There might be many things you don’t care about. Yet, one thing you would never compromise on is taking care of your kitchen utensils. We know you are not alone on this. There are thousands of other people out there too. And that’s why we bring to you how to take care of your ceramic pan.
To many of us, ceramic pans are one of the favorite items in our kitchen. And taking care of them means a lot to us. In this post, we have explained how to season a ceramic pan. Precisely, we bring you a step by step guide on how to season a ceramic pan. Sit back and enjoy the ride.
Do You Need to Season a Ceramic Pan?
The answer to this is YES. In many cases, you need to season a ceramic pan. It is better to season it yourself after you buy it.
Sometimes, after you have used it for some months, it is wise to season it.
Well, this is thanks to the various benefits that come with doing this. For instance, you enjoy the durability and optimal performance when you season your ceramic pan.
What Do You Need to Season a Ceramic Pan?
Seasoning a ceramic pan does not require difficult things or spending too much money. You can do it with your basic home items.
You would need soap, water, a towel [reusable or paper], and your ceramic pot.
That’s pretty much all that you would need to season your ceramic pan.
Seasoning a Ceramic Pan: Step-by-Step Guide
Since you have agreed to season your ceramic pans, there are easy ways to go about it. The first thing is deciding to, and you have rightly made that choice.
Now, let’s talk about getting the process right. Without a doubt, it is when you get the process right that your ceramic pan can turn out the way it should.
So, what are the step by step procedure for seasoning your ceramic pan? Here you go.
Step 1: Ensure Your Pan is Clean
Let’s face it; you cannot season a ceramic pan if it is not clean. So drop the lazy attitude and get to cleaning your pan.
A clean pan is necessary for you to have a great seasoning of your ceramic pan. If you have used your pan recently, we advise that you wash it thoroughly. To do this, you would need dish soap, non-abrasive sponge, and water.
Gently scrub the interior of the ceramic pan after you have poured the dish soap in it. After continuous scrubbing for about 40 seconds, you can rinse it with warm water. However, note that the 40 seconds scrubbing applies to a situation where your ceramic pan is not very dirty.
You may have to spend more time washing if you have recently used it to cook some stubborn foods. Or you have recently burnt the food.
Nonetheless, please note that the above only applies to used ceramic pans. With new ceramic pans, you should only scrub gently with soap and water. This would be enough to keep it clean.
After you have cleaned the ceramic pans- whether new or used- you can turn it upside down to drain the water in it. Do this for about fifteen minutes or till you notice that the water has drained completely.
To achieve the best result, you can dry it with a paper towel or a reusable towel. This will ensure that you get rid of any strain of water that might still be lurking around the corner.
Step 2: Add Oil to the Ceramic Pan
After you have ensured that the ceramic pan is dry, you can add some oil. However, take note of the oil you put in the ceramic pan. It would help if you understood that you are not frying any food; you only need to season your pan. So, the oil you need is just minimal; only a few drops.
Once you add the few drops of oil to the ceramic pan, use a paper towel to spread the oil across the pan. Ensure you spread it evenly in the pan. If the oil does not cover the ceramic pan’s necessary interior, you can add more. The purpose is to make sure oil covers every part of the ceramic pan.
However, because you want to season the ceramic pan, you must be careful about the cooking oil you use. You would recall that cooking oils have different smoking point level.
For seasoning, you would need a cooking oil with a very high smoking point. We advise that you abstain from using butter or olive oil to line the interior of your ceramic pan. The reason for this is because they have a shallow smoking point. Using butter or olive oil could burn very fast and defeat the purpose of seasoning.
Hence, for seasoning, always line your pan’s interior with cooking oil with a high smoking point. This will ensure you get the best result after the whole seasoning process.
Step 3: Begin the Heating Process
After spreading the oil in the ceramic pot evenly, the next thing is to place the ceramic pan on the burner and set the heat to mid-level burning. The reason for the mid-level burning of the burner is simple. This is to give the oil room to heat up so that the ceramic pan can gently draw it in slowly.
When you have set the burner to mid-level heat, relax until you begin to see smoke from the ceramic pan. This means that the oil has already started smoking, and it is almost time to reduce the heat or turn it off completely.
Some people may like to use ovens instead of the stove burner. There is no problem with this as the oven is also good and can achieve the same result.
For ovens, all you have to do is place the oiled ceramic pan in it. After this, you can set the heat of the oven to three hundred degrees Fahrenheit. Once you have set this, leave the ceramic pan in the oven for about twenty-five minutes. This makes sure that the ceramic pan absorbs the oil slowly, and it turns out well-seasoned.
However, if you use an oven, always ensure that your ceramic pan can safely go into the oven. Not all ceramic pans are oven-safe. Given this, please read the manufacturers’ notes before putting the pan in the oven.
Step 4: Relax and Let the Ceramic Pan Cool Off
One thing you must understand is that the ceramic pan would be boiling. After going through the heating process for more than twenty minutes, you should not expect anything less.
Given this, you should allow it to cool off before taking it out of the oven or bringing it down the burner. If you take it out without allowing it to cool off, the heat could force you to drop it and break it.
Asides from this, ceramic pans don’t naturally do well in a rapid change of temperature. If you switch their temperature between two extremes, they could crack and break.
So, in all circumstances, don’t be tempted to quickly cool off your pan by dipping it in water after seasoning. This would result in situations that won’t be good for your pan.
Step 5: Dry your Ceramic Pan
Once you have allowed the heat to cool down perfectly, the next thing to do is dry the ceramic pan.
You can do this by using a towel- reusable or paper- to clean the extra oil that did not get soaked during heating. While cleaning, you would observe that your ceramic pot has become silkier and has a nonstick interior.
When you notice this, you can be sure that you have completed the seasoning process for your ceramic pan.
If you follow these step by step guide, you will get a perfectly seasoned ceramic pot. However, you have to repeat these processes occasionally.
Your ceramic pan may not last too long if you stop at the first seasoning. We advise that you season your ceramic pan twice in a year.
How to Take Care of Ceramic Pans?
In all circumstances, buying a long-lasting product is not as important as learning to maintain it. For your ceramic pan also, you must learn how to care for it properly. So, what are the ways to do this?
1. Use Safe Utensils with Your Ceramic Pans
One easy way to damage a ceramic pan is to use other kitchen utensils to scratch the nonstick surface. With this, food would quickly burn in the pan, and the burnt food could damage the pan.
As such, always abstain from using kitchen utensils made with iron. Due to the strong and hard structure, it could damage the surface of the ceramic pan.
Believe us, it is better to adopt the use of safe kitchen utensils during cooking. We advise that you use plastic, wood, or silicone kitchen utensils. These utensils would give a gentle motion on the surface of the pan. Without a doubt, this helps prevent scratches that could otherwise have damaged the ceramic pan.
2. Maintain a Reasonable Heat Level
Overheating your ceramic pans by always cooking with a high-temperature level is not the right way to go. This has the potential of damaging your ceramic pot in a short period.
To avoid this, you should maintain a reasonable heat level. What qualifies as a moderate heat level is between low and medium heat.
For the record, you do not need the high heat with a ceramic pan. This is because the ceramic helps distribute heat evenly across the pan and make your food cook from all angles.
3. Avoid Cooking Oil Sprays
Cooking sprays are good and popular, but it is best to avoid them when it comes to ceramic pans. The reason for this is simple. Cooking sprays may lead to some sticky residue in the pan. This is because of the chemicals and ingredients that they come with.
Aside from this, it is always hard to wash them away. Cooking sprays also smoke too quickly, making an unpleasant situation for you.
4. Avoid Dish-Washing Your Ceramics
Although the ceramic pans’ instructions may tell you to put the pan in the dishwasher, you shouldn’t do it.
The reason for this is that there is tremendous potential damage to the ceramic pan in the dishwasher. For instance, other utensils could scratch it by simply gliding through. The nonstick surface could also get weakened by the pressure of the hot water from the dishwasher.
In all circumstances, it is better and safer to wash to gently wash your ceramic pans yourself.
Other safety measures for your ceramic cooking pans include:
- Avoiding a rapid change of the ceramic pan between two extreme locations; and
- Safely store your ceramic pans.
Can You Season a Pan with Olive Oil?
Olive oil is another cooking oil, but it’s a no when it comes to using it for seasoning your pan. Olive oil has a low smoking point. So using them for seasoning may not do the job well.
Conclusion
Ceramic pans are beautiful cookware to behold. That’s the reason you must take care of them very well. From seasoning them to properly caring for them, you now know the right thing to do. We believe that you would continue to ensure best practices with your ceramic pan.
References:
https://healthy-cookware.com/take-care-of-your-ceramic-coated-cookware/
