The salmon at Aldi looked good on Monday so I bought a piece. I had planned to smoke it but that involves salting it, rinsing it, salting it, rinsing it, salting it, rinsing it, drying it, leaving it uncovered in the fridge for a few hours and then adding brown sugar and leaving it in the fridge for a few more hours (usually overnight). Yesterday I had planned to start the process and then I thought . . not only is it a lot of work but Thursday I’ll smell like smoke all day so I decided to sear it in hot butter outside . . again so I don’t have a splattery mess to clean up in the kitchen.
I love cooking out on the deck.
This all took less than 5 minutes. I seasoned the salmon, got the butter hot, added the seasoned salmon, flipped it once, added garlic and lemon juice.
Served with leftover coleslaw. That was all super quick and super good and healthy except for a bit of sugar in the slaw dressing and mayo probably isn’t the healthiest but . . it’s healthier than that fish sandwich from Wendy’s that I keep wanting!
When I cook meals like this and like the scallops yesterday, I’m so excited that I can make a meal basically in one pot, that is so good and so quick and I remember back in Kentucky and when we lived in MO the first time that I spent hours and hours in the kitchen. Every now and then I still do but I much prefer quick, easy clean up meals.
That’s my go to skillet now. There’s not much I cook in that skillet that requires more than wiping it out with a paper towel when it’s cooled. Love my cast iron.
vivoaks says
I have other pans but exclusively use my cast iron, in 3 sizes. My only issue is that I can’t seem to get it seasoned properly. I season it, then cook bacon, and the bacon sticks and leaves residue, which makes everything else stick…I’ve heard different ways of seasoning, but obviously, what I’m doing isn’t working. Any suggestions? I use vegetable oil or Crisco, and bake for an hour at 350. I’ve also done it with Crisco and baked at 500 for several hours….both were what I was told to do by different people. Neither works for me. I’m at a loss….
Judy Laquidara says
I wish I knew what to tell you. If I have a real mess in mine, I wash them in soapy water so you probably don’t want advice from me. Here’s what I do – I wipe it out if it’s something that will wipe out, and most of the time, it is. Tonight I’m going to fry apples and they have sugar added so I’ll have to rinse or maybe use a bit of soap on it. But, my goal is always to just wipe it out. Then I heat it up a bit on top of the stove, not smoking hot but hot. Then I put a little oil or bacon grease – whatever is handy but not Crisco because I rarely have that. I use a paper towel (I keep really cheap ones for this because they have less lint). Rub the oil all around inside and on the handle and sides, then wipe off any oil that looks excessive. Put it back on the stove, heat it up a bit more, wipe out the excess oil again and stick it in the cold oven to get it off the top of the stove. That’s all I ever do to them.
Also, I try not to use them for acidic foods like tomato sauce or anything that has orange juice or vinegar in the sauce. I’ve done it before and it didn’t seem to hurt anything but I prefer not to cook those kinds of things.
One thing I think I’ve read to do when you’re having trouble – cook bacon in it every day and don’t drain off the grease. Let it build up a few days, then pour off enough that you can keep using it. Don’t wash it or wipe it . . just keep that grease in it and keep cooking. I think after a week or so, it’s supposed to make for a good coating. I’ve never tried it but I have read that advice to people.
Is it really humid in your kitchen? I’ve had cast iron that would get rusty if I wasn’t using it when we lived in humid places. Once you get a good seasoning on it, it shouldn’t rust. I just don’t know.
Chad is the expert. I’ll ask him and if he has any words of wisdom, I’ll send you an email.
Dar in MO says
I would also like to know what Chad says, so please put it on your blog. I have 2 cast iron skillets that I love too
vivoaks says
Had a comment almost ready to reply and it disappeared!! Ugh!! My house is very damp in the summer, especially. It seems whether I heat the pan first or put the meat in first, the meat sticks – no matter what kind of meat it is. I almost never cook anything other than meat in my cast iron – never tomatoes or the like. I almost never use water in them while cooking, either. I’ll fry hamburgers, pork chops, steaks, bacon and eggs, grilled cheese – that’s about it. Maybe I just need to season them more often…
Judy Laquidara says
I said in another comment that you probably didn’t see but I think cast iron that has a good seasoning will not stick whether you start with it hot or cold. I wipe mine dry, then heat it, then oil it, heat it again and wipe out the excess oil EVERY time I use it. Don’t know if that’s necessary but that’s how I’ve always done it.
Teri says
That looks so good and healthy too. Did your weather warm up considerably?
Karen Clark says
I’ve been told to heat the pan up really good before putting anything in it. I have been following Brenda Gantt on Facebook and she gas the pan smoking before she adds anything.
Judy Laquidara says
Yes! I heat it up first but I don’t make it smoke, especially using a glass top stove. I don’t never heat my cast iron to smoking though. I have heard of people putting them in an open fire to clean them and I wouldn’t do that either. We had a skillet that cracked once and when I called Lodge, they asked if I had ever put it in an open fire to clean it and I had not.
When I put the butter in if it doesn’t sizzle, I know I didn’t wait long enough.
Teri says
What did you season the salmon with…it looks good
Judy Laquidara says
First, the salmon had skin because I bought it on purpose with skin since I had planned to smoke it but I pulled off the skin, rinsed it, dried it with paper towels. For seasoning, I added Lawry’s salt, black pepper and Cajun Redhead seasoning. If you don’t have that (if you do, I’m surprised!), just use a bit of onion powder, a bit of red pepper . . I don’t know . . whatever you like. Some people would probably like paprika but I don’t like that at all. Open the spice cabinet and get creative. I was tempted to add dried dill but that can be overpowering so I just used Lawry’s salt, black pepper and Cajun Redhead.
Then I got the butter smoking hot and put the salmon in it for a couple of minutes on each side, then put the thinnest pieces of salmon on top of the thicker pieces, turned the heat down to about 370 (It had been on 440), added a bit more butter in the spot where the thin piece of fish had been, put about 1/4 cup of chopped garlic (from a jar) in the butter, stirred it around, then added the juice of 2 lemons.
The butter will get brown and that’s what makes the sauce so good.
NOTE: If you’re using any cajun spice mix besides Cajun Redhead, be careful about adding additional salt. Most are way too salty for us. Cajun Redhead has way less salt than the others and that’s why I’m able to add a bit of Lawry’s salt.
Linda B says
If Vince keeps up with your blog, your dinner dishes will get him home to Missouri in no time! I am definitely trying your salmon this weekend. We use a cast iron skillet on the gas bbq quite often. So nice to have the mess and smell outside.
yayatrudy says
I have a friend who is crazy about cast iron. Here is her advice preheat your pan before you add meat, bacon etc. It should not stick then.
Judy Laquidara says
I pretty much always heat it before cooking but there have been times I don’t and I’ve found that a properly seasoned pan still shouldn’t stick.
Linda Garcia says
I have many pieces of cast iron. I have pans that I specifically cook meat in and a pan just for potatoes and several pans just for eggs. Not that I don’t ever use a pan for something else, but in general. My potato and egg pans are just wipe and go. The meat pans I usually have to scrub with hot water and I do like you, heat on the stove to dry and use oil to coat them again. Still, if I used one of the meat pans for eggs, they would stick. Cast iron is porous, so for a pan that never gets down to bare metal, eventually the metal becomes saturated with oil, which is the TRULY seasoned pan, like my egg and potato pans. My meat pans are not totally saturated even though I have been using them for years (like 40 years). I cook meat, vegetables, tomato and tomato-based sauces in my cast iron meat pans.
When I clean my pans with water, it is just hot water, never any soap. I also have a metal cleaner called the ringer that is specifically for cast iron. I bought it from amazon. It is like a piece of chain-mail, a bunch of metal rings all connected together, about the size of a dish rag.
Judy Laquidara says
I have what I call a chain-mail that I use and I also have the plastic/nylon Lodge scrapers. I use the same skillets for everything. If my egg pan is out and I need a small skillet, I use it. If the skillet I used to make the salmon is out, I use it for potatoes. I think every skillet I have has a good, solid seasoning on it. Some were my grandparents, some belonged to my parents, some Chad has found antique sales and he bought them because it was a size he thought I didn’t have. I keep telling him . . some day you’re going to get all of what I have so stop adding to that collection.
I never leave mine sitting in water but I do use soapy water if needed and sometimes I’ll just squirt a little Dawn in the pan, use the chain-mail, then heat to dry completely, oil, heat again and wipe out any excess oil.
The good thing with cast iron is that it’s forgiving. If we should get a rusty spot, we can clean it up, re-season it and it’s good to go.
Obviously we all do it differently so whatever works is the best way for each of us.
Joan says
Judy, do you like your hot plate? I’m so tired of smelling up the house in the winter when I cook something especially pungent or with a fair amount of grease. I was considering buying an electric skillet, but the hot plate idea sounds better since I could use a variety of pans with it. Your thought? Thanks!
Judy Laquidara says
Love it. I got it at Aldi (two actually – one in a box still as a backup). Nothing fancy – probably about $20 five years ago. It seemed like in Texas, I was constantly cleaning the vent hood and the stove and the cabinets above the stove were greasy all the time. I love being able to cook things outside. The one I have is induction so the copper bottom pots I use in the kitchen doesn’t work but the cast iron does. Except during winter, and not if I’m using the smoker or the Instant Pot but probably at least 80% of the things I cook on the stove are cooked outside. In the summer, it’s so nice to not add the extra heat to the kitchen plus, that little burner has to use less electricity than my stove.
I kept this hot plate set up on a table on our porch year round in Texas and it still works like a champ.
Joan says
Interesting! I know nothing about induction cooking. Most of the pans I have are stainless steel with a copper core. Do you think those would work?
Judy Laquidara says
Copper bottom pots will not work on an induction top unless they are clad in stainless but not all hot plates are induction. I just happen to have two that are. You might want to read . . I see you found it.
My favorite pots are copper bottom and they will not work but cast iron works fine.
Joan says
Found it online. Yes, copper core does work with induction! Looking forward to cooking outside!
Joanne says
What kind of hot plate are you using?
Judy Laquidara says
One I got at Aldi. It’s an induction burner but there are all kinds out there I liked it because it’s a solid surface (no coils) and I knew I’d be using it a lot for splattering outside cooking – things I didn’t want to do in the house.