- If you have an old rusted
out crusty cast iron skillet, don't you dare throw it away. I'm going to show you how to restore it, how to season it and how to maintain it so that it can last you
several generations. So if you don't already know this, I have this big studio in Chicago where I film all of my recipes. And I oftentimes rent out this place to people who do pop up
dinner, so specifically shifts. And recently one guy said, "I'm a chef, I want to
do a pop up dinner." And I said, "Yeah, sure, no problem". I came in the next day, and my cast iron skillet is
destroyed, rust everywhere. It's like bro, you said you're a chef. Are you seriously scrubbing this with a stainless steel
wooly or some kind of soap, what's the matter with you? So in any event, I'm sure
this has happened to you. So I'm going to show you
how to do this up correctly, so this thing will last
literally for forever. Sound good? Let's clean. Let's start by taking our rusty skillet right over to your sink. And there's a couple
ways to remove the rust, by using a non abrasive scour
pad with some coarse salt, or with a Brillo pad, which
is simply what I'm using here. Go ahead and add in a
little bit of hot water, you don't need too much, and
scrub the inside of the pan. The goal here is to remove
all of the rough spots, this may take a few minutes. And not just the inside of the pan, but also the outside of the pan. So go ahead and flip it over, and if there are some rough spots, again, just simply scrub
it until they are all gone. This is looking super
good inside, outside, just make a nice clean pan. That's really what it's all about. So with some hot water, we're just going to
remove any of the soap, take the time to do this, you
don't want any soap on here, that can certainly cause stickages and it won't combine with the oil when you're trying to season it later. So once it is rinsed off, we're going right over
to a burner on high heat. We're going to cook it for
maybe 30 to 45 seconds, just to remove any of
that moisture in the pan, and yes, you can thoroughly dry it with a kitchen towel if you'd like. Once it's to this point,
remove it off that heat. I'm just going to set it to the side for maybe four to five minutes since cast iron holds so much
heat just until it cools down. So now we're going to get
into seasoning of this pan. It's perfectly clean and now we need to hit it with some oil. The best oil to use is flaxseed oil, and that's because that's a drying oil and it will form a really nice hard film on the outside of your pan,
making it perfect for cooking. If you don't have this,
honestly, any oil will do. If you have canola in your cupboard, grab that, it's going to work perfect. Here's what you do. Start by flipping over the pan, we're going to work from the backside, you can see that it's not hot anymore. I'm going to add on a little bit of oil, maybe two tablespoons or so. And then using a paper towel, rub it in all around the outside. Make it a nice thick coat. Flip the pan over, and you can see the inside of
the pan needs some oil too, hit it with maybe two
more tablespoons or so and we are going to thoroughly wipe it in. You want the oil to get into
the fibers of that cast iron. Yes, even do the handle, make this thing shine
and make it beautiful. That is the goal. Once it is in there, we actually need to remove any excess oil. So grab a clean paper towel
and do the exact same thing. You'll notice that a lot
of that sort of shiny shine on the outside will certainly
come off, this looks perfect. What we're going to do is go
over to oven on 500 degrees and place it upside down
and cook it for one hour. I usually put a little sheet
of foil in the bottom part just to catch any excess oil. The reason you cook it
at such high temperatures and for so long is you want
to get past the smoking point of the oil so that it's not
sticky or anything like that when it comes out, and
it's perfectly seasoned, just like you see here. Check out this beautiful seasoned pan. You can store it or use it, and boom you've just restored and seasoned up your
first cast iron skillet. How simple was that? I always say it, once
you start understanding these little fundamental techniques. Yes, this applies to cleaning and keeping your tools completely clean so that all of your food
from scratch tastes better, looks better, is easier to cook. This is the small things that I'm always trying
to teach you commies. Now, let's get into maintaining it. Let's just pretend for a second that you're making one of
the most epic ribeye steaks in your new seasoned cast iron skillet. If you're asking me? Yep, that's pretty epic,
perfectly golden brown, but that's besides the point. Once you remove that steak or anything that you're cooking in there, you're going to notice
some food particle residue at the bottom. Make sure you cool the pan down slightly and at this point, remove
it from that burner and what we're going to do
is drain off any of that oil or any of the food particles
that are hanging in there and go back over to your sink and now there are a few
ways to clean this off. We can add in some coarse salt, just like when removing the rust and then using a non abrasive
scour pad, simply scrub it until all those unwanted
food particles are off. Likewise, another easy way to do it is by using a soft bristled
brush under hot water. Just scrub it until all the
food particles are gone. This looks absolutely
perfect, if you ask me. You can dry it in two ways, thoroughly with a kitchen towel, or you can put it back on the
burner for 30 to 45 seconds to get any of the unwanted
moisture completely off. Now that it is clean, we need
to season it up one more time. This is the process you will
follow every time you cook. We're going to add in
maybe a tablespoon of oil. Just like before, using
a clean paper towel, we're just going to rub it in. You can store it at this point if you plan to use it frequently. But if you don't and not
going to use it for a while, put it back on the burner over high heat and get it to that smoking point, and you do this so that
your oil does not spoil. Boom, you're good to go. See, it's nothing. If you maintain this, you can pass it down to
your kid's kid's kids. It's that simple. Like this video, subscribe to my channel and definitely check out this video where hook up some insane pork
chops in a cast iron skillet. And I'll see you on there.
