secret of cooking with cast iron without food sticking or burning

I only own cast iron pots and pans. That's all i cook with, 3 meals a day every day. People often make the same comments on social media when i post pictures cooking with cast iron. They either say "i can't cook with cast iron without burning the food" or "i can't cook with cast iron without the food sticking" Both of these conditions are caused by the same problem and is easily fixed. So in this video are my tips on how to cook anything in cast iron without burning the food or causing it to stick to the pan. Do this and your friends and family will be amazed at your cooking skills too! Plus, you can't really say you are country if you can't cook in cast iron :)
Also check out my "easiest method of seasoning new cast iron" • cast iron seasoning wo...
and also cooking a meal from down under that contains chorizo in cast iron: • cast iron pan multipur...

[@sharpridgehomestead]

don't ever do this with your cast iron: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gavGgKqjbqxjq6s

[@dangunn6961]

I've been frying 2 eggs over easy in a Lodge cast iron pan every morning for over 2 years. I use a little olive oil in a hot pan then a little butter in for 30 seconds then in go the eggs. They slide around the pan with no problem, no sticking. And my Lodge round griddle makes the best pancakes I've ever had. Correct heat control makes all the difference.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

That is the key for sure.

[@jonjones2013]

Ok

[@sharpridgehomestead]

updated video using over-easy eggs for the doubters ... I don't even eat over easy eggs but here we are: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ame8nJljiNumpdk

[@richardbarksdale3810]

Thanks for the tip 🤠 Have a blessed day.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

You have a blessed day too, God bless

[@HrWisch]

That stuff on the side walls isn't seasoning, it's carbonization. I would remove it with a chainmail scrubber and hot water. If you let it build up for too long, it will eventually flake off in large pieces. And there's nothing wrong with using water and even dish soap (if necessary) to clean cast iron. Just make sure to completely dry the skillet on the stove afterwards. If you only used water, there usually is enough oil left in the skillet to protect it from rust. But it doesn't hurt to apply a very thin layer again. If you used dish soap, it will have removed all oil. Therefore you then must apply a new thin layer. That way, neither water nor soap is going to hurt your skillet or the seasoning.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

Did you know carbon is a sanitizer? That's why carbon is used in air and water filtration systems and it also removes and neutralizes smells. It's also used to treat some poisonings.

[@HrWisch]

@@sharpridgehomestead I didn't say it's poisonous or bad for you. But if it keeps building up, it will flake off in larger pieces at some point and eventually take some of the seasoning with it. Therefore, I prefer to keep the carbonization to a minimum.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

@@HrWisch sorry, I misunderstood what you were saying. I don't think I have ever intentionally removed it from any of my cast iron .... not saying thats good or bad, just not a concern and not enough hours in the day. lol

[@HrWisch]

@@sharpridgehomestead It's nothing to worry about. There's no right or wrong way. I prefer to keep it from building up too much. Hot water and the chainmail cleaner is part of my normal cleaning routine for stuck on food (if a brush doesn't work), it's pretty much no extra effort.

[@b-baller]

​@@HrWischhow hard do you use the chainmail to scrub the cast iron pan?

[@matw1x]

That was beautiful. Thank you.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

Thank you for the comment

[@jimmill3384]

I use a lot of ghee butter early on really seems to help

[@sharpridgehomestead]

once you learn to cook with cast iron and how easy the maintenance is, you will never want to cook with anything else. Its all I have used for years and years!

[@tires2burn]

I put some coarse sea salt in the pan and rub it with a paper towel until its clean. Dump out the residue and put it back on the warm burner and with a little bacon grease it melts in and a quick wipe and its ready for next time.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

Thanks for the tip, hopefully people find it useful.

[@antonismarkantonis9056]

I do my eggs in a cast iron pan and no stick a lot..i want to ask why the under part of the eggs there some black marks like you put ‘pepper’ is that normal? There is not enough seasoning in my pan?is that healthy? About your video i want to ask is healthy to do not wash the pan at all?all that left over food on the pan do not create germs? Thanks for the video

[@sharpridgehomestead]

those are all excellent questions and I will be happy to answer. The black stuff you are seeing is in fact seasoning which is carbonized food/oil particles. It can come off for a multitude of reasons but the most common is that the particles are not adhered to the cast iron well enough to form a bond. Its not harmful to eat it, its basically carbon. If its happening a lot or its large pieces, you can try to wipe the pan out and seasoning the pan upside down in an oven with a thin coating of oil - I have a video here on how I do it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpXadpueo72je7c There is a lot of debate on washing vs not washing pans. I'm from the side of not washing them. However, there have been times where I have had to wash a pan but I try to keep it to a minimum. If you use your pan every day, its ok to not wash it using soap and water and thousands of people just simply wipe them out after use using a lint free cloth. If you forget to wipe it out and it has gone longer than a few days without using it, it might actually be best to wash and dry it on a stove before storage or using it again. Washing removes the oils that would help season the pan over time. But in those oils/grease over a period of time if they are thick can build up bacteria that would die from the heat. All surfaces have bacteria on them, including our skin and counter-tops. Almost all of them are not harmful to humans but because some of them can be, like flu or covid, it might be best for some to wash them if they aren't used every day. Hope this helps!

[@user-do5hd7zb4x]

Am hoping to season with Gravesend oil or flax. Have discontinued cast iron for a while. Using copper c lad. Revere ware because of too much iron. May try your idea I'm one who doesn't like to wait. I notice you use wooden spatchela, maybe that prevents scratches in dryer oil skin on the pan. I think the flax oil make better cooking surface. Thank you for trying to help with cast iron cooking. Currently using only toastmaster single coil elec. Burner. P.s. try tossing a cube of bread into cast. Ire.skill. at 350 shell fizz up when reaches correct temp. Pretty hard to see minute bubbles in olive oil without mag.glass Have happy day.😅

[@sharpridgehomestead]

Thank you for the tips and suggestions. God bless!

[@6-Iron]

Pro tip: Do you know how difficult it is to completely remove the seasoning from cast iron? You pretty much have to let them ride in an oven on cleaning cycle. A little soap and water will not harm it.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

That's not my experience. Every time i wash any of my cast iron pans with soap and water the food sticks the next several times i use it. Might only stick once or 10 times but that is 1 or 10 times too many. Plus i lived through cancer and chemo and radiation, a little bacteria or whatever everyone is so afraid of isn't going to kill me. Heck, im invincible.

[@LemonnSugarr]

Pure art, yest, it needs patience.😍

[@sharpridgehomestead]

That is it, patience which nobody seems to have these days due to running from 1 fire to the next. I try to live a way slower lifestyle.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

someone asked me via dm about sanding down cast iron pans until they are smooth/polished and then seasoning them and let me tell you that is a huge mistake to make. Cast iron pots and pans need that rough surface, which traps microscopic droplets of oil and air, which is what makes food not stick to them. If you get rid of that rough surface, you will just always be fighting with sticking food the minute food soaks up whatever oil you used. So my suggestion is to not polish the surface of cast iron pots and pans.

[@HrWisch]

As long as you don't over polish, there's no problem with sanding cast iron. Removing the 'spikes' of a rough cast (like modern Lodge or, even worse, the cheap Chinese stuff). I use 40 - 80 grit sand paper (up to 120 is fine) and only get rid of the elevated, sharp parts. I leave the pits and a nice, even scratch pattern (due to the low grit). That's plenty of uneven surface left for the seasoning to adhere. My skillets develop a nice patina over time and they are much easier to clean because the less aggressive surface no longer tears apart my towels and other cleaning utensils.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

micro-fiber towel is the word I couldn't remember ... sighs, cancer sucks!

[@ronb6182]

I wash mine and dont have problems but i oil my pan before every use, my eggs cook without sticking if you preheat the pan before putting any food in the pan. Im in the process of reseasoning two of my favorite skillets i done twice so far im probably going to season two more times before i cook in the pans. My two favorites are Griswold number 6 that a guy gave me because of a crack he could not sell it but it works wonders the other is a Wagner number 8 it has a little spot that is bare metal but with season oil over it its not black in that spot but doesn't stick there. I believe with the season coats it will never stick. I also have other pans and my mothers number 6 and 10 Wagner which i use regular basis im going to season them after im done with my other pans. Oil the pans regularly and you wont have problems. 73

[@sharpridgehomestead]

I think right now i have over 50 pieces of cast iron, its all ive cooked on for years. I don't own anything else except 1 pot i make bee sugar syrup in is not cast iron.

[@ronb6182]

@@sharpridgehomestead yeah I heard I did watch the video. I use mine for meat, eggs, pan cakes both.regualr and potato pancakes. I just made spaghetti sauce with meat but I did clean out my skillet. Tomato sauce is hard on cast iron so I don't leave it in long. My water boiling I use my Farberware stainless steel pots. I won't use non stick of any kind. I do have one silver skillet by Wagner that's my number 3 skillet I use on trips if I forget my Griswold number 6. The silver skillet stays in my vehicle so does a butane stove and olive oil spray. I ready to cook on all my trips. I have a Dutch oven with the trivet that goes in the bottom of the pot and I have a lodge lid that fits on top of my number 9 skillet it's up in the vacation house. I just use a glass lid on my number 10 skillets. I also have a big skillet I don't use it's too heavy and I need an extra large burner. And my newest addition is a grill that needs two burners I could use two butane stoves. I haven't tried any of these on induction burners yet. That's future experiment and last thing to mention is I use cast iron on my smooth top burners that's a lie you cannot cook with cast iron on those stoves you just have to be gentle when placing the cast iron on the burner. I do have to clean the stove more often but it's probably the oil usage. 73

[@sharpridgehomestead]

@@ronb6182 sounds like an awesome collection and setup. I also have a setup for my jeep amd camper van and both of those do use propane. I don't remember the exact year i went totally cast iron, it was around the time Teflon was getting a bad name in the news qnd teflon wqs in everything. I had always used cadt iron car camping all the way back into the 1980's.

[@ronb6182]

@@sharpridgehomestead yeah Teflon and Aluminum pans. The last thing I want to add to my cast iron is a tea kettle. 73

[@sharpridgehomestead]

@@ronb6182 if I could find one that didn't turn to iron on the inside from the water lol ... we used to have one on a wood burning stove when I was growing up and those things get nasty on the inside. I've looked at a couple of the enabled cast iron ones but I don't own a tea kettle myself.

[@georgepotter353]

Just spent the last 6 hours practicing in a pool hall. Came home to cook a ribeye in my new cast iron skillet that I spend all day yesterday seasoning. Glad I watched this video... I've never given my pans a long time to heat as I would crank it up. But, I'm going to use this patient method today. Steak will be coated in blackening season. Will put a touch of avocado oil to coat the pan and then fast seer the steak. How many pool tables are going on behind you :)

[@sharpridgehomestead]

lol, does it sound like a pool hall behind me? The chemo and radiation treatments ruined my hearing to the point I have to wear hearing aids and some sounds/frequencies just don't register now. I should have recorded a video on the day the fire department showed up at 4am and was 1 step away from breaking my front door down when I finally woke up .... apparently sirens and smoke alarms and c02 alarms are all things I can't hear now.

[@jamesbell491]

That stuff you’re calling seasoning, is burnt on food. Seasoning is a thin layer of oil that has been polymerized onto the iron to create a smooth non stick surface that will wipe out or wash out with hot water and leave no food residue behind. Cast iron should be seasoned after each use to maintain its protective properties and prevent food buildup.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

you should see my latest cast iron video, you would have a field day. God bless!

[@blueskypainters2916]

@@sharpridgehomesteadI like the cut of your jib 👍

[@shannonking3201]

The old dont use dish soap in cast iron is an old wives tale from when they put lye in dish detergent it would strip the seasoning off,but for the last 75 years they haven't put lye in dish detergent it wont hurt the seasoning a bit about every other use i wash my lodge frying pan no problem with sticking

[@sharpridgehomestead]

Thanks. There are many people who homestead or live self-sufficient lifestyles that still make and use lye soap every day and those old ways get more and more popular as time goes on and money gets tighter. People also tell me all the time "you can wash your cast iron and food won't stick" but that's not my personal experience cooking with cast iron every day for years. If I wash my cast iron skillets/pans/dutch ovens that never have food stick to them, for the next 7 - 10 times after that, all food sticks to some degree and then it eventually stops. But people are free to use whatever works for them. All of my videos are "this is how I do things, and you can try it and see if it works for you too" ... but I am in the "I'm not washing my cast iron ever" group which isn't entirely true, its just not very often because I hate food that sticks. And I know someone is going to comment, you need to season it right after you wash it ... and that don't work either, for me.

[@shannonking3201]

@@sharpridgehomestead I just lightly wash my frying pan about two drops of dish liquid nothing is more aggravating than a egg sticking to a pan

[@sharpridgehomestead]

@@shannonking3201 an egg sticking drives me crazy ... I can go from "I'm really hungry for these eggs" to "to heck with breakfast" in about 1.25 seconds lol

[@SugarWildflower-si4ox]

How do you keep from scratching your flat top stove? Cast iron is suppose to be a no no on flat top stoves. I agree with your treatment of your cast iron. How to cook and clean one . Microfiber towels are great. My grandmother taught me how to clean them. It is all she owned to fry.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

I've never had any problems with cooking with cast iron on my glass top stove, the heat actually seems more even compared to the old coil stoves and my even older gas stoves I used previously. I've never heard of anyone else having issues with them either. I did google it and see, allrecipes says it is safe but just be aware cast iron is heavier than "most/some" other types of pans so "plopping them down" should be avoided. I should also mention and I may even have videos or 2 full size water bath canners plus a full size pressure canner going all at the same time on my glass top stove ... I think they are a lot more rugged than people give them credit for being, but again, I am gentle when I set things down on it.

[@SugarWildflower-si4ox]

@@sharpridgehomestead thanks for the information.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

@@SugarWildflower-si4ox never a problem, if you have a glass top stove or thinking of buying one, maybe check with the manufacturer about cast iron pans might be the best thing ... my stove is made by samsung and it works great (even though the most used burner sometimes acts up but I bought a new thermostat/knob for it about the time I got cancer and still haven't gotten around to replacing it 3 years later - I just have to be careful, sometimes its 100% full on no matter what you set it to)

[@MEME-qe4ze]

delicious!

[@sharpridgehomestead]

Thank you 😋

[@lotharfunke8749]

Jeff Smith always said “ hot pan cold oil” is the secret

[@gmhicks7458]

Oh Ya, that is the way I like to scramble except I have been using carbon steel.

[@mikeshaver7821]

not really scrambled...just mixed up over medium

[@tommysattelberger4986]

I use cast iron and carbon steel daily no sticking eggs included

[@spiritualhouse2]

Also cast iron grilled cheese sandwiches are the best

[@sharpridgehomestead]

I like those too. You should check out my Thai roti video .... I got so addicted to those i ate one every day for almost 6 months (and still have them a few times a month). Quick and simple in a cast iron skillet and only requires 4 ingredients (tortilla, egg, banana, sweetened condensed milk .... It's almost like a desert but can ne eaten any time of day and in Thailand its equivalent street fair food like waffle cones or cotton candy)

[@dizziechef9502]

I have iron skillets and pans also . But my skillet is sticking. My marinade has brown sugar and honey in it. Oil, soy sauce balsamic vinegar, teriyaki. Spices. I heat up skillet. To cook 425 and sear the meat. I did put cold meat in a hot skillet. The meat stuck. Yes I used soap n water. But now I’m oiling my skillet after rinsing it and heating it up. Then letting it cool. I’m going to use it today. Room temp meat, hot skillet. But I guess it will stick because of the sugars in the marinade. Got an idea for me ? I do heat my skillet to fast at a 425 temp. Ok I got that.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

temperature with cast iron cooking is pretty much everything. Somewhere in the 700+ videos on my channel is a pan seared steak in cast iron and it has about everything your marinade has except the vinegar. Another thing you might try not mentioned in this video but mentioned in another video I have on seasoning cast iron is to pick 3 (or more) different oils used for seasoning that have different smoke points, and when you season cast iron, rotate those oils. As an example, I often use canola, olive oil, coconut oil, and plain old vegetable oil. If I need to touch up the seasoning on a pan/skillet/dutch oven I will use a different oil than I used the previous time. I know as lot of people recommend coconut oil and its on about any web site regarding seasoning cast iron, but for some reason my pans almost always stick for several uses if I season with coconut oil so I don't use it as often as the others.

[@donaldperrotta8514]

Wipe down with a coffee filter works pretty good too

[@sharpridgehomestead]

great tip, thanks

[@jimmill3384]

Yes patience

[@Boss_Lady1]

Wanna know when the oil is hot enough??? When it starts moving on it self AND u can smell it. At least thats how i know.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

great tip, thank you for sharing

[@dorismoton7108]

I would’ve love to see you flip a couple of eggs over easy just to see that the skillet didn’t stick. Oh they didn’t stick!😮

[@sharpridgehomestead]

I used to eat eggs over easy before i turned into a fitness junkie about 13 years ago but i have a feeling its going to be the only way to set aside people's doubt .... Or i could just let everybody be wrong and save me an hour of video editing that generates more doubt. Maybe over winter when things slow down.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

done, new video up

[@dizziechef9502]

I see I need to heat my skillet slower, seasoning my skillet and not use soap n water on it anymore. I will continue to oil skillet with oil and paper towel and dry it that way. Leaving it oiled. I know I’m not doing it right. I need to season it again. I’ll KZbin on how to season my skillet .

[@sharpridgehomestead]

here is my method (in the video I mention 425 degrees, thats because of the oil I am using. You have to use a oven temperature slightly above the oil you are using smoke point - which you can look up online from a reputable place like lodge cast iron cookwares website). kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpXadpueo72je7c

[@dorismoton7108]

You doing with most people say, don’t do, put puddles of oil in the cast-iron skillet.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

Idk who would ever try to fry an egg without oil but i wouldn't. Maybe that's why their food sticks.

[@vanillagorilla8696]

What kind of skillet is that in the vid?

[@sharpridgehomestead]

I honestly can't remember the brand. Most of mine are lodge or wagner but i alao have some odd and end no name ones too. I think its a no name brand to be honest.

[@vanillagorilla8696]

@@sharpridgehomestead it looks like the perfect generic cast iron skillet, no design quirks or weird attempt to emulate rugged pioneer shit, I love it.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

@@vanillagorilla8696 I looked, no brand name, 0 forge markings but it gets the job done and has even heating. I use it at least once a day every day and sometimes more often. It's honestly my favorite go to skillet. Perfect size for 75% of everything i cook.

[@ryantrone4140]

I think you are giving teflon coated pans more praise than they deserve. They don't heat up that much fast than cast iron. Unless you are just impatient and like to watch the egg cook longer from a colder temperature....no one would have had their egg in the pan yet when you mentioned being done with them.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

Its possible I am giving them more praise because I actually hate teflon anything lol Have you seen the movie "dark waters" or "The devil we know" or have you heard the story behind them? If you haven't seen them or not aware, you should watch one or both of them (or at least google them and get the synopsis). That's why I switched from teflon pans (I still own 2 and 1 is never used for anything human but is used to melt beeswax and the other is seldom ever used maybe once a year and sometimes not even that) and I try to cook with wooden kitchen utensils.

[@rolytech212]

Thank you for the tip. Now am going to get up @ 4 am to make breakfast on my cast iron skillet to be able to start @ 7am😎🤣🤣

[@sharpridgehomestead]

when I started my homestead in 2015, one of the hardest things for me was realizing patience is key

[@someoneelse667]

Microfiber cloth?

[@sharpridgehomestead]

not sure if you are asking what microfiber cloth is or not .... but its basically a type of cleaning cloth or towel that is lint free

[@Timotheos-td7mq]

Food doesn't stick in my cast iron skillet

[@sharpridgehomestead]

Doesnt stick in mine either

[@lionheart830]

I don't use oil to fry eggs.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

What do you use? I know some people who use those non-stick spray cans ... I've always stayed away from them due to the "ingredients" but that's my personal preference.

[@TallStarlite]

It looked like your eggs where sticking but scraped them off as you went along.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

I honestly don't remember. its possible, I can't remember what I did 5 minutes ago let alone over a year ago

[@sandybowman8301]

if the pan is not washed after cooking eggs, the pan will carry egg smell when the next time anything is cooked.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

Thanks, I believe there is some truth to this. I don't notice it with my "Egg skillet" because I only use it to fry eggs. I do have 3 or 10 other cast iron skillets more general purpose that I don't use for eggs, i.e. I have a video on making pan seared steaks kzbin.info/www/bejne/sH2ngmaolpmLjMU and I often can taste seasoning on other foods that get cooked in them later. There are several other videos cooking in cast iron, like many people say you shouldn't use tomatoes in cast iron but I use it all the time without issues like when making chorizo pesto kzbin.info/www/bejne/d5iZq2ualK5kb7s I don't actually mind it at all though. It could be important information to know though if say, you fix a stir fry with nuts in it and have a distant family member with a nut allergy who then comes to visit later.

[@sandybowman8301]

. @@sharpridgehomestead Thank you so much for taking time to respond. Very informative. I bought a large cast iron just to make cornbread. I haven't tried it yet. I have a Le Creuset skillet I use for meat and chicken. Use either carbon steel or stainless steel frying pans for eggs. Do you have a recipe fro corn bread? would very much appreciate it. Thank you.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

@@sandybowman8301 I do have a recipe for home made corn bread from scratch, 2 actually. One is a version i make from scratch in an oven and the other i use a breadmaker. When i get home i will post them for you.

[@sandybowman8301]

@@sharpridgehomestead Thank you so much! No hurry. I very much appreciate your sharing the recipe.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

@@sandybowman8301 i kinda felt like I posted it before as a video and I searched and found the spicy breadmaker cornbread here (it has jalepenos and actual corn kernels in it): kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZewiH1jedqNo80 I will post the oven non-spicy version later.

[@jerryvelders4457]

strangest scrambled eggs I've ever seen.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

Lol, i only cook them for KZbin videos. I normally eat eggs raw.

[@spiritualhouse2]

Sure you can cook your eggs in almost any other pan faster but eggs in a cast iron really taste better

[@sharpridgehomestead]

Absolutely. Everything tastes better in cast iron. I even cook (gasps) acid foods in mine that also don't stick or remove seasoning on a properly seasoned pan. There is so much misinformation out there. Happy cooking and thanks for a positive comment, those seem to be few and far between these days.

[@spiritualhouse2]

@sharpridgehomestead I have read so many things saying don't cook eggs in your cast iron unless you want a terrible mess and want to muck up your skillet... I'm guessing these same people have trouble would have trouble parallel parking a smart car

[@sharpridgehomestead]

@@spiritualhouse2 sad but true! Its a strange world we live in these days.

[@ckost2308]

Have any skillets warping? Blasting cast iron with that type of heat is not a good thing for the cast iron, it shocks the iron, just like dropping a smoking hot cast iron skillet into a sink of cold water.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

No warping at all in years of using cast iron on gas stoves, electric stoves, cast iron stoves, charcoal grills, open fires, and even sitting on top of wood stoves. I assume you would get warpage if you heated the pan up really hot and immediately stuck it in ice water or something but just heating up and cooling naturally should be fine no matter how you cook with them. People used to use them on open fire kitchen stoves regularly without issues.

[@Timotheos-td7mq]

Electric stoves suck the heat goes on and off .... gas or a induction burner much better .

[@sharpridgehomestead]

Well i would prefer gas but i am so far in the sticks that gas just isn't an option here. I mean, i could get propane but with the minimal purchase amount required it wouldnt be cost effective unless i also switched to a gas furnace.

[@GilaMonster971]

Gas stoves are going to be illegal soon. Thanks Joe Biden.

[@sincerelyme2291]

And cast iron is the PERFECT pan for electric stoves. They retain heat the best, therefore will not heat up and cool down with the cooktop going on and off like stainless and aluminum cookware will

[@LeverPhile]

Induction seems worse than electric, plus its more likely to warp.

[@HrWisch]

Induction is fine as long as you use a good stove with large coils and short power cycles. Stay away from extreme settings (like power or boost) and pre-heat the skillet on medium low heat. Cheap or poorly made induction stoves (like those portable ones) are destroying the reputation of that technology. They have tiny coils which only heat up a small circle of a skillet. They also often have only one real power setting (max) and realize all settings with cycles which often are also too long. That way, they pump insane amounts of heat into a tiny hot spot again and again which then results in warping. My induction stove can be set from 1 to 14 (plus the power setting). Settings 1 - 7 are permanent, no cycling. So the stove has 7 true power levels it can put out. Actually, it's 9 levels as setting 7 is not the max power it can deliver and there's also the P setting which does another .5 kW on top. Settings 8 - 14 use very short cycles (less than 4 seconds per cycle). That way, my induction stove produces very even heat. I make sure, the skillet bottom is not larger than the coil (not the max pot size marking, but the true coil size underneath) and pre-heat slowly on setting 7. When the upper rim of the skillet gets too hot to touch, I raise the heat to the final cooking temperature (usually between 7 and 11), give it another few minutes and then start cooking. Most food types cook best between 6 and 9. For high temperature searing (steaks), I use 11 to start but never exceed 12. I stay away from the highest settings. That way, I have zero warping issues on cast iron and thicker carbon steel (like DeBuyer). My largest 14'' and one of the 12'' skillets from Turk (sold in the US by Matfer) have minor warping issues that don't affect the cooking performance at all. Those are two out of eleven Turk skillets I own and they are a little thinner (0.5mm). I could easily fix the warping with a wooden hammer if I wanted to. So induction is fine and actually great for iron cookware if it's done right. Unfortunately, many manufacturers go the cheap way with small coils and bad regulation. Not even a premium price protects you from that. My stove top was quite affordable, nothing too fancy. 700€ for an extra wide 5 zone model (90cm wide, standard is 60cm). That's slightly above entry level price for that size. I also picked a model with all four outer coils having the same size. That way, I can use all cast iron / carbon steel skillets up to 12'' on all burners and larger ones up to 14'' on the center one. I wouldn't mind one or two additional gas burners for the iron cookware. But I would never trade that induction stove for a pure gas stove. Once you get used to induction (when done right), you don't wanna miss it again.

[@nomadbill]

Looks like you have a lot of food debris in that pan. It’s not clean nor season properly.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

Whenever someone else tells me how I am doing cast iron wrong and they have no supporting videos, I always think they are the cast iron internet police in disguise. I believe a properly seasoned cast iron skillet or pan, according to the international online internet expert consortium for cast iron users (the IOIECFCIU), is that food doesn't stick when you cook food in them. And my food never sticks in the many videos on my numerous social media sites soooooo ... have a great day Mr Cast Iron Police.

[@nomadbill]

If the pan isn’t clean, which it isn’t, the pan is not seasoned properly. Who wants to keep tasting last weeks lunch today? Unsanitary.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

@@nomadbill I knew it! My food doesn't stick and there are no unusual tastes, am i under arrest?

[@dizziechef9502]

Show us your towel.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

i will be honest, I use whatever is handy that is nearby ... might be paper towel, might be a cloth dish towel, might be a microfiber towel - I am really not picky about anything i do ... I use the KISS principal throughout life (keep it simple stupid)

[@noneofyourbusiness8092]

That's the way my mom cooked with cast iron. She never washed her cast iron skillet or pans. Today's society thinks there's bacteria on the pan for not washing the pan/skillet, but you are forgetting that it is extremely hot and kills bacteria.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

I never wash mine either usually but my cat decided to eat a piece of fat i accidentally left in it overnight and it made him sick soooo i was kinda forced to.

[@user-fq4ij8ez7w]

Ugh !!!

[@mikeplatts2603]

Most of you cooking with Teflon pans have already eaten your eggs by now !!!!!!!!

[@sharpridgehomestead]

and sadly without getting to chose "heavy" or "light" on the PFAS seasoning

[@forrestdaniels6382]

You eat five eggs every morning? R.I. P.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

yea, been doing that for years ... don't have high cholesterol or high blood pressure. I'm invincible, cancer couldn't even kill me

[@vonowens3450]

I would eat nothing out of that nasty ass pan...

[@sharpridgehomestead]

That works out perfect cauae i never have any intentions of inviting you over for dinner.

[@Mr_Originality]

@@sharpridgehomesteadlol. Epic comeback

[@TurkeyCreekjackjohnson_]

Bro those eggs look awful lol

[@sharpridgehomestead]

I eat these every day for 10 years, except when I had cancer and couldn't eat solid foods .... in your professional opinion, what is so aweful about them?

[@1010LouMary]

Certainly don't agree with your method or the results. Your scrambled eggs are WAY overcooked, and they did stick over the full surface of the skillet by the time you got through messing with them. Why would you even bother to post this as a "how-to" video?

[@sharpridgehomestead]

well, I posted this tutorial because I enjoy expert commentary by people such as yourself. Certainly an expert cook such as yourself would know the eggs are not stuck to the pan at the end ... that's little bits of eggs I never scraped out that were scrambled

[@GilaMonster971]

Show us how an expert does it. But you don’t have any videos at all for any of us to watch.

[@jimcockey4385]

Ef the haters . We all have our own way of doing things and that does not make it the wrong way , only our way . To each they're own I say .

[@sharpridgehomestead]

@@jimcockey4385 you are exactly right. I don't claim to be an expert at anything, but I do like to share how I do things and even if it don't work for others, maybe it can serve as a good foundation for someone new to cooking with cast iron. Thanks the the support!

[@jimcockey4385]

Your welcome. I always appreciate when someone takes the time to teach or show what they have learned . I don't scramble my eggs like that , ( my wife likes them beatin in a bowl first ) any more but it certainly doesn't make it wrong . And I don't know what sticking they saw , cause to me it looked like a quick rinse and or wipe would take the bits out no problem . Keep on cast ironing ! We use nothing but at home and in our restaurant. Taken care of it will last forever. I have 1 pan that's at least 100 yrs old and cooks and looks like it will go another 100

[@peterg791]

The eggs were allready way over cooked when he said he did not want to overcook them

[@sharpridgehomestead]

I will try to cook MY eggs the way YOU like them the next time .... I'm really not but hopefully that makes you feel better