When did you give up on cast iron?

RRP

Back a year or better ago I bought a 12” Lodge skillet. Then using my 5” RO Bosch sander I went through 3 grades of sand paper polishing that skillet! While it did not end up looking as smooth as glass, it sure was quite smooth with even few blemishes or divots!

Since then I have used it at least 40 or more times and after every use I have had to scrape it HARD with one of those plastic scrapers, followed by scattering in some coarse kosher salt, adding some hot water and then scrubbing and scrubbing using one of this “K” brand chain link mail to finally get the baked on crud off.

THEN….I always reheat that skillet on my stove and wipe that skillet down well inside using BuzzyWaxx cast iron seasoning wax.

I’m losing faith in cast iron and wondering if my skillet should be a candidate for our local fence making company that uses metal to make fencing for farms…

Ozzie_Isaac

I use it a couple times a week.  No scraping, scrubbing, or anything.  Never sanded down factory finish.  All I do is oil after every cook.  Sometimes I will heat up water in it and use a plastic spatula to get stubborn stuff off.  Easier to clean up than my All-Clad.

RRP

Ozzie_Isaac said:

I use it a couple times a week.  No scraping, scrubbing, or anything.  Never sanded down factory finish.  All I do is oil after every cook.  Sometimes I will heat up water in it and use a plastic spatula to get stubborn stuff off.  Easier to clean up than my All-Clad.

Hmmmm, I must be doing something wrong, or Keystone put a hex on me!

Ozzie_Isaac

RRP said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

I use it a couple times a week.  No scraping, scrubbing, or anything.  Never sanded down factory finish.  All I do is oil after every cook.  Sometimes I will heat up water in it and use a plastic spatula to get stubborn stuff off.  Easier to clean up than my All-Clad.

Hmmmm, I must be doing something wrong, or Keystone put a hex on me!

I think you are just more particular than I am.  I imagine the camp cook on a long trail ride.  If cast iron that wasn't perfectly clean didn't kill him, it won't me either.

alaskanassasin

I’m with @Ozzie_Isaac sometimes mine is clean and smooth sometimes it rough with detritus. I’ve never bothered to get a nonstick surface, that is beyond me.

alaskanassasin

I never mastered stainless either

kl8ton

I'm using a grandmother's pan for eggs up to 3x a week.   Scrambled do leave a film that washes right off with a plastic bristle brush and water.  I love this pan.

Ybabpmuts

I'm uskl8ton said:

I'm using a grandmother's pan for eggs uI',m using Bp to 3x a week.   Scrambled do leave a film that washes right off with a plastic bristle brush and water.  I love this pan.

I'm using a grandmothers pan for eggs three times a week too. The other four times a week I'm using a grandfather's pan to beat my grandmother about the torso, so she'll cook the eggs in my grandmother's pan the other three times during the week.  Hey, everybody looks at the good stuff and wants to remember that only, and nobody want to remember the background workers.

Listen .. Boppo The Clown once said  ...

"Any idiot can learn to juggle a chain saw, but it''s the day to day balloon animals that'll wear anybody down

So true

danhoo

Anytime mine gets crufty I scrub it hard and burn onions into it. 

Elijah

Just keep cooking with it. It may not glisten but you won't have to worry about it either.

Skims_Smokehouse

Sounds like you do all the right things.  How many layers of seasoning did you do after you sanded it?  Perhaps it’s needing another round of smoke point oven bake?

paqman

When cooking, I heat the pan until a splash of water sizzles and THEN I add fat (oil, butter).  HOT pan / COLD fat.  You are now ready to cook.  With the exception of bacon, I wait until the pan is hot to start cooking.  Adding food to a cold pan will typically result in sticking.

After cooking, I wipe the pan clean while it is still warm.  If needed, I wash in the sink with water.  If really really needed, I even use soap.  On a need to basis, I wipe with a very fine layer of oil.  No need for anything fancy here.  Maybe the buzzywax thing is your problem?

For seasoning, you want a layer of magnetite (black dusty layer) before starting the process, that's what helps the polymerized oil stick uniformly.  Sanding without bringing back the layer of magnetite may have been part of your problem.  Personally, I am a fan of flaxseed oil for seasoning my CI pans but many here have experienced a flaking problem.  It happened to me on my first pan but never again.  I am pretty sure that my problem was that I started with a layer of oil that was too thick.  You need to wipe as much oil as you can between layers.  Wipe until it looks dry, there will still be a film.

I don’t use CI for everything, I don’t cook tomato sauces, etc.  I typically use it for cooking breakfast, grilled cheese, pancakes, or searing meat.  If needed, I deglaze with water to remove crud, but it rarely happens.

rekameohs

Skims_Smokehouse said:

Sounds like you do all the right things.  How many layers of seasoning did you do after you sanded it?  Perhaps it’s needing another round of smoke point oven bake?

That was my thought as well.  Maybe, only use it for cooking bacon for a month or two to help it get well seasoned?

Mr1egg

Never understood cast iron and never will. I’ve been team stainless steel forever, no maintenance, easy to clean and lasts forever. I always tell my cast iron buddy’s, put them both beside each other and tell me if you can taste the difference in food. 

1voyager

A new, pre-seasoned Lodge won't give you the results that you seem to be looking for. 

If you're looking for a super-smooth surface, go to an antique store and buy vintage cast iron. You can spend an insane amount of money for vintage Griswold and Wagner Ware, but you can buy a vintage 3-notch unmarked Lodge, Birmingham Stove & Range, unmarked Griswold or Wagner Ware for a fraction of the price. Be sure to buy cast iron that isn't marked "Made in USA". The "Made in USA" is a sure indication that the cast iron was manufactured in the early 60's or later.

If you find one that is caked with crud, buy it unless it's a "spinner". Send it to me and I'll restore it for you by using electrolysis. I'll season it also. No charge, of course.

RRP

I'll keep at it, but as you can see it seems to be pretty smooth.


BTW @1voyager I was given a reconditioned old Montgomery Ward 8" skillet, but it's just too small for the meals I use my cast iron for. The metal on it is practically smooth as glass!

1voyager

@RRP - Not surprising that your Montgomery Ward cooking surface is as smooth as glass. It was manufactured by Wagner Manufacturing Company in Sydney, OH. They were made for Montgomery Ward starting in the 1930s and later. The cooking surface is identical to a Wagner Ware skillet. 

What a great gift!

saluki2007

Mr1egg said:

Never understood cast iron and never will. I’ve been team stainless steel forever, no maintenance, easy to clean and lasts forever. I always tell my cast iron buddy’s, put them both beside each other and tell me if you can taste the difference in food. 

I don’t disagree with your take on the taste of the food. IMHO the cast iron really shines in the clean up department. I have never been able to cook anything in my all clad that I didn’t have to scrub the crap out of it to get it clean. 

MaskedMarvel

I’ve switched to a commercial carbon steel wok for most of my “bulk” cook topping, but have a few heirloom cast iron skillets and a Dutch oven for the specific stuff (including TWO Borough Furnace skillets that were worth the price tag).  

Every one gets the same treatment. 

- Wiped out before heating up to clean any oil that’s “sweated” out
- cook!
- Plastic sink scrubbie wand cleanup while still warm with hot water
- towel dry
- Gentle warming back up to evaporate any moisture still in the pores (this is my conceptual ESSENTIAL STEP)
- Lightly wiped down with cooking oil (I’m on avocado oil right now)

works very well for me. Hope it helps someone if they’re looking for a method..

RyanStl

Don't give up Ron

Ybabpmuts

RyanStl said:

Don't give up Ron

i wouldn't give up Ron. I'm pretty sure he was the guy that stole a package of gym socks last Thursday at SocksRus, up the street.  Interestingly, the one eye witness that saw him said he wasn't wearing socks and his legs looked like pale sticks, and even if he got away with the socks, he had like zero calf muscles, so the stolen socks couldn't be for him .... unless his legs were really, really, hairy

Therein lies the proof ..  I don't want to get into too many particulars, but many years ago ..  Ron sent me four pictures of his leg hair, with a cryptic message that said,  "they're so hairless, that stealing socks makes no sense".  I remember thinking to myself ... after looking at maybe two of the pictures ...  that they weren't so hairless that I wouldn't steal socks for them.

This is not a conviction against Ron, it just proves that we have a different threshold for stealing socks based on pictures of leg hair, and who among us knows exactly how much leg hairs in a picture will make us turn to stealing socks? 

SB

Botch

Ybabpmuts said:

RyanStl said:

Don't give up Ron

i wouldn't give up Ron. I'm pretty sure he was the guy that stole a package of gym socks last Thursday at SocksRus, up the street.  Interestingly, the one eye witness that saw him said he wasn't wearing socks and his legs looked like pale sticks, and even if he got away with the socks, he had like zero calf muscles, so the stolen socks couldn't be for him .

I really don't trust those type.
 

RRP

HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET THAT PICTURE OF ME WITHOUT MAKE UP???????? I’ve read about your type sneaking in and planting those tiny cameras! AREN’T you ashamed.???

 

fishlessman

get the pan hot before adding oil or bacon, get the pan hot to clean and sizzle steam a 1/4 cup water with a couple swipes of a spatula then wipe with a paper towel. if you add water to a cold pan, good luck with the clean up, if you add bacon to a cold pan, good luck with it not sticking. dont know when the pan actually made it to the sink last. i dont scrub

SonVolt

If I can pat myself on the back for a second, I can take a brand new Lodge skillet from Walmart and have eggs sliding around like it's Teflon the same day, seasoned only with high-heat and Crisco.

RRP

SonVolt said:

If I can pat myself on the back for a second, I can take a brand new Lodge skillet from Walmart and have eggs sliding around like it's Teflon the same day, seasoned only with high-heat and Crisco.

Care to share your trick?

Ozzie_Isaac

RRP said:

SonVolt said:

If I can pat myself on the back for a second, I can take a brand new Lodge skillet from Walmart and have eggs sliding around like it's Teflon the same day, seasoned only with high-heat and Crisco.

Care to share your trick?

High heat & Crisco

Legume

<place holder for a Giuliani pat on the back joke>

RRP

Ozzie_Isaac said:

RRP said:

SonVolt said:

If I can pat myself on the back for a second, I can take a brand new Lodge skillet from Walmart and have eggs sliding around like it's Teflon the same day, seasoned only with high-heat and Crisco.

Care to share your trick?

High heat & Crisco

Golly...shucky dern...how did I ever miss that? 

Guess I was asking about method i.e. stove top, oven, BGE; one, two, three heating cycles - but maybe I just need more hand holding being an old fart...

northGAcock

Ron, a quick deglaze while the pan is hot will make the clean up a lot quicker and easier later. It’s hard to do when you really want to get to the eatin part. Show it a little love and it will love ya back. 

HeavyG

alaskanassasin said:

I never mastered stainless either

saluki2007 said:

Mr1egg said:

Never understood cast iron and never will. I’ve been team stainless steel forever, no maintenance, easy to clean and lasts forever. I always tell my cast iron buddy’s, put them both beside each other and tell me if you can taste the difference in food. 

I don’t disagree with your take on the taste of the food. IMHO the cast iron really shines in the clean up department. I have never been able to cook anything in my all clad that I didn’t have to scrub the crap out of it to get it clean. 

Learn to be more like Dave...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YUNktI9exc