How to Keep Food from Sticking to Cast Iron

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I love cooking with cast iron! Have you tried it?
My collection includes:
- (1) 5″ mini skillet
- (2) 10″ skillets
- (1) 12″ skillet
- (1) dutch oven
- (1) reversible pancake griddle
I use every single piece on a regular basis in my real food, gluten-free kitchen.
Cast iron can be used for fish, meat, veggies, eggs, and even for baking! Plus, there’s the added benefit of strength training. Gotta love those multitasking kitchen tools! 😉
As much as I love cooking with cast iron, one problem continued to plague me. Many foods–especially fish–would stick to my cast iron cookware.
Then one day, a friend mentioned this amazing tip to keep food from sticking to cast iron…
How to Keep Food from Sticking to Cast Iron
Are you ready for this? It’s so simple, you won’t believe it.
Salt the skillet.
That’s it!
See that Herbed Salmon in the photo above? It starts out top side down, herbs and all. If I don’t salt the skillet, the herbs stick to the bottom of the pan when it’s time to flip over the fish.
However, if I lightly salt the skillet (after adding a very small amount of coconut oil or cooking fat–see below), the salmon is a cinch to flip over and the yummy herb topping stays in place. Hooray!
Need more detailed instructions?
- Heat the skillet.
- Add your oil, grease, fat.
- Lightly salt the skillet. Be sure to use unrefined sea salt!
- Cook your food.
Note that you may want to adjust your recipe slightly to include less salt to keep the end product from tasting too salty.
Do you cook with cast iron? Do you love it?

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This process also works for stainless steel. Thanks for sharing.
Wow – what a cool idea! I’ve never heard of putting salt in the pan to prevent sticking, but I have to try it. We typically use cast iron several times a week and I know my husband would love to see less food stuck to the skillets. =)
Thank You!!
Hi! Thanks for the tip! How much salt do I need? It I guess will season my food as well using salt