Cast iron skillets

[snowwolfe]

Disappointed with some of our newer skillets. They are good quality and well seasoned but not very non stick. Been thinking about polishing the inside to speed up the aging process and make them slicker.
Anyone do something similar? How did you do it and were the results worth the effort?

[ericandelaine1975]

Best way I've found to season a skillet is to fry chicken in it.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I would recommend not using abrasives, I'd just keep cooking with it.

I guess if you were gonna try it, at least you are considering it on newish cast iron pan.
I'd strongly suggest NOT using abrasives on a older collectible pan. I know some have, I recall one thread here that talked about it quite a bit, and there were diverse opinions on the subject. I can't find that thread...But I did find a thread with one mention of it (see post #45 and 46)
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?358534-Bought-my-first-cast-iron-skillet
>>Also, Dougguy has a great post (#14) in this thread about seasoning.

[jdfoxinc]

Just fry a pound of bacon in it drain then overheat till it smokes. Put some grease back in. The blacker with carbon the better the non stick.

[snowwolfe]

I did some research on YouTube and polishing is a very common practice to “age” and improve a skillets ability to make it nonstick.
Was hoping to hear from people who actually did it on newer skillets.

[bullet maker 57]

We used ours, washed it, coated with oil and put it in the oven. Every time the oven is on there is a new coat of oil on the frying pan. Didn't take long to season it.

[waksupi]

I won two new cast iron skillets at a shoot a few years ago. Both were rough, so this looked like a good time to experiment. I took one to the shop, and smoothed the inside well. I have used both equally since then. The rough one seasoned well in a short time. The polished one still isn't seasoned to where I would like it to be.

[Camper64]

Polishing the skillet your removing the texture that the seasoning sticks too. Once the seasoning adheres to the texture, it will start to smooth out an become more non-stick.

[snowwolfe]

Interesting debate. Plenty of people claim the older cast iron that was polished better from the factory is more non stick. These same people say polishing will help the newer mass produced skillets.
Me? I just don't know. I tried many cast iron skillets over the last 30 years and tried every seasoning trick in the books and never felt like I had a decent skillet. Teflon coated always did/does a much better job.

Think I will season a new one again, fry some chicken in it and see how it works out. Then I am going to polish a smaller one and season same method as the one I'll fry chicken in and compare results. Both are newer Lodge items so quality will be comparable.

[bob208]

I started buying cast iron. some very heavy rusted. hit it with wire wheel. then. fry bacon in it. some we put olive oil in and backed it. it all works good.

[Nueces]

My theory on polishing a skillet is that cutting works, as in grinding or sanding, but that polishing, using a soft wheel, smears over the free surface of the iron, giving a bright shine, but offering no 'scratch' to take hold of the seasoning. I have a couple of nearly century old Griswold 8s that are lighter than modern Lodges and that have quite smooth inner surfaces. The factory Griswold finishes clearly show evidence of a cutting finishing process.

[Char-Gar]

I have been cooking with nothing but cast iron for about 50 years. I have some old and some new iron. I have never felt the need to polish one. Use and proper cleaning will take care of any issues.

[country gent]

I season mine outside since there is going to be a lot of smoke LOL. I start a fire in the charcoal grill and let it burn to glowing coals. I coat the pan with a heavy coat of unsalted crisco3/8"-1/2" on sides and bottom This used to be done with lard or bacon fat. Add a layer of coals on the glowing bed and set pan in on them. close lid and let heat and "cook" till fire goes out and pan is cool. Seasoning the cast iron pan isn't just a surface coating but needs to work the grease in to the pores of the cast iron. The carbon spaces between the iron. Heating and opening the pores of the pan allows the seasoning to work into these pores better and deeper.

I have welded on a couple cast iron pans to fix them and the grease that comes out when at welding temps is amazing way more than any surface coating could make. One produced a 3'-3 1/2' circle of grease around the pan when I welded the handle back on.

One reason the older pans are more "non Stick" than newer ones is the 100 years of seasoning and use these heat cool cycles with greases present have worked the grease into every pore of the cast iron. The above process gives new a very good star on getting the seasoning in deep to start.

[clum553946]

Use a grill stone if you want to smooth your cast iron skillets

[jimlj]

snowwolf, I will be interested in your results. I've read that part of the difference in the smoothness of old vs new cast is in part due to the casting process used now verses what was used a hundred years ago. Part is also due to a bit of grinding/polishing done years ago. I had an old Griswold Dutch oven that was smooth inside, and I now have several newer Lodge Dutch ovens that are rough. I've found with use they have started to smooth out a bit, but I know they will never be as smooth as the Griswold oven was even if my great grand kids are still using them in 50 years.
The new pans in the camping section at wallyworld feel like 50 grit sand paper. I may have to spring for a few bucks and take a angle grinder with a flap disk to it and see what happens.

[snowwolfe]

jimlj,

It will be a few weeks or a month before I get around to it. I read several articles and all agree with what you said about old vs new casting process. I will post my results. This is one of the videos that has me interested in the results:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVmCglTZWT8

Pay attention to how he frys an egg at the end.

[bob208]

reminds me I was at an auction and a set of new iron skillets came up. woman bought them I said do you know how to season them? she said how I said fry bacon in them. she said she does not eat bacon. I said you don't have to I will come over and eat it. you just have to fry it.

[pcolapaddler]

Watch some of Kent Rollins' videos. This guy knows his cast iron care and cooking.

This video talks about smoothing cast iron pans.

https://youtu.be/ljSQrSoSYAE

Sent from the largest mountain range in Florida.

[dragon813gt]

I decided to smooth a new Lodge pan and season if. Complete disaster. The pan was about as far from nonstick as you can get. Fixed it by buying another new Lodge pan and using it. Been working perfectly and has only gotten better w/ use. There’s no need to smooth them out. Simply use and they will get better over time.

The real difference between old and new cast iron is weight. The older ones were lighter. This is the only advantage I’ve found.

[Bazoo]

I've sanded a skillet or two. Had a new cheap one that was rough as a rasp on the bottom. I put the 5" random orbit sander to use and smoothed it mostly out, then reseasoned it and started using it. Looked horrible for a while, but finally darkened up and cooks good now.

[osteodoc08]

Not to hijack but how does everyone use a large griddle that’s useable on both sides? Every time I use it, be it on my kitchen electric eye or my Coleman stove outside, it smokes. Outside its not a big deal, but inside, no way. It’s the Lodge Pro griddle with a smooth side and a searing/ridged side.

As far as newer stuff, I just cook with it. I’ve found canola oil to not give the rancid oil smell that olive oil can sometimes give. I like to fry chicken in Crisco a few times before anything else to “season” them.

[Camper64]

osteodoc08, sounds like your leaving too much of an oil layer. I always wipe mine with olive/canola oil but remove any excess. You don't need much of an oil layer to protect it.

[William Yanda]

I will admit that I used a coffee mug to smooth a Lodge frying pan that I reseasoned. I used cocoanut oil and was happy with the smoother surface and the seasoning. As I recall, I oiled it and baked in the oven about 3 times. My wife did object to the smell. I did not have a control to compare it to.

[45workhorse]

Five pounds of taters fried in it and it will be seasoned. My opinion and $2 will get you a cup of coffee someplace.:bigsmyl2:

[Remmy4477]

Cast iron is all we use, wifes been using them for over 30 years.
Best way she says to season is fry bacon in it and let it sit with the grease in it for a day or two, heating it up a time or two while its in there. Clean it out with hot water, nothing else.

She inherited most of my grandmothers cast iron, some older than dirt! Skillets, fryers, dutch oven and ect, all were and are in cooking order and used daily. She loves them!

Cannot imagine cooking on anything else!

[snowwolfe]

Trying to learn as much as possible about this as I am determined to make a non stick skillet this time around. Research is suggesting flaxseed oil is the best option for seasoning so going to try it as well.

[Ed K]

I've found the flaxseed oil and several bake cycles method that's become popular over the last decade is pretty good to get started with a stripped pan. Some go crazy with the number of cycles but after a couple I lose patience and just start using it. Cooking with animal fats as much as possible seems to promote a non-stick surface better than most vegetable-based cooking oils.

Use vintage exclusively but have a Lodge rectangular griddle set aside to face mill/polish/season whenever time permits.

[cuzinbruce]

With old Griswolds and Wagners, I have cleaned them with EZ-Off oven cleaner. Season them by cooking potato peels and a big handful of salt with a cup or so of oil. Stir it plenty, cook til the peels are overdone. Then dump it out, wipe the pan clean with paper towels and it is ready to start cooking for real. Never use soap to clean an iron pan. Just wipe it clean with a paper towel. If anything sticks, water and a scrub brush, then put it on the burner to dry it out. The outsides can take some melted Crisco after cleaning with EZ-Off. Just brush it on, then wipe off excess. It is amazing how much lighter some of the old cast iron is than the modern ones. They knew things about casting that have never made it to Taiwan and China.

[DougGuy]

If you want a nice, smooth, easy to season or already well seasoned pan, buy a vintage pan. There are PLENTY of nice old pre-war Griswolds and Wagners out there, single notch Lodge, Erie, the list goes on and on, the quality is irrefutable, and the performance in the kitchen is also top notch. You can find "users" with varying degrees of seasoning already cooked onto them by years of use. These are my favorite daily users.

I have and use vintage pans and new Lodge. I find the pebbled finish of the new Lodge easy to cook on, easy to clean, and they will season rather quickly with daily use. Don't wreck a new lodge trying to dupe the look and feel of a 100yr old pan, just go buy a 100yr old pan and enjoy them both for their differences.

Bacon will stick in ANY cast iron skillet, regardless of age, finish, or years of use. The sugars they cure bacon with will weld and carburize right to any cast iron. I suppose some brands might not stick as bad as others, some pans might cook bacon better than others but for the most part, it sticks, no way around it.

To clean a cast iron pan the RIGHT way, as soon as you finish cooking in it, wipe it out with a paper towel and add 1/4 cup of water. Turn the heat on and let it warm. After sitting a few minutes, use a plastic spatula or one of those plastic scrapers that Lodge sells (these are AWESOME for cleaning cast iron by the way!) and loosen up the burned bits. Keep working the plastic until you have a smooth surface. Pour the water out and wipe the pan with the same paper towel you wiped it out with first, leaving a thin coating on the pan.

You can also scrub them out (lightly) with water and a stainless steel scrubbee. It's perfectly okay to use soapy water if you need to, just dry the pan and oil it a bit afterwards. Soapy water damaging cast iron is a MYTH. If decades of cooking haven't loosened the seasoning, I hardly think 5mins in soapy water is going to do anything to it.


Trying to learn as much as possible about this as I am determined to make a non stick skillet this time around. Research is suggesting flaxseed oil is the best option for seasoning so going to try it as well.

Save your money and your time. Flaxseed oil flakes and comes off in chunks. Want to see the photos? Use Lard or Crisco, PAM is fine also.

You do not MAKE a non stick cast iron skillet. You go buy an old seasoned one and it is non stick when you get it. If large manufacturers cannot make a non stick cast iron skillet, what makes you think an individual can do what they have been trying to do for the last century? Read the text I posted.

[starnbar]

The big pan that was my grandfathers was used about every day and he cooked with lard I still use it for chicken and fish and yes I use lard too in it.

[Char-Gar]

Here is how I clean cast iron.

1. Wipe out everything you can with paper towels.
2. Heat the cast iron until you can't touch the edge.
3. Turn on the tap water to it's highest heat.
4. Stick the iron under the hot water and scrub it with a plastic long handled scrubber. Don't bend over it, as you will get steamed.
5. Dry the iron off with more paper towels.
6. If there is anything stuck on the iron a slight touch with a razor blade paint scrapter will take it right off.
7. Heat the iron again and apply a small bit of oil and run it around. Wipe off any excess.
8. Let is cool and you are good to go.

It takes longer to write this than it does to do it and it works.

[jonp]

Seasoned ours in our grill using coconut oil. Also tried canola and crisco. Took several times and i stopped when we were happy. Lard or bacon probably would have worked better but didnt have any on hand.

Biggest thing is to not put on the grease too thick as it gets sticky. Several light coats works much better

[waksupi]

When you DO have something stick to your cast iron, try one of these. They don't hurt the seasoning in any way.

https://www.amazon.com/JOANBETE-Stainless-Chainmail-Scrubber-Cookware/dp/B07DG2D9HD/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1543598152&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=stainless+steel+cast+iron+cleaner&psc=1

[johnho]

I agree with DougGuy, if you want a really great CI skillet get a vintage one. For seasoning mine I spay it with EasyOff, the one with the lye, put it in a plastic bag and leave it outside. After a day I wipe it off and do it again until all the crud is off it. Then heat it up on grill, cool it some and coat with lard or Crisco. reheat and to it several times. Bottom ends up with a finish smooth as glass. For the real scoop on how to do this go here. These guys know all there is to know. http://www.wag-society.org/cleaning.php Here's another one for the EasyOff method and buying tips. https://www.seriouseats.com/2014/12/how-to-restore-vintage-cast-iron-cookware.html

[Tom W.]

Lori has some CI pans that her grandmother had that were made in Japan. They are very smooth on the inside. I've seen her put them in the dishwasher to clean them. I had three Lodge pans, one disappeared, and one is huge, the other I got from Walmart as a chicken frying pan. It's the best of the bunch. The third is a little flat griddle that I'll use to make pancakes. I've considered taking it out to the shed and using my angle grinder with a very worn sanding disc to see if it will smooth it out some.
Maybe I won't now....

[snowwolfe]

Boy o boy, opinions run from total agreement to total disagreement. Plenty of people swear flaxseed is the best oil ever for seasoning a pan, others say not to use it. No wonder I am confused.

[jimlj]

Boy o boy, opinions run from total agreement to total disagreement. Plenty of people swear flaxseed is the best oil ever for seasoning a pan, others say not to use it. No wonder I am confused.

Hang in there, you'll get it. Tons of differing opinions and I don't think any are totally wrong. When I first started cooking in cast iron I was told the best way to clean a Dutch oven was to turn it upside down in a fire till it turned cherry red. I DON'T RECOMMEND IT. Once you get a good seasoning on the cast iron, it is fairly non stick and easy to clean. The fastest and easiest way to initially season cast iron I have found is the cast iron conditioner available from Camp Chef. I'm not sure what kind of oil they use but it seems to work good and fast. After the initial seasoning, use it to cook with your favorite oil. All of my ovens clean up easy with a bit of hot water and a plastic scraper. After cleaning I give them a spritz of olive oil cooking spray and rub most of the oil off with a paper towel.
After watching the video you posted a link to, I'm going to give it a try with one of the inexpensive fry pans from wallyworld. Worse case I'll have a pan to melt wheel weights.

[DougGuy]

Boy o boy, opinions run from total agreement to total disagreement. Plenty of people swear flaxseed is the best oil ever for seasoning a pan, others say not to use it. No wonder I am confused.

Flaxseed oil makes a beautiful finish, but it's glossy and not unlike shellac. When I first started with cast iron, I cleaned these skillets with electrolysis, then put on 4-5 coats of flaxseed oil at 450F, and the last pass I ran at 500F. The far corner of the oven got over 550F and the finish started coming off all of them. You know a pan gets hotter than that under normal use. I would not recommend flaxseed oil for this reason. I have used PAM, which is just canola oil in a can, Lard my favorite, Crisco, and also Crisbee (Crisco and beeswax) and Larbee (Lard and beeswax) and I end up just using Lard, on a blue shop towel, take the pan out of a 450F degree oven and wipe it down, use another towel to wipe off as much of the Lard as I can, it only gets a thin coating. Left too thick, it puddles up and makes a mottled finish like jaguar spots. This will eventually blend in with cooking use, but not with more coats of Lard or Crisco. This is why you want to wipe it all off and leave just a sheen each time you take it out of the oven. Once you get 4-5 coats on, you can see it is easier to wipe on and wipe off more Lard, and I usually do 6 coats and then turn the oven off and leave the pan in there to slow cool.

First pics are flaking flaxseed oil on some small skillets, last photos are of a nice old Lodge griddle, before and after stripping in a lye bath and then scrubbing with soapy water, 6 coats of Lard applied as described above.

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Cast%20Iron/DSC04822%20Custom_zpsdiojsiuy.jpg (http://s1202.photobucket.com/user/DougGuy/media/Cast%20Iron/DSC04822%20Custom_zpsdiojsiuy.jpg.html)

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Cast%20Iron/DSC04823%20Custom_zpsuutz895d.jpg (http://s1202.photobucket.com/user/DougGuy/media/Cast%20Iron/DSC04823%20Custom_zpsuutz895d.jpg.html)

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Cast%20Iron/DSC04821%20Custom_zpsnmsttosu.jpg (http://s1202.photobucket.com/user/DougGuy/media/Cast%20Iron/DSC04821%20Custom_zpsnmsttosu.jpg.html)

Old Lodge griddle as I received it, and cooked on it for a good while, you can see the cooking surface has a nice coating of seasoning, and some crud around the edges.

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Cast%20Iron/LodgeNo8griddleBack-640_zps9iq1aokw.jpg (http://s1202.photobucket.com/user/DougGuy/media/Cast%20Iron/LodgeNo8griddleBack-640_zps9iq1aokw.jpg.html)

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Cast%20Iron/LodgeNo8griddleFront-640_zpsyqynbb5c.jpg (http://s1202.photobucket.com/user/DougGuy/media/Cast%20Iron/LodgeNo8griddleFront-640_zpsyqynbb5c.jpg.html)

"New" restored Lodge griddle, this is after 6 passes of Lard at 450F, you can see where the old crud shielded the iron around the edges and left it brighter when it was removed, this will all blacken and blend in with use:

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Cast%20Iron/20181123_115947_zpsqbo0pdow.jpg (http://s1202.photobucket.com/user/DougGuy/media/Cast%20Iron/20181123_115947_zpsqbo0pdow.jpg.html)

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Cast%20Iron/20181123_120015_zpsrhwrckp7.jpg (http://s1202.photobucket.com/user/DougGuy/media/Cast%20Iron/20181123_120015_zpsrhwrckp7.jpg.html)

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Cast%20Iron/20181123_120045_zpsnpjcmvnj.jpg (http://s1202.photobucket.com/user/DougGuy/media/Cast%20Iron/20181123_120045_zpsnpjcmvnj.jpg.html)

This is the same griddle with only 1 week's worth of use on it, you can see it starting to get smoother, although there is a layer of butter on it that I wiped down after use this morning:

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Cast%20Iron/20181130_152947_zpsgh8twsgd.jpg (http://s1202.photobucket.com/user/DougGuy/media/Cast%20Iron/20181130_152947_zpsgh8twsgd.jpg.html)

Hope this helps.. This griddle now cooks very non stick, I am sure bacon would stick to it, sausage will leave little browned bits that have to be loosened with a bit of water as I described earlier, but most other stuff it cooks non stick.

[Mr_Sheesh]

Not 100% sure but I think PAM has Lecithin in it, maybe mixed with some Canola oil? Lecithin is good anti-stick lube and food-safe.

[Shopdog]

We use Pam on big resaw bandsaw blades.

Don't care for new cast iron but we do have a cpl. Somebody mentioned frying potatoes. Try baking potato wedges @400 ... throw some olive oil on'm along with a few spices. Create your own recipe. I like,4 spices for 40 minutes at 400.... easy to remember. My go to is salt/pepper/garlic powder/onion powder.

Anyway,even with a rough as a cob lodge,after 1/2 dz batches it'll start to resemble a decent fry pan.

[MaryB]

I have a newer Lodge 8" fry pan I use a LOT(great for making burgers, get a good crust). I used bacon fat to season it and after I clean it I take a dab of bacon fat, heat the pan and wipe it down, then heat it hot until I see the oil start to come out of the pores, remove from heat then wipe once more with a dry towel. Getting as close to non-stick as you can get! Made bacon in it and no sticking! But I start with a dab of bacon fat, heat it so the pan is coated and hot then add the bacon! Medium heat only!

[Tom W.]

Dougguy, that's like my Lodge griddle, but it's a 90G. Mine looks like it was painted on the frying side, altho I know it wasn't. The black "chips" sometimes come off and embed themselves in my pancakes, but haven't hurt me any...

[DougGuy]

Hmmmm "chips" coming off? That don't sound right. Nothing should come off and get in your food. I would probably want to soak that one in a lye bath for a week or two then reseason it by the method I use.

[Moonie]

I also use flaxseed oil like DougGuy but between seasonings, after cleaning I use cooking spray and heat it on the stovetop (gas) till it just starts to smoke and turn the heat off.

[Tom W.]

Lori can season them much better than I ever could...

[Chill Wills]

I've sanded a skillet or two. Had a new cheap one that was rough as a rasp on the bottom. I put the 5" random orbit sander to use and smoothed it mostly out, then reseasoned it and started using it. Looked horrible for a while, but finally darkened up and cooks good now.

BINGO
Bazoo, I am with you.
I got a medium sized castiron pan a few years ago from the food store on sale.
It was a China special I guess. A rougher bottom you have never seen! A sand casting by the look of it.

After cooking in it once and it being a joke I took the 5" random orbit sander with 60 grit on it and had at it. That took the top half off in no time flat. The next 25% of the topography took about 15 minutes to remove and I quit.
I put some cooking oil in it, about 1/8" and set it on the outdoor grill and let burn.
Cleaned that out, tried cooking in it again and it shaped up and has been a very good bacon and egg pan for when it is just me in the mornings.

That seasoning is just carbon in the pores.

I would do that again in a heartbeat. After all, it is just iron and Lodge nor Griswold did not have supernatural powers.
Don't be afraid to fix a problem. It is about the most low-tech item in my life at this point:-P

[jonp]

I followed this guys method https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6bFWVB2BRY

Worked fine. He does recommend Flax Oil like others on here but I don't have any so used something else. I also tried cleaning the rust off and found the best was to use an angle grinder for the worst then electrolysis.

[snowwolfe]

Some of this is starting to make sense. I think one of the biggest mistakes I made in the past is using to much oil when seasoning. This time around going to make sure it is a light coat followed by a good wiping before it goes into the oven.

[jonp]

Some of this is starting to make sense. I think one of the biggest mistakes I made in the past is using to much oil when seasoning. This time around going to make sure it is a light coat followed by a good wiping before it goes into the oven.

Do it several times with light coats until you get the seasoning where you want it. If I remember right, it took 3 cycles with my 12in Lodge to look right to me and a few more wouldn't have hurt it.

[waksupi]

A tip to help prevent sticking. Always have the pan up to heat before dropping in your meat or whatever. The oil should be hot enough to just start smoking. You want that initial sear to seal in juices, and make a surface on the meat that doesn't want to stick.

[fiberoptik]

Canola and Flax are in entirely different families. Canola is in the Brassicaceae Family, Brassica sp. and Flax/Linseed is in the Linaceae Family, Linum sp.

The two are entirely different. I don't know where you got your information but your conspiracy theory is entirely incorrect.

Okay, bad memory. Rapeseed, not linseed. Still poisonous.
https://breathing.com/blogs/nutrition-and-digestion/canola-oil-danger


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DougGuy]

Here are some estate sale finds, 3 notch Lodge #6, BSR 5, BSR3, just pulled them from the lye bath and ran them 6 passes of Lard at 450F. I washed the pans in hot water, while they were still wet I smeared them with Lard, wiped it off as much as possible, stuck them in the oven at 450. After 20mins, I used welding gloves, pulled them from the oven and wiped them down with Lard while they were really hot, wiped it off as much as possible, stuck it back in the oven for 20mins, repeated this until I had 6 coats of seasoning. With every coat it was easier to wipe on Lard, and by the last two, I only had to wipe them with the same blue shop towel (no lint!) I had been using to wipe the Lard off. They are fully seasoned now and ready for cooking..

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Cast%20Iron/Lodge-BSR1_zps9jpzie5l.jpg (http://s1202.photobucket.com/user/DougGuy/media/Cast%20Iron/Lodge-BSR1_zps9jpzie5l.jpg.html)

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Cast%20Iron/Lodge-BSR2_zpssukq39vy.jpg (http://s1202.photobucket.com/user/DougGuy/media/Cast%20Iron/Lodge-BSR2_zpssukq39vy.jpg.html)

By the way, there is no need to fully dry the iron once you get it from the last water rinse, oil it as quick as you can all over, what water is left will evaporate right through the oil, and the iron will never flash rust if you oil it while it is still wet. It don't hurt NOTHING.

[Cloverdale]

Nice find and treatment.

[zymguy]

Some of this is starting to make sense. I think one of the biggest mistakes I made in the past is using to much oil when seasoning. This time around going to make sure it is a light coat followed by a good wiping before it goes into the oven.

me too

[beemer]

I have several CI pans including one my Grandmother started house keeping with. I fix my Mother breakfast almost every mourning and fry eggs in a small pan, no name but old and made in the USA and finished very nice inside. She used it a couple others to bake cornbread for many years so I guess they are seasoned.

I give it a shot of spray oil and fry two eggs sort of omelet style, rinse and dry while still hot and give a small shot of oil. The eggs never stick and it easily wipes out, I don't use it for anything else. I find that maintaining the condition is just as important as getting there. I have put in my claim for that pan.

I am not an avid cast iron collector so I have a question. Some pans have a ring on the bottom and some don't, what is the reason if there is one ? Dad preferred the flat ones, said they made better contact with the wood cookstove surface.

[Char-Gar]

I have several CI pans including one my Grandmother started house keeping with. I fix my Mother breakfast almost every mourning and fry eggs in a small pan, no name but old and made in the USA and finished very nice inside. She used it a couple others to bake cornbread for many years so I guess they are seasoned.

I give it a shot of spray oil and fry two eggs sort of omelet style, rinse and dry while still hot and give a small shot of oil. The eggs never stick and it easily wipes out, I don't use it for anything else. I find that maintaining the condition is just as important as getting there. I have put in my claim for that pan.

I am not an avid cast iron collector so I have a question. Some pans have a ring on the bottom and some don't, what is the reason if there is one ? Dad preferred the flat ones, said they made better contact with the wood cookstove surface.

I don't swear this is correct, but I have been told the ring on the bottom helped it fit into the stove eye of a wood cooking stove.

[DougGuy]

Char-Gar is correct. The heat ring fits down into the recess in the wood stove where the eye cover was removed. Without it, there is no seal and smoke would fill the kitchen.


I have several CI pans including one my Grandmother started house keeping with. I fix my Mother breakfast almost every mourning and fry eggs in a small pan, no name but old and made in the USA and finished very nice inside. She used it a couple others to bake cornbread for many years so I guess they are seasoned.

I give it a shot of spray oil and fry two eggs sort of omelet style, rinse and dry while still hot and give a small shot of oil. The eggs never stick and it easily wipes out, I don't use it for anything else. I find that maintaining the condition is just as important as getting there. I have put in my claim for that pan.

You have to "float" eggs in cast iron, with butter or cooking spray, they will stick on even the most glossy black seasoned pans so you are doing this right. My egg skillet only gets eggs as well, cooked in a puddle of butter. It's an old no name that I found hanging in a roadside antique store in the mountains of Virginia.

I actually committed the equivalent of a felony in cast iron circles, by taking a wire wheel on a grinder to the outsides of it, but I wanted to preserve the decades of seasoning cooked onto the inside while the outside was SO gunked up it was pitiful. It was a no name, no collector value skillet. DO NOT do this to your Grandmother's iron okay?

[beemer]

Char-Gar, might be correct with some pans. I do know some kettle bottoms fit in the eye of a stove. I know the ring on some pans will not fit the eye.

Thinking about it a bit, I know that's dangerous, could it be that the ring will help it sit flat if the bottom is warped outward a bit.

I was given a rather large dutch oven, it has a handle like a frying pan and nothing on the other side. Makes it rather useless in my opinion as it is would be hard to handle. I have been looking at the lodge dutch ovens, can't say I really need one but would like to have one. My step-daughter and her husband have a camper and use frequently. He likes to do most of the outdoor cooking. I watched him make an apple pie in a dutch oven, I was surprised, a small charcoal bed under it and several on top did the trick.

[DougGuy]

could it be that the ring will help it sit flat if the bottom is warped outward a bit

It works well if you have to use it on a glass cooktop. The glass has to go somewhere when it gets hot, so the portion that heats actually pushes upward into an arch that makes any pan spin and makes it cook hotter in the middle where it's touching the pan. I hate those things. Most inefficient heating method ever invented.

[beemer]

DougGuy, we do have a glass cooktop, only thing I like about is it is easy to keep clean. I used gas for 40 years and I really liked it but our supplier went to over $4.15 a gallon pus tank rent unless you bought into a locked in price. There service got to be a joke.

I dug out my Grandmother's pan and looked it over, it is a cheep pan with a very uneven castings on the bottom. I do know it came in a set with a No. 8 cook stove. Still it was my Grandmother's pan, I guess my Dad ate a lot of fried squirrel from that pan. She passed in "89 when Hugo came through at 94 years, she was one tough old gal.

[jonp]

We use Pam on big resaw bandsaw blades.

Works great on handsaws and also crosscut saws. Oldtimers used kerosine but that's kinda expensive now. Pam or another spray oil seems to work just as good

[KCSO]

I just smoke em up with bear oil and when they get black enough they are pretty non stick, just make sure you are not taking out the oil with clean up. Dawn and such are too harsh.

[ghh3rd]

I love my two cast iron skillets! Wish I hadn’t waited until I was 60 to try one.

[fiberoptik]

I love my two cast iron skillets! Wish I hadn’t waited until I was 60 to try one.

My mechanics wife had a few & said her daughter in laws liked teflon & gave us a few. Downward slope from there. Remembered my buddys mom used one & never washed it. Cooked everything in it. Didn’t stick. Hooked from then on. I got smart in my late 20’s. Only pan I use that’s not cast is either a big carbon steel wok, (have a small ci one) stainless saucepan ir aluminum stirring paddle popcorn [emoji897] pan. Though I gotta say the wok actually works better for popcorn [emoji897]!

Best way to get them hot—induction cooktop! Quicker/more precise/more efficient!! Also portable! Think hunting camp/motel/beach!
NewWave is your friend.!

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[Tom W.]

Well, I took mine to the shed and put the 4" angle grinder with a worn sanding disc and got it down to bare metal. I washed it thoroughly and put a bit of Wesson oil on it. Lori has been working with it and just about has it seasoned. She told me to leave it alone until she says it's ready. It looks a heck of a lot better than it did.

[lightman]

I'm finding all of this talk about seasoning and cleaning cast iron to be very interesting. My Wife uses a skillet that we have had for 40+ years and absolutely forbids me to wash it. She will pour the grease out, reheat it and pour water in it. Anything still stuck gets scraped with a plastic spatula. At deer camp I wash the cast iron by pouring the grease out and then wash it in hot soapy water. I'll gently scrub anything that sticks with a 3M scouring pad. I've never hurt the seasoning by doing this.

I bought a couple of large skillets and a couple of large griddles when I was the Scoutmaster of the local Scout troop. They were so rough that I sanded them with a sanding disc before ever using them. After seasoning them they worked great.

[anothernewb]

I have a few older warner and griswold pans I inherited from my parents and grandparents, and a new lodge logic pan.

The lodge pan was very very rough and took forever to get even close to those old pans. I'ts okay, but the old 8 in griswold is the go to egg pan. It's also considerably thicker cast than the others as well. the warner is probably about 2# lighter given the same general diameter.

I've also heard lots of horror stories about washing them in detergents. I guess I've been lucky. I've always washed them out with hot water and (usually) dawn detergent. Never taken a metal scraper or brillow pad to them to them though. regular dish rag has always worked. If there's really stuck food, usually heating the pan back up with a bit of water boiling in it gets the stuck stuff off easy, but I've never had the detergent damage anything as far as I can tell. a quick wipe down with whatever grease/oil I have handy when done and they've gone 20 years since I've had them with zero issues.

[bob208]

got a lodge 10 1/4 skillet for a wedding gift in 1974. still have the skillet not the wife.

[MaryB]

Pour in a cup of hot water as soon as the food is out(pour off excess grease if frying), after cooled enough to handle pour the water out, add some salt and scrub with a paper towel. The salt picks up excess oils and gets stuck bits off. Rinse in hot water, dry, I put it on the burner and blast it on high to make it is dry.

[Loudenboomer]

231631

Been collecting "smoke ring" wagner skillets. Most of mine are about 100 years old. Here are a few I have at the cabin. Old fashioned lye bath took off many Years of build up. If any had rust I used electroless. Hot water cleanup is all that is needed after seasoning. I'd Never throw a pan into a camp fire or use a bunch of salt to clean but that's just me.

[Moonie]

I just received a 6"x8" SS chain-mail scrubber for cast iron, anyone use one of these before?

[Nueces]

I just received a 6"x8" SS chain-mail scrubber for cast iron, anyone use one of these before?

I have one and tried it a few times. I think the Lodge brush does a better job.

[snowwolfe]

Great thread, keep the comments coming.

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

I inherited one that had heavy machining marks in it. Clicked it up with electric drill and circular sanding disks. Works great now. I did not "polish" it. Finest grit used was like 180.

[fiberoptik]

We bought a set from Fingerhut back in the 80s. China made, rough as could be. Only one I didn’t like was the saucepan. Was one heavy sucker!


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[iomskp]

I have a couple of cast iron pans, provided you do your part nothing sticks, I also have a large stainless Tagine that I use the heavy base as a fry pan, if you clean it I think even teflon Bill Clinton would stick to it, however heat some oil in it and let it sit for a while and it's as good as the cast iron pans.

[bob208]

I was at an auction a dirty crusty pan came up got it for $3. got home hit the bottom with wire wheel it is a Wagner.

[jimlj]

I went to wallyworld and bought one of the china 12" fry pans a couple days ago. It was "pre-seasoned" and rough as a rasp as another poster pointed out. I took my 4" angle grinder with a flap disk to it. Just barely started and realized what a big mistake it was to do it without a dust mask. Naturally I had used my last dust mask doing some body work on the truck so back to town for dust masks. WARNING if you don't want to pick black boogers for a week and taste iron, get a dust mask. Also, wear good eye protection. I had safety glasses on but was still getting chunks in my eyes. I have a full face shield so I used that as well as the safety glasses. I spent about a 15 minutes sanding and got it fairly smooth. I would have had to take another 1/16" off the whole inside of the pan to get it completely smooth. My flap disk is fairly fine (I think about 120) and I didn't bother trying to polish it up any more than that. I washed the pan with soap and hot water, put it on the old Coleman stove in the garage and got it good and hot. Removed from the heat and used a small amount Camp Chef cast iron conditioner spread with a paper towel. Back to the heat and left it there till it quit smoking. Repeat the conditioner a couple times and I had a shiny black with a few places of dark brown fry pan. This morning I cooked up some bacon. The bacon didn't stick, but there was some hard crust in the bottom that I assume was the sugar from the bacon cure. A light scraping with a metal spatula and the crust was gone. Threw in a couple eggs and they cooked up great without any sticking. This evening I'm going to spread a bit of the bacon grease in the pan and cook some corn bread.

I had read that you can ruin a pan when trying to smooth them out. I don't believe that to be the case. My cheap pan turned far smoother than any new pans I'm aware of, and what I have tried so far it is non stick.

[DougGuy]

I was at an auction a dirty crusty pan came up got it for $3. got home hit the bottom with wire wheel it is a Wagner.

Bob please don't subject potentially collectible and vintage iron to a wire wheel, there are much better ways to clean one without devaluing it. Collectors will frown on a wire polished pan, most will run like crazy cause they can't resell it, often the wire wheel polishes the surface enough that it might not take seasoning very well, google cleaning cast iron with a lye bath, scroll up this thread and see what a lye bath does they work great.

[Walks]

I just saw one of those chain mail scrubbers in a
LODGE Package at our local RALPH'S ( Kroeger) Supermarket. Kinda freaked me out. Goes against EVERYTHING ABOUT CAST IRON I WAS RAISED ON.

Been eating food cooked in cast iron since before I had teeth. What a GOD AWFUL THING. From Lodge no less.

My Wife fry's Bacon in her 100yr old 10" or 6" WAGNER's at least once a week. Never sticks. Rinse in scalding water, dry on stove, wipe with little bit Crisco oil. She's been doing it that way since she got that old used 6" skillet on her 8th Birthday.
Never had a problem.

[Steelshooter]

So after 80 posts on what to do with cast iron skillets, can I ask what are the advantages of using cast iron over using modern non stick skillets? :)

[DougGuy]

Actually the chain mail is a good cleaner, it won't scrub off any seasoning and it gets off the burned on bits. I put a bit of warm water in a pan, bunch the chain mail up and run it around a few times then dump the water, wipe the pan dry and oil it a little bit.

I like cooking in cast iron cause no laboratory made chemically bonded coatings come off in my food, baked goods come out with a golden brown crispy crust, let alone the crust a seasoned cast iron skillet puts on cornbread. Cooking in cast iron infuses iron into the diet, and there is a certain nostaligic love for doing things the old way, not unlike hunting with or shooting with black powder. Or casting one's own boolits..

[Shopdog]

Right now in a very neat "stack" is 10 CI skillets on the maple BB counter. Right next to a 3 stack of Calphalon SS skillets( non coated stainless). These are all working pans. Short of beating on them with a ballpean hammer,there ain't a whole lot that you can do to hurt them. The main advantage for me,using these over newer coated pans is this indestructible nature. The Calphalon is for acidic cooking and certain other products where CI needs a pass/break.

The CI has a slight advantage over the Calphs when browning,looking for the "crisp" and also goes from stove top to oven a little better.

[jonp]

I bought a couple of cheap cast iron skillets from Sportsman Guide and WalMart. Bottoms are very rough but after seasoning seem to work ok. Im debating a session with a grinder sander to smooth one out but I dont know. Yes or no on this?

[anothernewb]

So after 80 posts on what to do with cast iron skillets, can I ask what are the advantages of using cast iron over using modern non stick skillets? :)

There has been some talk that people with anemia or iron deficiencies can benefit from food cooked in cast iron. but is it accurate? I can't say. What I can say is that no one ever ingested microplastics or teflon from a cast iron pan. I can also say in personal experience meat seared/browned in a cast iron pan is far superior to the aluminiun or other zamak pans out there. The heat holding properties of the cast produce a better more even sear (and IMO tasted better - but again probably due to the coatings on other pans) Although in truth, I have to say that some of the heavy stainless with the encapsulated bottoms also don't do that bad.. especially once you let them get a good brown/black carbon coating on them like an old baking sheet. The people that scour stainless pans back to shiny never see the benefits. They can be made to season up much like a cast iron if you let them.

I think much of the cooking benefit simply comes from the mass of the pan. look at any "professional" series pan. they all have added mass somewhere. That mass translates into much more even heating. IMO just like engines, there's no replacement for displacement. I think the other advantage comes from longevity. Many people are still using their cast from a century ago. most of the modern wonder pans go into landfills or recycling after perhaps only 5 years.

[WILCO]

So after 80 posts on what to do with cast iron skillets, can I ask what are the advantages of using cast iron over using modern non stick skillets? :)

Simply put, healthier cooking, added iron to your food with pure joy.

[jimlj]

So after 80 posts on what to do with cast iron skillets, can I ask what are the advantages of using cast iron over using modern non stick skillets? :)
I like the flavor of anything cooked in cast iron better than the new wonder pans. Perhaps is has more to do with were I do most of my cast iron cooking (outdoors and while camping) than the actual flavor. I'm a bit afraid to cook with cast on my wife's glass top electric range.
I like cast iron maybe for the same reason I like my '66 Mustang and drive my '79 F250 Ford instead of several new trucks I've owned and sold.
Perhaps I like cast iron for the same reason I'd sooner shoot a SKS rifle than a AR15.
There is nothing better than bread cooked in a cast iron Dutch oven, and as DougGuy pointed out you haven't had good corn bread unless it's been cooked in a cast iron pan.

[Tom W.]

Before Lori went on some strange diet she used to make cornbread baked in a CI skillet.... And it was delicious!

[jonp]

Before Lori went on some strange diet she used to make cornbread baked in a CI skillet.... And it was delicious!

Must be on the same diet I am on. After losing 20lbs I added carbs on the weekend in a moderate way and the weight is steady. Tell Lori that when she reaches the weight she wants to experiment with adding a little here and there. I just had some corn bread baked in cast iron in the oven with chili during the snowstorm this weekend. mmmmm.............

[dpoe001]

I have managed to get a lot of old cast iron skillets, my nephew worked in a scrap yard.He would set them to the side of the building, and when he got 3 or 4 he would call me i would buy them for scrap prices.Most of them were very cruddy rusty i would take them to work and sand blast them,bring them home and scrub them in very hot water then coat them in oil and heat in oven several times,then on my next day off fry up bacon in them.all of them are working really good now.My neighbors wonder about me when I'm outside at 7am cooking on my coleman and the side burner on my grill.

[toallmy]

I have been keeping a eye on this thread , and have decided to try my hand at seasoning a cast iron skillet . So today wile visiting with my mother I became the proud owner of 2 smaller old rusty skillets as test subjects . It seems she had picked them up at a yard sale a few years ago and they were left setting out side of a shed in the back yard every since . She picked up 4 for 10 bucks but she is not shore what happened to the other 2 larger ones .
Here is a funny story to explain how my wife feels about cast iron , when my wife and I got married and set up house I went to our local hardware store and ordered 2 nice large new skillets , and they seemed to disappear
. Years later she told me she gave them away because they were very heavy and everything burned in them . So we will see how this goes this time it's been 25-30 years .

[WheelgunConvert]

Just fry a pound of bacon in it drain then overheat till it smokes. Put some grease back in. The blacker with carbon the better the non stick.

Like the above except put it on the propane grill and bring it up to 450-500 then turn the grill off and let it set until cool. Then wipe the whole thing down with more bacon grease and do it again.

Lodge makes a hard silicone scraper for cleaning the pots. Do not soak it in soapy water or scour.
Dry it over low heat and wipe it down with a light coat of vegetable oil for storage.

[Wag]

So after 80 posts on what to do with cast iron skillets, can I ask what are the advantages of using cast iron over using modern non stick skillets? :)

Everything tastes better when cooked in cast iron.

A few years ago, I read somewhere that they're discovering that the non-stick coatings used for the new pans can gradually wear off and cause liver damage. I don't remember where I read it, and never really did a lot of research on it.

But, everything still tastes better cooked in cast iron.

And some of the non-stick pans are being made with coated aluminum. As soon as the non-stick coating gets scratched or starts to wear off, then you're subject to the problems associated with having aluminum in your food/diet. Along with the aforementioned non-stick coating.

And still, evertthing tastes better when cooked in cast iron.

The only real downside to cast iron is that it's a bit more work to take care of and you have to learn how to do it. My engineer father-in-law refused to listen to me when I told him the cast iron isn't supposed to go into the dishwasher and isn't supposed to be washed with dishsoap. Finally had to ban him from using it to cook and made him buy his own dang cast iron. Of course, he never could figure out why his food never really tasted as good as mine.

Of course, everything tastes better when cooked in cast iron.

:D

--Wag--

[DerekP Houston]

So after 80 posts on what to do with cast iron skillets, can I ask what are the advantages of using cast iron over using modern non stick skillets? :)

Never wears out, the coating can be replaced instead of teflon bits getting in your food, sears much better/cooks more even, iron added to food if you have anemic family members (wife). I've used the same griswold/wagners for a decade now where I used to replace my pans every 6 months to a year due to wearing them out. Same as getting a high quality chef knife, get a good one and stop replacing the chinese ****.

[WILCO]

Don't know if I've ever shared this, but I do love cast iron cookware.

Use it every day.

[Char-Gar]

So after 80 posts on what to do with cast iron skillets, can I ask what are the advantages of using cast iron over using modern non stick skillets? :)

I am taking that as a serious question. Cast iron cooks better because of even heating and heat retention in the iron. Food cooked in cast iron also seems to taste better.

You can cook on anything, including an old metal drum lid (I have done it), but cast iron seems to do the best. The French make the high end Le Cruset line of cookware, that is cast iron with an exterior enamel finish. It works very well with easier cleanup.

I have one the Le Cruset extra large "goose pots" and once you get it on or in the stove will feed a family reunion. Now getting it on the stove or in the oven almost requires a crane.

You can buy, high end Chef's stainless cookware by Viking, All-Clad and others that often use laminated metals to try and produce the cooking quality of cast iron without the weight and clean up issues. While some of these other products cooks well, nothing is superior to cast iron. Even the most skilled chef, when cooking a pan fried/grilled steak will haul out the cast iron.

[Char-Gar]

I have been keeping a eye on this thread , and have decided to try my hand at seasoning a cast iron skillet . So today wile visiting with my mother I became the proud owner of 2 smaller old rusty skillets as test subjects . It seems she had picked them up at a yard sale a few years ago and they were left setting out side of a shed in the back yard every since . She picked up 4 for 10 bucks but she is not shore what happened to the other 2 larger ones .
Here is a funny story to explain how my wife feels about cast iron , when my wife and I got married and set up house I went to our local hardware store and ordered 2 nice large new skillets , and they seemed to disappear
. Years later she told me she gave them away because they were very heavy and everything burned in them . So we will see how this goes this time it's been 25-30 years .

At my last church (St.Luke's UMC, Corpus Christi TX) I told folks I was a cast iron nut. Folks started to go into their garages etc. and bring me all their rusty cast iron. They quite using it because it became to heavy.

I cleaned and reseasoned it all, stocked up my kids and put the rest out in my office, for any one to take. I gave away several dozen cast iron pots and pans and most are still in use today.

Cast iron is never to far gone to be reclamed. A few feet from where I sit is a large cast iron pot, that a fellow found under the crawl space of a house he was remodeling. It is a Chili Pot deluxe.

[Tom W.]

My late wife bought an enameled Lodge CI pot that I used to make chili in. I'd put the burner on low and fill it with whatever struck my fancy that day. It was always delicious...... One day before she passed she turned on the burner under it and passed out. I got home in time to prevent a house fire and revived her, but that pot was ruined. I couldn't do anything to help it out......

[Char-Gar]

My late wife bought an enameled Lodge CI pot that I used to make chili in. I'd put the burner on low and fill it with whatever struck my fancy that day. It was always delicious...... One day before she passed she turned on the burner under it and passed out. I got home in time to prevent a house fire and revived her, but that pot was ruined. I couldn't do anything to help it out......

One night, with my family on vacation in a cabin, I cooked in my large cast iron chicken fryer, washed it and put it on the stove to dry. I forgot about it and woke up to a light in the kitchen about 3 AM. I went in to the kitchen and found the cast iron glowing bright cherry red. I turned off the burner and went to bed, thinking the chicken fryer was done for.

In the morning, the season was done for and the pot covered with a fine ash. After a re-season, I am still using it 40 years later.

[toallmy]

Well I'm not shore how the story will end but I'm doing it . I took my 2 new to me rusty pans out and gave them a good scrubbing , than I took a wire brush on a grinder to them I completely removed all the rust and burned on carbon . Wile wire brushing them - as the burned on carbon came out I was left with pits but I did not go any further because I can always go back to the grinder if the pits are a problem . Well yesterday I set out to try my hand at seasoning them after a very viscous scrubbing they got a light coating of Crisco and heated on a burner until they started smoking afterwards allowed to cool , 4 times I did the same thing . Then in the evening I used the oven twice with a light coating of Crisco at 400 allowing complete cooling each time . Well the bottom of the skillets are sort of a red brown color not the deep black , but I cooked a few eggs in them this morning although they stuck when attempting to flip them they cleaned up easily . So I suppose this is going to be a work in progress hopefully the end product will be a few pans of fried potatoes with onions slightly blackened and browned in margarine .
If all else fails I will use the grinder on them , and start over . I guess ether way I win because every day I'm going to fry something .:-P