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Southerners, help me! My cast iron hates me.

Truly good seasoning can take a long time.


A few tips for preserving/building seasoning:

- When you're done cooking whatever, remove the food/eat your meal, but let the pan cool on the stovetop. Do NOT immediately fill it with water to cool it down.

- Once it's cooled and everything is out, fill it with water. No soap, just water. Soaking in dish soap can ruin the seasoning somewhat. Let it sit for hours at least if there is stuff stuck to it.

- Then, wash it with soap. Dry it. Spread a thin layer of oil (canola given price/heat tolerance) around the bottom and sides. Set on a low flame/heat so that it doesn't smoke or anything like that for 15-20 min. Again, let cool, wipe any excess oil off with a napkin or something but don't try to remove the oil entirely.

Do that every time. You're basically doing a slight re-seasoning every time you cook with it.

I rescued some cast iron pans from the grandparents' belongings after they had passed. They were already pretty well seasoned, but now the one I use most often is gloriously seasoned. Fully coated, always glistening, etc.

What I do is fill with water (after a bit) and bring the water to a boil, then empty in the sink while scrubbing with a brush under the hottest water possible from the faucet. I then immediately dry it and slightly oil it. It's still hot that the oil absorbs into the pores. Has worked for me for years.

I have read that if you cook a lot of bacon when new for a few months that sets in a good season, too. And, of course, who in their right mind doesn't like bacon? :2razz:
 
Hey guys. So I'm having some problems...

Decided to get a cast iron skillet some months ago. Well, another one. My dad got me one back in the day, but I was an underappreciative kiddo who didn't make use of the knowledge at my disposal, didn't really use it, and eventually it got lost in one of my many moves over the last couple years. Now he's gone and I don't know anyone who knows how to use one of these things!

Long story short, I can't get it to just... not stick to absolutely everything. It supposedly came pre-seasoned. I seasoned it again anyway with oil in the oven, because I read that there's really no such thing as too much seasoning. Ok, should be good.

Nope. I swear to god, every time I cook in it, I wind up having to pull out the steel wool to get it clean. Yes, I know how bad that is, and that I probably took off some of the seasoning. But seriously, it sticks that much.

I use lots of butter/oil, always. I'm not shy about that. Seems to be of very limited help.

What am I doing wrong, guys?

I always season pre-seasoned pans, too.
 
The kind of sad thing is Lodge at least decided to leave it rough because modern buyers don't want to season it, and you can't easily pre-season a smooth pan. Now they take rough pans from the molds, and they're run through a spray of oil which attaches to the rough surface, then baked at a high temp to "season."

This "innovation" apparently saved Lodge as a company, because it brought in a bunch of buyers who otherwise wouldn't have bothered, but devoted cast iron fans aren't happy about it. Lodge claims the rough finish has no effect on food sticking, that if there's an effect it reduces sticking because less surface area touches the food. My rough 1980s era pans do work fine, so maybe they're right.... I also bought a Waggoner, as I recall, that was polished - 12 inch fryer. And it warped.... Tossed it and learned later probably could have been saved. Oh well.

I have some relatively new Lodge stuff and have had no issues with the roughness. I do re-season when I first get it, though. so maybe that makes a difference.
 
The reason the surface is courser is not the sand, but because they don't mill the inside smooth anymore. That saves a step to make it cheaper. Also, the courser surface allows for them to preseason it at the factory better. It doesn't hold the seasoning as well, and is harder to re-season. However, using a pan to make corn bread does help season it.

Corn bread in cast iron is the best!
 
I have some relatively new Lodge stuff and have had no issues with the roughness. I do re-season when I first get it, though. so maybe that makes a difference.

Actually I don't either. I bought a Lodge double-sided griddle a couple of years ago, and after a problem right at the beginning it's been great. Somehow making corn tortillas I managed to bake the hardest food residue of anything I'm seen into the finish, and the only way to get rid of it was to strip it to the metal and start over. Since then, no problem.

They're a good company and like I've said everyone I know who uses cast iron uses Lodge products. They work, it's inexpensive, and they'll last a couple lifetimes or so with minimal care.
 
Truly good seasoning can take a long time.


A few tips for preserving/building seasoning:

- When you're done cooking whatever, remove the food/eat your meal, but let the pan cool on the stovetop. Do NOT immediately fill it with water to cool it down.

- Once it's cooled and everything is out, fill it with water. No soap, just water. Soaking in dish soap can ruin the seasoning somewhat. Let it sit for hours at least if there is stuff stuck to it.

- Then, wash it with soap. Dry it. Spread a thin layer of oil (canola given price/heat tolerance) around the bottom and sides. Set on a low flame/heat so that it doesn't smoke or anything like that for 15-20 min. Again, let cool, wipe any excess oil off with a napkin or something but don't try to remove the oil entirely.

Do that every time. You're basically doing a slight re-seasoning every time you cook with it.

I rescued some cast iron pans from the grandparents' belongings after they had passed. They were already pretty well seasoned, but now the one I use most often is gloriously seasoned. Fully coated, always glistening, etc.

"Wash it with soap"???
 
Throw your pan(s) out and start over. Before you do anything to them read the directions and go on youtube and search "caring for cast iron skillets". NEVER use any metal to scrub. Use a Scrub Daddy.
 
I've a nice set. Seasoning and care aside, the likely issue is not letting the pan get hot before adding oil. It takes a long time for an iron pan to get hot.
 
What am I doing wrong, guys?

Once cast iron is seasoned, the only things I know of that makes things stick to it are:
  1. The heat source is too high/hot or not high enough for the food being cooked. If it takes anything more abrasive than a paper towel to clean the pan, the heat was wrong. This was the problem I ran into when I was learning to cook with cast iron.
  2. The skillet hasn't been fully and evenly preheated before you put food in it. This too is something I had to get used to....cast iron has hot spots, so you have to preheat on low for about six to ten minutes. Cast iron doesn't heat-up evenly, but once the whole thing is heated, it retains heat really, really well, which is why you don't to cook with high heat with cast iron (med. high or high only for fast searing.
    • My solution: put the thing on the stove at the lowest flame with oil in it and then do my mise en place and after about six to ten minutes put the first ingredient (usu. butter, bacon, garlic, or onions in the pan and commence to cook.
  3. One is cooking a lot of acidic foods that are removing the grease film that makes cast iron be non-stick. This is hard to see, but what's happening is the acid is getting through the grease film during cooking. This tends to happen while the pan is in the earlier stages of the seasoning process. Once the pan is well seasoned (a couple weeks of cooking with butter, oils, fats, but not acidic foods), you should be good to go.
 
Someone used metal/steel to scrub it somewhere along the line like a steel wool pad. Todays skillets come with a protective coating and steel removes it. It cannot be replaced so you need to buy another and never use metal on it.
 
Quite a bit late to the party, but with cast iron pre seasoned don't mean squat, cook some bacon, some hash browns whatever non acidic, the fat fits into the porous areas of the pan, and they stay safe when used regularly, as the fats are reheated killing the bacteria.

Cast iron is awesome but also picky, the downside is keeping proper cast iron cookware functional, the upside is besides it holding flavors is that it cooks evenly, meaning even the worst cook alive would have a hard time burning a meal with cast iron, and a good one can turn that meal into perfection.
 
Hey guys. So I'm having some problems...

Decided to get a cast iron skillet some months ago. Well, another one. My dad got me one back in the day, but I was an underappreciative kiddo who didn't make use of the knowledge at my disposal, didn't really use it, and eventually it got lost in one of my many moves over the last couple years. Now he's gone and I don't know anyone who knows how to use one of these things!

Long story short, I can't get it to just... not stick to absolutely everything. It supposedly came pre-seasoned. I seasoned it again anyway with oil in the oven, because I read that there's really no such thing as too much seasoning. Ok, should be good.

Nope. I swear to god, every time I cook in it, I wind up having to pull out the steel wool to get it clean. Yes, I know how bad that is, and that I probably took off some of the seasoning. But seriously, it sticks that much.

I use lots of butter/oil, always. I'm not shy about that. Seems to be of very limited help. I just bought one that states to use a mild soap an a nonabrasive pad for cleaning.

What am I doing wrong, guys?

Steel wool removed the nonstick coating, you NEVER use steel or any metal on them. It is ruined.
 
Throw your pan(s) out and start over. Before you do anything to them read the directions and go on youtube and search "caring for cast iron skillets". NEVER use any metal to scrub. Use a Scrub Daddy.
Someone used metal/steel to scrub it somewhere along the line like a steel wool pad. Todays skillets come with a protective coating and steel removes it. It cannot be replaced so you need to buy another and never use metal on it.
I wish I had seen this earlier. All that steel wool will do is remove the seasoning. Simply re-season. There is no reason to discard the pan.

There are a ton of videos on the subject. Purists will strip the factory seasoning off to give it a true coat.
 
Hey guys. So I'm having some problems...

Decided to get a cast iron skillet some months ago. Well, another one. My dad got me one back in the day, but I was an underappreciative kiddo who didn't make use of the knowledge at my disposal, didn't really use it, and eventually it got lost in one of my many moves over the last couple years. Now he's gone and I don't know anyone who knows how to use one of these things!

Long story short, I can't get it to just... not stick to absolutely everything. It supposedly came pre-seasoned. I seasoned it again anyway with oil in the oven, because I read that there's really no such thing as too much seasoning. Ok, should be good.

Nope. I swear to god, every time I cook in it, I wind up having to pull out the steel wool to get it clean. Yes, I know how bad that is, and that I probably took off some of the seasoning. But seriously, it sticks that much.

I use lots of butter/oil, always. I'm not shy about that. Seems to be of very limited help.

What am I doing wrong, guys?

First you don't steel wool the cast iron skillet. If something sticks soak it clean. If you wash it more than a quick wash and dry, reseason it. Flax oil works great for that. It should be shiny black on the inside, not dull. If normal maintenance doesn't produce that put it on a very hot stove burner and let get really hot and it will correct itself. Don't heat it so much it turns fire red or melts of course.

Always make sure you skillet is HOT before adding the food.
 
I wish I had seen this earlier. All that steel wool will do is remove the seasoning. Simply re-season. There is no reason to discard the pan.

There are a ton of videos on the subject. Purists will strip the factory seasoning off to give it a true coat.

Yep. You can buy rusty old cast iron pans and get it back into usable condition with a little time and effort.
 
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