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.
So … I use avacado oil since that’s what cook with. (High smoke temp, no funky flavors.)
My seasoning process depends on- if I’ve scrubbed the old seasoning off, then it’s in the oven at about 300f, (smoke point is about 400,) I wipe on a small dab of oil on both sides it takes a teaspoon or less for the inside, (most gets into the cotton cloth…)
And I let it sit for a while. When it’s not tacky, I add another wipe. And do that until I’m not around anymore. 2-3 wipes,every half hour to hour will get you back to a factory seasoning.
You technically don’t need to heat it at all- oil polynerizes at room temp, just a lot more slowly. So unless it’s my egg pan, I recommend getting to “factory +” and then just giving a light wipe after use until eggs slide around like magic.
The smoke point of the seasoning is higher than the raw oil, but saturated oils (butter, bacon grease… coconut oil…) are so low that you break down your seasoning from getting too hot easily. (Olive oil is also out for the same reason.)
As a side note… you can get those diner-style sauce bottles pretty cheaply and have a conveniently sized squirt nozzle for said oils.
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%).
Beautiful sheen on the Griswold.
I have been considering sanding down my lodge for exactly your comments.
I tried this and found I couldn’t get the seasoning to take. (It’ll failed the deglaze-with-water test.)
It seasoned up nicely, no doubt, but then tossing water into a leidenfrost-hot pan removed it. (Actually? I think I was doing asparagus, the water was to steam after a quick fry.)
Your mileage may vary, though. Just make sure to have a proper filter mask on ( not the cheap dental masks)
You do not want the filings in your lungs.
And a strong magnet near will reduce the iron dust moving about the shop. Put it in a doggie poo bag for easy cleaning.
I think I’d prefer to clean iron fillings off a magnet than dog poop. Why not use an empty bag instead? Sorry, I’m a bit of a noob when it comes to cast iron pans.
Good points. Mine is actually pretty smooth anyway with pitting.
I’d be interested in seeing how that works! When you do it, let us know how it came out.
I think a lot of people with cast iron would like to sort their Lodge pans in the same way.
We’ll have to see. The other comment here warned me against it, saying they couldn’t get the seasoning to stick. Mine is actually pretty smooth anyway, with just some pitting.
I’ll season it soon and share the current state.
