Thread: Cast iron?

Harold I watched about 6 different ones out there and took the stuff from each that made sense to me

Cowboy Kent Rollins was one of them
Cooking with Cast Iron was another
Craig Arent
Culinary Fanatic had a good one
Sandstone


I just basically watched them all since I bought two new pans for Christmas and I wanted to see if anyone had come up with a good system for the New Lodge stuff

I listened and took what I thought made sense, seemed to work almost too easy

Thanks, I'll check them out!

Originally Posted by gssixgun

New Lodge Pans

I found a youtube vid that made some sense about why these are simply "Different" when seasoning then the older smoother Vintage CI

I bought a couple of new pans for Christmas one of which was a Grill Pan and I decided to try a variation of it

First time using Olive Oil for Seasoning a Lodge CI pan

Use High Quality EVOO the Smoke Point is at 405 F

I used a graduated temp also,,

Set oven to 350°

Warm the pan,

Thin coat of EVOO just pour some in the pan then wipe it out using a Rag (not Paper towel)
Place pan bottom up in oven as normal
Once the temp hits 350° set timer for 15 minutes
Raise temp to 375° 15 minutes
Raise temp to 400° 15 minutes
Raise temp to 425° 15 minutes
Raise temp to 450° 15 minutes

Turn off oven and walk away

Repeat 2 more times

I have never had that kind of success that easy with a New Lodge CI piece...
I am sold on it

I have a Vid of a French Omelet I will try and get loaded showing just how Non stick it was

Dangit, thought maybe I had some insight on newer Lodge pans and why they don't seem as 'non-stick' as old iron. Seems like I've been beaten to the punch.

Basically even though the box says they're 'pre-seasoned' it's just good enough to keep it black til it gets in your door. I seasoned mine by heating the oven to 450, coating the pan with cooking oil, then tossing it in there for an hour. That got them to a decent/usable state. And with each progressive use they've gotten better. Mine are used almost exclusively with bacon grease now, and just about as non-stick as Teflon.

Another thing to look at - most of the older antique/vintage pans were molded/worked/milled/machined smooth on the cooking surface at least. Or years of use with steel spatulas has worn the high spots off them, take your pick. Part of me wants to take my lodge pans out and give them a good sanding to smooth out the cooking surface, then re-season them and see what I get.

Going to be pulling the cast iron pan out tonight for some chicken recipe the wife found.

Originally Posted by Marshal

And with each progressive use they've gotten better. Mine are used almost exclusively with bacon grease now, and just about as non-stick as Teflon.

Another thing to look at - most of the older antique/vintage pans were molded/worked/milled/machined smooth on the cooking surface at least. Or years of use with steel spatulas has worn the high spots off them, take your pick. Part of me wants to take my lodge pans out and give them a good sanding to smooth out the cooking surface, then re-season them and see what I get.

Exactly same here,,, My old Lodge 12" has knocked around for over 30 years maybe 35 and is now smooth and well seasoned, the Griddle is getting close to the same. It took quite some time to get there...

There are a few Youtube Vids that describe polishing the New Lodge stuff out, and that was my plan if it was going to take forever again the get them right..

Most of the older cast iron were ground smooth. What we see as milling marks were made by grinders.

I had emailed Lodge asking to see if they were ever going to grind any skillets smooth like they used too, answer was no. Told them they could make a premium line and thought it would be a great seller. I would certainly buy them.

Yeah, probably too labor intensive to get that smooth polished surface. Right now it looks like they just pop em out of a sand mold, half season them, then ship 'em. Judging by the price tag and relative lack of competition I'd say they're probably making a killing off selling half-finished pig iron pieces for what a half decent set of Teflon pans would cost. No surprise they don't have any plans to polish any up.

Mine are still a little rough, even though I've cooked on almost nothing else since I got them a year ago. But they're much better than when I first got them. Enough scraping with a steel spatula's bound to wear it flush eventually. Or the next time they're due for a deep cleaning/seasoning I'll polish them up a bit myself.

Can't be any harder to smooth them out than lapping an Arkansas...
The new lodge pans are crazy expensive here, and yeah pretty rough.

The last fry pan we got was a black steel,. Basically pressed carbon steel like a wok. Take longer to season, but work well.
Half the weight and half the price.

There is a new generation of cast iron that is going to upset Lodge.

I've seen some new players but those I have seen are crazy expensive