Jesse Rivest's Blog
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Tuesday, May 30, 2006
The Holy Frying Pan
The carbon steel frying pan is my favorite frying pan. So are black iron pans. Cast iron is great, but super heavy. Here's a quick bit about seasoning a carbon steel or black iron pan, if you'd like to stop buying non stick pans that wear out.
I bought a carbon steel frying pan for $10 - $20, I can't remember exactly. I got it at an Asian restaurant supply store. I bought some bacon and fried a few rashers to render some fat, then discarded the rashers and the liquid fat. I wiped/scrubbed the pan with a rag and started again with another few rashers. This time I took the liquid fat and rubbed it all over the pan with a rag (light coating), then put the pan in the over for 4 hours at approximately 200 °C.
Now I use the pan to fry eggs, potatoes, onions, meat, whatever. I don't clean the pan afterwards, I just put it away, it's ready for next time. I get the pan quite hot, add some good oil and watch it nearly smoke, then fry my fry-ables. Nothing sticks! Oh, perhaps you are afraid of oil. Then perhaps this won't work out for you, because you need hot oil in the pan for this to work. I like oil, I like a bit of fat, I am okay with it, I prefer it. My favorite fats include pork, olive, sunflower, peanut, any nut really, and avocado.
I don't like non-stick pans. It irks me to know that the coating material, which was created in some scientist's lab, is slowly flaking off into the food. I also wonder if things are passing into the food at a molecular level. Perhaps steel or carbon molecules are passing into my food when I use my frying pan, but without researching much at all, I'll say that I prefer steel and carbon. And my frying pan will last a long time - those non-stick pans always seem to wear, regardless of how expensive they are.
Related Links:
CBC Radio 3 blog
-- Back to http://www.jesserivest.com/
I bought a carbon steel frying pan for $10 - $20, I can't remember exactly. I got it at an Asian restaurant supply store. I bought some bacon and fried a few rashers to render some fat, then discarded the rashers and the liquid fat. I wiped/scrubbed the pan with a rag and started again with another few rashers. This time I took the liquid fat and rubbed it all over the pan with a rag (light coating), then put the pan in the over for 4 hours at approximately 200 °C.
Now I use the pan to fry eggs, potatoes, onions, meat, whatever. I don't clean the pan afterwards, I just put it away, it's ready for next time. I get the pan quite hot, add some good oil and watch it nearly smoke, then fry my fry-ables. Nothing sticks! Oh, perhaps you are afraid of oil. Then perhaps this won't work out for you, because you need hot oil in the pan for this to work. I like oil, I like a bit of fat, I am okay with it, I prefer it. My favorite fats include pork, olive, sunflower, peanut, any nut really, and avocado.
I don't like non-stick pans. It irks me to know that the coating material, which was created in some scientist's lab, is slowly flaking off into the food. I also wonder if things are passing into the food at a molecular level. Perhaps steel or carbon molecules are passing into my food when I use my frying pan, but without researching much at all, I'll say that I prefer steel and carbon. And my frying pan will last a long time - those non-stick pans always seem to wear, regardless of how expensive they are.
Related Links:
CBC Radio 3 blog
-- Back to http://www.jesserivest.com/
