Phew!!!!!, this pan is a high blood pressure inducing cooking utensil. Geez, it threatened my resolve and the only reason I stuck with it is because I am stubborn. Mama and I had a standing battle of wills for years until my father said to me, Ola, she is never going to relent, she is your mum, you are just going to have to channel that stubbornness into positive things and stop logging heads with your mother. Both of you are two of the same kind, and she was on this earth before you, so forget it, you can’t win. Mama and I, our relationship has evolved into that of mutual respect and she knows that when I have my stubborn hat on, she should just let me be until I see reason. #advantageofbeingagrownup. hahahahahaha.
Channeling that stubbornness made me stick with this stupid kasko pan. Yes, I said stupid, bite me. What the heck? All the suggestions I was given from multiple sources, did not work at first. I threw away a humongous batch of masa batter because the flipping thing kept sticking. Yes, I am mad, allow me to rant. I decided to create this post, to share my experience, which will hopefully help someone else. The thing about Nigerian cooking is that there are lots of very handy tips that are only passed down via word of mouth. We have no record of these handy tips, which is where food blogs come in. A repository for life, your quick solution to run to if you have any problems. At the height of my frustration, I googled how to season a kasko pan. Of course I knew Google won’t have the answer, but it gave me temporary relief hoping I would find something there. Of course zilch. So, I Googled how to season an iron pan, not that much help, then I remembered my grandma’s famous words, which she always brought out much to your annoyance when you were struggling with something she told you to do. It went as thus
“nkan ti o ba lenu, o le gbon ju eyan lo”
This literally means, what can’t speak cannot be smarter than you. In summary, you have a brain, it doesn’t so it shouldn’t beat you, use your head and figure it out. My friend Ade got this pan brand new from Nigeria. She too followed the rule of rub with oil, place in the oven for 1 hour on the highest heat. Taaaa!!!! Mschew!!! It did NOT work.
This is what it turned out after the first 1 hour in the oven.
Unbeknown to me, you shouldn’t wash a kasko pan with soap and water. You only need to wipe it. Oh, now why wasn’t I told that before. I washed with soap, I forgot to put it away and my cleaning lady came over and scrubbed it with a sponge and soap again. Oh dear. Ade said, back to square one you go girl!!! So, I started again. Rubbed with oil.
ready for the oven.
Some tips I found said leave in the oven for 6 hours or overnight. Oti. This is a very apt Yoruba word for, “you must be kidding me”. 6 WHAT!!! Nuh uh. Aint getting a sweet old electricity bill because of a stupid pan, am I going to eat it? Lol
So, I placed in the oven and set the timer to max, which was 2 hours 30mins, and also turned the dial to max, 250.
2 hours 30minutes later, and leaving it in the oven to cool down undisturbed, here is the kasko pan.
Hopefully, the heat worked its magic. Major eye roll
Another tip I found was to add oil to the holes, add chopped onions to the oil and let it fry till it burns
You also get the added bonus of onion flavoured Masa.
Sieve out the onion and start frying. Oh, even after all that, the first batch I fried stuck and I was close to flinging this kasko pan out of the window. When I calmed down a bit, I figured out that it must be my Masa batter that is the problem, so I stared hard at the thing, re-jigged the batter a bit to make it thicker, added more yeast and left it to rise a bit more. I was so highly strung out by this time, I dug into the freezer for a Magum Gold bar, it never tasted so good, I swear. #teamfitfam, you are allowed to judge me, I don’t care. Loooooool.
I conquered the Kasko pan, so here is a summary of what to do. An online first. A record for life. Okay people, say thank you. Loooooooooool
- When you get a brand new pan, rub with oil, and place in the oven for 3 hours on high heat. Come on, don’t complain, I was told 6 hours. This cuts it by half. Lol
- Leave it in the oven and let it cool down undisturbed.
- if you are not frying immediately, add oil to the holes, fill with chopped onions and let it fry till the onions burn. Sieve out the onions.
- After frying, simply wipe the kasko pan. Do NOT wash the kasko pan with soap. Even if you have stuck burnt bits, just dab the burnt bits with a little water to soften, and then gently scrape off
- Re-season your kasko pan every couple of months.
If you live outside of Nigeria, an alternative to a kasko pan is the Ebelskiver Filled Pancake pan or a Norpro Danish Aebleskiver Pan. You can find it at Williams Sonomer or our friendly old Amazon. If you live in the UK, Amazon also sells it. You betcha, I am getting that pan. THE NON STICK VERSION. With all pleasure, I am returning this one to Ade.
See you on the next post, I will be discussing, well you guessed it. Masa. The recipe will go up much later in the day. Ramadan Kareem guys!!!!
Thank you,I always enjoy reading your post,Go Gal!
Aaaaaw, hugs Saadah. Thanks
What’s a kasko pan please?
It is a pan used to fry Masa. I will be posting my recipe for Masa this evening, and you’ll see how it is used
Dooney – I doff my cap for you. You really have time – and passion for food. Its hard enough holding down a 9 to 5 but you do that and churn out all these delicious receipes you ‘develop’!! Kudos to u!!
I decided to make puff puff for my husband the other day and it turned out in funny shapes and sizes. This your kasko pan looks like it would work a dream with future puff puff plans. I will definitely search for the amazon alternative. #Aint nobody gat time for 3 hours deep seasoning in oven!!
Hahaha. I don lag tire. I have been using the non sticky Aebleskiver pan I bought on Amazon too but the one I got is so small. I have tried looking for a much bigger size but no luck. Let me see the size you will get maybe I will use the link I and change mine.
I ordered on on ebay. Fingers crossed. I will take pictures and post, when it arrives
I was wondering the same thing o, what its used for,’cos withe the level of stress has to be something super yummy.
Is Masa the soft plantain snack? Hope those of us without this comtraption would be able to make it.
Have a fab weekend
Elsmama, that is Mosa, made with plantain. Masa is made with fermented rice. I will be posting a recipe shortly
Please what do you cook or bake in this pan please? Thanks
Masa
There is aiso masa fryer that can be attached to a cooking gas by removing the pipe and you attache to it the masa fryer.
Oh wow, thanks for the tip Zainab
Dooney! That pan is most likely cast iron and you have to treat it like one. You already figured it out but the answer to palava all you needed to google was ‘how to re-season cast iron’ and yeah you are right you shouldn’t wash it with soap and water and especially cold water. If you need to wash it pour boiling water over it and re season.
Thank you for the hot water tip. I would try that out
Masa. A childhood favourite. Can’t wait for the recipe 🙂
Thank you inago44
I laugh at your pain, did EYE not tell you how to deal with cast iron or cast aluminum in YOUR starch post? Ok, ok, lol. Why did you not season on the stove top initially? New pans can be a headache . Pan seasoning is a process over time, first one hour here, another hour there, no soap only water, or pour water and cook out the sticky bits. Also it will be helpful to rub the pan with oil, wipe excess off with a cloth before storing, it helps. That`s what my grandma did to her cast iron pot.
It took me a couple of seconds to get the EYE part, and when I did, i started laughing uncontrollably. Hahahahahahaha. Errrrr, let it not be bereft of me not to try cooking tips given by the experts whose dish masa is, i deiced to try it their way. I swear, I should just have done your method and called it a day. I will do as you said, but use veg oil before i store away. My store is so small, everything is literally on top of everything, and palm oil will smear and stain. Thanks again
Hi Dooney, Did I miss the Masa recipe? I have searched for it several times but cannot find it 🙁 And please is yeast compulsory? If yes, can I substitute it with potash? Thanks in advance
Hi Adedayo, I haven’t posted it yet. I will do so on the new site. Yes, yeast is essential for it to rise. I am not sure if potash has leavening properties. I really don’t think so
Hi Dooney, thanks for replying so fast. Will wait patiently for the post – the family wont try anything new without the DooneyStamp.
Bummed about the yeast. What about baking soda and ACV? Think it will work?
Don’t think so
Ha Dooney – thank you plenty plenty!! U have opened my eyes to the existence of Aebleskivers. Off to Amazon I go…….
thanks a lot dooney. pls. where can i get the non sticky version in Nigeria?
I really doubt it. I don’t live in Nigeria, so I really wouldn’t know
Hi Dooney,
Thanks for this tip had a nasty experience with the kasko too I ended up throwing mine away.please can u post your masa recipe ..mine doesn’t rise I live in the UK.i will appreciate tips on that as well thank you
hi, i had that problem at first. i am still perfecting my recipe
Over the years I’ve moved to cast iron cookware almost exclusively both for its heat distribution, non stick quality and long life (multi generation – I plan for my daughter to hand them down to her children at some point). I think I found the perfect utensil for this dish it’s a Thai Khanom Krok pan and this one”s made of cast iron so seasoning it should be a cinch. It’s 14″ across and has 28 holes (holes are approx 2″ across and about a 1/2″ deep. Bought mine here (also great for æbelskiver as well)
http://importfood.com/cwkk1201.html
Enjoy!