Refinishing a Griswold #8 - A Sticky Proposition

[johnniegold]

I just refinished a Griswold #8.

I gave it the oven cleaner routine in the plastic garbage bag overnight.
Then I took it down to the metal with the wire wheel.
Sanded down some rough spots.
Gave it a coat of Crisco and baked it in the oven.

After that, I noticed that I had baked the Crisco onto the pan too long and it ended up being too thick in some spots. I needed to give it the wire wheel once more and then gave it another application of Crisco. This time I monitored closely and it gave a nice even finish.

But alas... The pan still sticks. I did another coat of Crisco but to no avail. I cooked several pounds of bacon and yet it still sticks.

After I use the pan, I rinse it with warm water and then scour it with sea salt. Then, I dry it out on the stove top and then apply some grapeseed oil until the next use.

Maybe its a knock-off Griswold? What am I doing wrong? When I refinished the Griswold # 10, after the first application of Crisco, the pan blackened a bit and just got better and better after every use.

The # 8 has me puzzled.

I also have a #4, #5 and #6 that I have to do as well but I won't move on until I get the #8 right.

Any ideas?

 

[craig87c]

Any pictures of the finish?

 

[johnniegold]

Coming up....

Sorry for the sub-par iphone pics.

 

[Reckoner]

I had the same problem with Crisco and an older Lodge with the same process of oven cleaner, wire wheel, etc. What worked for me in the seasoning stage was to build up the carbon in a few layers. I'd apply the Crisco at night, then wipe as much of it out as I could. Next morning, wipe more Crisco out with a clean paper towel and let it sit out. When I got home from work, wipe yet more Crisco out, then bake it in on moderately high heat for a good bit of time. If you want to put the pan in top side down, have a sheet pan to catch drippings and avoid puddling. After a few hours, turn off the heat and let the pan cool in the oven overnight.

Next morning, repeat with applying a second layer of Crisco and wiping, letting it sit, then baking again at night. Do this for a few days, and you'll get the start of a good base. There are some pretty long-winded articles about the science of using different fats to build up the carbon, but Crisco was good enough for granny and it's good enough for me. The trick is to not get too much in one application, which is sometimes hard to do with Crisco.

I stay away from bacon in the seasoning stage just because the fond may be bad news for the developing seasoning--scrape off bacon bits might mean scraping off portion of seasoning. (Stay away from Bacon?! ) In the early stages of new seasoning I stick to eggs, maybe some shallow frying of shrimp or tempura vegetables. Once the seasoning sticks, sky's the limit.

 

[craig87c]

Yeah I'd have to second the "do a uncheck of super thin layers" idea. Basically try to wipe to pan clean of oil/lard/Crisco before baking it.

Edit: Uncheck? Thanks autocorrect. Do a bunch of super thin layers***

 

[Mick]

Fry some spuds... LOTS of spuds. It will stick for a while but after your second 100 lbs it should be just fine

 

[Alacrity59]

Don't scrub with salt unless you really have to. I really like using a plastic scrubbie like this:

What heat are you cooking the bacon at? On my electric stove top Medium or a bit lower works well for bacon. Move the bacon around a bit as soon as you put it in the pan, this will spread out a bit of the grease and help the bacon not to stick. Oh, hot dogs are pretty good as you build up your coating. I'm a sucker for a bun that is buttered and fried on the inside.

 

[johnniegold]

Thanks for the tips. I will try the Crisco method over the weekend.

As for cooking the bacon, the first batch was cooked on a medium flame while the second batch was cooked over a low flame (with better results).

I will update my progress.

 

[thebikingengineer]

I've had good luck smoking the oil at pretty high heat at first. Get a little burn on a light layer of oil and really bake it in. It's messy, it's smokey, and it's worked for me.

 

[johnniegold]

The #8 went through its initial Crisco paces yesterday and this morning went into the oven at 350 for an hour. Wiped it down once more and let it sit in the hot oven for the rest of the time.

I just put some finishing touches on a #4 and a #5 and now they are baking in the oven with a coat of Crisco.

The #6 will have to wait until tomorrow.

 

[Z blade]

You shouldn't have to use a grinder.

An oven on "Clean" for two hours (900 degrees) is the best, cleanest, fastest way to get down to pure iron. Using flax seed oil is the absolute best way to season cast iron.

Here is a link that you should find very interesting -

http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/

If you follow her directions to the letter after an oven "clean" cycle, you will love the whole process and end up with gorgeous, perfect seasoning. I tried the oven cleaner in a tub/bag thing. It sucks, and doesn't work.

By the way - BEAUTIFUL GRISWOLD PANS!

 

[Topgumby]

Second the oven cleaning cycle.

Also, have you tried grape-seed oil for the initial seasoning, rather than just for maintenance?

 

[johnniegold]

I've had good luck smoking the oil at pretty high heat at first. Get a little burn on a light layer of oil and really bake it in. It's messy, it's smokey, and it's worked for me.

Second the oven cleaning cycle.

Also, have you tried grape-seed oil for the initial seasoning, rather than just for maintenance?

After another round of Crisco and a turn in the oven, I gave each one a thin coat of grapeseed oil and then put them on the stovetop until they started smoking. I think progress is being made. I haven't cooked anything in the #4 and #5 yet.

 

[Greg1911]

Park those suckers on the stove and use them for everything.

Seasoning is just the initial stage of the process. Continuous use (and not screwing them up) is what turns a CI piece into a cooking wonder.

 

[lwt210]

The flax oil thing I have had success with but hate the smell of that stuff.

I recently bought some Lodge stuff and always season them myself even though they are the Logic that are pre-seasoned. I fired up my sportsman grill/hibachi and fried up some bacon on it at a very high heat. That particular piece was virtually non stick after that. I was really suprised how well that worked as baking bacon in the house oven never produced the same results.

Crisco always left me underwhelmed too. I found olive oil was a good way to keep the seasoning process going once a pan had a decent non stick coat going.

If I had that Griz #8, I'd get my hibachi blistering hot, place that pan on it dry for a bit to get it extra dry and hot, add some oil to it, and then fry up a pound of bacon on it making sure to smoke that pan up good. If that didn't work, I'd go the flax route.

If you do the flax trick, make sure your layers are very thin.

Good luck.

 

[johnniegold]

Here is the collection, so far. Clockwise from the top left: Griswold #10 (this pan has already been seasoned and has seen plenty of use. Next is the Griswold #8 (this was the rascal that was giving me all the problems), Griswold #5 and Griswold #4.

Not pictured is the Griswold #6.

 

[jbaca]

Nice iron

 

[Prince]

nice collection

 

[johnniegold]

It seems that the #8 is still giving me problems with the seasoning of this pan. The #4 and the #5 have blackened and are working wonderfully. But every time I wipe down the #8 I can feel the paper towel sticking to certain spots on the pan, particularly in the middle. (You can see the outline around the center of the pan as well as around the perimeter of the pan right around 10:00.)

Between the Crisco treatments and smoking oil in the pan, I would think it would start to build up some seasoning. The other two pans (as well as the #10 I did a while back) all seasoned quite nicely and continue to do so.

Any suggestions? I guess I may have to get some flax seed oil.

 

[Alacrity59]

Brown seasoning can be sticky. This pan may have a cool spot right in the middle. I like higher temps for seasoning than you have been using, but why mess with success. I think more time over the heat will carbonize that gooey spot.

Jim posted an article on using flax seed. I converted to this. For the first little while it was difficult as the flax seed oil seemed to wreck the seasoning I had on my pans. However after a while it did build a very nice surface . . . and I continue to use it to help build the coating up when I've had to scrub more than usual.