Your cast iron can withstand heat - a lot of heat. A cast-iron skillet can withstand heats of up to 1500°F, which is much hotter than your oven could ever be. The seasoning will only burn off at about 800°F, so don't worry that you will damage your pan by cooking with high heat.
Cast iron is one of the only pieces of cookware that you can easily take from kitchen to campfire. And that's a big part of why we love it! Because it can withstand high temperatures (up to 650˚ F, in fact!), it's a great option for almost any heat source.
There are several ways a piece of cast iron cookware can be damaged, as noted above: chipping, cracking, warping, and pitting. The first two can be caused by physical impact; the second two by improper rapid heating or cooling, also known as thermal shock.
Keep on the stovetop: You may keep your cast iron out on the countertop or stovetop, as long as it's moisture-free—far removed from the kitchen sink area. Stow in the oven: Ovens make a great storage space for cast iron—but only if your pans are free of wooden parts.
Bare cast iron can typically handle over 500 degrees; high-fired ceramic is rated to about 500 degrees; enameled cast iron can be heated to around 450 degrees before it could start to damage the enamel coating.
You can use canola or vegetable oil, or Lodge makes a Seasoning Spray. Bake your cast iron. Heat your oven to 450 degrees F. Put your cast iron upside down on the center rack and bake for one hour.
The manual says you can use the pot at any oven temperature (as long as you have a stainless steel knob; if you have the black phenolic knob, it's safe up to 500 degrees F), and though the pot is dishwasher safe, the company recommends handwashing.
If you accidentally leave your cast iron cookware on any heat source for too long, food, marinades, and sauces can burn and get stuck to the surface. The Fix: Use a pan scraper to remove stuck-on food. If the problem persists, simmer a little water in the pan for 3-5 minutes, then use the scraper.
Cast iron pans can leach a sizeable amount of iron into your food, exceeding dietary intake in some cases. Acidic foods will contribute to much more leaching while an old, heavily-seasoned pan will leach much less iron than a newer one.
Never take a cast iron pot or skillet from the refrigerator or freezer and place it into a hot oven or onto a hot stove burner, as this may cause the iron to crack or break. Let it sit for at least an hour at room temperature to let it warm up and remove the lid to prevent condensation inside the pot.
To see if the material has been warped, place your cast iron skillet on the stovetop and push down gently. The greater the wobble when you do so, the more the material has warped.
Never put cold liquid into a very hot cast iron pan. The pan could easily crack or warp.
Even though a rusted cast-iron pan doesn't necessarily present a health concern, it's still not recommended that you cook on it. The rust might add an unpleasant metallic flavor to your food. Plus, it makes using the skillet much more difficult.
Clean cast-iron skillet after every use
Wipe interior surface of still-warm skillet with paper towels to remove any excess food and oil. Rinse under hot running water, scrubbing with nonmetal brush or nonabrasive scrub pad to remove any traces of food. (Use small amount of soap if you like; rinse well.)
Should I Oil My Cast Iron After Every Use? After each use, to get the most out of your cast-iron skillet, it is best practice to apply a thin layer of oil on the surface. Regularly oiling your cast iron skillet will provide a protective layer to the surface and help keep it from rusting.
WD-40 Specialist® Rust Remover Soak quickly dissolves rust and restores tools, equipment, and surfaces to bare metal without chipping, scraping or scrubbing. Great for removing rust from tools, metal, cast iron, chrome parts, and more without harming paint, gaskets, trim, or other surrounding parts.
Using too much oil, anything more than about the size of a quarter will just build up and cause an oil slick on your pan. When it's time to season your cast iron skillet, you simply can't do this with a cold skillet. This will cause build up of that oil residue, and cause stickiness.
Many rafters use the “Three Up, Three Down” rule, which means that you have three extra pieces of coal on top of the Dutch oven and three fewer underneath. As heat rises, you could easily burn the food if you place too many below.
When using a Dutch Oven in the oven, however, you should check with the manufacturer to determine the maximum safe temperature for baking. Generally, most enameled Dutch Ovens should be safe to about 450 degrees Fahrenheit, but you'll want to be sure before you get started.
Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Ovens
Use it to broil, braise, bake, or roast in the oven up to 500° F, and sauté, simmer, or fry on any stovetop.
Oven use. The black phenolic lid knobs on our Signature range of enameled cast iron are heat-resistant to 500°F / 250°C.
Can I use steel wool or a metal scrubber to clean my cast iron pan? No! We recommend using a pan scraper or the Lodge Chainmail Scrubber to remove any stuck-on residue.