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Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Taking Care of Your Gear
Posted by Brian Ries on Wed, Jul 30, 2008 at 4:03 PM
You shelled out a car payment for those high-end pots and pans I talk about in today's Essential Kitchen Gear, so you better take steps to protect your investment. Although you might be tempted to grab the steel wool or belt sander the next time you have to remove a layer of solidified bacon grease or burned sugar from that formerly gleaming stainless steel, just put the power tools down. It doesn’t have to be that way.
For stainless steel cookware, typical dish soap and water will take care of daily use – and you can even throw most brands in the dishwasher -- but you’ll want to have an abrasive cleanser on hand. Don’t scrub with anything metal and stay away from harsh powders and liquids like Comet or Soft Scrub; those will clean well enough but could scratch the surface of your beautiful pans.
Look for abrasives that are made for pans – like my fave Barkeepers Friend, available in most supermarkets. The powder is much finer and made from stuff that won’t mar the steel. They work best when the pan is just barely damp, scrubbed into surface with a nylon pad like you find on the back of most cleaning sponges. For tough jobs, soak the gunked-up pan for a while first. Even if you don’t have tough-to-remove food caked onto your steel, these cleansers will remove the inevitable discoloration and water spotting that comes from steady use. Giving them a good scrub every so often will keep your babies looking bright and fresh.
Copper is just as simple – you can use the same soft abrasives that you use on steel – but you’ll also want to add a commercial copper polish to remove the inevitable tarnish and discoloration. Squirt on, wax-off.
Tending cast iron is more troublesome, but rewarding when you put in the time. I’ve never been good at it, but the fine people at Lodge – the undeniable kings of cast iron – recommend heating your cast iron slowly when preparing to cook, with a thin layer of vegetable oil no matter what you’re preparing.
When you’re done, don’t use soap. Fine layers of caramelized food built up on the surface of the pan are what makes cast-iron non-stick, as well as adding flava’. Just scrub gently in hot water (cold can warp the hot metal) with a nylon brush. Loosen tough, caked-on food by filling the pan with water and boiling for a few minutes. After cleaning, wipe the pan with a touch more oil and store without the lid on to encourage air flow. Our own copy editor Anthony Salveggi likes to cover the pan with a towel to keep off dust that may stick to the oiled surface.
If you let the pan go south, or find an old one at a garage sale, rust is not a problem. Just scour the rust away with steel wool and re-season. You’ll want to coat the entire pan – inside and out – with melted shortening and bake in a 350-400 degree oven for an hour. After it cools in the oven, you’re golden.
Some food – like salt -- can pit the surface of steel, iron and copper if it remains in contact with the pan for even a short time. If you’re boiling water for pasta, wait until it starts bubbling before adding the salt. Try to clean or rinse and soak your pans quickly after cooking to stop or slow the negative impact of sodium rich foods. The pits won’t stop the pans from cooking a fine meal, but who wants a $100 skillet that’s cratered like a 14-year-old’s face?
Like taking care of your coif or skin-care regime, maintaining your cook-gear takes a little time and a little effort, but the years of beauty are worth it.
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