Bought my first cast iron skillet.

[Idaho45guy]

Tried cooking a burger on it tonight and it stuck and left all sorts of junk... Not working too well so far.

[crowbuster]

I didnt have much luck with cocnut oil. went back to lard, no problems. And did the oven thing once. no luck. went back to my stove top method. I hadnt had problems, just listened to someone that said it was better. twasnt

[jimlj]

I think Lodge's factory applied seasoning is a fairly good start, and I wouldn't bother with anything else other than a bit of oil and use it. The more you use it, the better the non stick seasoning becomes. Camp Chef makes a seasoning oil that I wipe my Dutch ovens with before storing them at the end of the year. In between uses I just give them a quick spritz of olive oil cooking spray and wipe them off with a paper towel.

[StratsMan]

Tried cooking a burger on it tonight and it stuck and left all sorts of junk... Not working too well so far.

Technique is also important when cooking to minimize stickiness... For steak, a searing-smoking hot pan is the place to start... I normally cook hamburgers on the bbq, so I'm not sure about smoking hot pans for burgers.

Don't give up, just try something different until you find what works... It's a lot like casting boolits; it's more art AND science...

To clean that stuff, I occasionally warm the pan a little then put in rock or kosher salt with some oil and scrub with a paper towel. The salt doesn't dissolve in the oil, gives a gentle scrub and leaves a generous coating. Quick rinse with hot water and towel dry and it's ready for the next meal....

[Boogedy_Man]

I've never had much luck trying to season a pan doing anything other than just cooking in it. That always works. Our best pans are the ones the wife cooks cornbread in. They're like shiny black glass in the bottom.

[Char-Gar]

I have been using cast iron cook wear since 1962. There are many, many different schools about seasoning the stuff. Some folks are very insistent there is only one way, their way.

Truth of the matter is you can start cooking with it right out of the bag/box and it will work just fine and in due time be very well seasoned.

[Hogtamer]

It ain't teflon! You must use plenty of oil to cook on newer pans, some oil even on the old seasoned ones. Pan frying will season one quicker than anything but not so popular anymore. In about 40 years it will look like this...Attachment 217968

[lightman]

I love cast iron cookware, and the food that is prepared in it. But beware, its addictive, like bullet molds! There is a learning curve with cast iron, and like someone said, try different things until something works for you.

[Char-Gar]

If you get some burned on stuff on your cast iron, remove it with a paint scraper. The gizmo with the replaceable single edge razor blades. The reason the bottom of cast iron is so smooth is because the pores are filled with old carbonized food.

[woodbutcher]

Guys and gals.There ain`t but one thing better than cast iron.MORE.Lost all mine in a house fire in 88.Had one skillet that eggs would slide around like they were on ball bearings.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[Catshooter]

Use a Griswold #3 for my eggs every morning, and you have to careful getting the pan to the plate as the eggs will fly out at the flick of the wrist.


Cat

[Petrol & Powder]

My Griswold #8 is my favorite pan. It is jet black and as slick as glass.

There are about as many ways to season cast iron as there are people and everyone thinks their way is the best !

There's a bit of a learning curve to using cast iron cookware but once you get accustomed to using it, you'll never use anything else.

[Shopdog]

Eggsactly Cat.

My G-ma's were born in the 1870's.Never had an electric stove.There's a clue on CI right there.One reason newbs have issues with it is modern elect/gas stoves.Everything and body is in a hurry.G'ma skillets never left the heat,till the stove died.... say in summer.

So,slow the freak down...... bring it up to temp slowly.Then it is like casting,gotta KNOW the temp,lube,technique,pace.

One interesting thing about camp CI;If you don't wash the bttm of pan,when you return it to the kitchen....... a delightful faint Smokey smell will fill the kitchen.One of our favorite things to do.

Want another aroma therapy?About 10 minutes before the Gyoungins come over,take a #5 and sprinkle cinnamon in it,set on a medium heat,watch it...... looking for the 5degrees less than smoke point.I swear,they'll never forget going to your house.Well that and frying bacon.Heck,to torture my boys growing up,I'd hold a skillet full of almost smoke point bacon next to the return air grill on HVAC.Do a cpl cycles........ then wait about 5 -10 minutes,and we'd hear them clamoring down the stairs,youngest to oldest,works evertime.

[jimlj]

I have to disagree with the sentiment of never putting cast iron in hot coals. I use mine in/over hot coals most of the summer. Either in the back yard or out camping. You haven't lived till you've had a good meal cooked in cast iron in the great out doors. I used to use coals from a fire, but have found charcoal is much easier to maintain the temperature you want.

I've seen people throw a dirty Dutch oven in a hot fire to burn out any stuck food. That I would agree is not a good way to treat cast iron, but cooking with coals is perfectly safe and has been done that way for hundreds of years.

[lightman]

It ain't teflon! You must use plenty of oil to cook on newer pans, some oil even on the old seasoned ones. Pan frying will season one quicker than anything but not so popular anymore. In about 40 years it will look like this...Attachment 217968

Some of my Wifes cookware looks like this. And yeah, 40 years sounds about right! At deer camp I wash the skillets in soapy water but I'm careful to not scrape very hard on them. My Wife absolutely won't let me do this at home. Can't tell that it hurts anything, but???

[Char-Gar]

I have to disagree with the sentiment of never putting cast iron in hot coals. I use mine in/over hot coals most of the summer. Either in the back yard or out camping. You haven't lived till you've had a good meal cooked in cast iron in the great out doors. I used to use coals from a fire, but have found charcoal is much easier to maintain the temperature you want.

I've seen people throw a dirty Dutch oven in a hot fire to burn out any stuck food. That I would agree is not a good way to treat cast iron, but cooking with coals is perfectly safe and has been done that way for hundreds of years.

The Chuck Wagon cooks on the cattle drives, turned their cast iron upside down on the fire and burned them clean. When the cast iron was cook, they wiped out the ashes with a cloth.

[country gent]

A lot of the cattle drive cooks and settlers scoured them out with sand also, then a rinse with water.

[walnut1704]

The easiest way to clean and strip all the rust or crud off a cast iron pan is to put it in your oven upside down and run the oven on self-clean. It will strip it down to bare cast iron.

[edp2k]

Great way to wreck and warp your cast iron cookware.

Use a lye bath instead, outside, in a 5 gal plastic bucket.
Cheap, easy, won't destroy your cast iron cookware.

[Loudenboomer]

Lye bath will take off 100 years of carbon overnight. Ez off oven cleaner and a few hours in heavy duty garbage bags will do in a pinch. Electrolysis is best on rust. For a pan seriously neglected it's simple to make a set up with items most have around the house and shop.