use soap never use soap season with any
fat definitely don't use those fats
don't soak don't scrape don't stress
about soaking or scraping ah it's no
wonder so many people are confused about
how to care for their cast iron cookware
luckily there's a panacea for your pan
problems really understanding seasoning
no not that stuff this kind of seasoning
this is minute food
first a quick note we're focusing on
cast iron but pretty much everything in
this video also applies to carbon steel
because they're mostly just iron these
metals are super reactive on its own a
bear cast iron or carbon steel pan will
chemically bond with almost anything you
cook in it it'll rust when it comes into
contact with water but that reactivity
can also help you change the properties
of the pan's surface if you put a
whisper thin layer of fat in the pan and
get it really hot like burn it you'll
create a bunch of reactive molecules
that will interact with carbon-carbon
double bonds in the fat triggering a
chain reaction that bonds the fat
molecules together and the pan creating
a solid material called a polymer this
thin layer where really many of these
thin layers bonded to each other and
interspersed with carbonized stuff from
the oil is what's known as seasoning
since that seasoning like the fat it
came from is made of molecules that
aren't keen to interact with water or
watery stuff a well-seasoned pan is
stick resistant note i said stick
resistant even the best seasoned cast
iron pan will never truly be nonstick
i'm not going to go into the
nitty-gritty of how to season the pan
there are great instructions out there
already but a good understanding of the
science of seasoning can help with some
of the sticky spots involved in getting
your pan properly seasoned and keeping
it that way first you need to use a fat
with plenty of carbon-carbon double
bonds since that's where polymerization
happens and while at least some of these
bonds are present in every cooking fat
the more unsaturated a fat is the more
of these reactive bonds it has so olive
oil polymerizes a bit better than lard
and canola oil polymerizes a bit better
than olive oil but a fat with too many
of these bonds may polymerize so
efficiently that the seasoning you get
is brittle and flakes off so despite
what you read online super unsaturated
oils like flaxseed may not be very good
for seasoning but pretty much any other
cooking fat if used judiciously and
built up over time we'll create a
seasoning layer that's just fine for
home cooking judiciousness is important
because the thicker each layer of oil is
the harder it is for that oil to
polymerize sticky brown spots mean that
the oil hasn't polymerized or carbonized
properly you'll need thinner layers
higher heat more time or all three so
take your time seasoning and let those
thin layers build up once you perfect
that seasoning though it's going to be
super tough because it's a polymer the
same kind of structure plastics are made
of and what makes plastic so hard to
destroy the carbon-carbon bonds that
hold these polymers together are really
strong what's more the specific kind of
polymer created by oil in a reactive pan
is particularly tough because its
molecules are cross-linked they're
bonded together in a tight network this
is the same polymer structure that super
resilient plastics like tires are made
of this resilience means that cast iron
can take a lot of abuse feel free to
really go at a well-seasoned pan basic
brushing and scraping aren't really
gonna hurt that tough polymer and if
some overzealous scouring does do a
little damage that's okay as you
continue to cook with your pan you'll
keep laying down new layers of seasoning
patching things right up also while you
won't usually need soap don't be afraid
to use it just like a little soap won't
destroy a plastic bucket it won't take
the seasoning off your pan the no soap
commandment probably came about back
when soap was full of lye a really high
ph substance that is super corrosive but
the way lower ph dish soap in your
kitchen isn't going to hurt your
seasoning the one thing you shouldn't do
is soak a cast iron pan or even leave it
wet after you wash it because of the way
oil polymerizes there are tiny holes in
any single seasoning layer and given
enough time water can creep through
these holes reach the bare iron and
cause rusting the better seasoned japan
is the less likely this is to happen
even so it's not worth the risk given
you can scrub and use soap you shouldn't
need to sew cast iron in the first place
in the end cast iron and carbon steel
for that matter is really forgiving yeah
there's some guidelines to follow but
you really just need to use the thing
because every time you cook something
you're either adding to or replacing the
seasoning you have on there and if you
encounter serious pan problems don't
panic just start seasoning again from
scratch in this age of disposable stuff
a good cast iron pan is a truly
renewable resource
seriously though throwing stuff away
feels bad and it's bad for the planet
landfills emit tons of greenhouse gases
in the u.s alone landfills emit the
carbon dioxide equivalent of 20 million
cars each year if that makes you cringe
you might want to check out this video's
sponsor wren with a little information
about your daily life ren calculates
your own carbon impact suggests how to
reduce it and even helps you offset it
with a monthly contribution toward
research-backed data-driven projects
like this one which provides
clean-burning cooking fuel and stoves
for refugees in uganda these kinds of
changes won't save the planet on their
own but as ren says they're an on-ramp
to action click the link in the
description to get started thanks ren
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