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How a Black Skillet Gets Its Slick Coat

6th grade nonfiction passage about cast iron seasoning: 225 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade nonfiction cast iron seasoning 225 words

How a Black Skillet Gets Its Slick Coat

A cast-iron skillet is heavy, dark and a little rough, and cooks often say it improves the longer it is used. The reason has to do with a thin layer called seasoning. Seasoning is not a spice. It is a hard, slick coating made from cooking oil.

To build it, a cook rubs a very thin coat of oil over the whole pan and bakes it upside down in an oven for about an hour. Heat transforms the oil, and its tiny molecules link together into long chains and bond to the iron, turning the oily film into something like a dark, smooth plastic. Each time the pan is heated with a little fat, another layer can form, so the surface slowly becomes smoother and blacker.

A well-seasoned pan has two advantages. Eggs and pancakes slide off it more easily, and the coating helps protect the iron from rust. Iron is a metal that rusts when water and air stay on it, which is why a skillet should be dried right after washing. Many people wipe it with a drop of oil before putting it away.

If the coating gets scratched or the pan starts to rust, it is not ruined. Scrubbing off the rust and seasoning the pan again brings it back, which is one reason these pans can last for generations.

Questions

  1. What is seasoning on a cast-iron skillet? in the text

  2. How does a cook build the coating? in the text

  3. What happens to the oil when it is heated? in the text

  4. Why should a skillet be dried right after washing? think about it

  5. Why might an old, well-used skillet cook eggs better than a new one? think about it

  6. What can a cook do if the pan rusts? in the text

Words to know

seasoning
a hard coat of baked oil on a pan
molecules
extremely tiny bits that make up all matter
bond
to stick tightly to something
rust
the reddish flaky layer that forms on iron left wet
generations
groups of family members born around the same time
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One passage, three levels

The same topic and facts written three ways, so a mixed class can read and talk about one text. Each group’s sheet shows only a shape; the key says which is which.

● Easier · 176 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.7

A cast-iron pan is heavy and dark. Cooks say it gets better with use. The reason is a thin layer called seasoning. Seasoning is not a spice. It is a hard, slick coat made from oil.

To make it, a cook rubs a thin coat of oil on the pan. Then the pan is baked in a hot oven. The heat changes the oil. It sticks to the iron and turns into a smooth, dark coat. Each time the pan is heated with a little fat, a new layer can form. The pan gets smoother and blacker.

A pan with good seasoning is better in two ways. Eggs slide off it. And the coat helps keep the iron from rust. Iron rusts when water stays on it. So a cook dries the pan right after washing it. Many people rub on a drop of oil too.

A scratched pan is not ruined. If it rusts, the cook can scrub off the rust and season the pan again. That is why these pans last so long.

▲ This passage · 225 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7

A cast-iron skillet is heavy, dark and a little rough, and cooks often say it improves the longer it is used. The reason has to do with a thin layer called seasoning. Seasoning is not a spice. It is a hard, slick coating made from cooking oil.

To build it, a cook rubs a very thin coat of oil over the whole pan and bakes it upside down in an oven for about an hour. Heat transforms the oil, and its tiny molecules link together into long chains and bond to the iron, turning the oily film into something like a dark, smooth plastic. Each time the pan is heated with a little fat, another layer can form, so the surface slowly becomes smoother and blacker.

A well-seasoned pan has two advantages. Eggs and pancakes slide off it more easily, and the coating helps protect the iron from rust. Iron is a metal that rusts when water and air stay on it, which is why a skillet should be dried right after washing. Many people wipe it with a drop of oil before putting it away.

If the coating gets scratched or the pan starts to rust, it is not ruined. Scrubbing off the rust and seasoning the pan again brings it back, which is one reason these pans can last for generations.

■ Harder · 247 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.3

A cast-iron skillet is heavy, dark and slightly rough to the touch, and experienced cooks often insist that it improves the longer it is used. The explanation lies in a thin layer known as seasoning. Despite its name, seasoning has nothing to do with spices. It is a hard, slick coating that is formed from ordinary cooking oil.

To build it, a cook rubs a very thin film of oil over every surface of the pan and bakes it in a hot oven for some time. The heat transforms the oil. Its tiny molecules link together into long chains and bond firmly to the iron, so that the greasy film becomes something resembling a dark, smooth plastic. Whenever the pan is heated with a little fat afterward, another layer can form, and the surface gradually grows smoother and blacker.

A well-seasoned pan offers two clear advantages. Eggs and pancakes slide off it far more easily, and the coating helps shield the iron from rust. Iron is a metal that rusts whenever water and air remain in contact with it, which is why a skillet should be dried immediately after washing. Many people also wipe it with a drop of oil before they put it away.

Even if the coating is scratched or the pan begins to rust, it is by no means ruined. Scrubbing away the rust and seasoning the pan again restores it, which is one reason these heavy pans can last for generations.

Download as one PDF

How to use it

  1. Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
  2. Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
  3. Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.

Ideas for class

  • Before reading, put seasoning, molecules, bond, rust and generations on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the text will be about.
  • Read it aloud once while students follow along, then have them reread it alone or with a partner. At a calm 100 words a minute it takes about 2 minutes to read aloud.
  • Use the Read it big button (or B) to put the text on the projector, and Show answer on one question at a time so the class commits to an answer first.
  • Question 4 asks the reader to infer. Ask students to point to the words in the passage that led them to their answer.
  • Ask students to write one question the passage did not answer, then look for the answer in a book or on a classroom screen.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "How a Black Skillet Gets Its Slick Coat"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 225 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 7.0. That is a formula's estimate from sentence length and syllables, and it is not a Lexile or a guided reading level, so check it against your students.

What do the questions ask?

There are six. 4 ask for something the text says directly and 2 ask the reader to work something out from clues. Each has an answer in the key, and the answers are written as a teacher would accept them, not as the only possible wording.

How long does it take to read?

About 2 minutes read aloud at 100 words a minute. For a one-minute fluency check, paste it into the fluency timer and use the word count.

Can I print it?

Yes. Print student copy gives the passage, the questions with lines to write on, and the word meanings. Print with answers gives the same page with the answers filled in. Both are made in your browser.

Is this passage from a published book?

No. It was written for Peabody Teach, so there is no book to buy and no login to read it.

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