Cast iron cookware
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creekbend
Super Star Member
You are 100% correct. attn# OP. Don't purchase the preseasoned kind. Season your own with "Crisco" in the can and season in the oven. Don't use a Scour Pad when cleaning. Properly seasoned Cast Iron be easily cleaned with a sponge or paper towel. BTW, season some more as necessary. The layers of seasoning build up and you get a smoother surface. I agree with the others that LODGE makes the best available Cast Iron today. It is made in Tennessee and Cracker Barrel even sells it.
creekbend
Super Star Member
BTW, please don't use soap when cleaning.
mrpoppy58
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My Wife uses a Cast Iron Skillet that My Grandparents bought in 1936. She loves It.
TomSeller
Super Member
And she'll never wear it out. Teach the next generation how to cook with it and care for it and they will be handing it down to their kids.
Now what kind of crazy talk is that ?
How do you expect to fill up our landfills, and keep those factories in China running ?
Rgds, D.
oldballs
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Since my wife died, I've had trouble with eggs and bacon sticking to the skillet. They are cast iron and the small ones say " Lodge" on the back. They have a rough frying surface. Of the big ones, there is no name anywhere, yet they are smooth. One of the big ones has a "7" on the back side and the other has "10". I'm going to try the Crisco seasoning y'all mentioned. "Happiness" would be scooping up a "sunny side" egg without messing it up. But I have been scouring the little ones with brillo pads. That must be a NO NO.
The MRS did the cooking and I held down the jobs, cars and manual labor including....some cleaning. In fact, with me staying out of "Her" kitchen and her staying out of "My" garage, we got along real well for 48 years.:thumbsup:
The MRS did the cooking and I held down the jobs, cars and manual labor including....some cleaning.
In fact, with me staying out of "Her" kitchen and her staying out of "My" garage, we got along real well for 48 years.:thumbsup:
adirondackmtnman
Platinum Member
Since my wife died, I've had trouble with eggs and bacon sticking to the skillet. They are cast iron and the small ones say " Lodge" on the back. They have a rough frying surface. Of the big ones, there is no name anywhere, yet they are smooth. One of the big ones has a "7" on the back side and the other has "10". I'm going to try the Crisco seasoning y'all mentioned. "Happiness" would be scooping up a "sunny side" egg without messing it up. But I have been scouring the little ones with brillo pads. That must be a NO NO.
The MRS did the cooking and I held down the jobs, cars and manual labor including....some cleaning.
With a good seasoning, the pan should clean up with water and a rag...anything abrasive will indeed take the seasoning right off the pan.
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farmgirl19
Super Member
Soap also strips the "seasoning".
thatguy
Elite Member
slightly off topic - if you want a cast iron skillet (and other things) without the cleaning hassle look at the La Crueset - they are permanently seasoned but are cast iron underneath
brian
brian
farmgirl19
Super Member
Cast Iron is healthy to cook with. Some of the Le Crueset actually has the non-stick coating, and I don't like that. It isn't just the cast iron center I want, but the cook surface too.
creekbend
Super Star Member
You are correct.
adirondackmtnman
Platinum Member
Very true...It's not healthy to preheat the teflon(the stuff's not 'healthy' anyway) to the point you would with cast iron, and those thin, flimsy pans don't hold the heat to cook properly with anyway...
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farmgirl19
Super Member
And one can defrost a steak from the freezer in rocord time, with no microwave! Just set the steak (still in the wrapper) in the cast iron skillet, and let it set. No heat involved! I go flip the steak after 5 or 6 minuted, if it is very thick.
Can't beat cast iron cookware!
Can't beat cast iron cookware!
adirondackmtnman
Platinum Member
Now that I'm thinking of it, I have the bottom half of a dutch oven (the top's been missing since before I was a twinkle in my father's eye) that my grandmother used to fry her doughnuts in, using...You guessed it, lard! Best tasting doughnuts you ever threw down your tonsil-hole right there, especially when rolled in cinnnamon sugar while still hot!!! But more to the point, that pan has the best seasoning I've ever seen, I guess it can be attributed to the lard...I never woulda put 2 and 2 together.
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TomSeller
Super Member
Absolutely correct, my Mom's doughnut pan, a Wagner deep fryer, was seasoned to perfection. Lots of lard, lots of doughnuts. Eggs should not stick at all. I use my #5s to make sort of a scramble/omelet and the eggs slide right out. I always add a slight amount of oil or butter and smear it around just prior to cookig the eggs. You do need some oil of some sort. Same for pancakes. Clean up is just a paper towel. Meat on the other hand has to stick slightly to create that crust that tastes so good. Before I clean the pans after cooking meat, I use a FLAT edge spatula to chip off the crud down to the surface, rinse it out, and follow up with a plastic/spounge. I use the Dobie pads. Re-rinse. No soap as has been mentioned. DRY them right way and heat them slightly on the stove to fully dry them. I then add cocunut oil and melt that but stop prior to smoking. Smear it around, inside and out. Cool and store.
FTG-05
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The only thing that comes from Vermont Castings is the large 12" skillet, they don't currently have enough capacity to keep up with demand on that particular skillet. This comes from one of the factory managers per their April National Cornbread Festival tour held once per year; this is the only time you can tour the factory. They are in the middle of a manufacturing expansion, once that's done, they'll make all cast iron at their factory in New Pittsburgh, TN.
The only cast iron that Lodge gets from out of the country is their enameled cast iron, it comes from China. Yea, they say it gets made to their spec, but from the questions I hear people ask at their factory store in SP, I don't think that story is very credible. People want USA made cast iron.
Having said that, my wife loves here Le Cruosant (sp) French made enameled cast iron; she better as much as it costs!!!!
RoyJackson
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Since I worked at Vermont Castings, I'm well aware of what we produce for Lodge. VC will continue producing the skillets for about another year...then, if all goes to plan, Lodge will take over production. This wasn't any surprise as Lodge had this plan when the worked was sourced to VC.
VC is looking into producing cookware themselves, BTW.
SPIKER
Elite Member
We have a more than a few cast iron pans and 2 dutch ovens (the type that does not have coals on lid.) O have a "Imperial" Cast Iron that was made in Ireland. Originally it was Enameled with ceramic type coating similar to old kitchen sinks. It had 2 chips in it and I got it as a "throw-away" & sandblasted off the ceramic coating. It came with a 10" wooden handle & eggs slide right out like a TV commercial! When I sold my house it was setting on the stove (I was still moving stuff out) and the new owners tossed it out! Woman said it was all nasty and greasy!!! Never seen one like it before or since but keep my eyes peeled.
Our normal frying pans are a Werner 12" high side, we deep-fry chicken & french frys in it and make lots of bacon, sausage, hamburgers etc. so the meat tends to keep the coating a bit knocked down, for the eggs and french toast we use a flat 10" griddle that does not have any IDs on it but is 98% non-stick. We do scrub them some but usually only the woman goes after them too aggressively with soap/plastic scrubber pad. Most of the time in last few years I been one cleaning them with spatula and water only. Let them cool with the grease/grime setting in them and scrape it out with metal spatula, if something is stuck then heat it a bit and toss in a bit of water it will boil it loose. scrape and toss in some lard or bacon grease & be good to go. If there are just little bits in the pan I run hot water and a lightly soaped scrubber around it but not so much that the grease and coating comes off. If it does then spray in some canola oil till you can fry some bacon or 73% hamburger.
Mark
Our normal frying pans are a Werner 12" high side, we deep-fry chicken & french frys in it and make lots of bacon, sausage, hamburgers etc. so the meat tends to keep the coating a bit knocked down, for the eggs and french toast we use a flat 10" griddle that does not have any IDs on it but is 98% non-stick. We do scrub them some but usually only the woman goes after them too aggressively with soap/plastic scrubber pad. Most of the time in last few years I been one cleaning them with spatula and water only. Let them cool with the grease/grime setting in them and scrape it out with metal spatula, if something is stuck then heat it a bit and toss in a bit of water it will boil it loose. scrape and toss in some lard or bacon grease & be good to go. If there are just little bits in the pan I run hot water and a lightly soaped scrubber around it but not so much that the grease and coating comes off. If it does then spray in some canola oil till you can fry some bacon or 73% hamburger.
Mark
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