What is the best way to heat a cauldron made of cast iron or aluminum and is it really necessary?

A new cauldron requires the attention of the hostess. Before the first cooking, it needs to be heated. Why experiment with high temperatures? The fact is that metal products - any kind - are poured into molds. To separate a cast iron or aluminum cauldron or pan from the mold, it is coated with a layer of technical oil. If you do not want to enjoy the taste and smell of machine lubricant instead of pilaf, then before 1 use the dishes must be calcined. This will remove any remaining grease.

How to heat a cast iron cauldron?

It sounds complicated, but the process is quite simple. The main thing is to follow the rules and not burn your hands and other parts of the body, and also not burn the kitchen.

There are several ways to heat a cast iron cauldron.

• On an open flame.

New cast iron cookware should be washed with warm water and detergent. Then heat the cauldron over an open fire for 2-3 hours. You can use a gas stove, but it is better to do it in the fresh air. When burned, machine oil emits acrid smoke, so it is better not to use this method indoors.

The signal for the end of the process is the disappearance of dark spots from the surface of the cauldron.

• Over an open fire using rock salt. Indoor method.

For a cast iron cauldron you will need 2 to 3 kg of table salt. Use coarse rock salt; extra is not suitable.

Heat the container over the fire with salt for 1 to 2 hours. The salt should become evenly brown as it will adsorb the engine oil.It should be thrown away.

• Calcination with oil.

This operation is additional after dry calcination. A cast iron boiler tends to rust, so lubrication is still necessary.

Pour 1 liter of oil – olive, cottonseed, sunflower – into a hot cauldron. Wait until the oil boils and carefully tilt the container so that the liquid covers all the walls of the cauldron. Leave on fire for 2 hours.

If the dimensions of the oven allow, then calcination with oil can be carried out in the oven at a temperature of 200 degrees for 2 hours.

After processing, leave the cauldron to cool. Don't pour water into it! Cast iron is a fragile material and cookware can crack. After complete cooling, wash the boiler with warm water and detergent.

How to heat an aluminum cauldron?

An aluminum cauldron is a budget option. This type of cookware costs less than its cast iron counterparts and is much lighter. But aluminum pans heat up quickly and cool down just as quickly, so there won’t be a simmering effect like in cast iron.

Aluminum is a low-melting metal, so you need to calcinate such a cauldron with caution. Since there is a high probability of getting a metal lump instead of dishes.

Currently, aluminum cauldrons with non-stick coating have appeared on store shelves. Such dishes are not heated before use!

The purpose of calcining an aluminum cauldron is to create a film of oxides on the surface. After this, free aluminum will not be able to get into food or react chemically with any ingredient.

• Open flame.

You can heat an aluminum cauldron outdoors over a fire, just like its cast-iron counterpart. But the fire should be below average. It is advisable to use damp firewood that does not produce a high combustion temperature.The duration of the procedure is no more than 1.5 hours.

Aluminum cookware must be carefully monitored during heat treatment. Otherwise, you risk not heating up the boiler, but melting it!

• Using table salt.

The operating principle is the same as with cast iron cookware. But - low heat, and the processing time is no more than 1.5 hours. The salt should turn a creamy brown color.

After calcination, salt cannot be used as it has absorbed engine oil.

• Using vegetable oil or animal fat.

The procedure is the same as when calcining cast iron cookware. But aluminum cauldrons do not rust, since the alloy does not contain iron. Therefore, there is no point in playing with oil! But if you want, then use oil to heat aluminum cookware.

Fire is below average, processing time is 1.5 hours.

Advice

Be careful not to burn your hands or other parts of your body!

After calcination, leave the dishes alone until they cool completely. Aluminum does not burst due to temperature changes like cast iron. But it's not worth the risk! Do not wash the aluminum cauldron with abrasives or steel wool. You will damage the aluminum oxide layer. As a result, dishes will begin to burn, and harmful metal will get into the food.