I have three Amazon Basics cast iron skillets. They are just fine. Like with other brands, you have to season them well - even though they come "pre-seasoned." There are lots of methods out there, and I'm sure they all work. My method is to give them a good rinse with a brush under hot water. Then I dry them thoroughly. I heat them to warm so they fully dry and the pores open. Then I rub them inside and out with a thin layer of vegetable oil. I put them in a cold oven, upside down to prevent the possibility of the oil pooling, and turn the oven to about 375. I keep the oven on for an hour or so, turn it off, and let the pans cool inside the oven. I repeat the process two or three times, rubbing oil on the insides of the pans only as I am lazy. After three or four sessions, the insides of the pans are black and remarkably non-stick. The best part is, these pans get better with age and use.
Modern Cast Iron skillets which do/would you use?
- Thread starter apriliamille
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We got a no name and a Lodge. They are not modern though. I’d say older than I am.
We only season the inside. You’ll want to make sure you completely dry it off after washing or it will rust.
If your inside season is good you can basically just wipe it out and not have to wash it at all. We do cornbread in one of ours and just wipe it out and call it good.
We have an old pizza stone that we have never washed. It’s so perfectly seasoned that we just wipe it off and scrape off burnt cheese or whatever and it’s clean.
I don't have the basics pan but it is priced similar to the Lodge but appears to have a longer handle (a plus). I started acquiring cast iron pans by telling friends/relatives I was interested. I got a no lodge knockoff for christmas year. I then had to refine my message that I was looking for old/used stuff. I then got an older 9" pan that was being used as a door stop when I inquired about it (previously belonged to my step dad). Then I got a paula deen deep fryer from a friend that decided it was too heavy for her (in her late 80s). None of the stuff is fancy but there is a story behind them until I recently got a field skillet. I am kind of surprised I bought one new - it almost seems like cheating. I also picked up a lodge enameled cast iron dutch oven and it seems to get so much use that when SWMBO pointed out a staub with an rooster on the lid... well that was an easy present for SWMBO.
I am not an expert but I mostly season the inside of the pan... and every once in awhile add a bit to the outside and handle. I don't really consider the stuff on the outside seasoning as much as preventing rust.
I am not an expert but I mostly season the inside of the pan... and every once in awhile add a bit to the outside and handle. I don't really consider the stuff on the outside seasoning as much as preventing rust.
You should season the whole pan, otherwise the outside and handle could rust. After the initial seasoning, I usually just maintain the interior surface, and handle, because handling will wear the seasoning down and eventually rust will start.
ps. I wouldn't recommend this brand because it's made in China and as such I wouldn't trust its quality or safety. You can get genuine Lodge cast iron cookware, made in the USA, for comparable prices.
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I’ve a Lodge 10.5” skillet (makes a lot of hash browns and cottage fries, bacon, bison, lamb, goat, socca bread), and a 6.5 qt. kettle that fits the STÖK grill, and is most used for Chicken/soup. I use a Ringer Chain Maille scrubber (great too for stainless bottles), Lodge scrapers or a small metal spatula, hot water when pan is still warm to deglaze it, and will occasionally scrubit with bon-ami. Not a fan of char building upon it, mixing flavors. Coconut oil for cooking and coating. I had to re-sand the skillet yesterday after failing to oil it right after it was washed/dried, and a splash had set in a rust spot.
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- #47
i kind of like this comment. i did order new ones and then sanding on my lodge. yes cheating but man it sure was a chore smoothing out a 20 ish dollar lodge.
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- #48
an update. i have been cooking a bunch in the smithey chef pan. Its being tough at keeping seasoning in it. maybe due to it being BBS. its a little small i am thinking of getting the 10 chef. the 8 is just a little too small for a 3 egg omlette. while the seasoning is having a hard time staying it isnt really causing any sticking while im using it. We also got a finex 12 and have been using it well. it is coming along perfectly. who knows when the stargazer will get here. the Field 4 is just too small for anything. Not sure why i got it. figured i ought to have one around for something small but nothing small has come up to cook
TheShaun
Bejeweled
As luck would have it, I walked in to a Home Depot on the way home to look at their pans even though I had the Amazon one on the way. When I couldn't find them (I had seen them online), I asked an associate. He told me they were an online only item but one had been returned in store just that day. He took to me another associate who took e to the pan. It was a 12 inch Lodge Canadian Series. Retails for $60 CAD. When I asked the associate how much, she said $20. Huh? She confirmed $20. SOLD! Guess they didn't want to deal with an online only item. It was brand new with tag and label.
The Amazon one is now going to a staff member who just moved to a new place
I think this is a really cool piece with the maple leaf on it. https://www.homedepot.ca/product/lo...h-maple-leaf-scene-limited-edition/1001158893
The Amazon one is now going to a staff member who just moved to a new place
I think this is a really cool piece with the maple leaf on it. https://www.homedepot.ca/product/lo...h-maple-leaf-scene-limited-edition/1001158893
It is really cool, great bit of luck!As luck would have it, I walked in to a Home Depot on the way home to look at their pans even though I had the Amazon one on the way. When I couldn't find them (I had seen them online), I asked an associate. He told me they were an online only item but one had been returned in store just that day. He took to me another associate who took e to the pan. It was a 12 inch Lodge Canadian Series. Retails for $60 CAD. When I asked the associate how much, she said $20. Huh? She confirmed $20. SOLD! Guess they didn't want to deal with an online only item. It was brand new with tag and label.
The Amazon one is now going to a staff member who just moved to a new place
I think this is a really cool piece with the maple leaf on it. https://www.homedepot.ca/product/lo...h-maple-leaf-scene-limited-edition/1001158893
Now you'll just have to get the matching 10" skillet with a maple leaf and loon on it and you're set.
Wait! There's a whole wildlife series that you simply must own.
An 8" skillet with a duck, a 10" with a deer, and a 12" with a bear.
And there's even more! A 10 1/2" square grill pan with a trout embossed. Though it doesn't appear to be part of the wildlife series, nevertheless...
Neither does the 15.8" round griddle with a moose on the bottom, but c'mon...moose! Gotta have it, eh?
And after saving all that money at the Home Depot...ya just gotta splash out, don't ya know!
I have a no name one. The kitchen store where I bought it only sold that one and Lodge. I asked the store owner and was told the only real difference was that the Lodge was pre-seasoned. As I wanted to season the pan myself anyway I went with the cheaper option, and it has been fine for a number of years.
TheShaun
Bejeweled
The pan has been a game changer for cooking steaks!
Steak seared in CI last night.
I feel like such a wuss.. SWMBO wanted chicken fried steak done in an air fryer... So I uh did cook it in the AF. However I used the CI skillet to make the gravy. Sorry about the lack of photo evidence but it seemed to go poof before I could get a camera out. I am loving the field skillet - it seems to get better every time I use it.
If I didn't have many old Wagner, Griswold, Le Creuset and Lodge, well seasoned and exceptional skillets, Dutch Ovens, etc... and I was starting out... I'd start buying Lodge Cast Iron... and take my random Orbital Sander, sand down the inner finish to smooth it all out and then season accordingly. Lodge, for its price, especially at Costco or Walmart, is great value. Enjoy!
I haven't found much difference in the new lodge's and old wagner/griswold's when it comes to function. I don't even really care which I'm cooking in, I just reach for whichever one is within reach and the size I want for what I'm going to cook. I do agree the finish of the old cast iron does feel nicer and is more pleasant to look at, but from my own personal experience, a well-seasoned lodge will function exactly the same as a well-seasoned wagner/griswold/etc. It's difficult to beat a lodge when it comes to not only price, but availability. They are available in every wal-mart in the country, as far as I know. Hard to beat that.
Forgot to update this, but I also have a Field #8 that I got for $60 on sale. Phenomenal pan. Eggs slide around like spit on a woodstove.
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- #58
ive been pondering temperatures lately. i got a crisbee and a larbee stick and if i recall it says to season at 400 in the oven. i saw a guide on steak to sear on the stove top and put in oven at 500. what happens to seasoning if the pan is brought to a higher temp then the seasoning temp?
Seasoning depends on the oil used. Canola and grapeseed work well around 500. Comes out blacker.
I guess seasoning temp would need to be below the smoke point of whatever oil is used. At smoke point it generates free radicals, purported bad for your health, from that thermal oxidation.
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