Main Ingredients:

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Cooking Preparation of the Recipe:

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...Continued from Black Iron Black Magic (Part I).

Use unsalted lard or shortening to completely coat the inside and
outside of the dry pot or skillet and then bake it in a 350-degree
oven for a total of 10 hours. This can be accomplished a few hours
at a time while baking other items if you make sure the old grease is
wiped clean and a fresh coating is applied each time the pot goes
into the oven.

After 10 hours of baking, test the pot by using a little
vegetable oil to fry an egg. If the egg sticks, wash the pot lightly
with soapy water and a cloth or brush, re-coat it, and bake it for an
additional three hours or so. Then test it again. The sweetening
process allows the porous cast iron to absorb as much grease as
possible. When completed, the pot will take on a deep, shiny black
finish.

Once the pot has been properly seasoned, never scour it or let
the pot sit in soapy water. Never place it in a dishwasher. Old
time camp cooks would break your arm for washing a black iron pot at
all. They simply wiped it clean and used it frequently to keep it in
top condition.

When boiling foods in a newly seasoned pot, keep the water
content low and be sure to remove the lid from hot foods to avoid
steaming the seasoning off the lid.

Once the pot is conditioned, store it in a dry place without the
lid on between uses. A paper towel in the pot will absorb moisture.
Most folks who use black iron regularly like to apply a light film of
cooking oil or grease to the insides during storage. Finally, when
you get ready to pass along that treasured old pot or skillet, be
sure the new owner also gets these instructions.

There are other methods for sweetening black iron cookware, but
none has ever worked as well for me as the old Cherokee recipe.

Some would say black magic occurs in many forms throughout Bayou
Country. For good cooks, in camp and at home, across Louisiana some
of the very best black magic takes form when well seasoned black iron
bubbles and sizzles up some of the finest grub in the land.
Submitted By MICHELE STEWART On 01-07-95

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