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


 
Rusty James said:
Just got off the phone with Lodge, and they said the rougher surface texture is due to a change in the way their molten metal is poured. In the older days, it was all done by hand, and it caused imperfections that had to manually smoothed out.

Now-a-days, pouring molten metal is done by machine, and it eliminated the need for removing imperfections. I was also told that pans with rougher textures will season quicker than smoother pans, and the seasoning procedure itself is a "years long" process. And it is entirely possible to render a cast iron pan unseasonable if one tries to "polish" the finish themselves with a power tool. At least that is what I was told.
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High speed automated molding doesn't allow for the mold surface preparations commonly used in the hand pour era. Finer sand was used in those days also. Both resulted in relatively far smoother castings right out of the mold. You can successfully season an unpolished modern day Lodge pan, but years long is a bit of an exaggeration. True, though, is that a pan can be over-polished. If you've ever seen NOS pans from the mid-20th century, the spiral of fine polishing marks is evident, and they do actually help seasoning to stick. But a fine mirror polish does seem to make it more difficult to do so. Late 19th century all the way to about the mid-1970s, cooking surfaces of those pans that could be mounted on them were polished on spinning grinding machinery. But it was always touted as a value-added extra finishing step, not a band-aid for any hand casting shortcomings.
 
Len Dennis said:
OK. You've received a ton of opinions from a lot of people as to what works for them.

As we all know: opinions are like XXX XXXX's: everyone's got one. Take the four pages here and proceed based on what you feel is right.
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Understood, but I wanted an official opinion in regards to the rough texture of the newer pans. What they said sounds logical.

I think you're misunderstanding me for the thread starter. I have no problems with my cast iron pans.
 
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I used to get sticking of sausage and bacon and black tar like mess on pan. My wife was buying the Maple flavored bacon and sausage and I was putting extra sugar in my cure when making bacon. I quit using flavored meats and dont add sugar to the MTQ cure, since then no more problems. I also always heat pan on high heat then add bacon grease to the hot pan and allow it to get hot before adding any food. Then dont move it untill it browns.
 
Dale Ward said:
I used to get sticking of sausage and bacon and black tar like mess on pan. My wife was buying the Maple flavored bacon and sausage and I was putting extra sugar in my cure when making bacon. I quit using flavored meats and dont add sugar to the MTQ cure, since then no more problems. I also always heat pan on high heat then add bacon grease to the hot pan and allow it to get hot before adding any food. Then dont move it untill it browns.
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Interesting, I use a maple syrup, brown sugar, cinnamon slurry with my MTQ bacon cure and have absolutely no sticking.

Think I agree with what Len said, find out what works for you and use that.
 
I polished my square lodge pan and they are correct. The seasoning flaked right off because it was slick. All I did was sand blast it to remove the slick shine and give the seasoning something to hang on to. It was still smooth, just didn't have the shine any more.
 
There's a difference between polishing, and smoothing, The old CI pans were ground smooth, just another part of the manufacturing process, they obviously felt it was important, and manpower was cheap. So Lodge is a little disingenuous, plus if they can save a step, they're production costs are lower. That said, the new Lodge's seem to be ok for the most part, but heavy, much heavier then an old Griswold the same size.
 
Just wanted to close this out and not leave it hanging.

I just got back from a long multi-week trip to help my parents out with 'aging issues' - I'm whacked and didn't have time to pursue this anymore.

And frankly, I've lost interest in cast iron altogether based on my time/experience with upkeep/maintenance.

It's just me - I know, but I'm moving on to non-stick going forward.

Thanks for all the ideas and suggestions.
 
Erik Tracy said:
It's just me - I know, but I'm moving on to non-stick going forward.

Thanks for all the ideas and suggestions.
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Just so you know (if you didn't already): I haven't found a brand yet that lasts more than 2 yr without losing it's "non-stick". And that includes "The Rock" brand. I've never used metal in my "rock" (only rubber spatula/flipper) and eggs stick.
 
Len Dennis said:
Just so you know (if you didn't already): I haven't found a brand yet that lasts more than 2 yr without losing it's "non-stick". And that includes "The Rock" brand. I've never used metal in my "rock" (only rubber spatula/flipper) and eggs stick.
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Yea, I've seen those Copper Chef commercials on TV and almost thought of getting one, until I read the reviews on Amazon, seems it's classic bait & switch.

Tim
 
We've had a calphalon non stick skillet for about 4 years that still running pretty strong, but we never use anything metal in it. It's still hard to beat cast iron for some things, such is when you wanna take something from the burner into the oven. When you really need non-stick, you can't beat non-stick. I've gotten my cast-iron kinda non-stick, but nothing like people claim. Although carbon steel pans are kind of trendy now, but you season them like cast iron. Still has some of the same problems.
 
Dustin Dorsey said:
We've had a calphalon non stick skillet for about 4 years that still running pretty strong, but we never use anything metal in it. It's still hard to beat cast iron for some things, such is when you wanna take something from the burner into the oven. When you really need non-stick, you can't beat non-stick. I've gotten my cast-iron kinda non-stick, but nothing like people claim. Although carbon steel pans are kind of trendy now, but you season them like cast iron. Still has some of the same problems.
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I agree Dustin, there's a place for non stick and cast iron, we have both. I wouldn't want to cook on cast iron exclusively. But things like bacon, chops, smash burgers Brussel sprouts and other things take on a different flavor profile with cast iron.
Most of the magic pans out there are just junk. Get a good quality non stick set and a couple of CI pans and you should be good to go.

I was just gifted a 1937 Griswold 12 " CI Pan, can't wait to clean it up and get it seasoned.
 
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One other benefit of using a cast iron skillet is iron content which is absorbed by the cooked food.
 
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Rusty James said:
One other benefit of using a cast iron skillet is iron content which is absorbed from the eaten food.
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Once a pan is well seasoned, the polymerized oil/carbon coating forms a barrier between the food being cooked and the iron. If one were to cook food, especially food with an abundance of moisture or acidity, in an unseasoned pan, however, there would be a transfer of iron to the food. Cooking in an unseasoned cast iron pan is not normally done, though.
 
I love my CI pans, but the only one my wife will touch is the grill/panini pan. Otherwise, she sticks (no pun intended) with teflon. Having gone through a lot of cookware in my life, I've found that the cheap Winco-brand non-stick skillets (available at most restaurant supply shops) have the best balance of performance and durability. Even with a few nicks and scratches, we can't get eggs to stick in any of the three we have.
 
Wow! For those of us who use and love cast iron, this is a fascinating thread. Sorry the OP has such time-wasting difficulties, but I do think he should have contacted Lodge much earlier.

I have three CI cooking vessels, a low-rim 9" oblong skillet, a 10" pan and a new dutch oven that I really have not used (need to remedy that). I "seasoned" them all (and in some case re-seasoned), but that really amounts to "prepped for seasoning". I cook everything from bacon to fried potatoes to frittatas/hash browns and even sear steaks. Since these items are all for use in/on my grill/side burner, the temps are typically HOT. My seasoning oil of choice is refined canola oil or EVOO. (Check this chart for smoke temps of various oils: https://jonbarron.org/diet-and-nutrition/healthiest-cooking-oil-chart-smoke-points .) I have never seen the gunk described by the OP. For cleaning, I use a plastic scrub pad with a little detergent and hot water (125*). If there is any build up, I may use a copper scrub pad. Any re-seasoning (scrub hard, dry, wipe well with oil, heat for 10 minutes IN the grill) occurs only if the buildup becomes uneven and might be once in 3 - 5 years or longer. After normal washing and drying, I add a little (1/2 tsp or so) oil again and wipe it all over the pan before storing away.

One of my favorite pans belongs to my 94 yr old MIL. It is 6", way more than 60 years old, has a smooth glossy seasoning after all that time, does not stick or display any other noxious behavior and is her "go to" pan. After cooking, she dumps it in the hot dishwater (no dishwasher -- hand washes only in water so hot I can't touch it) with the other dishes, cleans it with her wash cloth and sticks it on the drying rack. I have no idea why she can get away with this, but I covet that pan! She has promised me the pan "when" since no one else wants it. I can only hope it actually gets passed on to me as she lives with most of the family about 3 hours away. Frankly, I would cherish it and remember her with true love and hero worship every time I used it. (She is and has for a long time been my "hero".)

Do a YouTube search for Ci seasoning/re-seasoning. Follow the cleaning instructions of some of the old time hill folk and forget the oven cleaner, etc. Their instructions will take you back to clean, original-looking grey cast iron so that you can season properly (again).
And NEVER smooth/polish your CI. Just my opinion.

PS: Flax-seed oil! Holy CRAP! See that chart above (as well as other choice thoughts you can't see in my head!).
 
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A few years ago, our cast iron pans were so gunked up, I placed them in an outdoor fire pit and burnt off the crud (on the outside of the pans) and let them gradually cool. One pan cracked, unfortunately, and I had to ditch it.

I did this after dark, and you could see a red glow from the cast iron.

Thanks for the link, Rich. I see avocado oil is the best high-heat oil on the list.
 
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I also found that CI can betempermental with high heat. My side burner (and I expect all Weber side burners) really only has a HIGH to VERY HIGh range. Works well for roasting poblanos, but too hot for frying. I have a CI coaster (hot plate) that I would turn upside down on the eye and under my pan to reduce the HIGH to "fry manageable" temp. But on first use, it cracked across the outer band. Still usable, but not so pretty.

I suspect this is as much a flaw in the CI as a problem with high heat since none of my pans has shown a similar issue. But hot temps are probably the mechanism.
 
I've got probably 30 pieces of CI, some of it can be traced to both my great grandmothers. The older stuff is still quite usable, but I find it more fragile than the pieces from the early part of the 20th century.

I've not had problems like the original poster of this thread. One thing I do not do is spend any time seasoning the pan (either after a heavy clean, new purchase, etc) but rather I just put the pan into use. It will eventually reach the point where it seems to be seasoned as it should. But, I don't ever expect it to be as slick as a Teflon coated pan.

More than a few years ago I bumped into these, and prefer using them over and above CI.

de Buyer Mineral B Element Iron Frypan

https://www.debuyer.com/en

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=12&v=n4o_HbZvCMM

Still use my CI though. Have a dedicated set of 4 or 5 pieces to use over charcoal too.
 
Erik Tracy said:
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'm late to the party here, but not sure why you're having all this issue. I use my Lodge CI stuff all the time. I have a Lodge flat griddle (I think 14" square) I use a LOT especially for breakfast. I like a steak and eggs. So many times I guy thin sliced ribeyes or thin strip steaks or I get tenderloin from Sam's and slice those thin. I use quite a lot of heat and a touch of grapeseed oil. When I get the steak to the second side a splash of EVOO goes on and I dump 2 eggs on and reduce heat. Eggs don't stick and are easy to flip for my over easy plus they only take about a minute or so to do thanks to the high residual heat in the iron. I love my CI stuff. I have a while bunch of it some VERY old from estate sales I have a small Wagner CI saute' pan. I have been able to trace it to be over 100 years old. Just love the thing.
I don't know what you're describing with the "tar" but perhaps the oil you're using is bad? I have grown to detest Canola oil. It has a fishy odor turns rancid so quick you can watch it happen just awful stuff. I use ONLY olive oil or Grapeseed oil and that's all. And believe it or not I wash my pans in hot water, with a brush and YES horror of horrors I use SOAP! Once clean I simply put the pan on gentle heat to remove residual moisture and wipe it down with grapeseed oil. They're not teflon but they're close
 
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