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Cast Iron frustration

Have two Lodge fry pans. 12” standard and maybe a 14 or 16 with two d handles. I have seasoned but everything still sticks.  I read that the newer vs older are not as smooth.  Used a electric hand sander on them until the gritty feeling was gone. Reseasoned.   Multiple times. Have used grape seed oil, Wesson oil, flax seed oil, bacon grease. Everything except Mobil 1.   My wife put on stove, added butter, warmed for a couple minutes. Add three eggs.  All stuck like crazy.  After getting them out, I ran hot water and scraped the crud off. Dried, put on burner to help open pores. More grape seed oil.  Wipe.  Send message about frustration.  Signed, Cast in despair. 

Ernie McClain

Scottsbluff, Nebraska

(in the extreme western panhandle of NE)

Comments

  • Hairless_Hand
    Hairless_Hand Posts: 214
    Cook some bacon for 10 mornings in a row. You will like the results of bacon every morning with a bonus feature of a seasoned cast iron pan. 
  • Lit
    Lit Posts: 9,053
    Cast iron is a pain. I had a small collection at one point but I’m down to just one now. Use it for searing sometimes that’s about it. 
  • xfire_ATX
    xfire_ATX Posts: 1,110
    90% of the articles I see on cooking eggs says use Teflon.  Can I make eggs in my CI- sure but generally only after premaking the bacon or sausage since the pan has grease in it and its hot.  Do I still have to clean it out- yes. 

    I have a flat CI that I have used for pancakes and Grilled Cheese for 16 years and I can make the perfect over easy egg in.  But that took 16 years to get the seasoning just perfect.  I dont generally use it for this purpose since the teflon is so much lighter to hold for the scrape/ flip.

    Last night after Adult Beverages for a few hours with neighbors at a socailly acceptable distance made this- Tots in CI in oven, Fried egg on teflon pan.  Just so much easier.

    XLBGE, LBGECharbroil Gas Grill, Weber Q2000, Old Weber Kettle, Yeti 65, Yeti Hopper 20, RTIC 20, RTIC 20 Soft Side - Too many drinkware vessels to mention.

    Not quite in Austin, TX City Limits
    Just Vote- What if you could choose "none of the above" on an election ballot? Millions of Americans do just that, in effect, by not voting.  The result in 2016: "Nobody" won more counties, more states, and more electoral votes than either candidate for president. 
  • SciAggie
    SciAggie Posts: 6,481
    @erniemcclain I hear ya. I have a few CI pieces that I love. I use them in the wood oven and on the egg - for a lot of stuff. 
    But the non-stick frying eggs thing? It’s too much of a pain. Can it be done? Sure. It’s worth some effort to learn because you’ll learn tons about the importance of temperature of the pan and the oil.
    That said, I have a little Teflon pan I use just for eggs. With the knowledge I gained from screwing with the CI, I get perfect eggs with almost no effort from Teflon. 
    If you enjoy messing with CI and need to prove you can do it - charge ahead - nothing wrong with that. I’m a champion of doing things the hard way. 
    If not, make it easy on yourself. Use non stick. 
    Coleman, Texas
    Large BGE & Mini Max for the wok. A few old camp Dutch ovens and a wood fired oven. LSG 24” cabinet offset smoker. There are a few paella pans and a Patagonia cross in the barn. A curing chamber for bacterial transformation of meats...
    "Bourbon slushies. Sure you can cook on the BGE without them, but why would you?"
                                                                                                                          YukonRon
  • mEGG_My_Day
    mEGG_My_Day Posts: 1,653
    edited May 2020
    I recently posted a video of Jacques Pepin’s knife skills, which sent me down the utube rabbit whole of Jacques cooking skills.  Here is a video of a great chef making an omelet and he uses a nonstick pan!!  I have and use cast iron, but for delicate things like eggs or pan sautéed fish, it can be easier to go with nonstick with great results.  Lots of ways o skin a cat.  

    https://youtu.be/X1XoCQm5JSQ


    Memphis, TN 

    LBGE, 2 SBGE, Hasty-Bake Gourmet
  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,880
    I have a favorite CI skillet that I treat like my first born! For years I have just used CRISCO wiped on after cleaning with kosher salt, hot water and a stiff brush. I then place it in my cold oven and set the temp to 350º. Once the oven reaches that level which is in 11 minutes I turn off the oven and leave the skillet in there for 3 hours until cold. A quick wipe and back into the cabinet.

    Now - for the record - I tried this method with a steel skillet and it failed as did a multitude of other "can't fail" methods and none worked. After nearly 6 months I took that $80 skillet to a recycle biz that supplies metal for a local national wire manufacturing company.  That friggen skillet is now barbwire on some farm somewhere and both the farmer and I couldn't be any more happy!
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 15,432
    I recently posted a video of Jacques Pepin’s knife skills...

    And I'm very glad you did.  My chef's knife skills weren't too bad, but his video completely upped my game for using a paring knife.  I'm still practicing, but a lot of things I can now do better/quicker.
    Thanks!   :)
    _____________

    "I mean, I don't just kill guys, I'm notorious for doing in houseplants."  - Maggie, Northern Exposure


  • northGAcock
    northGAcock Posts: 15,164
    Like everything else, we all have things we like / don’t like. Myself, I am a big fan of cast iron. I don’t use them however to do eggs.
    Ellijay GA with a Medium & MiniMax

    Well, I married me a wife, she's been trouble all my life,
    Run me out in the cold rain and snow
  • lwrehm
    lwrehm Posts: 381
    2 words "Carbon Steel", have not used cast iron since I got mine.
  • lwrehm said:
    2 words "Carbon Steel", have not used cast iron since I got mine.
    I *love* my carbon steel pan, and have lots of CI that I use for various things. But eggs? Non-stick all the way.
  • DocObbins
    DocObbins Posts: 28
    Try cooking some bacon in it, then pour off excess grease. Rub your tap water as hot as you can get it and wash your (still) hot pan with hot water. Hot pan under hot water. Scrape it with a flat wooden scraper, if needed. Of course, never soap. 
    Air dry, repeat. 

    With that said, eggs are definitely easier in non-stick. 

  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    I think you are doing it wrong.  Hotter CI or teflon.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • lwrehm
    lwrehm Posts: 381
    My lodge carbon steel even after being cleaned with dish soap and a scotchbrite pad is as good as any non-stick pan I have ever used for eggs and I can use metal utensils. 

  • JustBuggin
    JustBuggin Posts: 109
    erniemcclain It sounds like you might be scrubbing off your coating each time. After I cook with mine I lightly clean with one of the chain mail looking scrubbers then wipe grape seed oil before heating it in the oven to dry for about 15 minutes. Pretty much as good as any of my wife's non-stick pans.
  • lwrehm
    lwrehm Posts: 381
    The whole concept of "seasoned" cast iron (or carbon steel) being "low-stick" (I'm not going to say non-stick)  is all about polymerized oil filling the imperfections in the pans surface.   First off you need to start with a fairly smooth surface, raw cast iron is NOT smooth enough.  It needs to be machined/sanded smooth.  This is why I like the carbon steel it never has that sand cast roughness.  When the pan is heated with oil, the oil fills in those tiny pits and scratches and polymerizes creating an extremely smooth surface that is almost totally non-stick.  Once this polymerized surface is built extreme heat is pretty much the only enemy, unless you are scrubbing like crazy, regular dish soap and a normal scrubbing will NOT remove the polymerized oil in the pits and scratches.   IMO, the entire NO SOAP in CI is a complete and total myth.
  • SonVolt
    SonVolt Posts: 3,314
    edited May 2020
    I can take a new Lodge skillet from Walmart and have it frying eggs without sticking in under 2 hours. Extremely thin coats of Crisco (way less than most people think) in a 550F oven repeating wipe downs every ~20 minutes.  Wipe as much of the oil off as you can with a dry paper towel before placing the pan back in the oven.  This is where most people screw up and they add too much oil. 

    When you cook the eggs, you have to crank the heat and wipe the pan down with a little oil and wait for it smoke a little... think of this like a touch-up seasoning between cooks. Then add your butter/oil (whatever) and crack your eggs in. They should slide around with ease. Same for scrambled eggs. 

    Teflon is easier, but I still prefer cast iron b/c it's one less pan taking up space. 
    South of Nashville  -  BGE XL  -  Alfresco 42" ALXE  -  Alfresco Versa Burner  - Sunbeam Microwave 
  • EagleIII
    EagleIII Posts: 415
    IMHO, SonVolt (above) is 100% correct.  Preheat is a HUGE par of it,  Start early, way before you are ready to cook and gradually preheat from low to medium to whatever the temp is that you need.  Add some fat of some kind like oil, butter etc. then add the eggs.  They may need a LITTLE help, but they ought to slide right out of there.  Do all your bacon in there whenever you make bacon.  When the bacon is done, rinse the still hot pan with hot water only and re-season with whatever oil or fat you like.  Some will swear it has to be Flaxseed or Grapeseed or Coconut.  I have used them all and have settled on Crisco.  It's cheap as dirt, always available and IMHO works as well as any of the others for seasoning.  Good luck.
  • xfire_ATX
    xfire_ATX Posts: 1,110
    I took this pic after cooking up another batch of pancakes.  This pan was never ground down, just 16 years of oil, cook, thin coat of oil during cool down.  This pan is slick and will easily cook a fried egg over easy.  Still think the teflon is easier and faster but I have done it many times on this when its already hot.


    XLBGE, LBGECharbroil Gas Grill, Weber Q2000, Old Weber Kettle, Yeti 65, Yeti Hopper 20, RTIC 20, RTIC 20 Soft Side - Too many drinkware vessels to mention.

    Not quite in Austin, TX City Limits
    Just Vote- What if you could choose "none of the above" on an election ballot? Millions of Americans do just that, in effect, by not voting.  The result in 2016: "Nobody" won more counties, more states, and more electoral votes than either candidate for president. 
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,671
    dont warm the pan with oil in it before cooking. thoroughly heat the pan hot, add oil, add eggs and drop the heat all the way down and cook the eggs. fist mistake is not getting the dry pan hot first, if you dont do that first you can even get bacon to stick
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • Hub
    Hub Posts: 927
    Cook some bacon for 10 mornings in a row. You will like the results of bacon every morning with a bonus feature of a seasoned cast iron pan. 

    This! Seasoning cast iron is not a one time thing.  It is a multiple step process.  Do consecutive fatty cooks .. bacon .. 80/20 ground beef, sausage, etc.  Each cook will add a tiny layer of non-stick heaven.  After about 10 cooks, you have the ultimate non-stick pan as long as you don't do anything crazy to mess it up.
    Beautiful and lovely Villa Rica, Georgia