Cast iron pan season along...

[stickbowhntr]

best ideas i have seen yet on this seasoning.

[Dave Bulla]

Alex m,

There might be something to that fried potatoes theory.  Especially if you fry them in lard.

Ever go in a Waffle House restaurant?  I used to go fairly often when I lived in Atlanta and once I got talking to the waitress/cook about their waffle irons.  Told her I had an old cast iron one that you use on the stove top but that when I used it, the waffles stuck pretty badly.  She just smiled and said something like "Well darlin' you just haveta 'burn it in'."   She went on to explain that there in the restaurant, they did it every couple weeks where they'd pour some batter in the irons and let it cook until it turned into a black cinder.  She said it'd season the iron perfectly and after that the waffles wouldn't stick.  Makes sense if you think about it.  Once the outside is burnt, it's almost like ash and is crumbly and unsticks itself.  The insides of the waffles would be burnt too so they would be hard and they'd just fall right out.  I believe I recall seeing them brush the insides with a scrub brush looking thing to get the crumbs out but that's about it.

[Dave Bulla]

FYI, I just picked up a small Wagner dutch oven lid at an estate sale that was awfully rusty.  I took it onto work and used a different sand blaster this time (200# air instead of just regular shop air) and WOW!  Took about 5 minutes and it's bright silver, bare metal.  I wish I'd taken a before picture but to give you an idea, it was so bad when I put it inside my duffel bag to go to work all my clothes got dirty and when I changed clothes and showered at the end of my shift, my towel and clean clothes were all full of rust.  It had enough rust that it would come off onto anything it touched.  I'll post an after pic so you can get an idea of how well it cleaned up.  

Sure wish I had the pot to go with it but lids are harder to find than pots so I figured I'd buy it "alone" and hope to find the pot someday later.

[Warberg]

Great info Dave, Cast iron pans are the way to go. I use the same ones my Mom used growing up. Any beat use with.
even though I probley  will never grow up. from the size 3 ash tray to the two burner gridle. Muffin pans,  dutchovens,  they all continue to be used daily. Inside or outside. Worth every penny. Your info is right on.. Thanks again

[Dave Bulla]

I went ahead and seasoned the lid tonight when I got home.  Wasn't sure how well it would work to do my stove top method with a lid but it went fine.  I took pictures along the way and they're uploading right now to photobucket.

I also kept track of the time to see how long it took from start to finish and total it was about 17 minutes.  Really, it was good enough at 10 to 12 minutes to start using it or put it up for storage but I did it longer to even out the brownness a bit.

Here's a pic of the top of the lid.  That sand blaster REALLY worked nice.  One of these days I'll post pics of a pan done in the oven self clean cycle.  But that's not good for rust, just carbon build up.
 

Inside.
 

And close up of the inside.  You can see that it is slightly pitted due to the amount of rust it had but that won't hurt it a bit.
 

[Dave Bulla]

So, same process as the pan I did earlier in this post.  I wiped on a thin coat of lard and continued to wipe until it seemed to be picking it back up and the lid just looked a bit shiney.  Only problem with this piece is the raised lettering and the raised pattern for the "drip drop" feature of the lid.  Wiping on the lard with a paper towel makes a bit hard to get up tight to the raised letters so I put it on a bit heavier than I usually do and then started wiping the excess as soon as it started melting.


Here it is after just a few minutes.  Looks pretty much unchanged.  Just a hint of golden brown starting to show.  Once it starts to get heated up enough to smoke a bit it'll color a lot faster.  Note the time on the clock is 12:51.  I believe it was 12:48 when I put it on.
   

12:52.  She's getting warm enough to smoke just a bit.
   

12:53.  Coming along nicely.  I've wiped it a couple times with the paper towel that still has some residual lard in it.
   

12:55.  Had the idea to use a basting brush and put some lard on with it to get around the raised areas easier.  Worked fine but put more on than I really wanted so I went back and wiped with the paper towel afterwords.  You can see where the dribbles ran.  She's smokin' good!  Well, shouldn't be smoking THAT much.  The heavy smoke is due to the excess lard the brush put on.  That's part of why I prefer very thin controlled coats wiped on with a towel, they smoke less.  Range fan is getting most of it but I'm bettin' it's starting to stink upstairs.  Wife and kids will sleep through anything.  This is really best done outside on a camp stove or turkey fryer burner.
   

[Dave Bulla]

About 12:59, the outside is really coming along nicely.  It's good enough that I could stop here and put it away on a shelf until I find a pot to go with it but I'm gonna keep going just to see how much difference more time makes.  *Note the condition of the paper towel.  It's a bit burnt and frayed.  The brown part is normal but the frayed part in this case comes mostly from wiping over the raised letters.  The cheap modern cast iron stuff is pretty rough and will also cause this but if you look at an old Griswold in good condition, they're almost like glass inside.  Do a search on fleabay and you will see what I mean.
   

1:05, Looking real good!  I'm calling it done.  Pretty quick and easy for sure.  But like I said, really better to do it outside.  I could also put this in the oven now and let it go a while and it would darken even more.  I really never bother though as I just cook with the stuff and it gets black on it's own just fine.  It's 1:51 right now as I type this and I can still smell it upstairs in the computer room....  Hope the smell is gone by morning!
   

[stickbowhntr]

this is just what I was looking for today...thanks

[el greco]

Thanks

[NormanDale33]

Great post. My wife and I bought an expensive set of stainless steel pots/pans for our weeding. A few years later we bought a cast iron pan and I found an old one in my grandma's old stuff. We seasoned them and started using them. Can't remember the last time I touched the stainless skillets.  

[TSchirm]

Hey guys,  can you help me out?  I was wondering something about the new cast iron skillets out there.  I used to have a good, old skillet that my wife inadvertently gave away (long story).  We went without for a few years now, but don't like most frying pans you can get now.  We have been on the lookout for used cast iron skillets in a couple sizes, and managed to find only one after months of looking,

SO, I broke down and bought two new ones made by Lodge for the other sizes we wanted.  These new ones are kind of rough on the cooking surface, where my old one was smooth.  Does this make things like eggs stick even thought Lodge says they come pre-weasoned.  I intend to improve the seasoning, but am wondering about the roughness causing problems with things sticking.  My wife is really not happy, and doesn't think they will work, and doesn't want to use them.  So now I'm in the doghouse for spending moeny trying to help out (again- lol).  

What are others experiences with newer cast iron and the roughness of the cooking surface??

[Fat Daddy]

tom,

I use at least one of my Lodge cast iron skillets every day.  They are smooth to the touch.  The didn't start out that way but with a month's worth of use, they evolved into the pans that they are now.  I recommend just using them often.  Lodge hasn't changed the way they make them, so they should end up as smooth as your old one.

Good luck and enjoy the time with the dog!

FD

[stickbowhntr]

My wife is really not happy,


Well neither would I be for what she sold. Tell her get over it and just start using the new ones.

[Babbling Bob]

My cast iron skillets I bought 46 years ago are black, not brown inside and very slick.   Some pitting on the 10 incher, but they are used every day. When its cold, the large one is used to cook the suasage and gravy and the smaller 8 to 9 inch normal size skillet does the biquits.

I agree with use of the lard, it works great.  I also just take a very small amount of oil and rub the inside of the skillets after use. I also noticed that the new skillets are heavier and thicker, but also more porous than the skillets I bought years ago. Like the old ones better

[hvyhitter]

In teaching adult daughter to use cast iron one important point came up- HEAT. Cast iron doesnt need the heat to be cranked up and works best on low to medium heat. Too hot and you start to burn off your seasoning and will have to start over. I cook eggs or an omlett every day along with spam or bacon or sausage on med low heat and nothing ever sticks......... make perfect grilled cheese sandwiches that way too.......

[Krex1010]

I have several newer lodge cast irons, all started out with that rough texture but they are slick as ice now after a few years. Keep them oiled, keep soap away, if they get crusty just boil some water in them and wipe clean and oil them again. If they are dead dry and greased everytime you're done withr them, they will stay beautiful and outlive you.

[alaskabowhunter]

I only cook in cast iron, was raised with it. I have a few dutch ovens for hunting camp.....this is some of them....
 

[alaskabowhunter]

 
 

[alaskabowhunter]

everthing tastes better in cast iron....

[alaskabowhunter]