic in order to tenderize the meat.
Olive oil has a high smoke point and when done properly you can keep your pan in good shape for years and years. Keeping your cast iron seasoned will stop rusting and staining and it will let you cook your food to perfection. In this case, olive oil is definitely one of your best friends.
Why Olive Oil Is Good for Skillet Seasoning. Olive oil is a great option for seasoning your cast iron skillet because it is affordable and easy to find. It also has a high smoke point, which means it can withstand high temperatures without burning.
Soaking your cast iron skillet in your sink is a recipe for rust, as is washing it in the dishwasher. Instead, clean it ASAP, even using simple soap and water if you must.
Several of our consulted chefs agreed that cast iron can leave an unpleasant flavor layer in tomato-based dishes. The "naked" cast-iron cooking surface of an unenameled skillet can cause "acidic foods to become discolored and acquire a metallic taste," says Weinstein.
Two words: heat & oil.
The most common reason food sticks to cast iron is because the pan is simply too hot. Because cast iron retains heat much better than other types of cookware, you generally don't need to use as high of a heat setting as you normally would with stainless steel or aluminum cookware.
An easy and effective trick, adding one teaspoon of flavourless oil, such as vegetable or grapeseed, with the butter at the beginning will prevent the butter from burning. Ready to take on the perils of the stove without a trace of burnt butter in sight?
You're overheating. Because cast-iron is so efficient at conducting heat, it can get hotter than what you may be used to with other cookware. So start with a lower heat setting as you get used to how incredibly efficient your cast iron skillet actually is.
Can you brown butter in cast iron? You can, I certainly do but if you do, know this, that it is harder to see the butter brown in a dark pan. Most people recommend using a light pan or stainless steel pan so that you can see the color as it browns better.
Browning butter is one example of the Maillard reaction. As butter heats up, the water in the butter evaporates and sugars and amino acids in the butter react to create new flavor compounds and turn from white to brown.
Yet again, it is all about the crispy crust that we all crave. When you let the meat cook from its outer crust, the heat from the cookware will give it a savory and caramelized flavor. Unlike grilling, the cookware (skillet, in this case) will evenly spread the heat over the meat, providing it proper taste.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, rust is not food safe and shouldn't be ingested. That being said, it's unlikely that a rusty cast-iron skillet will harm you. When cooking on a rusted cast iron there's a chance that some of that material will end up in your food.
When is too much too much? Although it seems odd, it is technically possible to over-season a skillet. Too much oil baked into the cast iron will cause it to polymerize unevenly and eventually will cause the surface of the skillet to flake.
Cast iron pans can leach a sizeable amount of iron into your food, exceeding dietary intake in some cases. Acidic foods will contribute to much more leaching while an old, heavily-seasoned pan will leach much less iron than a newer one.
Most often you can clean a cast-iron pan by simply wiping it down with a dry paper towel or cotton dishcloth. If the pan is well seasoned, bits of burnt, stuck-on food will come right off. If any stubborn bits remain, scrape them off with a plastic spatula.
What oils can I use to season cast iron? All cooking oils and fats can be used for seasoning cast iron, but based on availability, affordability, effectiveness, and having a high smoke point, Lodge recommends vegetable oil, melted shortening, or canola oil, like our Seasoning Spray.