What to do if the iron pan turns black when cooking

The frying pans we usually use at home are mostly made of iron, and iron pans are also very beneficial to the human body and can effectively supplement iron. But what should we do if the iron pan turns black when cooking? For many people who love cleanliness, it is very distressing when the dishes they cook turn black, and they think they can no longer eat them. However, it is normal for an iron pan to turn black when cooking, and the dishes cooked in it are edible normally. Many people think that cooking in an iron pan will turn your food black, but don’t worry, this is a good thing!

Cooking in an iron pan is a rare thing in Chinese families, because many people think that cooking in an iron pan can supplement the iron element. Therefore, iron pans are also very popular.

Rumor has it that using an iron pan to cook can reduce the amount of oil used and avoid the potential effects of harmful chemicals on the surface of non-stick pans.

However, people who often use iron pans to cook will find that although the iron pan is durable, if it is used for too long or is not cleaned properly, tiny powdery black residue will easily appear on the cooked food.

Many people don’t care about the powdery black residue and think it is a normal phenomenon when using iron pots. In fact, it is not. These black slags are iron oxides produced at high temperatures and can cause potential harm to the human body.

Of course, sometimes eating foods containing black residue will not make people sick immediately, but this kind of substance will accumulate and accumulate, causing harm to human health.

Generally speaking, there are these main reasons for the appearance of black slag in iron pans:

1. It is related to people’s hygiene habits. Some people don't scrub the pot very cleanly, especially when the food is burnt. If they don't clean it well, the impurities in the pot will mix with the cooking oil over time and black powder will easily be produced.

2. It is the prerequisite for cooking, including the natural gas used, different brands of cooking oil, etc. Frying at too high a temperature can easily cause black residue.

3. It is the result of the quality of the pot itself. Poor quality iron pans are more likely to have black residue.

No matter what the reason is, for the sake of your health, if you find that the iron pan at home starts to drop black residue, and after repeated scrubbing, you can still find black "traces" in the cooking, you should replace the pan as soon as possible.

In addition, when using an iron pan to cook, you must pay more attention to the following:

● Remove the strange smell of the new iron pan before using it. You can add salt to the pot, fry the salt until it turns yellow, then add water and oil to the pot and bring to a boil.

To get rid of the fishy smell, put a small amount of tea leaves in the pot and boil it with water. If you want to remove the iron smell, you can boil some sweet potato peels.

●Iron pans tend to rust easily and are not suitable for storing food. At the same time, try not to use an iron pot to cook soup to avoid the loss of the cooking oil layer on the surface of the iron pot that protects it from rusting.

When scrubbing the pot, detergent should be used as often as possible to prevent the "protective layer" of cooking oil from being scrubbed away. After brushing the pot, wipe off the water in the pot as much as possible to prevent rust. If there is slight rust, it can be cleaned with vinegar.

●When cooking in an iron pan, use high heat and quickly, and add less water to reduce the loss of vitamins.

●It is not advisable to use an iron pot to cook acidic fruits such as bayberry, hawthorn, and crabapple. Because these acidic fruits contain fruit acid, they will cause a chemical reaction when they come into contact with iron, producing low-iron compounds, which may cause poisoning after people eat them.

It is also taboo to use an iron pan when cooking mung beans, because the tannin contained in the bean skin will produce a chemical reaction when it meets iron, generating black tannin iron, and turning the mung bean soup black, affecting the taste and the body's digestion.

In addition, it is also very important to choose a good quality iron pan. When choosing an iron pan, you should pay attention to the following points:

1. The surface of the pot should be smooth, but it cannot be "smooth as a mirror". Due to the forging process, iron pots have irregular shallow lines, which is not a defect.

2. Inspect and check for defects. There are mainly two types of defects: small dents and small pits. The dented part of a small dent is generally iron, which has little effect on the quality of the pot. If the depression is on the concave surface of the pot, it can be ground off with a grinding wheel to avoid covering the spatula. Small pits are relatively complex and cause great damage to the quality of the bowl.

3. The part of the bottom of the pot that touches the fire is commonly known as the pot butt. It is not good to have a big pot butt because it transfers heat slowly. It is a waste of energy and time.

4. Pots come in different thicknesses, and thin ones are better. Some iron pans may be thick on one side and thin on the other. This is caused by model misalignment. This kind of pan with uneven thickness is not good. When purchasing, you can turn the pot upside down, press your finger against the middle of the concave surface of the pot, and knock it with a hard object.

The louder the pot sound and the greater the vibration, the better. This method can also be used to test whether the pot has cracks. Cracks are usually more likely to occur at the edge of the pot because it is the thinnest.

5. If there are rust spots on the pot, it does not necessarily mean that the quality is poor. The brightness and quality of the pot does not have much impact. Because the substance that makes the pot shiny is graphite.

The application of graphite in casting is to use it as a refractory coating. After the pot is cast, the graphite has the objective effect of preventing the pot from rusting. A pot with rust spots means it has been stored for a long time. The longer the pot is stored, the better, because the internal structure of the pot can be more stable and it is not easy to crack when used for the first time.

6. Cast iron pans (also called woks) are mostly used for frying and baking, which do not require high heat, so the bottom of the pan should be thicker and the weight can also be heavier. Tips for removing and preventing rust: remove rust with radish and potato peels.

Although the iron pot looks a bit bulky, it is solid, durable, heats evenly, and is closely related to people's health. Frying vegetables in an iron pan can increase the iron content in the vegetables, which compensates for the iron element in the human body and also has a certain effect on iron deficiency diseases such as anemia.

However, you should also pay more attention when purchasing and using iron pans, and try to buy iron pans of better quality. If you find black residue in the iron pan during use, you should deal with it in time or throw it away.