Cast Iron Skillet Help


 
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Chris Allingham

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Recently, I inherited a cast iron skillet that belonged to my grandparents. I have fond memories of them using it to cook obscene amounts of bacon for me when I was a little kid...which explains a lot about me and my dietary habits...but that's a topic for another post. /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif Needless to say, I'm glad to have acquired this skillet and hope to use it for many years to come.

Just one problem...there are many years of "seasoning" on this sucker, especially on the vertical surfaces inside. There are some spots where the seasoning is so thick that it is blistering and flaking off. I wonder if the pan got overheated during one of its last uses? There are also a few minor rust stains on the bottom of the pan, almost as if the bottom wasn't seasoned well enough.

In any event, I'd like to whip this skillet into shape. My dad says that my Grandpa used to occasionally put the skillet in the fireplace to burn it out, then he would reseason it. I have a little gas log fireplace, so that's not an option. Someone said to put it in the self-cleaning cycle of the oven, but I don't know if that's such a good idea. I thought about trying to burn it off in the gas grill or in a very hot oven, or maybe just having the sucker sandblasted.

Any thoughts on how I should proceed? I'm not sure I can bring myself to cook with it until I've eliminated the flakes and blisters.

Regards,
Chris
 
Hi Chris,

You're so lucky to have that pan. You'll think of your grandparents every time you use it.

I've been collecting tips on seasoning cast iron for some time. Hopefully these tips will be of some help to you too.

The manufacturer of Lodge cast iron cookware has some tips on their good website:

http://www.lodgemfg.com/useandcare.asp

www.wagnerware.com (site is being updated)

The salt rub really makes a difference for a smoother cooking surface and I highly recommend it.

Step #8 might apply to your pan with heavy grease or food buildup.

After rubbing with salt, this method just bakes the pan a little longer - that's what I do and it works well for me:
OVEN METHOD. Then, simply coat the cooking surface of the pan with a light film of CRISCO (not oil) and place it upside-down on a foil-lined cookie sheet to catch any drips. Place in a 350?F oven and allow the fat to burn onto the pan for 2-3 hours...the longer you allow the pan to season, the better the initial coating will be. I like to re-coat the pans every 30-45 minutes. Allow pan to cool in the oven if you have time.

This comes from a reliable source, but I can't remember where. If you're uncertain about a self-cleaning oven, how about putting the pan in a charcoal fire in your WSM?
SELF-CLEANING OVEN. If your pan is beyond hope, it can be cleaned in a self-cleaning oven for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. It must then be re-seasoned from scratch.

From "Cook's Illustrated," March/April 2000, p. 30:

TO CLEAN AN ALREADY SEASONED PAN. Pour 1/2 inch of vegetable oil (yes, the article said 1/2 inch - seems like a lot) into the pan, then place the pan over a medium-low flame for about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and toss in a half cup of kosher salt. Using a potholder to grip the hot handle, scrub the pan's face with a thick cushion of paper towels. The warm oil will have opened the pores on the pan's interior sur-face, and the kosher salt will have an abrading, loofah-like effect on rust and leftover bits of food. Rinse the pan under running water, dry well, and repeat, if necessary. Your pan is now ready for the fussiest of cr?pe batters.

Good luck - you're going to love using your pan,
Rita
 
Having gone through a similar experience, my advice is, do not change anything. If you want to season a cast iron pan, go buy a new one and do your thing.
Something as dear to your heart, coming from a family member, with great life long influences, need not be changed, but preserved.
Do yourself a favor and, find a great spot too hang it on a kitchen wall. In ten or twenty years you'll thank yourself, and your grandmother, for such wonderful memories.

Jim
 
Chris, I just found something else of interest:

For removing cooked on food, here's a Madeleine Kaman tip which has saved lots of pots (copper, stainless, aluminum, cast iron)in
restaurants around the world: add 1 tsp. of baking soda per quart of water. Add as many quarts of baking soda/water as needed to cover
the burned on food and bring to a simmering boil. Leave on "for a while", i.e., 1-2 hours, just making sure the water level remains about
where you had it ... the burned on stuff, even if it looks terrible, will come right off with minimal cleaning.

If you ever need to start over, you can remove the seasoning authentically (put the pan in the embers of a campfire or fireplace ... shovel
embers into the pan, so the entire pan is covered/buried in embers) or "farb"ishly (put the pan in your oven, set for clean cycle -- will hit
500-600 degrees and burn off everything, go to sleep). Either way, next day you have a virgin pan. Start over ....
_______________________________________
Here's a new twist using oven cleaner (I'm a little skeptical about this method):

http://www.panman.com/cleaning.html

Some folks say not to cook acidic foods in cast iron unless it's really well seasoned, and to remove the acidic foods as soon as they're done. Others won't cook acidic foods in it at all.

Hope this helps,
Rita
 
I have a very bad cast Iron addiction. I've lost count how many pieces I have. Let's just say I used to drive by the Lodge factory often and they have a real outlet store. There is good Q sold in the little trailer on the right as your driving to the factory from the freeway. Ther is also good Q in a gas station just north of there on the Interstate.

I would put it in the WSM, no water pan and run it hot. I use the grilling grate in my Klose firebox and all the seasoning is removed on old pans. Before I got the klose I would use a weber kettle and surround it with charcoal with both dampers cracked a hair so the Kingsford stayed gray I did not want it red hot. As long as you do not get the metal red hot you are OK.

With seasoning the trick is less is more. Apply very thin coats, gooping it on is bad. Solid Crisco or peanut oil seems to work the best for me.
 
Hi Rita --

I read with interest your post on use/care of cast iron cookware. At the bottom, in the quote from Cook's Illustrated, you wrote to pour in 1/2" of oil? This seems like a lot of hot oil to use to scrub the bottom of the pan, without burning your fingers. Could this be a typo?
 
Hi back at ya' Walt,
I agree.....1/2 inch of oil does seem like a lot, but that's what was printed in Cook's Illustrated. I'd just put about 1/8 inch of oil in the pan and then use the salt. It's been my experience that the salt really does smooth out the surface.

Rita
 
Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the responses. This info gives me a lot to think about.

Do you suppose it's possible that the interior metal surface of the cast iron is somehow blistered and flaking off, rather than the seasoning? Anyone seen this happen before with cast iron?

Just wondering,
Chris
 
Hi Chris,
How nice to receive an old family relic like your Grandma's cast iron skillet. While Konrad makes a good point about not using the skillet, I would say use it, and enjoy the memories. One thing is for sure. You're not going to hurt it, or cut its life short by using it.
There is something about using cast iron cookware that causes you to focus more on the pot, rather than the cooked product! I was at K's Merchandise (like Service Merchandise store) and saw a new cast iron casserole pot. I gotta have one!
Anyway, you have gotten some good advice about restoring your old pot, and re-seasoning it. I wouldn't use anything caustic in it, as the iron will soak it up. But, in the same vein as Rita's post about using salt and oil, here is an old article I ran across, and have in my MasterCook library, but I really don't remember where I got it. However, it is presented with accompaning credits.
----
The following information is copied in its entirety. This is becoming a lost art.........

CLEANING AND RESEASONING CAST-IRON SKILLET You're browsing the junk store or rummaging the neighbor's garage sale and there it is - a good, old cast-iron skillet, black and righteous from decades of use and priced to sell. Once you get your treasure home and before you crank up the heat, you'll need to clean and reseason it.

Here's how:

1. Assemble a 1-pound box of salt and a quart of vegetable oil.

2. Wash the cast iron with warm water and mild dishsoap inside and out. Rinse well, Dry.

3. Heat skillet over high heat, and when it's smoking hot, cover bottom with a thick layer of salt. (This can get smelly, so you'll want to turn on the fan.) Using an old wooden spoon you don't mind scorching, and protecting both hands with hot pads, scrape salt around the bottom and sides of the pan. Keep the heat on high and keep scraping salt until the salt starts tobrown and you notice black flecks in it. Scour the skillet for a good five minutes. Turn off the heat, and as soon as the salt has cooled down enough to dispose of safely, discard it, and, being careful not to burn yourself, wipe out the skillet with a paper towel.

4. Repeat salt-cleaning method if skillet still looks cruddy. Otherwise:

5. Return skillet to burner and heat it until it's red-hot. Turn off heat and fill skillet on-third with vegetable oil. either tilt skillet, or use a non-plastic brush, to coat sides with oil. Allow oil-filled skillet to cool completely - at least an hour.

6. Heat skillet and oil again, to about frying temperature (350-400F). Turn off heat and again allow to cool completely. Overnight is best.

7. The next morning, discard oil, wipe skillet out with a paper towel and you're ready to go.

8. Some folks swear soap and hot water never touch their cast iron. Others find an occasional mild sudsing desirable. Everybody agrees, however, that scouring pads or powders and dishwashers will ruin the seasoning. Use a plastic scrubber, if necessary, to dislodge stuck-on stuff.

9. For new cast iron, start with step 2 and then go to step 5. Lots of manufacturers suggest heating the skillet and oil in the oven a couple of times to season it.

**** SOURCE: San Antonio Light, 27 FEB 91

Posted to the AZstarnet BBQ mailing list by Jim Anderson <anderson@magicnet.net> on May 02, 1998, converted by MC_Buster.
-----end of article-----

I hope you enjoy your skillet. You can also find some good info at the Lodge site, and the article Jim Minion suggested is Mr Folse, who is Lodge's guru. I think it will take a little longer to actually season to the point of "non-stick" than what the most recent advices suggest. I always heard you should do the seasoning process on and off (while cooking good old greasy stuff like bacon, sausage, cornbread poured into hot bacon grease, then transferred to the oven, and avoiding more liquid foods) until 10 hours have accumulated.
Keep us posted. Neat thread. What a surprise to see so many Iron-heads! Good Luck.
 
Great post, Ronnie. Lots of good information there.

After cooking, I still give my cleaned pans a light coat of oil and put them over heat for a few minutes occasionally before I store them, depending on what I cook in them. I tend to use as little oil as possible in my cooking, so I do lightly season the pans just to be on the safe side.

By the way, Chris. Congratulations on 4 great years. Here's to a hundred more! /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

Rita
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chris Allingham:
[qb]Do you suppose it's possible that the interior metal surface of the cast iron is somehow blistered and flaking off, rather than the seasoning? Anyone seen this happen before with cast iron?

Just wondering,
Chris[/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Chris I have seen this happen and it's the seasoning not the metal. Just like high temp paint on the firebox of an offset. If you don't wipe it down with Peanut oil when cold it will dry out and flake off. There are three things that are bad for cast iron. Rust, deforming at extereme high temp and cracking which can be achieved by dropping them or far worse filling hot cast iron with cold water /infopop/emoticons/icon_mad.gif
 
This may be an old topic but I just saw it. I have been using cast for years and have a few of my grandmothers REALLY old pans and a couple pots. She always used the method mentioned above, heating the pan and scrubbing with salt. I do not know if iodized makes a difference but she never had it in the house. Sometimes my grandfather would put them in the embers of a fire and then reseason. She always used lard and never oil to season. Since she has passed I have claimed many of her goods, including really old 17qt and 22qt stock pots, man are they heavy. I also have most of my grandfathers wine making supplies, including some old oak barrels that I am considering using the damaged ones for cooking.
 
Chris,
What did you decide to do about your cast iron skillet? Did you strip it down and re-season? If so, what method did you use? Just to let you know, I have used the oven cleaner/plastic bag method for a number of pieces and it works very well. What brand is your skillet? Getting it from your grandmother, it's probably a Griswold, of very good quality. Use it and enjoy it! After all, that's what it was made for.
 
I ran it in the self-cleaning cycle of my gas oven for a few hours, which took care of the exterior pretty well but not as well on the interior. Also, the moist environment in the gas oven caused a bit of rust to form, which I removed easily. I suppose this would not have happened in an electric oven.

I went ahead and reseasoned the pan to keep it from rusting and have yet to decide how to proceed. It's probably good enough that I can use it as-is. Looking back on it, I sort of wish I'd heeded Jim Morrisey's advice and done nothing to it.

I don't know what brand it is. It doesn't have a name on the bottom, just a couple of letters stamped into it. I assume those might tell who the manufacturer was it they could be decoded.

I'm also not sure of the quality of the pan. After cleaning, I now see a combination of dark/light gray color with a deep rust color swirled into the metal, especially on the outside surfaces. It's nothing like the consistent appearance of a new Lodge pan I bought a few weeks ago.

Regards,
Chris
 
Don't be concerned about the light rusting that appears, it removes easily, as you found out. Regardless of how you remove the protective coating of shortening/grease (patina), you will begin to see rust appear as soon as you wash and dry it. That's one of the reasons you must keep it coated; the other is to allow the patina to form, giving you a truly non-stick cooking surface.

Lodge is okay, as far as modern-day cast iron is concerned, but nothing like the older, Griswold and Wagner stuff of years ago. Chances are, if your skillet is very old, it was made by one of them and just not marked. (There's a lot of it around.) Check out E-Bay to see the value and variety of old cast iron!

If you get another piece to clean up, you might give the oven cleaner/plastic bag method a try. It really works well and only requires washing to removed the loosened coating - probably the easiest method there is.

Enjoy it!
 
Back when I was a student and shared a place, my flat mates noticed that whenever I did the dishes the cast iron skilllet never rusted. It turned out that I always dried it by heating it on the stove, while they dried it with a dish towel. Hope this helps.
 
The rusting only occurs if there is no protective coating of wax, grease or patina. If you strip a piece of cast iron, it will start to rust immediately, right out of the dishwater. BTW, we never wash our seasoned cast iron with soap. /infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif
 
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