Lodge Cast Iron Skillet - about ready to give it up!


 

Erik Tracy

TVWBB Pro
I've had a Lodge 12" cast iron skillet for about 8 months now and I can't get it to be non-stick.

I first used it with the factory seasoning at first, religiously cleaned it, dried it, applied a thin coat of canola oil, but bacon would stick, hash browns would stick, eggs would stick.

Then I stripped off the factory seasoning with a exhaustive scrubbing using a green scotch brite pad and kosher salt. Then reseasoned it with several sessions in the oven with canola oil.

Nope.

Then I hear about flaxseed oil as "the" oil to use. Repeat the process above - nope.

Then I tried a method I found on youtube: put it in the self cleaning oven, steel wool after that, THEN cuz the new Lodge pans are cast with a rough bottom I took a wire wheel cup and smoothed the bottom, then followed the seasoning with Crisco shortening in 4 sessions. Light coats, wiped residual off, just a whisp of a film before going into the oven.

Nope.

Sausage seems the worst - a tar like film adhering to the pan that then makes the rest of breakfast cooking like scraping ice from a windshield in February.

Any thoughts? Ideas?

Maybe try a different brand?

At this point, I'd rather use a non-stick teflon pan and rebuy when it looses its non-stick surface. I've got ALOT of hours on this pan - too many to make it worthwhile, imo.
 
I've got a newer lodge and a older one, then a really old what they call "hammered ugly" that was my grandmothers. They all kind of cook the same. There's no way you'll get it as non stick as Teflon. I don't care what anyone says. I've tried it all too. It seems like when I seasoned them each time I cooked they did the best. I think the key is not scrubbing off your seasoning when you clean them.
 
I've got a newer lodge and a older one, then a really old what they call "hammered ugly" that was my grandmothers. They all kind of cook the same. There's no way you'll get it as non stick as Teflon. I don't care what anyone says. I've tried it all too. It seems like when I seasoned them each time I cooked they did the best. I think the key is not scrubbing off your seasoning when you clean them.

My cleaning method is hot water with no soap and a nylon brush.

IMMEDIATELY dried with paper towels, back on the stove on low for just a bit to dry any residual moisture, then while the iron 'pores' are still open from the low heat, a thin thin thin wiping of flaxseed oil, then a further wiping off with a clean paper towel.

I don't heat the pan very hot at all when cooking breakfast meats, cuz I read that high heat carmelizes/burns the sugar which is where a lot of the stickiness comes from.

But, then I still get that sticky tar on the bottom of the pan, and then my hash browns adhering to the pan (even after putting in fresh canola oil), and easy over eggs? Forget it, stick, scrape, then break.

Seems like I spend more time cleaning, preserving, maintaining the seasoning than I do cooking.

I'm perplexed.
 
That's weird, I don't go overboard on mine, just a simple cleaning,drying then a coat of whatever oil I have handy.
They ain't no super non-stick copper (whatever) like you see on TV, but they do OK.
Certain foods like Hash Browns I like to break out the lectric nonstick griddle, but my Son prefers the CI one.

Tim
 
I have no issues: finished the fry, it cools off, 2-3 tablespoons of table salt and give it a good rub with 3-4 paper towels.

No water, no drying. If needed I'll do a light coat of veg/canola/corn oil but that's it. It's at least 50 yr old and is slippery as goose **** :)
 
You're running it too hot. Back down the BTU a bit and your pan stick will go away

I'll try that again, but I'm already down on 2 (lo, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, hi) on gas

That's what I cooked my sausage at this morning; 2. And I got tar - what a pain to clean off.
 
Will if it's any consolation, I'm now seasoning 2 of my skillets. Mine haven't done too much better in all honesty so I'm on the same journey you are.
 
I was very frustrated w/ mine for the first while that I had it. Turned out, the nylon brush I was using had residual soap on it and I was removing seasoning. I don't think that was the whole problem, but it certainly contributed. So for a while, all I did to clean was rinse and scrape with a metal spatula. Then, with a little moisture still on there (just a tiny bit), I added kosher salt and scrubbed it in w/ a paper towel. After that, I did as you do, warming, then applying a thin layer of oil and heating that up on the stove for several minutes. Mine is nicely non-stick now and I love using it. Stick with it (pardon the pun). It'll pay off.
 
I was very frustrated w/ mine for the first while that I had it. Turned out, the nylon brush I was using had residual soap on it and I was removing seasoning. I don't think that was the whole problem, but it certainly contributed. So for a while, all I did to clean was rinse and scrape with a metal spatula. Then, with a little moisture still on there (just a tiny bit), I added kosher salt and scrubbed it in w/ a paper towel. After that, I did as you do, warming, then applying a thin layer of oil and heating that up on the stove for several minutes. Mine is nicely non-stick now and I love using it. Stick with it (pardon the pun). It'll pay off.

My nylon brush has never touched soap.

And how am I to get a nice sear on say pork chops if I'm cooking so low to not get it to stick?

The whole CI thing is a *** to me at this point.
 
Erik, have you tried avocado oil?

We used it for the first time about a year ago, and it produces the best non-stick surface we have ever for a cast iron skillet. Granted, we don't have a gas range though (electric only).

Avocado oil will withstand temps up to 500° if I recall correctly.
 
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Well, I tried cooking some thick sliced bacon in the Lodge this morning.

Preheated for 10 minutes on "1.5", a little cool oil (you know "hot pan, cool oil = no stick").

Then dropped in the bacon.

It was non-stick, but after 20 minutes, the bacon was looking back at me saying "ah...nice beach weather, so warm, so nice".

It felt like I was bbqin'g low and slow for breakfast, except breakfast was now getting to be brunch. No color or crisp.

Cranked the burner up to a whopping "2.25" and finally started to get some sizzle and color - and that's when the tar started as well.

I got a stiff putty knife from the garage and used that to scrape the pan smooth before the eggs. The eggs didn't stick too much.

*bewildered*
 
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I have four CI pans and they all are close to non stick. I clean with hot water only then on low heat for a minute or two. While still warm a light coating of canola oil.
I have a two month rotation where I take two of the pans rub them with flaxseed oil put them upside down in my E320 gasser all three burners on high for 45 minutes to an hour, let cool in the gasser when done. Three are rough finish and one which is the oldest has a smooth interior.
Nothing sticks at all in them Barb fries eggs, sausage, bacon, pork chops, Etc.
A lot of my success with cast iron comes from a book I bought called Cook It In Cast Iron from Americas Test Kitchen it's a warehouse of information on purchasing, seasoning, how to clean, CI facts and myths and 250 pages of CI pan recipes. Barb and I have made about 25 of the recipes so far and they were all beyond excellent. I highly recommend this book.
 
You are using oil or grease when your cooking?
Have several CI pans here, mostly no stick, but nothing is perfect. Don't recall a tarry surface though.
Easiest cleaning method I've found, is to immediatly add some hot water to the hot pan after cooking. Anything that sticked steams right off.
A drying on the burner and a wipe or spray of oil and it's good to go.
 
I used a couple of drops of canola oil before putting the bacon in this morning.

So, those with non-stick CI - when you cook bacon, you don't get any stickiness to the pan after cooking?
 
I've decided to try...again...(3rd time)...to re-season the pan.

After a good hot water scrubbing with the nylon brush, I'm going to put it in the self cleaning oven for 2 hrs, steel wool and nylon brush again in water, then use flaxseed oil for the seasoning in light light light coats in the oven at 400F; repeat for 2 sessions.
 
The best seasoning of cast iron for me is repeated use.
Sure some stuff sticks and gets gunky along the way, but I don't think you can expect to do a pre-seasoning to where you immediately get a non-stick surface.
Maybe some folks can, but I can't.
Frying foods in an ample amount of oil helps too.
Grandma's slick bottomed CI skillet comes from the many, many meals cooked in it.
 

 

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