The Kind Of Food You Shouldn't Make In A New Cast Iron, According To Cowboy Kent Rollins

Perhaps no one is a bigger proponent of cooking with cast iron than the "Cast Iron Cowboy" himself, Kent Rollins. With over 3.5 million subscribers to his YouTube "Cowboy Cooking" channel, the outdoor cook has a wide audience with which to share his tips for cooking simple, hearty, cowboy food. Like other cast-iron fans, Rollins stresses the importance of properly maintaining this heavy-duty cookware for effective cooking. One piece of advice he has is to avoid cooking acid-based food in a new cast-iron skillet. 

In an interview with Taste of Home, the cowboy cook shares that you should never cook acidic foods like tomato sauce or barbecue sauce in a skillet that is straight out of the box. This is because the pan hasn't had enough time to create a suitable seasoning or oil barrier on the cast iron. If you're unsure, it's best to consult a guide on how to tell if your cast iron is seasoned. 

While you don't have to completely avoid cooking acidic foods in your cast-iron skillet, there are a few tips to follow to ensure your food is tasty and your cookware isn't damaged. 

There are a few cooking rules cowboy Kent Rollins lives by, like cooking in a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet. Cast iron is seasoned by brushing it with a high-smoke-point oil and baking it in the oven to create a polymerized, non-stick coating. This is crucial for protecting your skillet from oxidation, creating a smooth surface for cooking and searing, and improving the flavor of your food. 

Acidic foods can deteriorate and damage cast iron, particularly when it lacks the polymerized oil barrier that seasoning creates. Even when a cast-iron skillet is properly seasoned, acidic foods like vinegar, lemon juice, and tomato-based sauces will wear down the protective coating. Thus, it's advised to limit cooking these types of foods in cast iron and/or to make sure to re-season your cast-iron pans appropriately. 

Besides wearing down the seasoning, acidic foods can leach small amounts of metal from the cast iron. America's Test Kitchen found that after 30 minutes of cooking tomato sauce in unseasoned and seasoned cast-iron pans, there was a metallic taste to the sauce (particularly in the unseasoned pan). Therefore, a few minutes of cooking with lemon juice or tomato sauce in your cast-iron skillet is likely fine, but it's best to choose a different type of cookware for extended cooking times with acidic foods.