In the decade and change that I’ve been writing about food (mostly over here on our fly fishing site), I’ve made it clear that I’m a huge fan of cooking in traditional cast iron cookware. Cast iron, particularly cast iron that’s been cast and finished with care and attention to detail, performs like almost nothing else available.
Cast iron holds heat like nothing else, and when cared for with a modicum of attention and diligence develops an essentially non-stick surface that beats any artificial coating hands down.
Like many of you, we’ve been searing rib eyes, bone-in pork chops, and even smash burgers in cast iron seemingly forever. Breakfast (or lunch) bacon just looks right sizzling away in cast iron.
That said, the longer I’ve hung around with professional food industry friends, and peeked behind the curtain in several high-end commercial kitchens preparing delicious whole foods with great care, I’ve been more and more impressed with carbon steel cookware.
Carbon steel cookware has been around a long, long time; some of the most venerable purveyors have been turning out cookware works of art in small French and German factories for over a century. Chefs have been using carbon steel for years and years, recognizing that it offers cast iron’s amazing heat retention, seasoning and non-stick properties, and is a hell of lot lighter than traditional cast iron.
Another benefit of carbon steel is the fact that it seasons much more quickly than traditional cast iron, and is slightly easier to maintain as well. And while not a consideration for everybody’s kitchen, it’s possible to find great carbon steel at very reasonable prices too.
Recently we’ve taken the plunge and picked up a 12-inch carbon steel pan; after shopping around, and given welcomed input and influence from friend Chef Libby in Austin, we ended up picking up this 12-inch Blue Carbon Steel Frying Pan from Made-In cookware in Austin, though their carbon steel line is made in one of those long-standing French factories.
I’m actually seasoning the pan today, given a break in our heatwave via a series of early morning thunderstorms rolling through, and following Made-In’s fairly standard recommended seasoning procedures here. Actually I’ll probably run it through two or three cycles during the day today, letting the pan cool slowly to ambient temps in the over after it’s heating cycle is completed; and I’ll post an “after pic” at the bottom of the post when finished later today.
There’s a veritable smorgasbord of recommendations floating around out there arguing different methods to season carbon steel and cast iron; I’ve tried literally dozens over the years, and keep coming back to the simple oven cure and slow cooling method. Those heated oils need to slowly polymerize to truly build up a non-stick surface. Have a method you like better? By all means use it, just don’t over-oil – that’s the most common mistake leading to a puddled, uneven, even sometimes sticky finish.
There’ll be rib eyes searing later today, and here’s some Ancho Cumin Coffee Rubbed Pork Tenderloins below…
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