March 21, 2010

Grill Pan

Grill Pan

Pretreat a cast iron grill pan?

We bought a cast iron grill pan for our outdoor gas grill. Is there a certain way to pretreat or season the pan before using it?

Tx,
Contact me!

Here's the instructions from my book, just about the same as Txblackpot with a few differences.

Seasoning: Cast iron may be heavy, but with a proper seasoning, is the greatest type of metal to cook in. But, you need to keep your cast iron free from rust and well seasoned to make it “stick free”.
When someone buys cast iron from the store, the foundry (manufacturer) coats the pot or pan with a coating of some sort to keep the item from rusting. This is done by spraying with a type of varnish or dipping it into hot paraffin wax. This protective coating must be cleaned off before seasoning your cast iron.
If your Dutch oven is made by LODGE, the protective coating is a sprayed varnish coating, which must be scrubbed off. Heat the Dutch oven inside your home oven to 200oF., then with a hot pad, lower the oven into hot soapy water, and scrub the Dutch oven with a S.O.S. pad. Scrub the inside and outside of the Dutch oven very well, rinse well, and towel dry. Then place the Dutch oven back into your oven at 225o to dry for about 10 to 15 minutes. The only way to dry cast iron is to dry it completely. I do mine in the oven because, the heat is not concentrated in one spot, as it is on the stove top, which can cause minute cracks.
If your Dutch oven is made by any of the other companies that make outdoor Dutch ovens, the protective coating is dipped paraffin wax, which can be burned off. Do this outdoors in your gas B.B.Q. or, a kettle type charcoal B.B.Q. like a Webber. In a charcoal B.B.Q., use Mesquite charcoal for fuel because it burns much hotter than briquettes. Start the charcoal or light the gas B.B.Q., set on high and pre-heat the B.B.Q. When the charcoal is white, spread it out a little so that is not to close to the cooking grate. Place the oven onto the cooking grate, upside down, and close the lid on the B.B.Q.
Heat the oven to 450o to 500o for 15 minutes. Close the B.B.Q. and cook the Dutch oven for about 1 hour at 450o to 500o , or until the oven stops smoking. Cool the scrub the oven and dry as directed above.
To season the Dutch oven, place the oven upside down on the cooking grate and warm the oven for 10 to 15 minutes at 450o to 500o . With hot pads, remove the D.O. and rub a light coat of lard, bacon grease, white Crisco, or vegetable oil, using a paper towel
Coat the inside and outside of the D.O. and lid. You only need a light coat of oil, you don’t want the grease to be dripping off the oven. Place the Dutch oven back onto the cooking grate and cook the Dutch oven for about 1 hour at 450o to 500o , or until the oven stops smoking. Remove the oven from the B.B.Q. with hot pads to cool. If the D.O. is a glossy brown color, not black, return to B.B.Q. to cook about thirty more minutes. By doing this outside in the B.B.Q., you don’t have to fill the house with smoke and set off the smoke detectors.

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