Cast Iron Skillet

[Leaky]

Hard to believe I've been cooking for 35 years and haven't had one. Fathers day coming up and I'm sure my wish for a Lodge 15 inch wide, two inch deep pre-seasonned skillet will be fulfilled.

The versatility is what I talking about. Use it on the stove, oven, grill, fire grate, whatever and its 32 bucks online. I should have asked for an outdoor propane cooker cause I aint got one of those either.

Anyway, I'm looking primarily at using it for deep dish pizza, frying fish, cooking large breakfasts etc. My question is: If you have one, what's your favorite way to use it? (other than a weapon)

[Archerysniper]

Anyway, I'm looking primarily at using it for deep dish pizza, frying fish, cooking large breakfasts etc. My question is: If you have one, what's your favorite way to use it? (other than a weapon)

I use mine for everything,especially during deer camp cooking on the barrel stove for large groups of people.

[Jim Almquist]

I have 2 Wagners that I bought at a buddy of mines parents rummage sale for 50 cents for both of them. All ready seasoned

That was back in the 70s and still use them today.

My mom knew that I liked cast iron so she gave me all of hers. I have a very nice selection from small frying pan to a great 2 burner griddle for pancakes.

[Leaky]

I have 2 Wagners that I bought at a buddy of mines parents rummage sale for 50 cents for both of them. All ready seasoned

That was back in the 70s and still use them today.

My mom knew that I liked cast iron so she gave me all of hers. I have a very nice selection from small frying pan to a great 2 burner griddle for pancakes.

Sweet!! I better start hitting some rummage sales.

[motley man]

I have a 12" and 10" that never leave the top of my stove in the kitchen. I also have two 12" that are in my camping gear with a dutch oven. Cast iron is the only way to cook. Those fancy nonstick frying pans are a joke, and always warp.

[Bobby Bass]

Great for deep pan pizza and no better way to cook a mountain of American fries. I also like making my onion rings in it and of course cooking fish!

[Rick G]

I have a few and use them for just about everything that a frying pan can be used for and a little more. Be sure to get a good thick cast iron one, and keep it well seasoned.

[Finns]

Fathers day coming up and I'm sure my wish for a Lodge 15 inch wide, two inch deep pre-seasonned skillet will be fulfilled.

You're headed in the correct direction.....But....I would get a deeper skillet if possible. Once a person starts deep frying fish/chicken a two inch may not be enough.

[rockman]

How does a guy go about 'seasoning' a skillet? I have a brand new one on the shelf that has yet to be used. That will change, but I am new to using cast iron cookware. I need to learn how to start out using cast iron the right way.

[hookjunior]

There are a few ways to do it. The way I do it is coat the whole pan in vegetable oil and then put it in a 350 degree oven for about a half hour.

[straydog]

I coat mine with a thin layer of vegetable oil also but set the oven to 450 for an hour and fifteen minutes to an hour and a half.

[Leaky]

How does a guy go about 'seasoning' a skillet? I have a brand new one on the shelf that has yet to be used. That will change, but I am new to using cast iron cookware. I need to learn how to start out using cast iron the right way.

This review on Amazon is a hoot. And according to responses he garnered, was also spot on. Check it out.

Sorry for the long review - for the short review, count the stars!

I'm a bit of a purist. I always season my cast iron - new, or used (hey, I don't know WHAT someone else used that old piece of cast iron for - maybe cleaning auto parts). I sand it down to bare metal, starting with about an 80 grit and finishing with 200.

Then I season. The end result is a glossy black mirror that puts Teflon to shame. There are two mistakes people make when seasoning - not hot enough, not long enough. These mistakes give the same result - a sticky brown coating that is definitely not non-stick, and the first time they bring any real heat to the pan, clouds of smoke that they neither expected or wanted. I see several complaints here that are completely due to not knowing this.

But there were a few pieces I needed (yes, needed, cast iron isn't about want, it's a need), and this was one of them, so I thought I'd give the Lodge pre-seasoning a try. Ordered last Friday, received this Friday - free shipping, yay!

The first thing I noticed was the bumpy coating. The inside is actually rougher than the outside, and my hand was itching for the sandpaper, but that would have defeated the experiment. This time, I was going to give the Lodge pre-seasoning a chance before I broke out the sandpaper. So I scrubbed the pan out with a plastic brush and a little soapy water, rinsed well, put it on a medium burner, and waited. Cast iron tip number one - give it a little time. Then give it a little more time. Cast iron conducts heat much more slowly than aluminum, so you have to have a little patience.

Then I threw in a pat of butter, and brought out the natural enemy of badly seasoned cast iron - the egg. And, sure enough, it stuck - but not badly, just in the middle. A bit of spatula work and I actually got a passable over-medium egg. Hmmm. But still not good enough. So I cleaned up the pan, and broke out the lard.

I have only one justification for using lard. I don't remember Grandma using refined hand-pressed organic flax oil, or purified extra-virgin olive oil made by real virgins. Nope, it was pretty much animal fat in her iron. A scoop of bacon grease from the mason jar beside the stove and she was ready to cook anything. Grandaddy wouldn't eat a piece of meat that had less than a half-inch of fat around it. "Tastes like a dry old shoe.", he'd declare if it was too lean. In the end, I'm sure their diet killed them, but they ate well in the meantime. Grandaddy was cut down at the tender age of 96, and Grandma lasted till 98. Eat what you want folks - in the end, it's pretty much up to your genetics.

So I warmed up my new pieces, and smeared a very thin layer of lard all over them - use your fingers. Towels, especially paper towels, will shed lint, and lint in your seasoning coat doesn't help things at all. Besides, it's kinda fun.

Here's cast iron tip number two - season at the highest temp you think you'll ever cook at - or higher. If you don't, you won't get the full non-stick thing, and the first time you bring it up to that temp you'll get clouds of smoke from the unfinished seasoning. I put my pieces in a cold oven, and set the temp for an hour at 500 degrees (F, not C). Yeah, I know, Lodge says 350. Lodge doesn't want panicked support calls from people whose house is full of smoke. Crank the heat up.

You have two choices here. You can put a fan in the kitchen window and blow smoke out of your house like the battleship Bismarck under attack by the Royal Navy, or invest in an oxygen mask. You will get smoke. You will get lots of smoke, especially if you're doing several pieces at once, like I just did. This is a good thing - that's smoke that won't be jumping out to surprise you the first time you try to cook with any real heat. The goal is to heat until you don't get smoke, and in my experience, 500 degrees for an hour does that pretty well.

Let the pieces cool in the closed oven. Then re-grease and repeat. And repeat again. And don't glop the fat on. Just enough to coat. More thin layers are better than fewer gloppy layers. I managed four layers last night without my neighbors calling the fire department.

Seems like a lot of work? Look at it this way. It's a lifetime commitment. Treat your iron well, and it will love you right back like you've never been loved before. And this is pretty much a one-time deal, unless you do something silly.

The end result of my all-night smoking up the kitchen exercise? Dry, absolutely no stickiness, black as a coal mine at midnight and shiny - but still bumpy - could it possibly work with that rough surface?

I put the skillet back on a medium burner, put a pat of butter on and tossed in a couple of eggs. After the whites had set a little, I nudged them with a spatula, and they scooted across the pan. I'll be... it works. My wife came back from the store and wanted scrambled eggs. If there's anything that cast iron likes less than fried eggs, it's scrambled. But it was the same thing all over again. No stick. No cleanup. Just a quick hot water rinse with a brush in case something got left on the pan (I couldn't see anything, but hey), then I put it on a med-hi burner till dry, put a thin coat of lard on the pan and waited until I saw smoke for a minute. Let cool and hang up. Done.

So. do I like the bumpy texture of the Lodge pre-season? Nope. Does it work? Yes, and contrary to my misgivings, it works very well. My wife pointed out that even some Teflon cookware has textured patterns in it. The Lodge pre-season isn't a perfect surface out of the box - but it does give you a big head-start. After a night's work, my iron is ready to face anything, and you just can't beat that.

Lodge makes a great product. For the quality, durability, and versatility, you can't beat Lodge cast iron. Plus, it's made in America. I like that. If you've never experienced cast iron cooking, you've just been cheating yourself. Plus, the price, for a piece of lifetime cookware, is insanely cheap.

[Leaky]

I have 2 Wagners that I bought at a buddy of mines parents rummage sale for 50 cents for both of them. All ready seasoned

That was back in the 70s and still use them today.

My mom knew that I liked cast iron so she gave me all of hers. I have a very nice selection from small frying pan to a great 2 burner griddle for pancakes.

Had to run into town to get some stuff to smoke ribs this afternoon and stopped by the local thrift shop. Low and behold they had a Wagner 10 inch in really good shape (no rust or burnt in brown spots) for 10 bucks (looks like inflation pushed it way beyond the 50 cent range - I probably should have offered 5). Going to clean up, fry a 1/2 lb of bacon in it and then use the grease to re-season in the oven a couple of times.

[LABS4ME]

Season them on a gas grill ate 450 degrees... No smoke in the house! I do mine outside... 4 skillets and a Dutch oven.

Good luck!

Ken

[Leaky]

Labs - Great minds think alike. Thats what I ended up doing. Turned out great. Just cooked maybe the best ever over easy eggs this morning.

[jmd1]

So I have 2 very old cast iron pans. One is a chicken fryer and the other is a dutch oven with a lid that is designed to hold coals. The issue i have with them even after several attempts to reseason is that they give off a metal taste if i cook with them. The only thing i have not done is sand them down to bare metal, not sure how i would do it with the lid as it has small ridges in it. Last question, could one season them in the grill? my wife will have a FIT if i smoke up the house doing this. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Happy Fathers Day to all.

[Leaky]

So I have 2 very old cast iron pans. One is a chicken fryer and the other is a dutch oven with a lid that is designed to hold coals. The issue i have with them even after several attempts to reseason is that they give off a metal taste if i cook with them. The only thing i have not done is sand them down to bare metal, not sure how i would do it with the lid as it has small ridges in it. Last question, could one season them in the grill? my wife will have a FIT if i smoke up the house doing this. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Happy Fathers Day to all.

As I was doing some more reading on this stuff, I stumbled upon this. Maybe this will help. When I reseasoned yesterday, I did it twice out on the grill, each time with a thin layer of bacon grease. Maybe this would help get rid of the mettalic tase. If that didn't work, I guess I'd start grinding.

"Because pure (uncoated) cast iron cookware is one solid piece of iron, it must be “seasoned” a couple of times before using it and here’s why. Cast iron cookware, before being seasoned, is not only susceptible to rust after getting wet, but it’s also “reactive,” meaning it reacts poorly when used with certain types of food, namely acidic ingredients like tomatoes, vinegar, citrus or wine. These ingredients interact with the metal and give your food a metallic taste and, often, an odd (off) color. Cast iron also has absolutely no stick resistance before being seasoned."

[jmd1]

So that will be a weekend project when it is below 100 here, to grind down all the metal and start over. When i got divorced, that was one of the things i wanted were my cast iron pans. But over the years, they have not been used much due to the taste. Also for those of you who use these device a lot, could someone put up a method for cleaning after use? I know if i were to use them, my wife would have a fit if i just rinsed them out. Me, does not matter. I appreciate your information.

[Moose]

We just wash ours in soap and water then rinse them in clear water then dry them on the stove till the waters gone. I know some will say to never do this but we've had ours for several years and it doesn't seem to effect the coating. Could you use a small wire wheel on your drill or and angle grinder to get into the creases on your dutch oven.

[LABS4ME]

Some hot water and a good rub down with some paper towel seems to be all that is needed. If there is a little residue in the pan, I grind some coarse salt in the pan and 'scrub' it with the paper towel. the salt granules will easily remove anyhting left behind...

When done I always very lightly wipe down with a little bacon grease or some veg. oil...

Good Luck!

Ken

[SkunkedAgain]

I have three of them. A large one with grates in it for cooking meats, a medium one that's used for anything, and a tiny one big enough for two fried eggs - and that's the only thing it's used for is eggs.

Bacon grease. Your best buddy.

After using, I scrape anything that might have stuck with a wooden spoon or spatula. If needed I'll wash the inside and dry on the stovetop, but I rarely need to do anything more than a quick wipe (if needed), a quick scrape (if needed), a spray of cooking spray, and back on the burner that is cooling down.

[Smoker]

I remember when I was a kid the neighbor was taking some cast iron to the car. He was taking it to get sand blasted. He said he did it if something happened to the seasoning. He would get them sand blasted and then reseason it.

[Capt. H (Ret.)]

You can't use it as a weapon because they are too heavy!!!! They would work good as a ballistic shield!!!

I have 3 of the Lodge brand with lids and I really like them. I bought mine about 3 years ago after I got tired of using fry pans at the places I stayed at that had the teflon burned off. I pack my fry pans and lids when going on a trip but I don't use the big frypan much because there is just the 2 of us and we can get by with 2 frypans.

Mike

[Finns]

You can't use it as a weapon because they are too heavy!!!!

My wife begs to differ! She says if I ever cheat on her she will just wait till I fall asleep, then repeated blows to the head!

[deerminator]

Don't forget to get yourself a cast iron dutch oven too! I love mine for making an egg bake in the morning on fishing trips and heading up north with the family. Put it on a bed of coals. They you fry up all sorts of peppers, onions, mushrooms, and chopped venison bacon. Then stir in some fresh chopped herbs and pour in eggs and shredded cheese. Put on the lid and let bake for about half an hour. Just a handful of coals on the bottom and more on top for the bake part. Good luck!