Every time you heat cooking oil or fat in your Field skillet, you help make your pan’s natural non-stick cooking surface stronger and more resilient. Whether you’re a first-time cast iron cook or a seasoned collector, it’s best to break in a new skillet with a few seasoning-friendly dishes. Think of these dishes as a starting point for a lifetime of cast iron cooking.
How Simple Dishes Help Build Cast Iron Seasoning
First things first: pre-heat your skillet. Giving your pan about five minutes to pre-heat on a low to medium burner will help make sure food doesn’t stick to the cooking surface. In the early stages, it’s also a good idea to use a little extra cooking oil or fat, especially if you’re planning to cook fatty proteins.
Seared, sautéed and roasted vegetables are great place to start; veggies won’t stick to your cooking surface like fatty proteins, and are easy to spread out over the entire cooking surface, helping build seasoning evenly. Let’s dig in: