May 4, 2014 - 7:15am
Heating the cast iron skillet
At the risk of sounding foolish, could anyone please tell me if they've ever tried heating their cast iron skillet on flame top instead of in the oven? As I understand it, if one were to preheat the oven with an iron skillet inside it, it would take significantly longer for the oven to reach 250 degrees C (the temp at which I bake the sourdough loaf). So how about if I were to heat it on low flame as my oven preheats? Any inputs please?
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I don't tend to involve a cast iron skillet in my bread baking, but when I use a stone, I give the oven extra time to heat to ensure that the stone has maximum heat absorption; I don't think my oven takes much longer to heat.
Have you tried timing how long it takes your oven takes to heat with the skillet versus without the skillet? While your idea sounds neat, I think it would be good to make sure you're solving an existing problem and not a purely theoretical one.
If there's only a few minutes difference in timing when you compare heating with and without the skillet in the oven, then it may not be worth the extra energy of also heating the skillet on the stovetop. After all, it takes a long time to heat the skillet all the way through over a burner; the bottom may get quite hot quickly, but the sides and handle will still need more heat energy one moved to the oven. Also, if you're heating it while also heating the oven, you'll cool things down a lot when you open the door.
Just some aspects that might be worth considering.
There's a lot of advice about "do's" and "don'ts" regarding cast iron. Most of it is just someone's personal preference. I use cast iron almost exclusively, including cast iron loaf pans for my sourdough bread baking.
The secret to cast iron is TO USE IT. If you want to heat it on the stove top -- go ahead. If you prefer the oven -- go ahead. If you prefer the backyard barbecue -- go ahead. Whatever feels right is fine. Seasoning is a chemical process that has to do with oil and heat. And while I'm on the subject, use whatever oil you most use in your cooking. The more you use your cast iron, the stronger the seasoning.
About the only hard fast rule is don't soak cast iron in water and leave it to air-dry.
If you only use it occasionally because you are waiting for a specific heating element or a type of oil, your cast iron will never achieve greatness. After a couple of years, you can even use a little soap but I don't really know why you would. A scraper, some salt, and paper towels are all you ever need if anything happens to adhere, but trust me if you use it regularly, nothing will stick.