Saturday, March 28, 2009

Seasoning my black iron pan

Just bought a black iron pan for $40+ from Pantry Magic in Holland V about 2 weeks ago.

Been eyeing it a long time because it is fully metal -> can transfer to oven from stove.

Just like a wok, a black iron pan needs to be seasoned before use. Pantry Magic will give out a sheet of instructions on how to season the pan if you need one.

1. Remove any stickers and scrub the pan with a steel wool to remove any leftover stickers.
2. Fill the pan with water and bring the water to a boil on high heat for 10 min. Pour away all the water and wipe dry and let it steam-dry for a few minutes.

3. Coat the pan with a layer of oil. I used a piece of pork lard for this as I don't want to waste any vegetable oil and besides, you can get a piece of pork lard for free from your local butcher! When you are buying some meat from the butcher, just tell him/her that you need a piece to season your wok when you buy some meat and you'll get it for free. And lard is actually more flavorful than vegetable oil~~ =P

The piece of lard:

Fry the piece of lard in the pan and the oil will gradually come out.

Coat the pan all over (interior and exterior) with the oil using a piece of kitchen towel.

4. Place the oil-coated pan on a 180°C pre-heated oven for one hour and leave it to cool in the oven for another hour.

5. Wipe off all the oil and lightly coat the pan with a layer of oil for storage. It is recommended to leave the pan overnight with the layer of oil before using.

See how shiny the surface is!

The instructions also recommend that the pan use only warm water to scrub clean from now onwards. Using detergent will remove the oil layer. In case the pan gets rusty, scrub off all the rust and re-season the pan again, steps 1-5.

And you're set! The pan is seasoned and ready to be used to cook your yummy dishes!

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