This week’s free video shows you three tips for using cast iron successfully, demonstrated while I fry eggs. I posted it on my video channel on Monday.
Many people have trouble with cast iron, but doing these three things can help. Briefly, they are:
- Lower the heat.
- Use a generous amount of fat.
- Use traditional fats. (However, coconut oil tends to gum up the pan more than animal fats.)
These three tips make all the difference in my kitchen! Along with — of course — using a great cast iron seasoning.
How do you make cast iron work for you? How do you cook your eggs? Please share in the comments!
...without giving up the foods you love or spending all day in the kitchen!
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Fun video:) We have one smaller cast iron pan that is officially the egg frying pan for my husband’s (2) daily fried breakfast eggs when he has to eat before the rest of us & honestly we really never clean it out! I think we cook ours a little faster with somewhat higher heat – mayber number 4?? We just add more fat when needed – works great for us.
Angelia — I don’t clean mine out that often either. 😉 As often as it gets used, the fat gets recycled before it goes rancid. Thanks for sharing what you do!
LOVE the video!!! Really great tips. Recently, I tried frying eggs in my cast iron in coconut oil and did have problems. I didn’t realize why until now. Thanks! 🙂
Wardee:
Do you clean the pan out with soap and water or do you just wipe it out with a paper towel?
Pam
Pam — Because I am confident in my seasoning (https://traditionalcookingschool.com/castiron), I will occasionally use soap and water when cleaning it. Most of the time, though, I scrape and use water for cleansing, then wipe to dry.
However, our egg pan I do not clean that often — it is smaller than the one in this video.
Wow, you have to cook on an electric coil stove, too! I dug my cast iron out of the back of my cupboard to replace all my non-stick pans. When I cook eggs to order, the first set turns out great, but the next ones almost burn. Thanks for the tip about turning the heat down. I’ll definitely try that. Another tip I learned about eggs from my aunt is to crack them on a flat surface (counter, plate) so the shells don’t shatter into the egg. Works great!
This is a great video. I’m curious if anyone has done this with a cast-iron grill pan or griddle. I bought one of the Lodge two-burner ones a few years ago, but every time I try to use it on my (electric) stove, it smokes and everything sticks to it. Part of it is probably the heat, and probably I didn’t use enough fat. How long do you let the pan preheat before you add the butter, if at all?
Shayna — You can do this with any cast iron. It is hard to do with the waffle irons (because of all the bumps) but definitely try your griddle. For pre-heating, with eggs at least, I just wait until the butter is melted and then I proceed.
Wardee,
You are so kind to share. You exude a gentleness on-screen! Seems simple to you, but a help to us! God bless you. I, too, use cast iron, because my folks are from the country, and that’s what I grew up seeing. I have a sticking problem but now, from the simple tutorial, think I might be a cast-iron pro now!
Blessings from my family to yours – in mutual hope.
Hi Wardee,
I have some enameled cast iron skillets that I use often from LaCruset. They don’t have to be seasoned and work well with preventing my food from sticking. I have a question…Have you heard of PETE and PFOA free non-stick cookware. I know they are better cause they are not make with those chemicals but are they really better for us? Just curious.
Thank you,
Michelle
Michelle — I have not heard of PETE and PFOA. I’m sorry!
Hi Wardee! Thanks for the tips. I will definitely try them. Out of curiosity, about how long do your eggs take with this method?
And while I use cast iron for almost all of my stove cooking, I still keep one non-stick around: just for my fried eggs! I am happy to learn how to finally put that pan to rest.
Thanks!
Sarah — They probably take at least 5 minutes, maybe up to 7. If the pan is preheated and warmer from the get-go, the cooking time is shorter. So it is variable between batches of eggs. Takes longer in that larger pan (in the video) than my usual small egg pan. Concentrated heat in the smaller pan. I hope this will work for you!
I am so glad you covered cast iron! I have two enameled cast iron Dutch ovens, one plain iron Dutch and a cast iron frying pan. They are serious work horses in my kitchen.
I am so glad you are teaching how to use cast iron. I have used the same cast iron skillet to cook most of our meals for the past 40 years ( a family of 7 people). I like the idea of adding bits of iron from the pan into our diet. I do wash it with a bit of soap and water and dry right away. However, this past year I bought a large cast iron dutch oven, after seasoning it twice, some of my soups,/stews are dark in color from the pot. WHY? What can I do to stop this? Thank you.
Cyndi — A dark color can be from two things. 1) Built up food that gets transferred to the new food during cooking (which you saw a little bit of in the video up there) or 2) the pan isn’t seasoned well enough and the food reacts with the pan causing a discoloration of the food.
When you say you seasoned it twice, do you mean two layers of seasoning? I usually do 6 to 8 layers of this method:
https://traditionalcookingschool.com/castiron
I hope this helps!
I LOVE my cast iron pans and use them all the time. It is kind of funny, but I get great over easy eggs (I like my yokes runny) on my pan and I cook them at medium heat with much less butter than you showed. I think one of the keys for me is just not flipping the eggs until the are done (almost dry) on the bottom and ready to flip.
Here is a little article I wrote about my cast iron pans: http://haphazardhomemaking.blogspot.com/2010/10/loving-my-cast-iron.html
Okay, Wardee, you inspired me. I went ahead and did a blog post on how I make my over easy eggs in my cast iron pan. Let me know what you think!!!
Tanya — Wow! Good job! 🙂
For anyone who struggles with or cannot lift heavy weights…
I’m a generation older than most of you girls. Well, at this stage in life, I’m finding I must make adjustments here and there to accommodate growing older—gracefully, I hope! Unfortunately, my beloved cast iron pans are one of those adjustments. They appear to be gaining weight…or is it I just don’t have the oomph I used to have in my younger days to wheel those babies out of the cupboard onto my stove-top??!! I was fortunate to locate a line of “lightweight” cast iron that I absolutely love and can use without struggling with the weightiness that normally comes with cast iron! The brand is ExcelSteel. The quality is great! I purchased my pieces through Sportsman’s Guide. They are also available on Amazon, although more pricey.
The pans are:
* Thin casting, about half the weight of traditional, but still no hot spots
* Pre-seasoned with vegetable oil, ready to use immediately
* Riveted stay-cool stainless steel handles
* They clean up and become more nonstick seasoned just by scrubbing with hot water.
Hope this may be of some help to others!
Wardee baby! I absolutely LOVE you on video! You have such a great presence and open energy! I also love this video because so many people want to cook with cast iron but it is a bit scary when you first start! I am gonna share this on my baby steps to a rockin’ life so more folks can check it out and learn all about cast iron! thanks for sharing it with us! hugs! Alex
Ah, thanks Alex! 🙂
We love our iron skillets so much that when were purchasing a new stove we decided not to buy the beautiful and easy to clean glass (or ceramic?) stovetop because the dealer suggested we should not use cast iron skillets on them. I was tempted actually but my husband gave me puppy dog eyes.
My mother always used cast iron and I she taught me how to care for mine.
On a good day we fry bacon (or sausage) in the skillet first and then use the fat from the bacon (or sausage) to fry the eggs. We gently “swish” the fat onto the eggs which helps them firm up on the top a little better and then they are eaiser to flip. I don’t know if that makes sense but the result is a very delicious fried egg.
Once upon a time when my stove wasn’t level, my husband slid a couple of magnets under the edge of that black thing that goes over the burner–whatever that doodad is called. It levels the burners without leveling the stove. (We actually couldn’t level the stove because our house shifted seasonally back in the day.) Hope that helps.