L
Lefty
Guest
I have used cast-iron skillets and griddles for many years. One griddle was
a rusty, pitted mess I was given for free then restored with wire brush (on
a drill) and course sand-paper followed by thorough seasoning, that now
always sits on my stove burner.
I have always doubted the leaching theory with WELL-SEASONED cast-iron, the
only way anyone in their right mind would cook with it. Some of the fear may
have accompanied leaching problems with aluminum pots and acids, but
aluminum is used bare. I take pains to season mine well inside and out. I
have simmered lots of tomatoey and other acid-based concoctions that never
have affected the seasoning layer and cleaned up with a hot water rinse and
maybe a salt-scour.
So just now I did an experiment. I took a small skillet that I rarely use
and has a minimum of seasoning left. The rim on the bottom had a few
bare-metal areas from where it had scraped on a burner, and a few flecks of
rust. I put a few drops of Muriatic (Hydrochloric) Acid there and it did
what was expected: a slight discoloration reaction to the surface oxidation
and a bit of fizz from the flecks of rust. Rinsed it clean and bright.
Then I put some acid inside the pan and let it sit for ten minutes. When I
rinsed it there was no effect on the seasoned surface: no discoloration, not
a mark. Then I put in some acid and heated it on the burner until the acid
had dried. I could see residue where the acid was, rinsed with hot water and
there was obvious damage to the seasoned surface there, I could tell there
was metal under it.
Then I did the same tests on an old well-seasoned large pan I use often. The
same results when cold, no effects; and when I heated it until the acid
dried and rinsed the residue, this time there was no breach of the seasoned
surface, and I couldn't tell there was ever any acid on it.
Straight Hydrochloric acid (the kind you etch concrete with) is considerably
more powerful than food acids, virtually exponential in reductive power. I
don't know if heating straight acid until it dries and leaves a residue
compares to any GOOD cooking (I had a housemate once who badly burnt my
skillet frying chicken while drunk -- I made him take it down to the metal
and season it again and again until it took a week to get it back to
perfection), but I suspect a tomato might have to sit there for a least a
week to even leave a spot. But I wouldn't cook any volatile sauces in the
first pan until I seasoned it a lot better.
As for the second skillet and others I always use, I don't think I will
worry about it. When you use one a lot you basically season another layer
whenever you dry it on a burner and coat it with a fresh film of oil before
you put it away. If volatile acid cannot penetrate in, I can't see how iron
molecules can penetrate out through what has cured to a polymer of some sort
during normal use -- we're not dealing with an atomic accelerator here. I
can't see where cooking anything non-acidic should be any cause for concern
at all.
My opinion of course, based on humble science. If I submit it for
publication in Omni I might get a slip saying "REJECTION FOR: ****", but
then they better not hang around my house looking to get some pancakes.
Lefty
--
Life is for learning
The worst I ever had was wonderful
a rusty, pitted mess I was given for free then restored with wire brush (on
a drill) and course sand-paper followed by thorough seasoning, that now
always sits on my stove burner.
I have always doubted the leaching theory with WELL-SEASONED cast-iron, the
only way anyone in their right mind would cook with it. Some of the fear may
have accompanied leaching problems with aluminum pots and acids, but
aluminum is used bare. I take pains to season mine well inside and out. I
have simmered lots of tomatoey and other acid-based concoctions that never
have affected the seasoning layer and cleaned up with a hot water rinse and
maybe a salt-scour.
So just now I did an experiment. I took a small skillet that I rarely use
and has a minimum of seasoning left. The rim on the bottom had a few
bare-metal areas from where it had scraped on a burner, and a few flecks of
rust. I put a few drops of Muriatic (Hydrochloric) Acid there and it did
what was expected: a slight discoloration reaction to the surface oxidation
and a bit of fizz from the flecks of rust. Rinsed it clean and bright.
Then I put some acid inside the pan and let it sit for ten minutes. When I
rinsed it there was no effect on the seasoned surface: no discoloration, not
a mark. Then I put in some acid and heated it on the burner until the acid
had dried. I could see residue where the acid was, rinsed with hot water and
there was obvious damage to the seasoned surface there, I could tell there
was metal under it.
Then I did the same tests on an old well-seasoned large pan I use often. The
same results when cold, no effects; and when I heated it until the acid
dried and rinsed the residue, this time there was no breach of the seasoned
surface, and I couldn't tell there was ever any acid on it.
Straight Hydrochloric acid (the kind you etch concrete with) is considerably
more powerful than food acids, virtually exponential in reductive power. I
don't know if heating straight acid until it dries and leaves a residue
compares to any GOOD cooking (I had a housemate once who badly burnt my
skillet frying chicken while drunk -- I made him take it down to the metal
and season it again and again until it took a week to get it back to
perfection), but I suspect a tomato might have to sit there for a least a
week to even leave a spot. But I wouldn't cook any volatile sauces in the
first pan until I seasoned it a lot better.
As for the second skillet and others I always use, I don't think I will
worry about it. When you use one a lot you basically season another layer
whenever you dry it on a burner and coat it with a fresh film of oil before
you put it away. If volatile acid cannot penetrate in, I can't see how iron
molecules can penetrate out through what has cured to a polymer of some sort
during normal use -- we're not dealing with an atomic accelerator here. I
can't see where cooking anything non-acidic should be any cause for concern
at all.
My opinion of course, based on humble science. If I submit it for
publication in Omni I might get a slip saying "REJECTION FOR: ****", but
then they better not hang around my house looking to get some pancakes.
Lefty
--
Life is for learning
The worst I ever had was wonderful