How to restore cast iron and stainless-steel pans and pots #3/37

Recipe for restoring cast iron pan, pots etc.

1. Remove all rust by submerging cast iron pan in a solution of vinegar and water (1 part vinegar for every 20 parts water). Let it rest in that acid bath for as long as it takes for the rust to go away. It may take several days.
2. When rust is removed start cleaning your iron cast pan by scrubbing it using scrubbing powder and a steel sponge. I spend more than an hour scrubbing so it is a lot of work.
3. When cast iron pan is fully cleaned dry it up in the oven to remove all water before you start to oil it.
4. When fully dried use a paper towel and some processed vegetable oil like canola, grapeseed or sunflower oil to completely grease the cast iron pan inside and outside.
5. Next use a clean paper towel to remove as much oil as possible from cast iron pan. It is important that the oil layer is thin, so this is why you need to remove the excess oil again.
6. Bake the cast iron pan in the oven at 375° F or 190° C in the oven for one hour. If you bake it at higher temperature like 500° F or 260° C your oil will get burned and smoke off. That will not make a non-stick pan, but I think it will still make a black layer that prevent the pan from rusting.
7. In order to improve quality of seasoning coating you can repeat the process of first adding a thick layer of oil then dry it off to make it a thin layer of oil and then bake it in the oven. I did it 6 to 7 times.
8. After I had done all of the above my wok was still not completely non-stick as my egg test showed.
9. However, I succeeded making iron cast wok completely non-stick by greasing it in canola oil, drying it off to make a thin layer of oil and then heating it up on the stove until the wok started to visibly smoke after which I immediately turned off the heat.
10. You will know when you have succeeded making it non-stick when you can fry an egg and it does not stick and when the pan feels baby smooth to the touch of the surface of the pan.
11. A good/perfect seasoning of the cast iron pan is not the only thing that matters for non-stick cooking. Type of oil you cook with and the temperature also matters a great deal. Best non-stick oil is clarified butter and next best is butter. Third best is processed oils like canola, grapeseed and sunflower oil. Fourth best is organic oils and cold pressed oils. The health benefit of latter is ruined with heating and they also contain non-oil elements like vitamins and minerals that will create a very hard to clean coating on your pan.
12. Finally, the best non-stick temperature to cook at is the Leidenfrost point, which is approximately 193 °C (379 °F) for water. The Leidenfrost point is the temperature that is just right for water molecules to form a cushion of steam between the pan and the stuff that you cook like an egg so that it floats above the pan and therefore do not stick. You can test if the temperature is just right by dropping a little water on your pan. If water droplets skate around the surface of pan the Leidenfrost temperature is achieved. If the water droplets float out in the pan and quickly evaporates the pan is still too cold. And if the water droplets explode off the pan you pan is too hot for cooking. You can also simply use a temperature measurement kitchen gun. With lots of experience, I have seen chefs holding their hand over the pan to feel when the temperature is right for cooking.

Things you need to know about cast iron cooking gear

1. Cast iron has great heat retention so the pan or wok stay hot when a cold beef or egg enter the pan. This makes it easier to cook with and also more non-stick.
2. Compared to stainless-steel cast iron is more non-stick provided it is seasoned perfectly and you have a high-quality cast iron pan.
3. Cast iron pans are 2 or 3 times more heavy than stainless-steel pans.
4. Every time you cook a dish with acidity in it like tomato or lemon or vinegar the non-stick seasoning is ruined and you need to remake it to make it non-stick again. This is almost one hour of work using the stove method see video.

Recipe for restoring stainless-steel pans, pots, etc

1. Take a very large pot and submerge smaller pots and pans in that pot filled with water and add some baking soda (natron) to water like 30 grams or so.
2. Boil the stainless-steel pots and pans for about 30 minutes in the large pot with water and baking soda.
3. Use a steel sponge to clean the stainless-steel pots and pans in your sink.

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