[Sca-cooks] PAM stuff stripping off the seasoning on iron ware?

Johnna Holloway johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu
Wed Mar 19 05:32:27 PDT 2008


I suspect that we might have a number of issues here.
Not all cast iron is equivalent in weight or grade.
Seasoning done at home is not performed in exactly the same way across 
the country. Some use Crisco, some
use oils, some use combinations. Some do it for days when breaking in a 
new skillet.
Others do it once and start cooking. And there are those that never 
season their cast iron.
There's always the question regarding how high the skillet has been heated,
what was cooked in the skillet, used over an open fire or camp stove,
and how it's been treated on a day to day basis.
I suspect in the past that when lard or bacon fat was
used on a daily basis the skillets were just wiped out and left on the 
stove until heated
up for the next meal. Was the oily residue ever really cleaned out?
Generations cooked their bacon or sausage first and then cooked their eggs.
Did those eggs cooked in that layer of leftover bacon grease stick?

I know that vegetable oils have been changed in composition through the 
years.
Animals fats were eliminated. Pure corn, canola, olive oils and 
combinations were added
to the shelves at the local marks. Then there is the push to eliminate 
trans fats and cholesterol.
The vegetable oil that I bought yesterday is plastered with lots of 
stickers touting that it's safer
and healthier.
Want to bet that today's PAM spray is the same as it was ten years ago?
Even the website stresses change-- "In Summer 2004 PAM^® followed up 
with PAM^® For Grilling which is specially formulated for no-stick at 
higher temperatures."
Or how about "PAM Professional™ 
<http://www.pam4you.com/pages/products/professional/index.jsp> 
Originally developed for restaurants, PAM Professional™ is the no-stick 
solution for high-heat cooking such as sautéing, stir-frying, and oven 
roasting."

http://www.pam4you.com/pages/history/index.jsp

Johnnae




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