Anyone Ever Polished a Cast Iron Skillett??

[Shiloh]

I am considering my cast iron skillet gone. Haven't seen it since we moved 19 years ago.
I looked at the Lodge skillets and they are rough as cobbs. There are YouTUbe vids of folks who have polished them with good results. Any first hand results to share??
Mine was pretty darn smooth to begin with and after seasoning food didn't stick.

Shiloh

[44man]

I would not make smooth. Just season. I think you will be happy.

[725]

Noticed the same thing on my "newer" cast cookware. Don't have an answer for you. Kind of interested, myself. I did have a wok & a cast iron fry pan that had curved or "domed" bottoms. Didn't make for a good heat / contact transfer from the electric range. It was the devil grinding them flat so they would sit in contact with the heating surface. My old stuff is much better.

[dragon813gt]

Yep, polished one new Lodge. I've been fighting sticking ever since. Tried one new out of the box, works great. I regret polishing it up.

[bubba.50]

never felt the need or saw a reason to. as long as it's cleaned right & seasoned good it'll be fine. and that rough inside finish will be smoothed out before ya know it. the she-griz's cheapo Chinee skillet was rough enough to use for a rasp when it was new & now with just a little nudge and a shake eggs just slide right around in it.

[country gent]

Its the roughness that holds the oils and greases as it seasons. As it seasons the low areas fill in with the seasonings and it becomes smoother and much slicker. Doing away with the hills and valleys takes away the oil holding capabilities making it stick with foods.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I use the old stuff daily (Griswold).

A few years ago, My Dad bought a new Lodge pan with Ribs (to create grill marks), besides the Ribs, it had the lodge bumpy finish. He gave it to me, after he decided, he didn't like it. I used it once, and let me tell you, that thing was a bugger to clean, I suspect my Mom cleaned off the seasoning? I seen no real use for it, for my type of cooking, so I donated it the local thrift store with a bunch of other stuff.

[waksupi]

I won two new cast iron fry pans last summer at a shoot. One, I smoothed up, the other was left rough. I seasoned both exactly the same, and have used them equally. The rough one definitely has seasoned best.

[Shiloh]

There is one called a Stargazer that is smooth and expensive. Same with Field Company. Smooth as a modern pan. Caries the price tag.

Shiloh

[mcdaniel.mac]

Electric drill, some polish paste, and a polishing ball. Mother's is a brand of wheel polish, works well. Afterwards, clean well and season.

[William Yanda]

Yep, polished one new Lodge. I've been fighting sticking ever since. Tried one new out of the box, works great. I regret polishing it up.

Sorry to hear that. Just doesn't make sense to me, but I guess you can't argue with experience. Why should polishing work if done by the manufacturer, but not by the owner?

[MaryB]

I have one of those grill pans with the ridges... PITA(Pain in the....) to clean and everything sticks and I never took the factory seasoning off.

I use the old stuff daily (Griswold).

A few years ago, My Dad bought a new Lodge pan with Ribs (to create grill marks), besides the Ribs, it had the lodge bumpy finish. He gave it to me, after he decided, he didn't like it. I used it once, and let me tell you, that thing was a bugger to clean, I suspect my Mom cleaned off the seasoning? I seen no real use for it, for my type of cooking, so I donated it the local thrift store with a bunch of other stuff.

[DougGuy]

I have both new and old, rough and smooth. I have lots of vintage nice old Griswold and Wagner pans, old 3 notch Lodge, Wapak, National, Puritan, among others. New Lodge works best if left alone and just cooked on. I have a new Lodge griddle that I have stuck over the 135,000 BTU Bayou Classic gas burner until it was gray and dang near red hot, to blacken salmon on. Afterwards, cleaned it up even with soapy water and a stainless scrubbee, then oiled it and put it away. I used it tonite for cooking some Indian flat bread, no sticking, no evidence it has ever been that hot, it's best used just like it came from Walmart...

[Nueces]

I bet the makers polished with coarser abrasives, leaving the surface more open. Metal polish or buffing tends to "wipe the pores over", for lack of a better term, which could interfere with retaining seasoning. Just a theory, though.

[jcren]

The older quality iron had higher nickle content than the new stuff, making it more machinable and filling in the pores in the iron. I think that machining modern iron just opens more pores for things to stick to.

[NavyVet1959]

I wish I had a lathe big enough to mount my cast iron skillets in to smooth / flatten the inner surface of the bottom.

Not that I think it would necessarily work better for cooking, but I just wish I had a lathe that big.

[6bg6ga]

I've never run across a pan that was new that was worth anything. You need one that 40 or 50 years old. I won't agree with polishing because from what I have seen it has been a hindrance instead of a help. Keep em old keep them rough and keep them seasoned.

[Bulldogger]

I have sanded a Lodge recently, and it is working well. I used an orbital sander with 6" disc, 100 grit. Didn't go totally smooth, just what felt right. I wanted a few large pores left, but the surface was too sharp and pointy as delivered.

I then seasoned with peanut oil in the oven per usual methods, except I did it twice and the second time got distracted and left it in there about 2 hours.

It works well, better than the original seasoning and no fingers on a chalkboard sound when moving something across it to turn food.

I would do it again, it worked for me.

Bulldogger

[Shiloh]

I've never run across a pan that was new that was worth anything. You need one that 40 or 50 years old. I won't agree with polishing because from what I have seen it has been a hindrance instead of a help. Keep em old keep them rough and keep them seasoned.

Absolutely. The Lodge that I had was a LOT smoother than the ones I ran my hand over at Fleet Farm.

I have sanded a Lodge recently, and it is working well. I used an orbital sander with 6" disc, 100 grit. Didn't go totally smooth, just what felt right. I wanted a few large pores left, but the surface was too sharp and pointy as delivered.

I then seasoned with peanut oil in the oven per usual methods, except I did it twice and the second time got distracted and left it in there about 2 hours.

It works well, better than the original seasoning and no fingers on a chalkboard sound when moving something across it to turn food.

I would do it again, it worked for me.

Bulldogger

Still deciding. Like you, It won't be mirror smooth, just take the pyramid sharp spots down a bit.

Shiloh

[Shiloh]

I never made stew or chili in my old pan. I used it for frying. Breakfast, porkchops and steaks in winter, and a lot of home fries with onions.
Advice on making chili or stew. Does that dissolve the seasoning layer??

SHiloh