Thread: can you fry an egg in cast iron

I have never head that you cant fry eggs in a castiron skillot i fry eggs in one of mine at least once a week i like to fry them with scarpple and i use lard as a oil, (back woods hick comming out in me)

scrapple is all of the stuff out of the hog's head right?

I've never heard that you can't use a cast iron pan to cook anything. I use mine for everything and anything. Love it to the exclusion of all of my nonstick stuff, and not just burning teflon is bad for my c'ockatiel (EDIT: apostrophe added because of the forum filters - I don;t figure this is inappropriate). As long as the pan is seasoned, hot, and has a bit of oil in it, nothing will ever stick.

I have cooked everything including eggs in cast iron since I was a child, cast iron is the greatest thing in the world! I am frying an egg for a sandwich as I type.

What else would you fry eggs in?

A cast iron skillet, properly seasoned, at the right temperature, with a little butter, is perfect for fried eggs.

Most folks turn up the heat too much. The iron skillet doesn't need it.

What exactly does 'properly seasoned' mean? Sorry, I grew up with teflon.

Everybody will have their own take on this. But a cast iron skillet is porous, and so untreated, it will stick. A common way of seasoning the skillet is done by coating the cooking surface with cooking oil or Crisco and baking it at 350 degrees in the oven for at least an hour.

Then to clean it, you don't soak it or scrub it with detergent, but wipe it out with a mild abrasive of some kind. When you heat oil in it or butter to cook, that contributes to the seasoning as well, though you don't ever want the surface to be sticky or greasy.

A properly seasoned cast iron skillet will have a smooth cooking surface. They heat slowly, so impatient cooks are prone to turn up the heat. But once heated, they retain heat and so the impatient cook will then have a pan of burnt food on his hands. The idea is to heat moderately realizing that when you turn down the stove, the skillet will stay hotter longer. So you have to have the right temp for each food. The ability to cook at a somewhat lower temperature is one of the skillet's virtues, to me.

The skillet heats extremely evenly, which also allows you to turn the heat down a tad. A good skillet won't have hot spots, so if you pour scrambled eggs in there and then treat it like an omelet, ie. let it cook then flip it briefly like a pancake you'll see the cooked surface is evenly goldened. Then of course immediately flip it back, add your fillings, fold and serve!

Lawson, thanks for the explanation. You guys are really making me want to buy one now. I've seen them at camping stores but they have really short handles which I think would make them difficult to use. Can anyone recommend a manufacturer (either current or past)?

Cheers,

years back when i got into collecting and cleaning cast iron a lot of the pans i got for free. most of the people told me they could not cook an egg in one so they gave it to me. but i bet there parents could. i never said it could not be done theres people out there that did not have a clue.

Frankenstein i would ask friends or family members if they have any old pans laying around. i found a lot that way. ebay also. griswold and wagner are about the best. if you find one all crudded up take it and i will tell you how to clean it. dave

Originally Posted by Frankenstein

Lawson, thanks for the explanation. You guys are really making me want to buy one now. I've seen them at camping stores but they have really short handles which I think would make them difficult to use. Can anyone recommend a manufacturer (either current or past)?

Cheers,

for new stuff, Lodge makes a pretty good skillet, and yep 90% are gonna have short handles that are just as hot as the pan so use something to insulate your mitts