New Cast Iron Care And Maintenance

[Ragman]

Howdy all! I hope that Santa brought some new cast iron cookware to some of you this Christmas and you are ready to get cooking. I know there are a ton of videos out there talking about the best way to season and the opinions are as wide as the Darien Gap but I put up a video showing how I treat my new cast iron and some of the things I find work best to clean it. I know all you seasoned cast iron veterans out there may find it a bit redundant but I hope it helps some folks who watch it to enjoy their cast iron more.

If you have any tips or think I am nuts please share as this topic never seems to be settled!

 

[Correus]

How do you deal with cast iron that just won't hold its season?

 

[MMc]

I believe that Lodge is the best place for information about cast iron. Their web sight has great info.

 

[Ragman]

How do you deal with cast iron that just won't hold its season?

Lots of factors can impact seasoning and some treat the process almost as if it were a mythical quest.

I would start with two tracks-first don't expect the pan to become glossy black and non-stick in a straight line, some seasoning will stick better than other and during the process it will become splotchy and uneven-over time this will fill in and the pan will get to that nice black surface everyone sees in instagram.

Another factor might be that the base layer was not well done and it is easier to remove that and start over-you don't need to sand blast or do anything crazy like that but if you have a pan that came preseasons (I have done this with Lodge pans) you can simply take some 80 grit sand paper and smooth out the inside, you don't have to get down to bare metal but just smooth it out and you will see some spots come off more than others. Once you have it sanded wash well in hot soapy water and immediately put onto the stove over low heat to dry it well. After a bit start wiping with oil and be patient as a lot of black, loose seasoning will come off in your rag-keep at it until the rag comes up pretty clean then give it that nice, super thin coat of oil and season as I mention in the video. I have found that the sanding will make a pan I found very hard to season become very non stick pretty quickly.

But the real way to get that great finish is to use the pan often, cleaning and reasoning every time. Cooking in it is the best remedy.

 

[Ragman]

I believe that Lodge is the best place for information about cast iron. Their web sight has great info.

You are right, Lodge does have some great information on their site and is most helpful. The only thing that I noticed is that their advice has changed over time, at one time it was Crisco @ 350 and now it is your choice vegetable spray between 350-450. There is nothing wrong with updating information of course but I would find it most useful if they said specifically that their seasoning spray was just canola oil and for canola oil (which has a smoke point around 450) use 425 oven (I tend to find an oven about 25 degrees below the smoke point works very well).

Yes all preseason cast comes with a start but I disagree with Lodge that their pan is seasoned and ready to use (as I say in the video). Yes it is has a layer of seasoning but I would bet a lot of folks mistake that for meaning the pan is non stick and toss in an egg only to discover preseason doesn't mean non stick (I did the first time I used a new Lodge dutch oven years ago and then tried to figure out why the heck stuff stuck so badly as I was cleaning out the stuck on mess).

Some other sites (Field Skillet) for example has some good information as well but I tend to bypass all recommendations for the "best oil" as I guarantee that Grandma didn't use organic safflower oil and her pans are what we all try to get to.

At the end of the day I know that I am not some cast iron whisperer and I am not trying to sell you my magic seasoning puck (but I do make one!) so my best advice is to do some research, find the overlapping information that seems most people agree on, don't stress about the process, and do some great cooking!

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Havent watched the video yet, sorry, but I agree with sanding, washing, drying, though I rinse well and towel dry first and you could even just put a fan on it.

Yes, massage in some canola oil. But for me, I then obtained a nice smooth black finish by oiling, baking, cooling numerous times in succession on the same day, and then a couple more times in a week.

My Lodge stuff is almost totally non--stick now

 

[Ragman]

Havent watched the video yet, sorry, but I agree with sending, washing, drying, though I rinse well and towel dry first and you could even just put a fan on it.

Yes, massage in some canola oil. But for me, I then obtained a nice smooth black finish by oiling, baking, cooling numerous times in succession on the same day, and then a couple more times in a week.

My Lodge stuff is almost totally non--stick now

Yep, rinse and towel dry first, neglected to put that in but I do the same.

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Yep, rinse and towel dry first, neglected to put that in but I do the same.

Good video. I just had time to watch it. A year or so ago I had seen one from Cowboy Kent that I also thought was good, but yours is also thorough.

I lament the fact that the GLAZED Lodge Dutch ovens are made in China, but we still bought one because at least the company is US. Though Lpdge touts themselves as the last US cast iron manufacturers, I heard last year about a company in Massachusetts that was making some stuff. Dont know if they outsource to Lodge foundry or not. I'll find the name

 

[Ragman]

Good video. I just had time to watch it. A year or so ago I had seen one from Cowboy Kent that I also thought was good, but yours is also thorough.

I lament the fact that the GLAZED Lodge Dutch ovens are made in China, but we still bought one because at least the company is US. Though Lpdge touts themselves as the last US cast iron manufacturers, I heard last year about a company in Massachusetts that was making some stuff. Dont know if they outsource to Lodge foundry or not. I'll find the name

There are some newer cast iron manufacturers in the US that are trying to recreate the smoother cooking surfaces of the older stuff, but they all come at a price. Companies I know of include Field (the darling of the new cast iron buyers from what I can tell), Lancaster, Finex, Smithey, Borough Furnace (now making a US made enameled dutch oven), Butterpat, and Marquette Castings (their enamel is imported).

 

[ThundahBeagle]

There are some newer cast iron manufacturers in the US that are trying to recreate the smoother cooking surfaces of the older stuff, but they all come at a price. Companies I know of include Field (the darling of the new cast iron buyers from what I can tell), Lancaster, Finex, Smithey, Borough Furnace (now making a US made enameled dutch oven), Butterpat, and Marquette Castings (their enamel is imported).

I think Field is the one I was thinking of. I could swear they got thier start in Massachusetts, but they say thier offices are in NY, with manufacturing in the midwest but not Tennessee where Lodge is.

 

[Speric]

a chainmail scrubber was a game changer for me. I use one with hot water and done. I don't do much special with my cast iron except use them. i have a few pans that i've been using for 20 years or so, and they are pretty near indestructible. they been soaked, scrubbed with a pad, soap and water, chainmail scrubbed, everything and they still keep on working.

 

[ThundahBeagle]

I think theres even another thread on here about cast iron pans. A guy had a big collection

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Keep using it.

Rough it up just a little with 80 grit sandpaper. Rinse well. Towel dry well. Oil with (canola) and bake an hour at 350

 

[Correus]

Thanks everyone for the tips. I have tried basically every recommendation suggested here - including "keep using it".

I have sanded it down, more than once. I have used just about every oil you can think of - canola, grapeseed, vegetable, flaxseed oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, olive oil, etc.

I have even given it to little ol' ladies who have been seasoning CI for decades, nothing seems to help.

Nothing seems to work long term. After about 2 or 3 uses it starts sticking again. I don't dare use it for eggs, those would need to be chisled off.

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Thanks everyone for the tips. I have tried basically every recommendation suggested here - including "keep using it".

I have sanded it down, more than once. I have used just about every oil you can think of - canola, grapeseed, vegetable, flaxseed oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, olive oil, etc.

I have even given it to little ol' ladies who have been seasoning CI for decades, nothing seems to help.

Nothing seems to work long term. After about 2 or 3 uses it starts sticking again. I don't dare use it for eggs, those would need to be chisled off.

"After 2 or 3 uses..."

Are you oiling it again after every use and cleaning?

 

[Old Tanker]

You should not be trying to fill in the voids of a rough Lodge pebble surface with accumulated gunk. Cast iron seasoning is a microscopically thin patina, not a coating. A good patina resists soap and allows the use of a flexible steel spatula.

Start with a mirror-smooth cast iron cooking surface. In an older generation, people used whetstones to polish the cooking surface prior to initial use. Lodge markets unfinished pebble-finished skillets for immediate use, and people don't realize they still need to polish them. Other companies such as Smithey Ironware do the work and sell finished products.

Once you have a polished surface of bare iron, you can let a patina develop over time. This is a molecule-thick layer of polymerized oil, gradually enhanced with a carbon matrix from oils heated above the smoking point. During cleaning, if it washes off, it is not the seasoning you are looking for.

I like Buzzy Wax, but daily use and daily cleaning keeps my Smithey in perfect condition. It is far better with eggs than any "non-stick" skilled I have found.

 

[Correus]

"After 2 or 3 uses..."

Are you oiling it again after every use and cleaning?

Yup.

 

[Correus]

You should not be trying to fill in the voids of a rough Lodge pebble surface with accumulated gunk. Cast iron seasoning is a microscopically thin patina, not a coating. A good patina resists soap and allows the use of a flexible steel spatula.

Start with a mirror-smooth cast iron cooking surface. In an older generation, people used whetstones to polish the cooking surface prior to initial use. Lodge markets unfinished pebble-finished skillets for immediate use, and people don't realize they still need to polish them. Other companies such as Smithey Ironware do the work and sell finished products.

Once you have a polished surface of bare iron, you can let a patina develop over time. This is a molecule-thick layer of polymerized oil, gradually enhanced with a carbon matrix from oils heated above the smoking point. During cleaning, if it washes off, it is not the seasoning you are looking for.

I like Buzzy Wax, but daily use and daily cleaning keeps my Smithey in perfect condition. It is far better with eggs than any "non-stick" skilled I have found.

It's not a lodge. It's a 10.5", round Coleman griddle with handle. I've had it for a very long time and the person who gave it to me got back in the '80s, IIRC, and had issues with it. I have been fighting this thing since I've had it.

 

[ThundahBeagle]

It's not a lodge. It's a 10.5", round Coleman griddle with handle. I've had it for a very long time and the person who gave it to me got back in the '80s, IIRC, and had issues with it. I have been fighting this thing since I've had it.

Yeah...who knows WHAT that thing is really made of or where. Coleman sure didnt make thier own cast iron that I know of, so I'm sure they sent it out to thw lowest bidder or had some cheap place put thier name on it.

Abandon that thing and grab some Griswold or Wagner off Craigslist or grab a new Lodge and follow some of the advice here and you'll be fine

 

[Ragman]

I am not sure what might be the issue, I have never used, or seen, the Coleman cast iron. Perhaps there is something in the metallurgy that is hindering the seasoning-I know from taking to some folks that enamel coating has issues sometimes depending on surface carbon (?) so maybe there is something odd going on there. Maybe trying using more oil than you think you need for a while and see if that helps.