How to Scramble Eggs in a Cast Iron Skillet (and not end up with a stuck on mess.)

This is post is for the girl like me. Newly married, I set out to be the perfect Suzy Homemaker, but just ended up with an egg covered heirloom and lots of frustration. My husband had 2 skillets passed down from his grandfather.  I wanted to use them well, but had no clue.  I read on the internet about seasoning, so I put on a fresh layer of seasoning.  After I seasoned the pan, I held it proudly and prepared to cook my hubby some eggs.  After all, it was non stick, right? I had just seasoned it.  Cook eggs I did, and I think half of them immediately glued to the bottom of the pan. After spending 30 frustrating minutes scrubbing the pan (with soap mind you,—a definite no no). I promptly stuffed it to the very back of my cabinet and retrieved my not so trusty teflon pan for daily use.

Years later, I am happy to say that I eventually tried again and now solely use cast iron pans.  In fact, I am constantly cleaning and restoring them so that others can feel the gratification and freedom from fragile teflons.  I wish I had known then that there is a bit of an art to cooking with cast iron. Its not hard at all once you learn some basic principles– all of which can be demonstrated in cooking eggs.  I hope to share some of what I’ve learned with you today.

1. Its all about the preheat.  Putting cold oil and cold eggs into a cold pan will always result in a stuck on mess. I preheat on LOW for 3-4 minutes.  You may be tempted to crank it up to high to go faster.  I have done this. Just. don’t.  Not a good idea. Overheated pans means very over heated eggs.
2. While its preheating, I crack and scramble my eggs.  Once I think its ready, I simply put my hand fairly close to the surface to feel how warm it is (I know it goes without saying, but don’t touch it. Cast iron=hot).  I have also heard that if the handle is hot, then the pan is ready, but I prefer to just feel the radiant heat.
3. Put in a bit of oil (for my kids I use coconut oil) and let it heat up too. It only takes a bit.
4. Add the eggs and LEAVE THEM ALONE.  Don’t sit there and fiddle with them.  Don’t keep scrambling them.  Just let the pan do its job. Cast iron is excellent at searing.  Basically, we are very lightly searing (not even to the point of brown) the bottom of the eggs. This will make the rest of the eggs not stick.
5. Once the eggs are BARELY set on the bottom and you can see them start to set on the edges, turn off the heat and stir to your hearts content.  Remember how cast iron is excellent at holding heat?  It will have plenty heat there to finish your eggs.
   

   See how the edges are rounded?  Not brown, just barely set.  Ready. Set. Stir those eggs!

6.  They should be done pretty quickly at this point and ready for the plate.
7. Now, proudly pat yourself on the back as you look at your nice, nearly egg free pan. Yay! Now, if I could just figure out how to get that glass top truly clean…

Now, if your skillet is not egg free. Don’t fret!  Check out my blog post about how to clean it up fairly quickly and somewhat painlessly.  If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.  Feel free to ask me questions.  I will do my best to help.

*The pan featured in this blog post is a Red Mountain Series Birmingham Stove and Range number 5.  It was made in between the 1930s-1950s. It is my favorite egg pan for making eggs for my husband and myself in the morning.  It also, in my opinion, is the ideal omelet skillet. You can find more of my vintage pans (probably evene a few just like this one) that are looking for good homes at yesteryearfortoday.etsy.com.

 

How to Clean Cast Iron

I was in an old junk store the other day looking at their selection of cast iron.  As I closely examined each piece, the 5 or 6 old timers who were just hanging around and talking of days past began to take notice.  Immediately I began to get advise as to how to clean cast iron.  “Throw it in the fire.” “Use a grinding wheel.” “Use the self clean cycle of the oven.” (for the record, let me just say, “No!”. Antique cast iron can be sensitive to high heat.)

Then came the ideas for seasoning. “Use lard.” “Use crisco.” “Use olive oil.” They each knew the “best” way to take care of cast iron.  While I am not here to give the definitive “way” to clean and take care of your cast iron, I thought I would take a few minutes to share how I take care of mine.

First, we need a messy pan to clean.  This one was a 2 day old mess left from a very delicious blueberry pie my daughter made.  Its a Birmingham Stove and Range No. 7 from the 1940s or 1950s. Want one like it? There’s probably one like it up for adoption in my Etsy Shop.

Super stuck on and baked on pie remains.

An upclose and personal view of our cast iron tragedy

First let me say, when it comes to cast iron, always say “No” to soap.  Soap’s job is to attach to grease and carry it away.  Seasoning, in it most basic form, is grease.  So, soap kills your layer of seasoning and seasoning is what makes your skillet so naturally nonstick.  Before you click away in disgust, consider this.  According to Lodge’s website, a pan heated at medium high heat for 4 minutes gets up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Something only needs to be 212 degrees Fahrenheit to be sterile.  So, because of the high heat of cast iron, soap is not necessary.

So, now we need to figure out how to get rid of all that junk without compromising our hard-earned seasoning layers. Here’s what I do:

1.  Just add water.

I add water to the pan (usually about halfway full), put it back on the eye of my stove, and bring it to boiling.  I usually start this process while I am tidying up the rest of the kitchen.

Fill the skillet about halfway full of water.

Let the water get to heavy, rolling boil.

2.  Pour and wipe.

This is where things get a bit interesting.  Turn off the the stove. Using a pot holder (cast iron handles get very hot–remember, sanitized), grab the pan, pour the water and most of the mess into the sink.  Very, very, very carefully, using utmost care, use a paper towel and wipe out the rest of the mess. (It is best to do this while the pan is still hot, just BE CAREFUL, I have suffered many burns from a lack of care here)

Wipe up the rest of the junk.

3. Bring on the oil.

Start adding back in the oil.  Notice how dry my pan looks here. Since it is so hot, it drys out almost immediately. Put a small amount of your favorite kitchen oil on the surface of your pan.  (For this purpose the type of oil is not that important. Later, when we talk about reseasoning, we can talk about types of oils and which works best)

Put a small amount of edible oil in the bottom of the pan.

4. Spread the love.

Use a soft cloth or paper towel, spread the oil all over the pan–top and bottom. (Again, use care.  The pan is hot!).  The pan should just barely look wet, slightly shiny, and definitely not be dripping.  The dry pan will continue to absorb the oil until it is dry to the touch.

Wipe the pan with a paper towel, or cloth until it is just shiny

5.  All done!  Store your cast iron skillet with a paper towel in it to keep moisture away from it.

All done! Nice and clean!

 

Wait!  Still have trouble?  Have the ultimate stuck on mess?  Think you have ruined your skillet? I will post about that next time.