Cooking with a Petromax Wrought Iron Pan

We first started using the Petromax Wrought Iron Pans in our outdoor kitchen at the beginning of summer and they have become the go-to since then. They are very easy to use, heating up quickly and evenly, particularly over an open flame.

We’ve used them for all sorts, from frying an egg to baking bread and what we find great about them is how evenly the heat is dispersed and the fact that the food never sticks. We usually use neutral cooking oil, (not olive oil as it tends to smoke) and off we go.

They are very easy to clean afterwards, just wipe out thoroughly with a kitchen towel or rinse it with hot water and dry it off with a clean cloth, then grease it with some neutral oil until the next use.When you first buy the Petromax Wrought Iron Pans you should season them of course.

Petromax recommends you follow the steps below before your first use: Soak the pan in hot water with detergent for 5 to 10 minutes to remove the colourless anti-corrosion protection. Do not use dish soap!

Wash it with a dishwashing brush or a sponge. Rinse the protection residues and dry it thoroughly with a clean cloth. Fill the bottom of the pan with cooking oil. Slowly heat up the pan over medium heat, so that the iron has enough time to dilate.
Add a teaspoon of salt. Increase the heat to the highest level and stir from time to time with a wooden spoon or spatula. After some time, the surface of the pan turns brown. This is the patina we want.

Empty the pan and let it cool down. Rinse the pan with hot water and remove frying residues. Dry it with a clean cloth. Your pan is now seasoned.

It’s worth mentioning that the pans are very heavy so ideally, you shouldn’t have to move them around much when cooking. We have ours permanently in our outdoor kitchen so at hands reach when we need them. They have a long handle which is good to balance the weight but it can get very hot in cooking, so always use oven gloves when moving it from the heat. Ours has just gotten better the more we use it, it’s the go-to pan for cooking a nice steak and there is great satisfaction cooking on a pan that doesn’t stick. Another high-quality product from Petromax.