Seasoning a cast iron skillet....Tips please

[General Lee]

General Lee, Morning..... the best oil to use to season Cast Iron is an oil that has a high iodine number... Flax seed oil fits that the best.... It has a low smoke point and should not be used for frying.... Put a thin layer on the pan and heat to 400-450 deg F.... It will smoke... the oil polymerizes into a very, very hard coating.... I have a new #10 DO with about 6 coatings on it... Nothing sticks to it now.... beans and hocks rinse right out... spaghetti sauce, tomato base will rinse right out.... It may need an additional coating and baking but the coating is still there... Flax Oil can be found on Amazon or your local health food store.... It is worth the price.... After coating CI for years with other oils that don't really work, I am very happy with the Flax Oil coating.... DaveView attachment 303631

Interesting Dave, I just may have to try this. I've been pretty much using my skillet daily. My dang eggs still like to stick. I like mine sunny side up so I can mop up the yoke with toast. But when they stick its hard not to break the yoke. I would be happy with this pan if I could get the eggs not to stick. The problem area seems to be in the center of the pan, which is where most of the heat is right over the burner.

 

[Chilly807]

We have three cast iron fry pans, two are Wagner 1891 (one of the last pans Wagner made), and the third is a Lodge. We've had pretty much the same results everyone else has, the Lodge has been a very poor second to the Wagner's. The Wagner has almost a mirror finish compared to the pebble finish Lodge, which makes me think that's part of the problem.

I think seasoning is something that happens as you use the pan, not a process that's "once and done". I try to avoid cooking saucy foods in them, keep them strictly for frying and baking (I've got a good cornbread recipe that's done in a skillet in the oven).

The Wagner cooked pancakes this morning, pretty much 100% no sticking with a little butter added. The Lodge cooked bacon, ended up with little bits sticking here and there. I usually use hot water and a stainless steel scrub pad to clean them with, but decided this morning to try something different. I used a couple spoonfuls of canola oil and a dry steel scrub pad. It's as clean as ever, but no hot water to remove oils. Once everything is loose, a paper towel to wipe it out with and you're done. The Wagner pan needed no scrubbing at all, I just wiped that one out. I tossed the oily scrub pad in soapy water to clean it for the next time. I'll try this for a few weeks to see if it helps the Lodge pan. If it doesn't, I may try the sanding trick.

I should mention that the Lodge isn't bad as far as non-stick goes, but it's not half as good as the Wagner.

I've heard theories that the older Wagner and Griswold pans used a better quality cast iron than the new Lodge pans, if that's true or not I have no idea. I do know that soap and water is bad news for cast iron cookware, and I think plain water isn't so good either. I need something to get residual flavours out of the pans without damaging the finish (fried fish flavour does NOTHING for pancakes !), I think the oil and scrub pad might do the trick.

First pic is the Wagner pan, the second is the Lodge. Easy to see the difference in finish.



Sean

 

[dmccarty]

Yesterday, I did some more seasoning on my cast iron bread pans. Our range has two ovens, a regular sized oven and a smaller oven. Instead of having a pan drawer, the second oven takes up the space used by the pan drawer. We use this smaller oven 90% of the times since it heats up quicker and uses less power. This smaller oven also has a toast function.

I used Canola oil on the bread pans and even used a bit of salt. After wiping down the pans with oil and salt I would toast the pans for 2-4 minutes. I think the toast function heats to 400ish degrees. So I would toast for a few minutes and then let the pans sit in the residual heat. I did this off and on all day as I cooked a pot of beans.

The bread pans are Lodge and were preseasoned and I did more season before I used them the first time. They bread stuck in the pans.

After seasoning yesterday, I made two loaves of bread, the the bread fell right out of the pans! :thumbsup:

I did use the salt which was problematic because I could not get all of the salt out of the pan and the some of the salt is now baked into the pan. Not sure I really care because the bread fell right out of the pan which is the point of the exercise. I cooked down some salt pork for the beans and I did use some of the rendered fat in the pans too.

A year or so ago, I bought some Lodge flat skillets that are really nice for pancakes or sandwiches because they have a very low lip. I seasoned those with Canola oil and they have worked just fine.

I did manage to burn myself, TWICE, yesterday moving around the cast iron, so I am going to get some new oven mitts. :shocked::laughing::laughing::laughing:

Later,
Dan

 

[caver]

I have a small camp skillet bought new from Big Lots...made in China. One night while camping I set up a pan holder my dad made years ago. I adjusted it so the heat was about 400 degrees reading with an infrared thermometer. Wiped it with Crisco and let it cook. Rotate wipe repeat as needed. I also did an older Dutch oven that night the same way.
I have some heavy off brand skillet bought at an antique mall. I just wipe out the grease with a paper towel and leave it.
Grease grease and more grease. I don't associate cast iron with healthy eating....just good flavor.
I forgot to add....I bought a Lodge camp griddle pre-seasoned a couple years ago and wasn't impressed at all. Worst food stickage I've had with cast iron.

 

[joshuabardwell]

I did manage to burn myself, TWICE, yesterday moving around the cast iron, so I am going to get some new oven mitts. :shocked::laughing::laughing::laughing:

Consider leather fireplace gloves. Just as, or more effective, much more sturdy, and very manly.

 

[General Lee]

My eggs didn't stick today! Granted, they were the only thing cooked in it first. Usually I do bacon or sausage, etc then the eggs. Today, added some butter and all was good. I'm gonna have to find a cast iron strictly for eggs. I haven't done anything different so far from my normal seasoning routine. Clean-up and a wipe down with lard.

 

[dave1949]

My eggs didn't stick today! Granted, they were the only thing cooked in it first. Usually I do bacon or sausage, etc then the eggs. Today, added some butter and all was good. I'm gonna have to find a cast iron strictly for eggs. I haven't done anything different so far from my normal seasoning routine. Clean-up and a wipe down with lard.

I've noticed a lot of gooey crap comes out of commercially cured meats like ham, bacon, sausage. It leaves a crust even in a Teflon pan.

 

[SPIKER]

General:

We almost always use 2 pans one for the bacon/sausage and one for the eggs/pancakes as cooking times differ as well as the bacon & sausage leave bits stuck that will get MORE food stuck to them.

Even the best cast will get bits stuck to them. I leave the grease in mine as when it cools it comes right off it seems.

Mark

 

[dmccarty]

Consider leather fireplace gloves. Just as, or more effective, much more sturdy, and very manly.

I usually just fold up a dish towel which has always worked okey dokey but for some reason I got distracted twice and got burned.

I use a set of red manly man welding gloves for working around the wood stove so I was thinking about just buying a set for the kitchen.

Instead I just ordered this from Amazon:



Not JD Green but at least NH Blue or close enough. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

The welders gloves are certainly more manly manly.

Later,
Dan

 

[aczlan]

I usually just fold up a dish towel which has always worked okey dokey but for some reason I got distracted twice and got burned.
I use a set of red manly man welding gloves for working around the wood stove so I was thinking about just buying a set for the kitchen.
Instead I just ordered this from Amazon:
View attachment 303952
Not JD Green but at least NH Blue or close enough. :laughing::laughing::laughing:
The welders gloves are certainly more manly manly.

Watch that those dont split on you. Mom had a set like that, but the thumb split off of the glove.
I really like the "handle holders" (ie: Amazon.com: Lodge Striped Hot Handle Holders/Mitts, Set of 2: Kitchen & Dining ) when working with multiple pans and doing other things.

Aaron Z