I’ve seen a lot of statements made all over the internet and in how-to guides in weekly newspapers and the like, on how to best deal with cast iron skillets…
So here’s my own, the large Griswold skillet and the smaller, unknown make, egg pan came from my grandparents - they cooked for decades on them and in fact the egg pan is one of the “old” pieces my grandmother got from HER grandmother.
They were cleaned with a stainless steel scouring pads for as long as I can remember, and we’re talking early 1970’s. I use stainless steel Chore Boys on them. The mid-sized Griswold saucier pan, is one I found at a yard sale some 30 years ago… It was black with the baked-on acrylamides and it’s almost finally scrubbed clean of all that nasty black gunk.
It’s kind of the reason why I’m not that famous on Lodge pans - they’ve got that texture to them that catches the baked on seasoning and it’s hard to get super clean.
I season - just wash, dry and wipe with coconut oil and bake for 45 minutes or so at 350 degrees, every 6 months.
I store them in my oven proper, with a light coat of coconut oil on them. All three are close to mirror smooth from being steel polished for decades and with a light amount of cooking oil (usually coconut) seldom does food stick.
I love cast iron and enameled cast iron cookware. Thanks for showing off your pretty workhorses; they’ll be good to go for generations.
That said, I added a 10" carbon steel skillet to my arsenal. It’s been a game-changer. If you come across one, add it to your rotation.
Speak to me of this carbon steel cookware! I haven’t heard of this before… is it a new thing?
It’s been around for ages and is made of the same stuff as cast iron, but instead of being poured into a mould, it’s sheets that get stamped into shape. So it has similar properties eg you can season it, you take care of it the same way, but it has a smoother surface and tends to be a lot thinner. I don’t have one but I got gifted a Teflon wok for free; once I need to replace that, I plan to look for a carbon steel wok.
Oh no it’s probably as old as steel itself. Here in Europe it is/used to be pretty common in most professional kitchens.
Got a https://www.amazon.com/Vollrath-Carbon-Steel-Fry-Pan/dp/B001TA773I to use on my induction. Seasons very much like ground cast iron, seems to sear and brown much better than my stainless (and far better than nonstick). It’s basically a stamped steel sheet, mill texture, smooth but not mirror. I don’t use the stainless anymore. The bottom of the specific pan I got is not flat, but slightly domed, so there’s always a dry spot in the middle with a ring of oil around the edges, which isn’t great, but I was shocked how noticeably different from stainless it behaved. It’s a hot, flat surface: what else is there?
Oh cool! I’ll show to husband - he’s the chef in the family, I’m just the one that came into the relationship with all the cookware.
Fun fact: carbon steel cookware has less carbon (around 1%) than cast iron (average 3%).