If you're having trouble with your seasoning in your cast iron, flaking, spotting, you better stick around because I've got some of the best tips to fix spotting and flaking and using care of that lovable cast iron. Music
Hey, thanks all for stopping by the kitchen. Who am I? My name is Kent Rollins or as some of y'all might know me, Cowboy Kent Rollins
We talk about grilling, we talk about cast iron, we talk about food, we give you a little humor, but today what are we talking about
Periodic maintenance on cast iron. Now, anything we talk about, product or otherwise, will be in the description below the video
Before we get started on how to periodically take care of this cast iron, in our last video, and Sam will have a link right up here under, called Husk Puppies, but I want to thank y'all
We did a little tribute to Frank the Wonder Dog and hoo-wee, how we love him, how we miss him, but folks, y'all help us get through this time of grieving
All the heartfelt, warm condolences that y'all sent to me and I answered every comment I did and I thank you so much for me
And when y'all said, we love you, well folks, I want to tell you, we love you too. It meant a lot to us, so let's get back to talking about how do we take care of this cast iron
How do I clean outside of this or when do I need to clean it? Well folks, if you're cooking inside, it's not quite as bad as cooking outside
Especially if you're over an open fire or you're cooking with propane that maybe hasn't got a good regulator on that burner
You're going to get some soot, you're going to get some buildup, and periodically that needs to come off. So how do we do that
Well first of all, if Sam will zoom in here, you can see that this old wagon-ware has got a little buildup
To get that done, folks, whoa, it ain't like birthday. You got a ton of knob and it's got to be the right one
You got to get this hot first because it's going to clean easier as it gets hotter
Now there's different methods you can use, but the number one thing I ain't going to do, y'all know it, I ain't going to spray that up
I ain't going to spray that outside edge with no oven cleaner. So I'm going to use either a putty knife, some really rough-grip sandpaper
This has got to be hot, folks, for this to take place
Now that handle, I judge it by that way too. How long can you hang on to it? Not long, I promise you
Now you can put this on a cutting board, you can put it anywhere you want, but let's see if some of that will scrape off
And it is turning some of that loose. Get over here where this side would
This works pretty well too with some steel wool, but let me tell you something
Steel wool's awful close to your thunder, close to a hot pan. It's better you do this with a putty knife or a wire brush
But if you'll do this periodically, you won't have a lot of buildup on your skillet anywhere
But the best way to prevent this, folks, always clean that outside every time you use it
Give them a little scrubbing with a soft scrubber or something with a bristle brush to get some of that to turn loose
We got it all cleaned off really well. We're going to have to re-season
And when I re-season, I'm just going to use any cheap old vegetable oil for the outside of this
How often do I do this? If there gets to be a lot of residue like this, and you can see when you're scraping it, it changes color, you need to do this every time
But if it's just cleaning the outside with hot water and you're just washing all this off, make sure it's good and hot and dry
Do this twice a week. Just make sure that you get this clean, hot, and seasoned before you ever get through using it
Now, folks, we talked about that soot buildup on the outside. And if you're cooking outside over a lot of open campfires that make a lot of smoke, a lot of soot, pine is probably one of the worst ones
So to prevent that, a lot of times, if I'm out there on a fire, just open fire, I take any kind of cooking spray, oil, anything, just give it a light coating all the way
When you set it over there and go to cooking, sure, you're going to see a little smoke come off of that when you put it back on there
But also, it's going to make it easier to clean up. Most of the time, you can just take that rascal, take it over to hot water, little scrub brush, clean it with a whistle
You have to notice, unless you've got your tag signed, feel it, that maybe you started two or three weeks ago or maybe it's been six months
And you go and look at it one day and you think to yourself, something don't look right in there
Is your seasoning flaking when you can see it in your food or something else
There's two types of problems here that's got this flaking or your seasoning coming off
One is maybe it's not filled in with your seasoning all the way across to get you that smooth, glossy finish
Or a lot of it you see on flaking is not only on the bottom of this, but big pieces missing from the sides of your skillet
Now, this can be caused by really three things. Number one, let me get it over here, number one, one of these tools here
This is a husband adjuster, not to be ever used in cast iron to take it and..
No, sure, I serve with a metal spatula, maybe picking something up or a metal spoon
But I ain't scraping the bottom of that oven or I ain't raking it around in there to try to clean something on there that's stuck
Maybe you used the wrong oil and you got this way too hot at some time or another and burnt some of this off
Maybe another reason was you hadn't had this long, your seasoning wasn't built up as good as it might have been
And what did you cook in it? A barbecue sauce base, an acid base of any kind
It's hard on seasoning. People say, you can't cook acidic foods in cast iron
You can, folks, and yes, it is hard on cast iron, but you got to remember to re-season every time
And sometimes when it gets to the point where you think you got flaking going on and if it's really bad
I want you to take a little piece of sandpaper or some coarse salt, rub it around there, get all that loose seasoning
I ain't wanting you to get back down to bare metal. I just want that that is not sticking to that cast iron wheel to come off there
Then we're going to start that process that is going to fix it
So, make sure it is clean really well before you start this next process
Make sure there is no residue, no flaking left in here that shows up on this rag anywhere
As you can see here with the oven, it is preheated to 350 degrees
I like to start out, if I'm building up seasoning from brand new or going back in what I'd call a pack tub
grape seed, flaxseed, or avocado, they're all high temp, they all adhere to cast iron well
We've got this warm. Not like we had that little one when we were cleaning it smoking hot
I want it warm enough that that oil is going to spread well. I'm never going to season a cold piece of cast iron
So, I'm going to turn it off. What am I using today
Some grape seed oil. It don't take much. About like so. I'd say that's about as big around as a 50 cent piece
Lint-free rag, y'all have heard us talk about that many times. I'm going to go ahead and give it a little wiping on the outside too
In the oven, 350 degrees, it's 1016. At 11 o'clock, I will turn it off
And I'm going to let it cool to room temperature all on its own. Now, this I do periodically as to try to build that seasoning back up
Folks, this might not be the only trip it needs. But in between them trips, if you want to do something that's really going to help it out, what is that
Yes, deep fry at home. Deep fry, use some fried potatoes in there
Deep fry anything that just makes sure that oil is good, high temp oil
Cast iron loves some deep frying to help it build up that seasoning
Every once in a while, if you've just been frying eggs in that thing all the morning or something, deep fry something
It's going to help keep that seasoning good and slick, but it's also going to help build it up
We get a lot of questions about these new companies that's making cast iron
And, oh, how we love them because they are made in the U.S.A. Whoa, how come they don't make a lid for this
Hey, folks, if you've got another skillet or a lid off another skillet that will work, you can manufacture a lid, I promise you
Just like this one here, going to get a little double decking action with this one out here
Hey, I'm feeling in what I got, keeping my heat in there. But one thing you've got to remember, when you pull this one up, there has been some condensation in here from being over that hot
You're going to have to dry it out, heat it up, re-season it just like you cooked out of it
So remember that. Hey, I've been out there on a 20-inch skillet on a ranch, didn't have nothing
What did I use? Tin foil if I needed to cover something. You can always find you something to cover it up
As you can see, this channel come up here and look. You can see it's a little still like spotted here there and yonder
What are we going to do when we go back to re-season just a tad
We've got to let it warm up. I'm going to go back with just about a dime-sized bit of grape seed oil
Ready to go. Now I could let this cool plum off like we said, good as go
I could run it back through there again today. But the thing I'm going to do to it next is I'm going to be frowning some taters in there because that's going to help it quicker than anything
But this is not a one-time fix if you've got a lot of flaking problems going on in your cast iron
You're going to have to do this twice, three times. But it ain't like you can't use it
You can go ahead and use this skillet. Maybe I just got a brand new skillet or have had this skillet a while and my seasoning is odd
It ain't all glossy black like you want it. Well, folks, that takes time, love and patience
It's going to get there. Now if you've got one of them deals that your seasoning is coming from all flaking and you taste metal, hey, you need to get rid of all that seasoning and start over
But if you just see little spots that have been here during Rondo that haven't turned solid black, don't think you can't use this skillet because using it is what it needs
All skillets are different. They're going to take a little longer to season and build up that glossy black finish from one to the next one
Clean, reseason every trip. Every time you use that skillet, I'm not talking about just going back in the oven and baking
On top of the burner every trip. I may put mine in the oven once a month, twice a month, but every time I use them, they get washed out, heated up, dried, seasoned, rubbed down with a good, lint-free cloth, and then I let them cool
They're ready to hone. So why is my cast iron sticky? Now, Tim's going to have you a link right up here because we did a video on that
Number one reason, two months. Maybe it wasn't hot enough when you put it in there
Just be sure and check out that link that Sammy's got up there above. It will help you fix stickiness in your life
What are your favorite oils to use? Well, first of all, I want to tell you more than anything else, if what you're using is working, don't quit
A lot of people say, hey, I want to use pure lard. My mother did for a long time
The only thing I'm telling you is if you store that last for very long and you put a lid on it and close that air supply, you're going to get a little rancid
Now, the oils that I love to use, if I'm starting up and brand new, building that foundation, that base seasoning coat is what
Flaxseed, grapeseed. That's the two that I think are going to perform the best
Now, if it's just every time I'm cooking after I've got a seasoned fillet roll, then I just use olive oil
We hope you learned something again today. Remember, take care of that cast iron because it's taking care of you and you can pass it down for generations to come
As Sam has always told me, ain't nobody going to fight over cast iron anymore, but they will fight over cast iron
We appreciate you taking time to watch the video. Remember what we told you, be a good neighbor
Invite him over. Invite him over. Scare him, but also folks, for these videos
God bless you, and you'll be on the cast iron trail. I saw it in one side of the other
You all hear that? That is the cast iron legal saying you better do a good job
Can you tell me what was it? What happened? Monster? Bird bird? What
What was it? It was bird bird