Posted on 08/27/2017 5:07:42 PM PDT by djf
Hello!
I bought a large (12 in diameter) cast iron pan at a garage sale today.
It has been only very lightly used, the manufacturers name LODGE is plainly visible on the bottom. Little or no burned grease or discoloration evident.
So I did wash it once very lightly with mostly water but just a hint of soap and am now trying to season it.
I put in about a tablespoon of unscented coconut oil and let that melt and worked it in with a paper towel, then turned off the heat.
So I am wondering about the best approach to season it. I know that means NEVER washing it with soap again... but what else should I do? Rub it down with salt or a salt/oil mix? Heat it till it starts smoking? I guess all these years I've used good quality teflon and never had to worry about it!
TIA!
Wagner? Nah, they were a Johnny come lately. In March 1957, McGraw-Edison of Chicago acquired Griswold Manufacturing. Later that year the Griswold brand and housewares division were sold to the Wagner Manufacturing Company of Sidney, Ohio.
Thanks, I will get one next month when I get paid.
Any particular brand to look for or look out for?
Couple of tips:
1. Once you get it seasoned, don’t use detergent on it, ever. Often, you can just wipe the left over food debris out with a paper towel (do it before it cools too much).
2. If there’s debris stuck to the skillet, while it is still hot after cooking, hit it with some plain water and scrape the food bits off with a spatula. This is sort of like de-glazing a stainless pan. Then pour off the water. Wipe with a paper towel and then wipe some oil/cooking spray/grease around on it while the pan’s still warm.
People who say food will stick no matter what haven’t seen my pans. I can cook fried eggs in mine and they will slide right out of the pan. I bake cornbread, frittatas and other things in the oven with it. I cook sausage, eggs, bacon and skillet toast almost every morning my wife is up.
I use this piece of cookware more often than anything else in the cabinets...and love it every time.
It just takes a little care and attention.
Fill the skillet with bacon and cook the bacon. Eat the bacon, then rub the bacon fat into the cast iron.
Repeat the above procedure, preferably outdoors, at least ten times, twenty times if you have any Mohammad-men neighbors.
Absolutely correct. I sold them in the wholesale hardware business for 35 years. None finer cast iron cookware. Dutch ovens are incredible. (the company I worked for survived for over 100 years)
I prefer to season them with Crisco.
Get a LODGE brand. American made and great quality in Lodge cast Iron. I think it is the last American brand - but I could be wrong about that. But I do know those are great and are American Made. All of the ones I bought in the last
ten or so years for myself and others (gave some as presents) have always been Lodge brand.
The best food I ever ate (besides plain old pure corn fed beef prime rib in an Iowa farmer’s home) was pizza at UNO’s in mid 1960’s in Chicago, baked in a cast cast iron skillet. They actually served sizzling hot at the table in the C.I. baking pan.
That said, for every day convenience, I prefer a good quality Copper pan. Even after many months of daily use, it retains it’s non-stick qualities because I do not clean it in sink with soap & water. Just clean it with lightly oiled paper towel. It is a snap. And the copper pans are so pretty and do not rust.
My husband cooks scrambled eggs in a TFal pan every morning; we don’t use it for much else, but the ones we’ve had have lasted 5 or 6 years before they had a scratch, even though it goes into the dishwasher at least 5 times a week.
He always uses a heat-resistant silicone spatula with them, though.
I haven’t had that kind of performance from any other coated pan.
Mark
Agreed. What was that other guy thinking. Vegetable oil? I bet he uses margarine too.
For me, olive oil is king.
My copper pans last longer (as non-stick) because I just clean them with a paper towel with a few drops of vegetable oil. And use as little heat as possible on stove top. What kills the non-stick properties is excessive heat and dish soap.
What you said.
You can buy them different places. KMart, Walmart, Big Lots, etc. Love them. I have one that has started to kind of stick a little. Not the food but the residue of what you’re cooking. Like the stuff in bacon grease but when you stick whatever it is under running water it comes right out. The rest are still slide off non stick. And I use them every day.
I just cleaned out two Dutch ovens and a cast iron skillet tonight after a camping trip.
As much as I’ve tried, I can’t kill cast iron.
Thank you.
I buy whatever brand I can get on sale. Make sure it says non-stick surface coated. Thicker is better because it spreads heat better instead of creating hot spots.
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