In reply to T.J. :
When dating my wife I asked what the silver coffee canister thingy on her moms stove was.
Her - to save bacon grease, you know, to flavor food like green beans or for popcorn.
Me - what? My mom used an old soup can and tossed it when it hardened.
I'm no expert, but I've had good luck with mine.
Seasoning on cast iron is a coating. A lot of people get a new iron pan with its rough cast surface, put some oil in it and bake it, and expect it to be seasoned. The process of seasoning an iron pan takes a while, but the oil/heat is a good start.
If you look at grandma's cast iron pan, it has a smooth, matte finish. That's because the 50 years of using it has caused bits of fat, protein, sugars, and other things to sink down into those pores and basically turn into charcoal. It's hard carbon that has crystalized in the pores and rough pits of the cast surface.
Starting with a new pan (or one you just cleaned and un-did some seasoning), put a very thin coat of oil on it. The type of oil isn't really important, but flax oil, coconut oil, or other vegetable oil will be best. Olive oil or peanut oil can get sticky, but it works fine. Avoid animal fats like bacon grease as they contain a large amount of proteins and impurities which will smoke a lot and can leave a flavor. Your coating should leave the surface barely glossy. You don't want any liquid or puddles, just a light coat.
Crank up the oven as hot as it goes. Put the pan in. Don't turn the heat off until it is completely matte finish... that is to say, until all of the oil has oxidized. Turn off the heat and let it cool in the oven. No need to have a 500-degree pan sitting around. Repeat if you want.
As you use it, it will stick like crazy... which is good. Let that stuff get stuck in the pores. Remove the surface part of it with water and a scraper and season it again.
Depending on the surface of the iron, you can jump-start the process by sanding it smooth. The downside to this is that the resulting "seasoned" surface won't be as durable. Think of it like painting a fender... the smoother the surface, the less grip the paint has to hold on to. The right way to do it is to just tough it out, but you can smooth out the surface a bit first if it is really rough. By rough, I mean like the surface of a new Lodge pan you buy at WalMart. They take forever to get a good crust on them. If you have an old Wagner, they started life pretty smooth so you won't need to sand something like that.
My old farmer friend said he had a fool-proof way of getting the rusty metallic taste out of neglected skillets. He said to fill it with dry dirt and let it sit for a couple weeks.
I don't know why, but it seemed to work on a pan I let sit outside one summer.
Speaking of cooking with bacon grease. I use it as a butter replacement for grill cheese and Toll House cookies. You haven't lived until you have bacon grease Toll House cookies. I also do full brown sugar instead of half white.
Stampie (FS) said:Speaking of cooking with bacon grease. I use it as a butter replacement for grill cheese and Toll House cookies. You haven't lived until you have bacon grease Toll House cookies. I also do full brown sugar instead of half white.
Are you some kind of genius cookie wizard? Because that is the impression I'm getting.
In reply to Stampie (FS) :
I mean, I put bacon into my chocolate chip cookies sometimes, but straight up bacon grease? That's a interesting idea.
It's bacon grease. It's the nectar of the gods.
In reply to Stampie (FS) :
Yeah that sounds pretty much like some pagan E36 M3. Cookie wizard.
I like flaxseed oil to season cast iron. High flash point. I generally will season them twice. Clean well, apply light coat of oil and toss in the oven for a while. Let cool, wipe of excess, apply light coat of oil then do it a second time.
I know that it's heresy, but I do wash my cast iron skillet with a touch of dish soap on a scrub brush occasionally.
I've been using it for at least 10 years, and it's got such a good temper that doesn't really hurt it.
To retemper it, I'll heat it up on the stove top, wipe it with some Crisco on a paper towel, and then shut it off to cool.
Bringing this back up. A couple of months ago I helped Grandma Stampie clean out her garage. She mentioned that there were several interesting cast iron pans there. I told her I'd see about "restoring" them but forgot to grab one. While leaving today we noticed this one so it's my first patient.
As found. It was in a house she bought 20ish years ago. No telling how long it sat before then. I doubt she's used it at all.
Washed in water only to remove the heavy flakes.
That's a big piece of cast. Not really a pan, not really a bowl...a dutch oven? A laundry tub? Does it have a lid? It looks very big like the baby could have gotten its first bath in it.
In reply to John Welsh :
No lid. It's dutch ovenish. She said that the guy used it to fry fish.
I just learned that she found it outside so that explains it's condition better.
I would totally sandblast the scale off and start like it was a new pan.
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
Yup. Its a hunk of cast iron. People make it way too complicated. I'd sandblast it, burn on some crisco and use the crap out of it.
With all the rust scale on the sides... wire wheel?
Popping in here to say that, despite what Jason Isbell says, you can wash your cast iron skillet. My soap don't have lye in it.
Don't get it wet before you're ready to wash it. Don't let it soak. Tiny bit of soap, quick scrub, rinse very well. Back on the stove with some oil in it, rub it in, let it cool. Your seasoning will be fine if it can stand up to a spatula.
If you want your food to taste like whatever you last cooked in it, disregard this.
This advice brought to you by Kentucky born and bred grandmas and aunts.
I'm with Floating Doc and MTN, if your pan is properly seasoned a little dish soap doesnt hurt a thing. I've got a Stargazer that's my go-to, I could probably scrub that thing with a scotch brite and not damage the seasoning its cured up so well. I also have the little 6" skillet that my great grandmother cooked grandpa's morning eggs (in lard) every day for their 50 years of marriage. Pretty sure the seasoning on that could stand a nuclear blast ;)
In reply to Stampie :
I saw on a you tube video years ago that you take an old, neglected pan like that and put it on a fire and get it red hot. All that dirt and trash will be gone. As in all things you tube-ish ymmv. Try at own risk.
I have a different issue, a couple of cast iron skillets I have are now warped and no longer sit flat. Is there any fix for that? If I had a torch I would heat it up and then hammer a piece of hard wood against it to drive down the high spots. And then cook some bacon.
Noddaz said:In reply to Stampie :
I saw on a you tube video years ago that you take an old, neglected pan like that and put it on a fire and get it red hot. All that dirt and trash will be gone. As in all things you tube-ish ymmv. Try at own risk.
I have a different issue, a couple of cast iron skillets I have are now warped and no longer sit flat. Is there any fix for that? If I had a torch I would heat it up and then hammer a piece of hard wood against it to drive down the high spots. And then cook some bacon.
Depending on how warped, you can grind it even.
Noddaz said:In reply to Stampie :
I have a different issue, a couple of cast iron skillets I have are now warped and no longer sit flat. Is there any fix for that? If I had a torch I would heat it up and then hammer a piece of hard wood against it to drive down the high spots. And then cook some bacon.
In life, I have found that you can achieve at least a small measure of success if, after each and every thing you do, you finish by cooking some bacon.
Did a self clean cycle. Actually came out better than expected. Looks pretty smooth. After a cool down I'll scrub and maybe another self clean cycle.
Scrubbed with a green SOS. The water looked much darker brown IRL.
Doing a drying run in the oven and I think it's ready to season.
Looks like the pictures have been lost to the ether, but check out this thread for rust removal:
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