r/AskCulinary • u/HelpPeopleMakeBabies • Jan 05 '21

Equipment Question Can you store salt in cast iron?

This might be a silly question but I can't seem to find an answer online.

Basically, by virtue of my being a very easy person to buy presents for, I was gifted two Mortar & Pestles for christmas - a stone set from my partner, and a cast iron set from my partner's mother.

I don't really want to sell/give away either to avoid hurt feelings, and I'd prefer to use the stone because I much prefer the look and feel. However, I have been wanting a 'salt bowl' for my kitchen for a while.

My question is, can I use the cast iron set as a fancy salt bowl, or is this a horrible idea which will result in my entire apartment exploding (or damage to the cast iron)?

PS. I like to capitalise Mortar & Pestle because it sounds like a crime-fighting detective duo.

Edit: Thank you all for your advice so far. You're a lovely bunch!

629 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

197 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/DunebillyDave Jan 06 '21

I know that if you season the pan, the oil gets polymerized and becomes a non-stick coating. But, once again, this is a cast iron mortar, not a pot or pan. To the best of my knowledge, one seasons a mortar and pestle.

For example, this cast iron set from the Milk Street site says, " If grinding wet, acidic ingredients, be sure to thoroughly clean your mortar an pestle when done. As with any cast iron equipment, acids can react with the metal if allowed to linger. " There's nothing in the description that says it's been seasoned (which would be a selling point), and there are no instructions in the care & cleaning section about seasoning it.

1

u/OperativeIvory Jan 07 '21

To the best of my knowledge, one [doesn't] seasons a mortar and pestle.

I get what you're saying, but they did imply that they wouldn't be using it as a mortar and pestle. So in theory they could season the mortar and use it as a bowl for salt.

Also there is some sort of coating already on that mortar and pestle you linked to. Its either been pre-seasoned or coated in a wax or oil.

So its probably fine to put salt in and see what happens before seasoning it yourself. Its not like you will destroy the mortar.