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Cast Iron

Black Titan

Black Titan

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2023
Messages
2,477
Anyone else into cast iron cookware? Ive apparently started down a rabbit hole. I dont have any super vintage pieces, but ive recently sanded a few Lodge pans down and seasoned them a bunch of times. Eggs are no longer an issue for the cast iron pans. They just wipe out.

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I picked up a couple of Lodge blacklock pans for my mom for mother's day. Sanded them smooth and seasoned. They cook very nicely.

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This eventually led me to purchase a Stargazer 12" skillet, that has a factory machine finish. Its smooth as glass inside. A little oil and butter in a pre-heated pan, and fried eggs will slide around like water off a ducks back.

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I liked the 12 so much, I grabbed a 10" during the memorial day sale

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Been enjoying the process of seasoning and cooking with cast iron, and ditching the Teflon stuff.

BT
 
Black Titan said:
Anyone else into cast iron cookware? Ive apparently started down a rabbit hole. I dont have any super vintage pieces, but ive recently sanded a few Lodge pans down and seasoned them a bunch of times. Eggs are no longer an issue for the cast iron pans. They just wipe out.

View attachment 126968

I picked up a couple of Lodge blacklock pans for my mom for mother's day. Sanded them smooth and seasoned. They cook very nicely.

View attachment 126969View attachment 126970

This eventually led me to purchase a Stargazer 12" skillet, that has a factory machine finish. Its smooth as glass inside. A little oil and butter in a pre-heated pan, and fried eggs will slide around like water off a ducks back.

View attachment 126971

I liked the 12 so much, I grabbed a 10" during the memorial day sale

View attachment 126972View attachment 126973View attachment 126974

Been enjoying the process of seasoning and cooking with cast iron, and ditching the Teflon stuff.

BT
Click to expand...
We’ve got a few antique cast iron Dutch ovens that work great for everything from frying, to gumbo, to baking bread. I use a cheap lodge skillet for most of our cooking but it needs refinished like you did, bad. What grit sand paper, brush, etc. did you use to get their coating off? Steps?
 
I have a couple of antique lodge skillets I use for making cornbread. They never get used for anything else. I also recently rescued an as new lodge wok that needs some light cleaning and reseasoning whenever I get around to it.
 
I've had a 10" lodge sitting on my stove eye for 10 years. It used to cook probably a thousand or more fried eggs a year. I use it less since I started messing with carbon steel, which is basically like cooking on cast iron but without the need to sand and it heads faster and is more responsive. I also have reluctantly added a nonstick (boo PFAS) to the repetoire, and am probably going to pick up some All Clad stainless for high acid stuff and other uses.

I've turned into a cookware geek.
 
gcr0003 said:
We’ve got a few antique cast iron Dutch ovens that work great for everything from frying, to gumbo, to baking bread. I use a cheap lodge skillet for most of our cooking but it needs refinished like you did, bad. What grit sand paper, brush, etc. did you use to get their coating off? Steps?
Click to expand...

I used a random orbit hand sander with a 60 grit disc in most of them. That was sufficient in removing lodges factory seasoning but if youve got lots of layers of baked on seasoning from prior use it may benefit from a wire wheel to remove that. If not you'll go through sandpaper pretty quick as it will keep clogging up.

There's chemical methods as well, like lye baths, electrolysis tanks, easy off oven cleaner, etc. Also heard you can put it in your oven on self clean mode and it will bake off all the old seasoning. I haven't tried any of these.

My method for the lodge pans above was basically the following:

Wash with dawn

Dry

Sandpaper with 60 grit until smooth

Clean with dawn and rinse thoroughly 3x

Dry on stove top until pan is around 250 degrees Fahrenheit

Dab of seasoning paste in pan and wipe down with a lint free cotton cloth - bandana, old t shirt, etc

Wipe out again with fresh cloth to remove excess oil/seasoning.

Pop pan in oven at 450 for one hour - remove and let cool until you can handle it, then repeat seasoning steps.

Very important to remove excess oil. If not it will be sticky/tacky and will gum up. You want it to barely look like you even put oil on there.

I use various oils and pastes to season, but most often use grapeseed oil.

I like to only use 60 grit because it leaves a little tooth for the seasoning to hold onto. Others have polished to a mirror shine. There's lots of different techniques out there. I just went with what I found to work best. I do have a round lodge griddle pan that I hit with a flap disk on the angle grinder, then sanded all the way up to 320. Its slicker than owl snot but the seasoning doesnt stick as well. In hindsight I probably wouldn't go above 120 but if I did that again, I would simmer white vinegar in the pan for about 8-10 minutes as that will chemically etch the surface, providing something for the seasoning to grip to. Will also darken the pan to a nice black.

After seasoning 3 or 4 times, start cooking in it. Some higher heat stuff. Bake some cornbread, put about an inch of oil in the pan and fry some chicken or something, etc. This helps bake the seasoning into the pan.

BT
 
Nutterbuster said:
I've had a 10" lodge sitting on my stove eye for 10 years. It used to cook probably a thousand or more fried eggs a year. I use it less since I started messing with carbon steel, which is basically like cooking on cast iron but without the need to sand and it heads faster and is more responsive. I also have reluctantly added a nonstick (boo PFAS) to the repetoire, and am probably going to pick up some All Clad stainless for high acid stuff and other uses.

I've turned into a cookware geek.
Click to expand...

I resemble that last statement! I love searing meats in a hot stainless pan. Then de-glazing to make a nice sauce. I haven't dabbled in carbon steel yet though. Liking the cast iron for now, especially these two stargazer pans.

BT
 
DroptineKrazy said:
My wife has several cast iron frying pans including one that is 16" that you could use to cook breakfast for everyone at deer camp at once. lol
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I think I have that skillet. Its a giant lodge. Its my "chicken fryin" skillet when I make a big mess of fried chicken for the family. That thing can fit a feast.

BT
 
Black Titan said:
I resemble that last statement! I love searing meats in a hot stainless pan. Then de-glazing to make a nice sauce. I haven't dabbled in carbon steel yet though. Liking the cast iron for now, especially these two stargazer pans.

BT
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I bought a nonstick specifically to (and bear with me) sear steak.

If you haven't seen America's Test Kitchen's Lan Lam demonstrate her "cold sear" steak technique, it's a game changer. You basically take a steak (I've gotten to where I'm dry-aged NYS or ribeye or nothing) and start it in the cold pan on medium high. Cook for 2 minutes, turn down to medium, and flip to cook for another two. From there you flip every minute until you hit your temp (125ish for me), swirling the steak around and sopping up any browned bits.

You manage to get a deeply browned (not blackened) Maillard reaction crust and all the stuff you'd usually deglaze sticks to the steak instead of the pan. You can quickly cook steaks inside the house, without smoking up a kitchen or making a fuss, and they're just really well executed with little to no grey strip. Just a good crust and warm red center.

If I do it right, I can freeze salad plates ahead of time and prep a quick salad, pop the steak plate in the oven on warm while the steaks are cooking, get some asparagus or broccoli blanched and drained, and juggle together a simple-fancy weeknight dinner in about 30 minutes. Quick enough to enjoy in that magic window between kiddo crashing and my wife and I crashing.
 
Nutterbuster said:
I bought a nonstick specifically to (and bear with me) sear steak.

If you haven't seen America's Test Kitchen's Lan Lam demonstrate her "cold sear" steak technique, it's a game changer. You basically take a steak (I've gotten to where I'm dry-aged NYS or ribeye or nothing) and start it in the cold pan on medium high. Cook for 2 minutes, turn down to medium, and flip to cook for another two. From there you flip every minute until you hit your temp (125ish for me), swirling the steak around and sopping up any browned bits.

You manage to get a deeply browned (not blackened) Maillard reaction crust and all the stuff you'd usually deglaze sticks to the steak instead of the pan. You can quickly cook steaks inside the house, without smoking up a kitchen or making a fuss, and they're just really well executed with little to no grey strip. Just a good crust and warm red center.

If I do it right, I can freeze salad plates ahead of time and prep a quick salad, pop the steak plate in the oven on warm while the steaks are cooking, get some asparagus or broccoli blanched and drained, and juggle together a simple-fancy weeknight dinner in about 30 minutes. Quick enough to enjoy in that magic window between kiddo crashing and my wife and I crashing.
Click to expand...

Very interesting! I'll have to look that up and give it a try. Thanks!

BT
 
I’ve got a handful of lodges, Griswalds and Wagners. The 10” lodge is the workhorse of my kitchen. The griswold is pretty thin, heats up fast. Good for steaks and what not.

Keep your eyes pealed for vintage, there are still deals out there to be had. I paid a dollar for my first griswold.
 
Nutterbuster said:
I've had a 10" lodge sitting on my stove eye for 10 years. It used to cook probably a thousand or more fried eggs a year. I use it less since I started messing with carbon steel, which is basically like cooking on cast iron but without the need to sand and it heads faster and is more responsive. I also have reluctantly added a nonstick (boo PFAS) to the repetoire, and am probably going to pick up some All Clad stainless for high acid stuff and other uses.

I've turned into a cookware geek.
Click to expand...
Have you discovered Le Creuset? It's easy to spend LWCG level money on top notch cookware.

 
I fell down the cast iron rabbit hole 10+ years ago. I’ve done probably 90% of my cooking on cat iron since then. I finally got my wife using it last year, she probably does 70% of her cooking on iron now.

A lot of what you see in the pic below was purchased in pretty rough shape and I restored it. I’ll caution to be careful with the self cleaning oven method. I had used it successfully several times and then when I used it on the Griswald in the top right corner of the pic it warped the bottom of what was a perfectly flat pan. It just happened to be the nicest and most expensive piece I’ve bought. I started thinning the collection a couple years ago, I’ve given several pans to my son and daughter. I realized I had too many hobbies.

IMG_7262.jpeg
 
GCTerpfan said:
I fell down the cast iron rabbit hole 10+ years ago. I’ve done probably 90% of my cooking on cat iron since then. I finally got my wife using it last year, she probably does 70% of her cooking on iron now.

A lot of what you see in the pic below was purchased in pretty rough shape and I restored it. I’ll caution to be careful with the self cleaning oven method. I had used it successfully several times and then when I used it on the Griswald in the top right corner of the pic it warped the bottom of what was a perfectly flat pan. It just happened to be the nicest and most expensive piece I’ve bought. I started thinning the collection a couple years ago, I’ve given several pans to my son and daughter. I realized I had too many hobbies.

View attachment 126981
Click to expand...

Thats a nice collection! I have one older piece that a friend gave me for my birthday a couple years ago. He purchased it at an estate sale in rough shape and restored it via lye bath and seasoning. It doesnt get used often as its a 6" pan.

One day I will inherit my grandfather's pan, that cooked nearly every meal for 2 generations. Im not sure of the brand, but its so smooth and well seasoned you can nearly see yourself in it. Looks like a pan of black oil when its bone dry.

BT
 
I've thrown my cast iron skillets in a roaring fire to burn off seasoning without ill-effects.
They come out completely raw looking all over. The coloring is not uniform.

I'm ready to do it again and then sand to a smooth finish.
I don't remember how long I kept them in the fire, but can I keep them in there too long?
 
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