The cast iron thread

[sgtsandman]

seasoning? WTF is that?

Baked on crisco, grease, or oil to protect the iron from rusting and make it more or less nonstick.

 

[Ranger850]

Baked on crisco, grease, or oil to protect the iron from rusting and make it more or less nonstick.

Oh, mine has plenty of that. I think you guys are overthinking that. It basically needs to be cooked in for a while. Like a lot of things, the more it gets used, the better it works. I don't think me washing it every now and then is taking the "seasoning" away. My skillet is older than I am. lol

 

[sgtsandman]

Up to you.

There is a difference in the stuff being baked into the metal than the stuff just used to cook. Some of the stuff used to cook with can (not will) go rancid and cause health problems.

But if what you are doing works, I’m not going to say you are wrong.

 

[Ranger850]

Up to you.

There is a difference in the stuff being baked into the metal than the stuff just used to cook. Some of the stuff used to cook with can (not will) go rancid and cause health problems.

But if what you are doing works, I’m not going to say you are wrong.

I'm juss doin' what my grandmammy told me to do, seems to have not killed me yet.

 

[fastpakr]

You can eventually get away with occasional soap on a cast iron piece that has years of seasoning bonded to it. But I wouldn't want to use it daily, and you shouldn't need to anyway. Between a decent brush (Lodge makes a good one but there are lots of options), or a simple scrubbing implement like a scrub daddy, there's really no use for a soap.

Like Snoranger, I always put the skillet right back on the oven at low heat to dry it out and then give it a quick wipe with vegetable oil. A paper towel folded down to about 1/4 it's normal size works perfectly, and you can just stick it into a zip lock bag afterwards to reuse it. I retired the last paper towel after... a year? They get really saturated with oil after a while and it only takes a few drops of new oil to put a nice coating down after the skillet is cleaned and warm.

 

[Ranger850]

You can eventually get away with occasional soap on a cast iron piece that has years of seasoning bonded to it. But I wouldn't want to use it daily, and you shouldn't need to anyway. Between a decent brush (Lodge makes a good one but there are lots of options), or a simple scrubbing implement like a scrub daddy, there's really no use for a soap.

Like Snoranger, I always put the skillet right back on the oven at low heat to dry it out and then give it a quick wipe with vegetable oil. A paper towel folded down to about 1/4 it's normal size works perfectly, and you can just stick it into a zip lock bag afterwards to reuse it. I retired the last paper towel after... a year? They get really saturated with oil after a while and it only takes a few drops of new oil to put a nice coating down after the skillet is cleaned and warm.

View attachment 86237

That oiled pan would collect so much cat hair at my house, in a days time, if I left it on my stove top. I like the idea of that process though. I'm definitely not against it and understand the concept. Most of my process is just what was handed down with the skillet. Which was mostly " Don't let it sit outside for too long" lol. I do most of the stuff you guys mentioned, but didn't think about "the process" very much. 2nd nature stuff I've been doing for decades. My wife won't even use it and has a Baby blue one with white cooking surface (ceramic, maybe). It's heavier than a dump truck but is super easy to clean. And apparently does not have seasoning, lol.

 

[sgtsandman]

I shocked the heck out of my girlfriend yesterday. I removed the decades of build up on one pan. There was a lot more on there than I thought there was. A wire wheel on an bench grinder just wasn't doing the job. Out came the angle grinder with an 80 grit flap disc. There had to be about 1/32 - 1/16 of an inch of build up on the outside. I guess the family only wiped the inside of the pan for a good long time. Took it down to bare metal and then used scotch brite discs to smooth out he grinder marks. 4 or 5 coats of Crisco baked in the oven at 450 degrees for an hour with each coat, it almost back to a normal looking pan. Regular cooking will darken it up and return it back to it's normal black coloring.

I've never seen so much build up on a cast iron piece before. My guess is the thing is about 100 years old, so that might explain it. The process did make on heck of a mess though. The girlfriend said it looked like I had just come out of a coal mine.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Once I get my sandblasted cabinet built one of the first things I'm doing is blasting the outside of all my pans. There is one that I'm sure has 1/4" of crud built up!

 

[Shran]

I cleaned up some skillets today - no 6 & 7 Wagner Ware, no. 5 old Lodge and a Taiwan Dutch oven. The oven had a lot of rust and pitting but all cleaned up nice. Out of crisco so I used lard... I need more crisco, it works a lot better.

 

[sgtsandman]

The one I redid has no brand marking on it. So I have no idea what it is. It just says No. 7, 10 1/8, and has a casting mark that looks like a slotted screw head.

 

[CrabGuy]

Let me preface this with 'I am not a collector or heavy user of cast iron'. I keep an older Lodge 12" skillet in Oregon for tators, searing steaks, and browning meat. I needed to buy a new one today for this house. It's says it's pre-seasoned and ready to use but I'm a bit leery about that. What is the general consensus on using a pre-seasoned pan without cleaning it 1st? There are just too many varying opinions on google. I usually just cook up a lot of bacon or sausage then wipe it out to keep the older pan ready for the next time.

 

[Shran]

New Lodge cast iron is "seasoned" already right out of the box... I'd just give it a quick rinse with some hot water and a bit of dish soap to get rid of the store cooties and use it.

I don't think that their seasoning is all that great. Combine that with the fact that their cast iron is not ground smooth... I dunno. I guess it's better than nothing but you'll still have to either smooth it out or use it a lot before it gets really good.

FWIW I just used the ancient #6 Wagner that I cleaned up yesterday. It got wire wheeled down to bare metal, then scrubbed with hot soapy water and a stainless scrubber, then 4 coats of lard. I made hash browns in it and absolutely nothing stuck to it, pretty amazing. I was concerned, sometimes the seasoning doesn't take and food just sticks forever.

 

[CrabGuy]

New Lodge cast iron is "seasoned" already right out of the box... I'd just give it a quick rinse with some hot water and a bit of dish soap to get rid of the store cooties and use it.

I don't think that their seasoning is all that great. Combine that with the fact that their cast iron is not ground smooth... I dunno. I guess it's better than nothing but you'll still have to either smooth it out or use it a lot before it gets really good.

FWIW I just used the ancient #6 Wagner that I cleaned up yesterday. It got wire wheeled down to bare metal, then scrubbed with hot soapy water and a stainless scrubber, then 4 coats of lard. I made hash browns in it and absolutely nothing stuck to it, pretty amazing. I was concerned, sometimes the seasoning doesn't take and food just sticks forever.

Thanks, a mild wash was my first thought also

 

[Curious Hound]

I usually season new stuff once just to make sure I know its condition. Then, use it hard to help add to that seasoning.

 

[sgtsandman]

I agree, wash it first since you don't know how it was stored and such. I would also give it at least one good seasoning just to be sure. As far as the rough surface, I just use the item and let natural wear take care of the surface. There is no harm smoothing the interior if you want but you'll need to run it through a full seasoning session if you do.

I'm not a collector either, I just prefer cast iron cookware over other offerings.