Learn me cast iron cookware

So I've been needing a frying pan worth a rats ass for a while now. Back at home, go to was a collection of ancient inherited cast iron. I've always like iron, but I'm too lazy to scout out a good one at goodwill or whatever, so I bought new.

A 12" Lodge "pre seasoned" (I know this is kinda BS, more on that later) pan was purchased, tested a bit on its factory seasoning with a grilled cheese sandwich, found to be crap, no surprise there. So, at lodge's advice(Grandma isn't around anymore), I rubbed a thin layer of Crisco on it, and baked at 500 for an hour, then did this about 6 more times, I think I substituted bacon grease once in there. Pan now looks great, drop two eggs in it after preheating with plenty of olive oil in it like I always did and they practically glued themselves to the pan.

WTF is going on here?

Make sure the pan is hot. Not too hot, but not too cold - "just right". Also, don't wash the pan... just wipe it out. It will get better with time.

I like to use mine on the grill. Two tablespoons of oil and some cubed taters or bag of fries, and burgers on the grates. Mmm.

In reply to mikeatrpi:

I'm well aware of all of that, been using cast iron for years, just never NEW cast iron.

Funny. Sunday night I bought a Lodge 10" griddle. Cleaned it(heat, rinse, dry, oil) and it has been perfect. It has been used everyday. Good luck with yours.

I got a cast iron new for a wedding present. It's just NOW seasoned, and we're coming up on our 5 year anniversary. I generally speaking try to grease it every time I clean it, and I crisco'd it who knows how many times. I've also used it as a deep fry pan for chicken and stuff, that seems to have helped.

Note that I did try to hunt down real actual, bacon salt free lard to season it with, but that proved more difficult than expected.

Kenny_McCormic wrote: Note that I did try to hunt down real actual, bacon salt free lard to season it with, but that proved more difficult than expected.

It very much is. I've fried multiple pounds of bacon in mine as well.

I have an old iron skillet. Bottom says "Made in U.S.A., No. 7, 10-1/4". I don't remember where it came from, but 25 or 30 years ago, my Dad sandblasted it clean and I took it off his hands. Since then I've used it off and on for various duties, and I know it's seen a campfire or two through the decades I've had it. I just recently rediscovered it. It works great, but at what point do you chip the accumulated black carbon-y residue off the inside edge of the skillet?

I think 500F is too hot for seasoning -- IIRC, I used a longer time at a lower temperature. If the seasoning didn't take, you can stick it in the oven on self-clean, use that to nuke all the seasoning off, and start from scratch.

That said, I'm not sure I'd use even the best-seasoned cast iron to fry eggs. All that protein just wants to stick, this is really a job for teflon. Cast iron is for steak, bacon, onions, stuff like that.

In reply to codrus:

1. Maybe, it came out looking shiny and smooth like it should at 500, though this is a POS oven(standing pilot stove new enough to have barcodes on the data plate) so who knows how accurate that is.

2. BULLE36 M3, at home my egg pan was some cheap old Korean 10" cast iron pan that you could make omelets in with a bit of care.

1988RedT2 wrote: I have an old iron skillet. Bottom says "Made in U.S.A., No. 7, 10-1/4". I don't remember where it came from, but 25 or 30 years ago, my Dad sandblasted it clean and I took it off his hands. Since then I've used it off and on for various duties, and I know it's seen a campfire or two through the decades I've had it. I just recently rediscovered it. It works great, but at what point do you chip the accumulated black carbon-y residue off the inside edge of the skillet?

No.

Heat it up on the stove, add 2 Tblsp. of oil. Roll the oil around.

Shut off the heat.

Pour in liberal amounts of salt.

Use a clean dry cloth (you'll throw it out later) and rub the salt around the bottom and sides of the offending pan. You're actually filling in the pores and polishing at the same time.

Never use soap & water on this again. Eggs look like ice skaters. Wipe it off with a clean dry cloth when done.

Cast Iron pans are like Merschum pipes, they need love but are sooooo rewarding.

Dan

Well, after cleaning up that mess it appears the factory pre season wasn't adhered properly and is flaking off like a beat up teflon pan, and I'll need to start over again. Time to go buy some ammonia and strip it bare like I should have from the start.

914Driver wrote: Heat it up on the stove, add 2 Tblsp. of oil. Roll the oil around. Shut off the heat. Pour in liberal amounts of salt. Use a clean dry cloth (you'll throw it out later) and rub the salt around the bottom and sides of the offending pan. You're actually filling in the pores and polishing at the same time. Never use soap & water on this again. Eggs look like ice skaters. Wipe it off with a clean dry cloth when done. Cast Iron pans are like Merschum pipes, they need love but are sooooo rewarding. Dan

No idea on the care of cast iron, but I would be very careful to make sure I was using Kosher salt. I wouldn't want iodide on all of everything I cook. And yes, it does taste different. Bitter.

and teflon makes cancer or so the internet says in some places, so it must be true. so cast iron wins.

most of mine belonged to my great grandma. i occasionally use them to deep fry stuff. eggs never stick, hell nothing ever sticks. not even salmon skin.

I have a big and a small cast frying pan. I use them for everything. I think they are each 10-15 years old. I bought them new. I give them very little care or attention. I clean them with water all the time, typically wiping them dry.

Another technique is to let them cool down dirty. I add some water and quickly boil that water then rinse them out on the sink. I figure that the boiling has some sanitizing effects.

As an interesting paradox, I cook exclusively with oldworld cast iron pans on my modern world induction cooktop.

Dr.Linda's GoTo frying pan is cast iron that belonged to her grandmother. It was rumored to have seen covered wagons.

Like Dan sez, little bit of oil, wipe it around.

Cast iron is the best.

For seasoning, get the pan warm, pour a good bit of oil into the pan and work it around, then let it sit until cool. Wipe out most of the oil. Too much oil is your enemy at this point in time. Put it in the oven at 500 and heat it until it stops smoking, let it cool. Repeat that 4-5 times and you're on your way.

As has been said, never use soap on it.

One of my pans went missing. I'm wondering who stole it.

bottom line... cast iron loves protein... in a bad way.

Eggs will always require a good deal of fat to prevent sticking since the whites are nearly all water and albumen protein. Even my great-grandmother's Wolfgang iron skillet needs hefty amounts of fat.

Seasoning is a tough thing to do. It just takes time. You can see the rough cast surface. Not only does it have a ton of surface area, its very porous. Seasoning is basically the process by which carbon gets "burned" onto the surface. After 100 uses you'll see the finish starting to become black and smooth out. That can't be done without time and use.

I found that a pretty good way to speed things up is to do some deep-frying with it. Lots of 375-degree heat, constant contact with oil, works well.

Deep frying, I'm out of bacon grease anyhow, time to pick up some bacon and bacon ends at the meat market and do some rendering?

patgizz wrote: and teflon makes cancer or so the internet says in some places, so it must be true. so cast iron wins. most of mine belonged to my great grandma. i occasionally use them to deep fry stuff. eggs never stick, hell nothing ever sticks. not even salmon skin.

deep frying causes heart attacks- it must be true, i read it on teh internets...

so you might as well use the teflon cancer to balance out the frying heart attack...

nonononono .... if you're going to cause the heart attacks, you should at least enjoy the journey ... deep fry ... tastes so much better than teflon fried

Clean with salt only. Season with flax oil

curtis73 wrote: bottom line... cast iron loves protein... in a bad way. Eggs will always require a good deal of fat to prevent sticking since the whites are nearly all water and albumen protein. Even my great-grandmother's Wolfgang iron skillet needs hefty amounts of fat. Seasoning is a tough thing to do. It just takes time. You can see the rough cast surface. Not only does it have a ton of surface area, its very porous. Seasoning is basically the process by which carbon gets "burned" onto the surface. After 100 uses you'll see the finish starting to become black and smooth out. That can't be done without time and use. I found that a pretty good way to speed things up is to do some deep-frying with it. Lots of 375-degree heat, constant contact with oil, works well.

This is how mine's gotten as far as it has as quickly as it has. I fry EVERYTHING in that pan. Fish, chicken, bacon, whatever- into the cast iron it goes.

I've got the 10" Lodge griddle, the 12" skillet, and this morning I scrambled some eggs to make a breakfast burrito for the Mrs.

The kosher salt scrub trick is a great one. I use it all the time. Sometimes I add a little oil to the salt.

Once in a while I add water when things are really crusty.

I love cast iron.

JohnRW1621 wrote: As an interesting paradox, I cook exclusively with oldworld cast iron pans on my modern world induction cooktop.

Have you used both induction and gas? How do they compare?