What's new

Cast Iron

Love cast iron. At first I was very peculiar at seasoning all the time and watched youtube videos about that. Even bought flaxseed oil which supposedly is very good because of high smoke point. Was never 100% happy and stopped paying much attention to oiling it after every use. But over the years the skillet is finally on a level that it is the best pan we have to fry eggs even. Guess letting it just "break in" naturally by using it works the best, much like boar brushes :) .
 
Here's what I have at the moment, the one top right is the only original one, the others were sanded down or got the wooden handles replaced. I once had more, but I gave away all my enameled pans, I want to cook on a patina :) The brown stains aren't rust or gunk, that's just what my camera did under that lighting

SAM_9351.JPG


That goose pot is super heavy

SAM_9362.JPG


Forged iron / carbon steel pans are what I use most, they're easier to handle and heat up and cool down much faster. I also have a huge cast iron wok somewhere but the simple carbon steel wok on the picture works best, for exactly these reasons

SAM_9349.JPG
 
I cook 2 poach-fried eggs every morning on my Grandfather's Wagnerware skillet, and I love it. There was definitely a learning curve though.

Cast iron, with a thermal conductivity of 50 doesn't conduct heat very well compared to aluminum, which is has a TC of 200.

With aluminum, I could set the heat to high and have eggs in the pan in 60 seconds. It took me a little while to realize that cast iron needs to warm up slowly on med-low to even out the hotspots. Even doing it that way, the pan heats very unevenly compared to aluminum, but frying eggs isn't rocket science, and I've gotten used to it.

At he end of the day, I get a lot more joy out of cooking with my grandfathers pan than any other, and thats what counts.
 
I still have my very first pan: 10" cast iron skillet bought in February of 1969. May wife and I have added several others, Lodge skillets and grill pan plus a very nice Le Creuset Dutch oven and a couple of Le Creuset lasagna pans. We've worn the enamel off a couple of other pieces over the years as well. There's a bare iron Dutch oven in the cabinet too. So yes, we like cooking with cast iron.

I even developed a way to fry a burger in cast iron without adding fat. A co-worker with whom I was having a couple of beers taught me how to use salt so that a sweating beer bottle or glass wouldn't stick to the napkin. I decided to see if the principle would work in cooking (don't ask; my mind works in strange ways). I can fry a 93% lean burger by grinding some sea salt into a well-seasoned pan, getting it good and hot, then putting the meat over the salt. Works very well.
 

Old Hippie

Somewhere between 61 and dead
I can fry a 93% lean burger by grinding some sea salt into a well-seasoned pan, getting it good and hot, then putting the meat over the salt. Works very well.

Learned that trick from my dad. Especially useful when you're out in the ginseng and don't have butter or oil with you.

Y'know? I think that was the ONLY cooking trick I learned from my dad. I remember how shocked I was at the time. He was more about teachin' me to shoot straight. No, wait...I also learned to use two quarts of waste alcohol to start the hibachi. He loved creating a 20-foot tall flaming mushroom cloud in the front yard.

O.H.
 
I am a pretty new cast iron user and didn't grow up with it. I bought a 12" Lodge skillet and have a question about care and coloring.

1. I scrape it out when done using it. Put a bit of water and a drop of dawn and just quick scrub with a rubber scrubber. Quick rinse and dry. Back on the burner and then some vegetables oil rubbed in with a paper towel. When I dry the pan, the cooking area isn't really black. Is that what you folks are seeing and then the oil hits it and black again.

2. Is the coloring an issue or not? Is it normal?

3. Am I over thinking everything and just need to cook on it like this for years and it will last forever???

KM
 
I am a pretty new cast iron user and didn't grow up with it. I bought a 12" Lodge skillet and have a question about care and coloring.

1. I scrape it out when done using it. Put a bit of water and a drop of dawn and just quick scrub with a rubber scrubber. Quick rinse and dry. Back on the burner and then some vegetables oil rubbed in with a paper towel. When I dry the pan, the cooking area isn't really black. Is that what you folks are seeing and then the oil hits it and black again.

2. Is the coloring an issue or not? Is it normal?

3. Am I over thinking everything and just need to cook on it like this for years and it will last forever???

You can re-season your cast iron at any time. If the surface is not fully black, you probably don't have a good, thick layer of seasoning on there.

Try not to use dish soap on your cast iron, this can strip the seasoning. Clean it with very hot water and a nylon brush or scotch-brite pad. If you need to scrub, use a bit of coarse salt. Your goal is to just to get off any food residue. A well-seasoned pan will not have much food sticking to it.

Re-season your cast iron using the oven. There are many methods out there on the Internet. I will show you one that works well using Crisco vegetable shortening.


Some people prefer to use grapeseed oil or other oils with a high smoke point. You can even buy or make special seasoning oil which is usually a mixture of grapeseed oil and a small amount of beeswax.

Give it a try, it's not difficult, just takes a bit of time.
 

simon1

Self Ignored by Vista
^^^What he said.

Don't sweat it too much...cast iron has been around for centuries. Just let it soak in hot tap water for a bit and rub it out with a nylon scrubby pad. If it sticks a lot (on a new grainy lodge) put some coarse kosher salt, wetting the salt to about a damp sand consistency in it, and hit it with the scrubby pad again. Then dry it, put it on a ranger burner to dry it well, then rub a light coat of Crisco all over the hot skillet, paying attention to the inside (the outside usually will take care of itself). Then just let the hot skillet cool off on the range top. Color of the skillet can be a little off from what you expect it to be until you get it seasoned good. If you don't mind smoke in the house you can burn some of the gunkus off by heating it up on the range top to very hot. Just don't get the skillet red hot. Smoking for a bit can work.

You have the right idea...use it for awhile. And also make a big batch of skillet cornbread. Works good.

If it sticks real bad on a new, grainy Lodge, use a chore boy copper scrubber pad (read the package label...some are now stainless steel wrapped in copper...you want the pure copper).

Just for grins...here's some stripping down and cleaning info.

 

Old Hippie

Somewhere between 61 and dead
Warm it up first. Use a little fat when cooking. Clean with hot water and a scrubby. Dry on stove. Use a little fat to coat it before putting it away.

We render our own lard, tallow and mutton fat. I like lard for cast iron.

Tacos tonight. That means my cast iron round griddles get a workout making tortillas. One warm, one hot .. and the hot one will get a dose of lard when it cools down a little.

O.H.
 
So I've mostly moved on from cast iron to carbon steel these days but still use a skillet and a griddle. I was bored over the holidays (2020 - can't really go anywhere or see anyone) and the weather was good so I took out the angle grinder and the palm sanders. Now the surface is almost as smooth as my carbon steel skillets.
 

kelbro

Alfred Spatchcock
Hope you left enough texture for the seasoning to latch on. One of my Griswolds is so smooth that you can barely see any seasoning on the bottom. Doesn't stick or anything, just doesn't get dark.
 

BradWorld

Dances with Wolfs
I just bought a 9 1/2 inch no-handle cast iron skillet to put in my ninja foodi. What a game changer. Crank ‘er up to 425, preheat with the skillet inside for 10 mins, throw in some butter and steak. Really nice results with a few 10 oz filets.
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
We got one from the Field Cast Iron Company because it was a little lighter - we both enjoy some arthritis in the hands and that works out better. Great pan.
 

TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
I am a pretty new cast iron user and didn't grow up with it. I bought a 12" Lodge skillet and have a question about care and coloring.

1. I scrape it out when done using it. Put a bit of water and a drop of dawn and just quick scrub with a rubber scrubber. Quick rinse and dry. Back on the burner and then some vegetables oil rubbed in with a paper towel. When I dry the pan, the cooking area isn't really black. Is that what you folks are seeing and then the oil hits it and black again.

2. Is the coloring an issue or not? Is it normal?

3. Am I over thinking everything and just need to cook on it like this for years and it will last forever???

KM

One of the best things I've ever done for cooking, especially when it comes to using cast iron, is to get a wooden turner. It's rigid enough to do a proper job, soft enough to avoid scratching or scraping off seasoning, and will never melt. Oh, yeah. It's cheap as all get out.

For cleaning, I just wipe out work a cloth. If that's not enough, a bit of a soak and then either a nylon brush or that wooden turner get out anything stubborn.
 
I enjoy using cast iron pans and dutch ovens when I can, though I will admit it's always been a challenge for me to keep them in good condition. I had a 12" skillet that I used ages ago and allowed to rust. I was able to recover it and now use it whenever I can especially camping. Nice to cook steaks on it over an open fire.

Now, I use an 8" pan almost every morning to make my egg, bacon, and cheese omelet. It lives on the stovetop, back left burner.


How did you get the rust out of your pan? Sandpaper?

Thanks!
 
Top Bottom