Cast Iron Pans:
---------------
Offhand, I can't think of any question that seems to cause as much
confusion and recur so persistently as how to handle cast iron. As I
mentioned above, I like cast iron a lot. It costs very little, takes
almost any kind of cooking abuse, is nearly as non-stick as Teflon
when properly seasoned, and is a dandy weapon if your guests get
fractious. However, you need to prepare it properly and then treat it
a little differently than most pots.
The basic idea with cast iron is that you cover it with a layer of
cooked oil. This layer, which is very thin, builds up gradually with
use until it covers the metal with a flat black surface that is the
sign of a well-seasoned pan. The whole game is to get the surface on,
and keep it there.
To season a new pan, first clean it out thoroughly with soap, water, and
a good scrub. There are a variety of ways to proceed; the simplest is to
rub the pan with a good layer of oil, bake it in the oven at 300 degrees
for an hour, and wipe off the excess oil. You can do this a few times to
start building up the layer, or just once. After the initial seasoning,
you will probably want to use the pan mostly for frying (saute or deep
fry); the layer builds up best that way. It doesn't matter too much
which oil you use, though one with a high smoke point (peanut, for
instance) is probably best. Also, I would recommend that you avoid
unrefined oils; they will infuse your pan with a strong odor. Another
approach to seasoning is to heat the pan over a strong flame until it
is very hot and then wipe it generously with oil. Keep it on the flame
until the oil dries out; repeat for as many layers as you like. This
is the way woks are traditionally seasoned.
Once seasoned, you want to clean cast iron by getting the food remains
out without resorting to excessive scrubbing and scraping. This is quite
easy with a well-seasoned pan, assuming you haven't burned anything too
badly. I use a sponge that has a very mild abrasive layer on one side.
Soap is good at cleaning away oil, which is just what you don't want to
do, so you shouldn't try to clean a cast iron pan with it. Some people
feel strongly that you should *never*, *ever* allow soap to touch the
pan, because it will whisk away your seasoning in an instant, forcing you
to start over again. I think this level of concern is a bit extreme;
after your pan is well seasoned, you can clean it unagressively with a
soapy pad and in my opinion it doesn't make any difference. However,
others argue that soap will creep into the seasoning and flavor the food.
I do try to wring out the sponge so that it doesn't have much soap in it
before using it on cast iron, and haven't noticed any problems.
It is very important not to leave cast iron pans wet after cleaning,
because they will rust. Some people put them back on the stove after
drying them, and heat them for a minute or two to get rid of any
remaining moisture. I just dry them carefully and have never had any
problems.
If you discover a cast iron pan that is very rusted, or hopelessly
encrusted with grime, you have several options, of which I will only list
a few. To clean it, you can put it in a very hot flame (on a BBQ for a
while, in a camp fire, or in a heating furnace). You won't hurt the pan
unless you leave it in for a very long time; if you get it red hot, you
will usually burn anything off that is stuck to it. You will also have
destroyed the seasoning and need to start over again. Another solution
is to put the pan in a self-cleaning oven during the clean cycle.
To get rid of really bad rust, you can take your pan to a sandblasting
shop and have them clean it off; make sure that they use glass beads or
nut shells rather than sand, which can pit the surface. Also, I'm told
that you can do it yourself with a wire brush on a drill. All of these
will result in a nice new pan that must be seasoned from scratch.
However, since you can frequently pick up old cast iron pans for a dollar
or two at a garage sale, a little elbow grease will get you a nice pan
for very little money.
Buying a Wok:
-------------
The wok is a supremely functional instrument that replaces every other
pan in traditional Chinese cooking (aside from specialized ones like
clay pots, etc.). Because western kitchens will almost always have a
variety of other pans, most people who ask about woks on the net intend
to use them for stir-frying. You can stir-fry with many different kinds
of pans and there is an excellent discussion that goes into exhaustive
detail on the subject in Barbara Tropp's tome _The Modern Art of Chinese
Cooking_. I'll just hit the high spots, concentrating on two main
questions: shape and material.
The first question is whether to get a round-bottomed or flat-bottomed
wok. The purists shudder at anything other than the traditional round
bottom, which does indeed have much to recommend it. The bottom becomes
very hot, so you can cook quickly in a little bit of oil to get the
crispness that is a hallmark of good Chinese cooking - stir-fried food
should never be soggy or oil-sodden. Food that is not being actively
cooked can be moved up the sides a bit, to keep it warm but out of the
strongest heat. The shape of the pan adapts nicely to the traditional
scoop, allowing the cook to toss food constantly so that the result is
evenly cooked.
The fly in the ointment is something virtually unknown in China: electric
ranges. Would that they were equally rare in this country! I have tried
several times to use my wok on an electric range, and it simply doesn't
work very well. The point of contact with the heat source is so small
that you get one intensely hot point at the bottom of the pan and the
rest stays too cold. You may have better luck, but if you are stuck with
electric, my advice is to surrender gracefully and use a flat-bottomed
pan. You can use a flat skillet, which works reasonably well though it
may require a bit more oil than a wok. I prefer a flat-bottomed wok, which
acts more like a real wok but has enough contact with the electric
element to yield decent performance. I have heard almost universal
condemnation for the electric wok, which apparently does not get hot
enough and should be avoided.
The other issue is the material to choose. A stir-fry pan needs to be
able to handle very high temperatures without having food stick and then
burn. Ideally, oil will cover it in a thin coat so that a small amount
will be enough to get even coverage.
There is only one option for the traditionalist: steel. All real Chinese
woks are made out of steel; you can buy them cheaply at any Chinatown.
If you don't live near a Chinese community, many good cookware stores
carry decent steel woks like the ones from Atlas. The wok should be
quite solid and weighty; avoid flimsy and thin knock-offs. An aluminum
wok, in particular, is a disaster. Steel needs to be seasoned, just like
cast iron, and should be treated the same way afterwards (see above).
If you don't insist on having a wok, you can use a cast iron skillet
reasonably well. Other kinds of skillet are possible, but make sure they
can get very hot without damage.
Recently the interest in Asian cooking has led a variety of cookware
lines to include stir-frying pans, both round and flat-bottomed.
Calphalon has several, for example, and I find these to work quite well.
I am suspicious about using a non-stick material, because they don't take
an even oil coating and many of them must not get too hot or they will be
damaged. However, you clearly can stir-fry in them and use less oil
than would otherwise be necessary, so you must make up your own mind.
Make sure that they are not restrictive about temperature before you
buy one.
Acknowledgements:
-----------------
I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to contribute to the FAQ,
either knowingly or not. Much of the information in it was gleaned
from a multitude of posts, supplemented by many generous mail
exchanges - I hope you won't be offended that I didn't list your
names. Thanks to one and all, and please distribute this FAQ to
anyone who might be interested. Comments, complaints, and suggestions
are welcome.
Enjoy,
- Oliver Sharp (oliver@cs.berkeley.edu)