Over the centuries, people cook food in cast ironutensils, and today, cast iron ware remains popular, which proves the uniqueness of this material for making kitchen utensils. Let us consider in more detail its miraculous properties:
- Cast iron can be used on any heat sources and at the same time, heating to any temperatures, it is non-toxic and can not harm human health.
- With high heat capacity, this materialdistributes heat evenly and retains it for a very long time. That is why you can cook or fry on low heat - it is only needed to maintain the initially set temperature.
- The bottom and side walls, as well as the lid of cast iron products are heated equally, so the entire volume of the dish even without stirring reaches the same degree of readiness and does not burn.
- Cast iron cookware heats up rather slowly,cast iron is relatively low for metal thermal conductivity, but the heat is distributed evenly and is retained for a long time. Cast iron and gosjatnitsy are good for dishes which demand long preparation, for example stew, a bird or pilaf.
Cast iron cookwareCookware made from natural cast iron can be either black or enameled. Non-enameled cookware has its own characteristics:
- First - such cast iron cookware is covered with technical oil, which protects the metal from rust. This oil must be removed.
- Secondly, a kind of non-stick coating must be created on the metal surface using vegetable oil polymerized under the influence of high temperature.
Preparation can be done on a plate or in aoven. The dishes should be washed with hot water and then wiped dry. Fill the bottom of the pan with salt 1 cm thick and calcine on the plate for 2-3 hours. Then pour the salt and grease the inside surface of the frying pan with vegetable oil. Enameled cast iron dishes do not require special preparation before use. Clean cast iron dishes with a small amount of contamination can be cleaned with any detergents that do not contain chlorine, rinse thoroughly, if there is a significant contamination with burnt food residues, you should use soda.
Do not wash cast iron cookware with hard sponges.abrasive detergents, as this will remove the non-stick oil coating you made and damage the enamel of the enamel cookware. If the non-stick coating is damaged, it can be restored. Generously grease the dry, clean cookware with vegetable oil and place it in the oven preheated to 160-200°C for 1-1.5 hours. Cast iron cookware should also not be left wet or stored in it cooked food - cast iron rusts, so after the dish is cooked, the cookware should be washed and wiped dry.
