Help me love my cast iron skillet

[ihop]

Ooph.  That sucks.

[Newt]

I only have a deep cast iron pan that I use for all my stews. I like the way it heats up....perfect for risottos.

[Chasing Amy]

I don't know what else to do. This cast iron skillet is 60+ years old (it was my grandmother's) and no matter how much I season it, no matter how much I baby it, I end up with a giant stuck on mess. Even when I cook with so much oil that the food ends up greasy and inedible.

[BonitaApplebum]

I've heard of people sanding them down to get a smoother finish. I am pretty sure OBH did it. Seems like a lot of work, though.

[wombleatwimbledon]

I don't know what else to do. This cast iron skillet is 60+ years old (it was my grandmother's) and no matter how much I season it, no matter how much I baby it, I end up with a giant stuck on mess. Even when I cook with so much oil that the food ends up greasy and inedible.

How hot are you using it? This may not be relevant but mine seem to work better at a lower heat than I would normally use for a non stick.. the hotter they are the more stuff sticks..

[merigayle]

I've heard of people sanding them down to get a smoother finish. I am pretty sure OBH did it. Seems like a lot of work, though.

We had to do this once and start over. It did help.

[radial]

I'm going to try this with the Lodge pan.  It's pretty useless with the current orange peel finish.  You can season that thing 'til the cows come home and it's still gonna grab onto everything like velcro. 

How to smooth the rough cooking surface of a modern Lodge cast iron skillet.

[Chasing Amy]

It already has a smooth finish. And the last thing I plan to do is sand that thing!

I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. My grandma used and abused that thing successfully for decades.

[Natasha]

It already has a smooth finish. And the last thing I plan to do is sand that thing!

I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. My grandma used and abused that thing successfully for decades.

Maybe you're not using enough oil?

[Chasing Amy]

Maybe you're not using enough oil?

 

[radial]

Lookie what arrived in the mail today.



This weekend I'm gonna chuck that thing into my drill and smooth out the orange peel surface of my crappy Lodge pan.  Will report back after seasoning and a few cooking trials. 

This is my plan B as far as ferrous cooking surfaces are concerned.  It also arrived in the mail today.



Other crazy people looking for great cooking surfaces recommended it.  The pan is made in France where they seem to know a bit about cooking and it's entirely constructed of carbon steel.  And it's hefty!  I'm sure it will get even better with seasoning, but I'm impatient, so I just oiled it up and fried some eggs.  Viola!  Right out of the box, this thing works better than my most seasoned cast iron pan.  I'm very impressed. 

[Natasha]

Hey! I've got the de Buyer skillet. I was advised to fry potato peels in it first, did you do that?

I do love it. It is one of the few items that made the cut when we sold the house and downsized. But so did one cast-iron skillet. They are good for different tasks.

[radial]

Hey! I've got the de Buyer skillet. I was advised to fry potato peels in it first, did you do that?

I do love it. It is one of the few items that made the cut when we sold the house and downsized. But so did one cast-iron skillet. They are good for different tasks.

Nah, I'm breaking all the rules with this one.  Just cooking stuff in it and hoping for the best.  So far so good, and if it goes wonky on me, I'll just run it through an oven cleaning cycle and do the traditional seasoning thing. 

[Natasha]

Nah, I'm breaking all the rules with this one.  Just cooking stuff in it and hoping for the best.  So far so good, and if it goes wonky on me, I'll just run it through an oven cleaning cycle and do the traditional seasoning thing. 

Not much to it, took less than 5 minutes.

I also dremeled my cast iron skillet the same time that OBH did his. Several sandpaper bits, then some steel wool. It did help. But it took a couple hours. And it never was as good as my inherited skillet.

[radial]

Not much to it, took less than 5 minutes.

What's the science behind the potato peel frying? 

[Natasha]

What's the science behind the potato peel frying? 

I have no idea. I've had that pan for years and can't remember what I read, just that I did it.

[radial]

It already has a smooth finish. And the last thing I plan to do is sand that thing!

I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. My grandma used and abused that thing successfully for decades.

Well, it sounds like you've got an heirloom pan.  They were hand-made back then and the cooking surface was ground smooth.  The only thing I can think is that you might have missed a step or two in the seasoning process.  Can you post a picture of the cooking surface? 

I speak from experience about the seasoning process.  I paid a pretty penny for an old Griswold pan that someone was selling online.  The seller burned off all the crud, so I just had to season it.  I tried, but I left way too much oil on the thing between cycles, and it came out lumpy and sticky.  Pretty much the opposite of non-stick. 

This weekend I did some work on the pans.  I have a small Lodge pan that has never worked very well.  As you probably know, the Lodge manufacturing process produces a pan with a very rough surface.  First I ran it through an oven cleaning cycle to burn off my previous failed attempts at seasoning.  Then I used an abrasive wheel on the drill to smooth down the pebbly finish as much as possible. 

It took a while, and it didn't eliminate the deepest pitting, but the surface was a lot smoother after the grinding.  Then I put it through 5 oven cycles using very thin coats of flaxseed oil and burning each one in at 400 to 500 degrees.  Remains to be seen whether I did it right this time, but it certainly looks/feels good. 

In hindsight, I think it's critical to make the oil layers as thin as possible which basically involves rubbing off every bit of oil you can soak up with paper towels before baking on a new layer.  In previous efforts, I left a lot more oil on the pan thinking more would be better.  Not so.

I also ran the new carbon steel pan through the same process.  It went from silver to ebony and looks super smooth.  Can't wait to try these guys out with the proverbial fried egg.

[Dagstag v 2.0]

I saw this video come up on Facebook. SO apparently takes shit care of his cast iron pan. I want to get a smaller one that I don't have trouble lifting.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=KLGSLCaksdY

[Natasha]

I saw this video come up on Facebook. SO apparently takes shit care of his cast iron pan. I want to get a smaller one that I don't have trouble lifting.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=KLGSLCaksdY

Good video. When they started washing the skillet, I swear I could smell it! That weird combo of rancid oil and dish soap.

[diablita]

This was in the magazine rack at Whole Foods today and I thought of you:

https://americastestkitchen.buysub.com/america-s-test-kitchen-special-magazine-issues/america-s-test-kitchen-the-cook-it-in-cast-iron-2017-bookazine.html