Cast Iron Fry Pan

 
mason coal burner
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Post by mason coal burner » Sun. Sep. 09, 2012 9:12 pm

I bought a fry pan and Dutch oven about a year ago from Walmart . Lodge is the brand name . My wife just bought a smaller one from a yard sale same brand . I have read they are not very good because the cooking surface is not machined smooth . Can I grind this smooth with an angle grinder myself or will I ruin it ?


 
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freetown fred
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Post by freetown fred » Sun. Sep. 09, 2012 10:14 pm

Google cast iron pan seasoning for answers

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Post by VigIIPeaBurner » Sun. Sep. 09, 2012 10:34 pm

I though about doing the same or finding some one with a milling machine! I thought of using a disk sander on the thing.

It needs to be well conditioned, more than the smooth ones but it will work. My son left his new 12" Lodge fry pan here because he had trouble keeping food from sticking. I've been using it to fry with for the past two-three years and keep it conditioned. A couple of times thru the heating season, I wipe the warm cast iron pan with a little Crisco until it looks just wet and place it up side down on a trivet on top of the Vigilant for an hour or so. I check it once or so during that time and wipe it again with a dry paper towel. When I fry with it, I just wipe it out with a paper towel and if needed, just a little soapy water and a quick rinse followed by a little Crisco wipe to keep it slightly covered. I never scourer it. The Lodge pan is now in really good condition and food doesn't stick to the sand cast surface. It's got that nice black color all around ... finally. Not as easy to get there as the old Griswolds are, but it just as good now. As a note, I never us anything acid in cast iron, like tomatoes. That takes that non stick conditioned coating away in no time.

I know this isn't what you were asking, just my two cents as a ci user for life ;)

 
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Post by jpete » Sun. Sep. 09, 2012 10:42 pm

If food is sticking to it, it's either not seasoned well or the pan is too hot.

I have a nice Lodge combo fry pan/Dutch oven and I use it about every day.

On occasion I'll burn something to it and I boil some water in it, scrape out the burned food and lightly oil it with olive oil.

I never "wash" it during normal use. Just wipe with a towel and put it away.

I have a really expensive set of super hi tech stainless steel/copper/silver pans and I hardly use them over my cast iron!

 
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Post by Richard S. » Sun. Sep. 09, 2012 10:57 pm

All those nooks and crannies will get filled in and I would imagine essential to season it. Cook up some bacon in it and save the drippings. Coat the entire pan with the drippings and put it in the oven on about 250 for a few hours, this will help season it. Repeat that process at least once and you can do it every so often. If the pan is smoking the oven is too hot. If it's brand new pan it should now have a brown look to it when it's done but that will turn black eventually. The only real issue is building up a nice layer carbon on the bottom since that is where the heat is. Don't go overboard cleaning it (e.g don't scrape it hard) and as already mention don't use soap. I think it was Alton Brown on the cooking channel suggested using sea salt as a dry abrasive if you "must" clean it. You have to build up a nice layer of carbon, once it's seasoned well it will work as good as any non stick pan. This is not an overnight process and could take hundreds or thousands of uses to get a well seasoned pan.

 
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Post by SMITTY » Sun. Sep. 09, 2012 10:59 pm

Lodge stuff usually comes pre-seasoned, so you shouldn't have to. Takes a while cooking things to get it even more stick-free. Mine works mint. Use olive oil exclusively, and a bristle brush with hot water to clean. I cook my 4 eggs on it every morning. Got sick of the Wal-Mart coated pans lasting 2 years before the teflon starts ending up in your food. Returned the last one for warranty claim ... and, 2 years later, same damn thing. Funny thing is, I have a teflon coated pot that I bought there in '96 and it's still as good as the day it left. Cheaper than the pan by far too.

We bought ours through Leman's - had I known Wal-Mart had them I certainly could've saved a few bucks there. Figures ... :|

First pan we got had a small 1/8" hole in the side! Had never seen that happen before. Called Leman's and they sent one out right away & told us to keep the old one! Great customer service there, & I didn't have to leave the house. That pan is now my barn pan - for disposal of old gas, grease, & brake fluid ... by FIRE! :woot: toothy

 
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Post by jpete » Sun. Sep. 09, 2012 11:23 pm

Seasoning directions from the Lodge website.
Re-Seasoning your Lodge Cast Iron

While maintaining the seasoning (as in Step 5 above) should keep your Cast Iron in good condition, at some point you may need to repeat the seasoning process. If food sticks to the surface, or you notice a dull, gray color, repeat the seasoning process:

Wash the cookware with hot, soapy water and a stiff brush. (It is okay to use soap this time because you are preparing to re-season the cookware).

Rinse and dry completely.

Apply a thin, even coating of MELTED solid vegetable shortening (or cooking oil of your choice) to the cookware (inside and out).

Place aluminum foil on the bottom rack of the oven to catch any dripping.

Set oven temperature to 350 – 400 degrees F.

Place cookware upside down on the top rack of the oven.

Bake the cookware for at least one hour. After the hour, turn the oven off and let the cookware cool in the oven.

Store the cookware uncovered, in a dry place when cooled.


 
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Post by Richard S. » Sun. Sep. 09, 2012 11:50 pm

I've found bacon fat to work the best.

 
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Post by gaw » Mon. Sep. 10, 2012 2:43 am

Season only, no need to go grinding. Now that they are broken in, I like my rough finish pans better than my moms old machined smooth pans. Cast iron pans are like fine wine, they will only get better with age.

 
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Post by cokehead » Mon. Sep. 10, 2012 2:57 am

I never had patience with the Lodge brand. I kept my eye out for cast iron pans in second hand shops and yard sales over the years and have almost as many as Freetown. Almost any of the old pans already have a much smoother finish than a new Lodge. A wire wheel and steel wool will take care of any mild rust in a neglected pan. Griswolds and Warners are nice if you can find them but there are many good used no name brands that are smooth inside as well. I will pass on a new or used Lodge if it has that pebblie finish.

gaw, why do you like the rough finish better?

 
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Post by freetown fred » Mon. Sep. 10, 2012 8:03 am

Iff'n I were you, I would pay close attention to jpete's post-- ;)

 
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Post by cokehead » Mon. Sep. 10, 2012 10:32 am

freetown fred wrote:Iff'n I were you, I would pay close attention to jpete's post-- ;)
VigIIPeaBurner's post said it took a long while to get the Lodge the way he wanted it. The old Griswold's are pretty much there right out of the yard sales. There is something wrong when you have to put so much effort into getting something to work right. Not saying it can't be done. I'm saying why bother unless it is what you are stuck with.

 
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Post by freetown fred » Mon. Sep. 10, 2012 2:55 pm

Nope, you're right, you youngsters are way to busy to put a couple minutes into preserving an outstanding lil piece of our past culture--once I cured all my pans ONCE--all it takes is 5 sec scrubbing, immediatly drying & coating with crisco--another 5 seconds or so--most all mine are USA made, but, middle is LODGE, big is USA, small is KOREA made--Lodge is newest & still getting cured on a daily basis--nothing sticks to any of my pans & I use them daily--but again, people are way busy in this day & age :clap: toothy PS--I guess if I wire wheeled or ground theLODGE--it would look prettier. I don't spend much time on pretty, but do insist everything works well

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Post by VigIIPeaBurner » Mon. Sep. 10, 2012 5:00 pm

Nice pic FFred :D I couldn't fit all of mine into one picture and if'n I did, they'd look real small :lol:

I don't recommend seasoning with bacon grease or cooking oil. Bacon grease has salt in it and moisture, salt and cast iron together don't get along too well unless you like the taste of iron oxide - rust. Don't worry about it if you use you cast iron often but don't leave is sit idel for a month in the humid weather or you'll find where your seasoning layer is thin where the rust color shows up (experience here :( ). Unrefined oils and greases go rancid and rancid is not always tastey around food. Crisco is extremely refined and the only use I have for it is conditioning my cast iron, wouldn't cook with the stuff.

I'm finding the Lodge's sand mold dimples and dots hold the cooking fat in place and keeps it under the food better if you're only using a little fat. It sure did take a long time to get there. I'd used it exclusively for bacon frying and pancakes for almost two years and you can see the sand mold is filling in with 'seasoning'.

I second the boiling water cleaning method. If I've cooked something that doesn't leave a residue or crust in the pan that I can easily scrape off or wipe out, like after cooking pork roll (or something sugar cured), I'll add water. While the pan is still hot, I'll pour in about ~1/8" of water and lightly scrap with the spatula till I don't feel the tool stick anymore. I dump that and rinse the pan with running water, wipe it out immediately and put it back on the warm stove top burner. Just before I put it away, I hit it with a little oil - Crisco if it will sit for more than a week.

I'm stearing my kids away from the non stick crap they sell on modern cookware as a way to stay with low fat cooking. When that layer wheres off, where does it go - into you stomach :shock: How may calories of butter does the egg I fry pick up ... may be 25-35? My body can burn a few calories of cooking fat but who knows what that non-stick crap does to you.

 
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Post by Richard S. » Mon. Sep. 10, 2012 5:17 pm

VigIIPeaBurner wrote:
I don't recommend seasoning with bacon grease or cooking oil. Bacon grease has salt in it and moisture, salt and cast iron together don't get along too well unless you like the taste of iron oxide - rust.
It turns to like an enamel and I've seen no rust. ;)


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