Cooking two medium onions or one large onion sliced in a cast iron skillet after seasoning will do wonders to enhance the surface. Cook them over low-to-medium heat until they are translucent making sure they do not burn.
I love non-stick pans for making pancakes and eggs, but they're not the best pick for caramelized onions. Instead, I recommend using a cast-iron skillet. As the onions cook, a delicious fond will develop on the bottom of the pan. If you scrape it up and stir it into the onions, it will make their flavor even richer.
For one, cast iron pans aren't perfectly smooth and foods like eggs may get stuck. For the best results, make sure to keep your cast iron pan seasoned, and preheat the skillet for a few minutes before you add any food to it. This allows the pan to heat evenly and prevents most food from sticking. Add fat as needed.
WHY IS MY SKILLET BROWN AFTER PRE-SEASONING AND NOT BLACK? Newly seasoned cast iron may have a brownish tint to it. It's not rust, it's just the initial patina baking in. It can take a few coats of seasoning and some use to get a black finish.
Making them in a cast iron skillet is ideal, as it heats evenly, and provides enough surface area to not overcrowd the onions (meaning they caramelize vs. steam). The final product is worth the wait though, producing sweet, jammy and delicious onions you can use in just about any way you can imagine.
The acidity of tomatoes makes them challenging to cook in cast iron. Anyone who's ever eaten a tomato or cooked with tomatoes can verify that this fruit is quite acidic. As it happens, the tomato's acidity is precisely why doesn't work well with cast-iron cookware, especially for long cooking stretches.
Why can't you boil water in cast iron? When you have water at a constant boil in seasoned cast iron, the boiling causes the seasoning to release. This can leave patchy seasoning or an uneven layer of seasoning left on your cast iron.
As heat softens the structure of the onions, the fat not only captures the flavors being released, but also contributes to new flavors being formed through the process of browning. Some fat is also absorbed by the onion. So, sautéing adds deeper flavors and richer colors to the finished dish.
All onions — whether cooked or raw or even free-dried — are a danger to your pet. It takes a small amount of onions to poison your cat or dog, with cats being more sensitive to onion's effect than dogs.
Adding onions and/or garlic to the meal may also increase the bioavailability of iron and zinc (human studies are needed to confirm this) (Gautam, Platel, and Srinivasan 2010) .
A medium-sized onion contains only 44 calories but provides an impressive amount of vitamins, minerals, and fiber. This vegetable is especially rich in vitamin C, which plays a crucial role in immune health, collagen production, tissue repair, and iron absorption.
An onion's natural acidity and fluids can loosen dirt, stuck-on food, and grease, and have your grill looking nearly new in minutes. Plus, using an onion to clean a grill can be a safer alternative to chemical cleaners.
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.
Eggs fall into the category of sticky foods that are not ideal for cast iron skillets that haven't built up their seasoning yet. While cast iron can become non-stick with sufficient use over time, a newer skillet will almost certainly cause your eggs to stick to its porous surface.
Why They Are No Longer Used. The labor involved in making cast iron pipes is quite intensive, making them an expensive option for most people. They also don't have the required flexibility to be durable in modern construction. The modern design of homes requires more flexible pipes of smaller size.
You'll use less oil, avoid harmful chemicals, and get a little extra iron in your diet.
Cast-iron heats evenly, retains heat, and is perfect for searing, baking, and frying, including eggs.
Cooking acidic foods or following improper cleaning procedures can damage the seasoning on your pan, creating spots of dull, patchy, dry-looking metal on the inside of the pan instead of the smooth, rich black of well-seasoned cast iron.
So, why does cast iron look splotchy after seasoning it? Splotchy, patchy, or uneven cast iron is caused by using too much oil during the seasoning process. To fix it, scour the pan with steel wool to remove old seasoning. Wash and dry the pan.
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.