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Cast iron experts

Newbs
Newbs Posts: 188
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
My wife bought me two cast iron pans for my birthday. I read the instructions that came with the pans on how to season them and I followed them to the letter. Lightly coat the inner surface of the pan with shortening and place upside down in a 350 degree oven for an hour. Turn the oven off. Leave the oven door closed for several hours.
Did it. The pans came out gummy. Moreso on the side surface of the pan than on the bottom cooking surface, but sticky. There seems to be a yellowy coating on the pan where it is gummy. [p]So....two questions.[p]1. What did I do wrong?
2. How do I fix it?[p]Thanks for your help/advice/expertise in advance.[p]John

Comments

  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    Newbs,
    wipe it off when hot.[p]whatever comes off on the paper towel is what was making it gummy.

    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • tjv
    tjv Posts: 3,830
    Newbs, sounds like you used to much shortening. I'd put it in the egg, burn it off and try again in the egg, raised grid 350 until the pan's internal temp is.....ah sorry got carried away, LOL. T

    www.ceramicgrillstore.com ACGP, Inc.
  • Newbs
    Newbs Posts: 188
    tjv,[p]Thanks much. Thanks for the early morning giggle.[p]John
  • Ken
    Ken Posts: 24
    Newbs,
    You didn't do anything wrong. You need to do those steps many times....like 8 or 10 times. I have seasoned lots of cast iron and you can set the oven at 250 and leave it in overnight. I seasoned my griddle for the egg in the egg. When you do this enough times the sticky feel will go away and start to turn black. You can even start to cook in it any time but cook things like frying fish,bacon or anything that you use alot of oil in the cook.[p]Hope this helps...just keep up the process and it will turn black and seasoned.

  • Celtic Wolf
    Celtic Wolf Posts: 9,773
    Newbs,[p]Lard or bacon grease is best for cast iron seasoning. 350 really isn't hot enough. Get that oven up to 450-500. Better yet just do this in your egg.[p]Hopefully the onyour wifegave you didn't look like this.
    dutch-1.jpg[p]Cleaning Tools!!
    dutch-2.jpg[p]Your Should have looked something like this.
    dutch-3.jpg[p]Note the 'lite' coat of shortening.
    dutch-4.jpg[p]What you egging tonight?
    dutch-5.jpg[p]The finished product. Anybody who ate Chubby's Beans at the Florida Eggfest got served from this pot.[p]dutch-6.jpg[p]

  • Newbs
    Newbs Posts: 188
    stike,[p]Tried that the first time. Maybe it wasn't hot enough but the paper towel left little white sniglets all over the pan. I could heat it up on the stove and give it a wipe.
    We'll see what happens. If that fails I'm going to follow TJV's advice and start from scratch.[p]Thanks. [p]John

  • Newbs
    Newbs Posts: 188
    Ken ,[p]Now...ya know that the directions did say something about possibly having to repeat the process a few times. I just didn't want to try it over and get more of that gummy buildup. I'll try it again. [p]Thanks,[p]John
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,624
    Newbs,
    hotter, longer, use lard, and several times. the first few uses i coat with oil after wiping clean. a skillet should never leave the stove top for cleaning, when i get something stuck in it i add oil and heat until its sizzling and then deglaze with butter and scrape with a spatula until its unstuck, wipe everything out with paper towels.

    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • Newbs
    Newbs Posts: 188
    Celtic Wolf,[p]Sweet. Pictures. Now there's some instructions that my tiny mind can wrap itself around. You are talented at bringing old things back to their original state. I've got an old motorcycle that could use your kind of magic.
    Not sure that a '67 BSA Lightning would fit on a Large BGE though. Even in all of the parts that she is currently in.[p]Cheers,[p]John

  • Newbs
    Newbs Posts: 188
    fishlessman,[p]More great tips. I knew I came to the right place with this.[p]Thanks,[p]John
  • Ken
    Ken Posts: 24
    Newbs,
    It might be gummy for a few more times.It has always taken lots of times for me. You might try a hotter temp...i never have but I don't see anything wrong with 400 or 450. Try doing it in the egg and it want smell up the house and it might be cheaper.

  • citychicken
    citychicken Posts: 484
    Celtic Wolf,
    very nice restoration job! i have heard about people buying "junk" like that from a garage sale for $.50 and turning them into something cool.[p]btw. i have a lodge round grill pan, the one with the ribbed bottoms which does a great job for searing my tuna steaks. also good for other fish and even searing steaks. [p]do nuclear temps burn away the seasoning? i heard one of the ways to clean a iron skillet is to stick it in a burning camp fire or fireplace for a couple of hours. but then you must re-season. [p]what are your thoughts? please

  • Celtic Wolf
    Celtic Wolf Posts: 9,773
    Newbs,[p] My cast iron cooker is an XL, plus there is always the HOG cooker out back...

  • Ken
    Ken Posts: 24
    markkal123,
    Yes it will. I was blackening fish and left it on the fire to long before I threw the fish on and burned all the seasoned off and had to reseason it.

  • Celtic Wolf
    Celtic Wolf Posts: 9,773
    markkal123,[p]Boiling water in the cast iron or what fishlessman does is all I have ever needed to do to properly clean cast iron.[p]My Camp Dutch ovens have seen plenty of direct hot fires and are still well seasoned. Even then I try to keep them below 500 degs.

  • Pdub
    Pdub Posts: 234
    markkal123,
    You are in danger of warping the cast iron if you get it to hot. If it really needs to be cleaned you can spray it with oven cleaner and stick it in a plastic bag for a while, Then season it.

  • Rusty Rooster
    Rusty Rooster Posts: 1,239
    Pdub,
    You can also clean the inside by boiling water with white vinegar added, but it will need to be reseasoned after.

  • Pdub
    Pdub Posts: 234
    Newbs,
    I have had the best luck with my egg at 400-450. Take some crisco and melt it on the pan. wipe a light coating over the whole piece and then put it in the egg for a half hour. take out and re-apply light coat of crisco. repeat till your happy. As a general rule cast iron likes heat and oil, they do not like water and soap. Everybody seems to have there own way to season cast iron. I thought this write up to be the most helpfull[p]http://www.panman.com/cleaning.html[p]Paine

  • Smokey
    Smokey Posts: 2,468
    Newbs,[p]You have some great advice! [p]In addition to the pans your wife bought, keep an eye out for old cast iron at garage sales. [p]Often you can pick an old one up for as little as $1 or $2!!

    You may have to follow Celtic Wolf's process to bring it back to life, but it's kinda fun![p]I pick this one (4 or 5 inch size) for $3 and it's great for peppers and onion, etc.!!
    P4100015.jpg[p]Smokey[p]

  • Newbs
    Newbs Posts: 188
    Smokey,
    Thanks. I'll tell my garage sale hunters to keep an eye out.[p]Cheers,[p]John

  • Newbs
    Newbs Posts: 188
    Pdub,[p]Got some more reading to do. Thanks.[p]John