Good article: cast iron pans

CPARKTX

http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/11/the-truth-about-cast-iron.html

Interesting read.

nolaegghead

I've been preaching a lot of that for ages.  Of course I'm a smarty pants, at least in my own mind. Good article. 

Focker

Thanks for sharing.

Concur with everything except #6.  

Whether handmade back in the day in Erie, PA or Sidney, OH to the modern automated lines of Lodge in TN, basic methodology of the manufacturing process remain the same. 

Carolina Q

My mother is 98 years old. On a recent visit, I saw her washing an extremely well seasoned CI skillet with dish soap and a scrubby. I told her that I had always heard you should never use soap. She laughed..."But then, it wouldn't get clean! "  Guess she's been doing it for a while. Pan looked REAL good!

Oh and it was an antique, not a Lodge. Well, not an antique to HER, I guess. Nice and smooth and not overly thick or heavy. I know Lodge is readily available and reasonably priced, and it's nice to know CI pans are still being made. But as long as I have access to antique stores, flea markets and yard sales, it's Griswold and Wagner for me. Just my preference. Cheaper too, usually.

DieselkW

I use cast iron outside exclusively, and half the time I use it inside. 

Tough, durable, resilient, easy to clean.  Heavy is the only complaint she makes about it, and I'm fine with that. 

However, I have never let soap touch my cast iron... so much for old wives tales, huh? All these years and I've been cleaning with hot water only.

All I've ever needed to clean up my iron is hot water...

Eggcelsior

Focker said:

Thanks for sharing.

Concur with everything except #6.  

Whether handmade back in the day in Erie, PA or Sidney, OH to the modern automated lines of Lodge in TN, basic methodology of the manufacturing process remain the same. 

He didn't say handmade vs automated. Just that the casting process is slightly different. This can easily be fixed by grinding a lodge to a smooth surface as @fishlessman has done.

nolaegghead

My only problem with cast iron is it's devastating to our tile floor if it's dropped. 

If you have a die grinder you can use 3M scotch brite disks and make it look like a mirror.  So old or new, make a smooth finish and have, with seasoning, the best of the best of cast iron.

http://www.downwindmarine.com/3M-Scotch-Brite-Roloc-TR-Surface-Conditioning-Discs-5500-Series-p-90890323.html

Focker

A sand mold is a sand mold, whether it was done in 1930 or 2014.  

Machining/grinding is not part of the casting process.  

Could you please explain these slight differences of solid casts to sand-based casts?  

BRush00

Truth be told - I've always avoided soap when washing my Cast Iron pan too. 

I had not heard however that soap will wash the seasoning away, but rather that soap would leech into the Cast Iron while it's warm, get trapped in there while it cools, then end up leeching out into your food when the pan is warmed up again.

Apparently this is all wrong and I've officially learned something today.  Thanks for the post @CPARKTX!

Eggcelsior

Focker said:

A sand mold is a sand mold, whether it was done in 1930 or 2014.  

Machining/grinding is not part of the casting process.  

Could you please explain these slight differences of solid casts to sand-based casts?  

Don't ask me, ask Kenji. It appears that semantics got to us.

Carolina Q

He's very good about answering emails. 

Little Steven

Focker said:

Thanks for sharing.

Concur with everything except #6.  

Whether handmade back in the day in Erie, PA or Sidney, OH to the modern automated lines of Lodge in TN, basic methodology of the manufacturing process remain the same. 

Brandon

I have read that Lodge stopped milling their CI post cast after their major competitors went out of business. My understanding was that,prior to that all of the manufacturers did it. This is internet based knowledge so it maynot be true. I agree that a sand casting vs at traditional mould would not leave a discernible difference in finish.

anzyegg

Great article. Thanks for sharing.....

yzzi

I'm pretty sure the rougher finish is required for the pre-seasoning process. Since vintage wasn't pre-seasoned it was ground smooth.

nolaegghead

yzzi said:

I'm pretty sure the rougher finish is required for the pre-seasoning process. Since vintage wasn't pre-seasoned it was ground smooth.

Can you elaborate? 

travisstrick

nolaegghead said:

yzzi said:

I'm pretty sure the rougher finish is required for the pre-seasoning process. Since vintage wasn't pre-seasoned it was ground smooth.

Can you elaborate? 


Lodge said that in one of their YouTube vids.

DieselkW

My understanding of the Lodge finish is directly related to the "pre-seasoned" finish. I assume they want to give the oil a rough surface to adhere better to the iron. 

I got a tour of the Saturn engine manufacturing plant, they use styrofoam molds, pour the sand over the mold, then hot aluminum displaces the styrofoam. The finished product looks like a coffee cup cast in aluminum, that's how accurately the sand mirrors the mold, so I assume Lodge can make that sand mold as smooth or as rough as they wish. 

Terrebandit

I like the article. That's been my experience.

njl

I guess I've been unnecessarily babying my CI pans.  Following advice I think I got on this forum, I've been avoiding using soap or anything abrasive other than occasionally some salt if something really doesn't want to come off...and I've been washing them with just hot water and folded up paper towel.  I do heat them up after washing (to make sure they're dry) and then give them a light coat of "oil" which might either be olive or bacon fat depending on how I think the seasoning is doing.

Spring Chicken

Good article.  I grew up hearing "Never wash your cast iron with soap and water."  But there were times when I had no choice, it had to be used because everything else failed to clean it.  Even so, I felt bad about using the soap.  This article replaces hearsay with scientific fact.  Thanks for posting it.

wpendlegg

I just tried seasoning one of my cast iron pans.. Got it hot.. screaming hot.. maybe too hot. The oil I rubbed on caught fire. I took it off and set it on an oven mitt. Then that started burning. Good thing the wife isn't home

That burner gets lethal hot. Goodness gracious.

DieselkW

wpendlegg said:

I just tried seasoning one of my cast iron pans.. Got it hot.. screaming hot.. maybe too hot. The oil I rubbed on caught fire. I took it off and set it on an oven mitt. Then that started burning. Good thing the wife isn't home

That burner gets lethal hot. Goodness gracious.

Burning oil off is actually one way to do it, but outside only.  

Try this:  room temp iron, clean and dry. Rub oil all over it, set it upside down on a cookie tin, 400f in the oven for 20 minutes.

If you put too much oil on it, it will drip onto the cookie sheet instead of your oven bottom. 

If you put too little oil on it, you can always just do it again.

I use a paper towel and put a sheen on the fryer - no more than that is necessary. First few times you use it, make bacon, or use Crisco as your fryer fat for whatever... the more oily stuff you make on it, the better it will get.

TigerTony

The only one I disagree was #7. I saute tomato paste and sauce in my cast iron skillet all the time. Never noticed any problems.