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I bought a small, cheap Chinese skillet to try out before splurging on the more expensive kit (Australia tax) and spent the evening seasoning it. It's ended up with a weird brown/bronze cast to it now. Steps taken: Clean with soup and stiff brush, then rinsed until water ran clear. Repeat a few times. Dry with towel. I heated up the oven to low temps and let the skillet heat up in it. Then did a light layer of canola oil all over, wiped off the excess, then stuck it back in the oven for 45 minutes, upside down (to avoid any excess oil collecting). Pulled it out and put the oven temp up a bit while I applied another layer of oil, wiped off the excess again, and stuck it back in for another 45. Rinse and repeat twice more at higher temps. It's come out with this final colour - should I worry? It never started off black but this silver-y colour. It's getting late and I've already eaten, so the plan is to cook some bacon in it tomorrow and wash, dry, reoil and leave it in the morning and then cook dinner. Is this enough of a seasoning or should I give it some more?
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Nov 11, 2015 10:52
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| # ? May 9, 2024 22:20 |
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You're fine.
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Nov 11, 2015 11:53
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crowtribe posted:It's come out with this final colour - should I worry? It never started off black but this silver-y colour. It's getting late and I've already eaten, so the plan is to cook some bacon in it tomorrow and wash, dry, reoil and leave it in the morning and then cook dinner. Is this enough of a seasoning or should I give it some more? Technically speaking, you don't NEED to season your cast iron pan to cook in it. It just makes cooking things easier and the pan itself easier to clean. My pan has built up quite a nice seasoning now, but when I first purchased it (with the rather-poor Lodge pre-seasoning), I just cooked every old thing in it. It takes care of itself.
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Nov 11, 2015 15:53
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Mine looks the same way, but even after a couple of oven bakes and cooking bacon in it, I still have this one spot where it remains silver.
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Nov 11, 2015 18:13
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Not an issue and at worst you will have to scrape a little harder there to get food off. Just dry well after washing and wipe interior with a little oil after every use and it will last until the heat death of the universe.
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Nov 13, 2015 15:31
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The general Q&A thread told me that non-stick isn't meant to do medium-high so I guess there's another Lodge in my future. Edit: Buy the 10.5" and then realize my marinade is full of tomato paste and vinegar. Oven tonight 
Shumagorath fucked around with this message at 01:52 on Nov 17, 2015 |
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Nov 16, 2015 01:24
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For making roasts/sauces/soups in a dutch oven, enameled or bear iron? Thoughts?
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Nov 16, 2015 21:55
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Imo iron for the bear flavor.
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Nov 16, 2015 22:12
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I like enameled for anything saucy, and bear iron for frying things. No reason you can't use either, though.
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Nov 16, 2015 23:56
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Bear iron is probably really good for cooking salmon.
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Nov 17, 2015 00:09
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Bear iron and enamel are both fine, but make sure not to use pig iron - it corrodes too quickly.
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Nov 17, 2015 00:21
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Massasoit posted:For making roasts/sauces/soups in a dutch oven, enameled or bear iron? Enamel is easier to clean if you don't burn things, especially sauces and soups. Bear iron is no good in the winter.
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Nov 17, 2015 17:24
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I thought bear iron was only for use in bear grills?
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Nov 17, 2015 17:44
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Brawnfire posted:I thought bear iron was only for use in bear grills? well, that and pistols
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Nov 17, 2015 22:40
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Whoops.
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Nov 18, 2015 14:03
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Is there any point to making fajitas in cast iron vs my regular method of cooking everything in a decent-sized wok at high heat, flavor-wise? I know it'll be sizzly and stuff but I'm not trying to run a Chilis here.
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Nov 18, 2015 16:18
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Had an early Thanksgiving at my folks' place on Sunday and found what appeared to be a 10 - inch Griswold cast iron on with a lid. Looked it up and they were discontinued in the 50s, so I'm assuming this is my great-grandmother 's. I'm thinking I might have my parents ship it to me in Los Angeles from the Midwest and clean out the bits of rust and reseason it. I haven't gone back through the thread in a while, but if I remember correctly, Griswold is supposed to be pretty high quality, right?
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Nov 18, 2015 17:42
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bartlebee posted:Had an early Thanksgiving at my folks' place on Sunday and found what appeared to be a 10 - inch Griswold cast iron on with a lid. Looked it up and they were discontinued in the 50s, so I'm assuming this is my great-grandmother 's. I'm thinking I might have my parents ship it to me in Los Angeles from the Midwest and clean out the bits of rust and reseason it. I haven't gone back through the thread in a while, but if I remember correctly, Griswold is supposed to be pretty high quality, right? Extremely
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Nov 18, 2015 19:12
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bartlebee posted:Had an early Thanksgiving at my folks' place on Sunday and found what appeared to be a 10 - inch Griswold cast iron on with a lid. Holy poo poo a LID?! You have been blessed by the cast iron gods.
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Nov 18, 2015 20:01
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I cook using almost entirely cast iron. I do have a non-stick soup pot and a 5 gallon stainless, but otherwise, I prefer the heavier stuff. I've never had a problem with high acid foods in my favorite large skillet. My wife bought it new, rough cast, and unseasoned gray back in 1996. Just using it has made the cooking surface so smooth that you can see yourself in it. The trick, in my opinion, is boil water in it, no soap, and always dry it on the burner followed by a wipe down of oil or grease. I did have an incident where my father threw it in soapy water and let it soak which caused it to flash rust. Also, the bastard kept letting the dog lick the pan out which also causes flash rust. It comes off easy though. If you buy an old pan that's rusty, instead of a wire wheel, I use sea salt and lemon juice with a green scrubby. It works pretty well as an electrolytic cleaner. Then follow up with water, heat, and bacon grease. I don't ever put high acid stuff on my egg/pancake skillet though. That thing is more non-stick than teflon.
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Nov 18, 2015 20:45
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mostlygray posted:I cook using almost entirely cast iron. I do have a non-stick soup pot and a 5 gallon stainless, but otherwise, I prefer the heavier stuff. What do you consider as high acid stuff?
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Nov 18, 2015 22:02
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Carl Killer Miller posted:What do you consider as high acid stuff?  Anything more tart then a chicken or eggplant parmesan.
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Nov 19, 2015 01:00
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I reseasoned my skillet today, but I don't think it came out. I first used vegetable oil, and it was spotty and sticky. I cleaned that off, and then retried using shortening. (350 degree oven for one hour, then let cool off inside oven.) It's not nearly as sticky, but it is still spotty. I am expecting a smooth, solid gloss. Is this to be expected? Is this because I only did it once, and it'll even out after a repeat or two? Or am I just loving something up?
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Nov 23, 2015 04:18
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You may have left too much residual oil in the pan and it made the sticky spots. I know this is probably sacrilege, but I have had the best success with seasoning with bacon grease. Even on my newer Lodge pans, they are jet black and fried egg non-stick after stripping them down and reasoning them with bacon grease earlier this year. I did it like a wok - heat the pan over high heat on the stove, apply lightly bacon grease and leave on stove for a few moments more, wipe off excess, leave in 500 F oven for an hour, turn off oven and let cool. Repeat 2-3x.
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Nov 23, 2015 05:39
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flax seed oil from GNC is insanely good too
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Nov 24, 2015 21:03
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So I am in the market for a cast iron dutch oven. They are prohibitivly expensive but stainless steel is a bitch to clean, aluminum doesn't get hot enough properly to brown stuff in and is also always coated with some poo poo that will poison you, and glass top ones can't go into the oven above 180 degrees C it seems. Now that I decided to pay 200 € on a dutch oven (either le creuset or Staub) I am unsure which size and shape to go for. Our household has 2 people me and the GF, but I like to cook for friends. I want to use it for beef, poultry and pork roasts, maybe also use it on the stovetop for large helping of chili, curry (is that a good idea) and stews and it should fit an entire chicken. (For roasting stuff that doesn't need a lid I have a large aluminum roasting tin for pork roast with crusty rinds and large turkey.) Questions: 1. Should I go for a round or oval? What are the advantages of either? 2. What size would be a good middle ground? (do I have to find one that is max the size of my heating coils (I have a glass ceramic stovetop?)
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Nov 27, 2015 01:40
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For €200, the loving thing had better cook for me. Go on eBay, find a Wagner or a Griswold with the original lid. Even with the hilariously expensive shipping, it'll still be less than half your budget. You want a Dutch oven, and not a camp stove. A camp stove will have cast-in feet, which won't work on a range. As to size versus your electric range, something being bigger than the heating element is better than smaller. Cast iron in particular will heat mostly evenly better than most other materials on a smaller element. It might be slightly hotter in the center over extremely high heat, but that's not generally the kind of cooking one does in a Dutch oven, anyway.
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Nov 27, 2015 01:50
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You're goddamn crazy for paying that kind of money for a DO. Amazon has a 7qt. for 54.99 usd.
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Nov 27, 2015 02:03
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I know, it is loving super expensive here in europe. I am not really sure whether to buy one or just say gently caress it. Alledgedly the cast iron price is so high. The 12" Lodge Logic pan that I saw for 24 USD in New Orleans and could not take with me on the plane cost 35€ here back then, I did not buy It because I didn't need it immediately and now it costs 55€. Prices over here are poo poo because they think people can afford it, Germans are rich anyway. That regularly screws us over.
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Nov 27, 2015 02:08
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Crazyeyes posted:You're goddamn crazy for paying that kind of money for a DO. Amazon has a 7qt. for 54.99 usd. Yeah.. I got a lodge DO for about that much. Been amazing, use it all the time.
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Nov 27, 2015 02:10
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Yeah, good luck finding a griswald or wagner outside the US. Go for oval, it fits most meats and stuff better as nothing is perfectly round. You can get Lodge stuff off Amazon but yeah, expensive. I'd say go round your local charity or second hand shops and see what they've got, you can also put in an order, say to the person at the desk in each shop, "Hey, if you get any big heavy pans in, could you give me a ring? I'll pay x for it." Make a list you can give them, this is what collectors do. If you're polite about it and go in and ask every now and again, most shops will oblige you, they want to sell stuff fast and not have it take up stock-space. Edit: The spotty seasoning, try leaving it in for longer, that stuff should burn off and you'll get a more even coating. You need to give it more time. Seasoning will build up as you cook with it anyway. Nettle Soup fucked around with this message at 02:28 on Nov 27, 2015 |
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Nov 27, 2015 02:15
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Woah after checking prices in the US I am NOT buying that stuff over here. Period. That is a plain ripoff at double the price. I might check prices on Amazon US after thanksgiving weekend and order it form there, even with shipping, it will be cheaper. It's really sad that both my grandmas couldn't cook for poo poo. The most useful thing I inherited from my grandmas kitchen was her 1 hour timer. I am not even joking. Unlike other people my family hasn't passed down cast iron cookware and thankfully my mum will still need hers for years :-)
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Nov 27, 2015 02:26
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Hell, if you did want le creset, now is the time I suppose. Although ebay might be cheaper in the long-run: https://www.amazon.co.uk/b/ref=gbps...KE4CDRAWWAHEK7Z Be warned that these things are *heavy* before you fill them up with meat and stock, bigger isn't always easier. I have a giant le cruset roasting dish I got off a carboot and while it makes a fantastic roast, it's all chipped on one side where somebody has obviously dropped it. I don't let my little brother lift it at all because if he dropped it on his foot or something, the dish would win, and that's with nothing in it. Nettle Soup fucked around with this message at 02:41 on Nov 27, 2015 |
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Nov 27, 2015 02:35
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Yeah, I lifted a couple. I went to a store and had a good look and talk to a lady about materials etc. there. I was just unsure regarding size. I was even going to buy it there as Amazon.de is exactly the same prices. But seeing that it is all just overpriced, I think I will scour ebay and the like. It doesn't have to be le creuset but non-name ones at the same size were only 20€ cheaper, so I though might as well go for the branded ones that are known good.
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Nov 27, 2015 02:46
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Carl Killer Miller posted:What do you consider as high acid stuff? Tomatoes, and the like.
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Nov 27, 2015 06:37
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Hopper posted:I know, it is loving super expensive here in europe. I am not really sure whether to buy one or just say gently caress it. Alledgedly the cast iron price is so high. Where are you located? I have a vague recollection that you're Dutch. There's a store here in The Hague where they sell Lodge. It's an expensive-rear end cooking store so the markup is hefty so don't expect amazon prices but still they're like 30-40% of Le Creuset. e: Although... German? Anyway, let me know I might be able to help you out anyway.
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Nov 27, 2015 11:23
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This thread is amazing. I left some vinegar-marinated mushrooms and onions in my 10" lodge for like 24 hours before serving them at thanksgiving. The world did not implode, the seasoning did not melt. I wiped it out with a paper towel and then hit it with some hot water and wiped it again. If you only knew how many tomatoes my cast iron has seen The only reason you really need a circular cast iron imho, is if you do a lot of tortillas.
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Nov 29, 2015 03:57
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Hopper posted:Yeah, I lifted a couple. I went to a store and had a good look and talk to a lady about materials etc. there. I was just unsure regarding size. I was even going to buy it there as Amazon.de is exactly the same prices. I was about to offer to buy and ship one to you but it's like 90$ to flatrate ship internationally (to Germany, specifically but I imagine it would be little changed elsewhere) so it's not worth the effort I would think as it'd still cost like $150+
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Nov 30, 2015 20:50
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Much appreciated, but yeah shipping is too expensive. I have checked with local donation stores like Oxfam. No luck. But turns out you get them on eBay for relatively cheap. I just lost an auction for a 4.7 liter (about 5 quart I guess) because I couldn't snipe as I was sitting in Swedish lessons. It would have been an old le creuset from the 70ies or older that went for 45 euros, my bid was 42 which I entered when it was at 16 initially. Seems they are actually cheap when people want to get rid of them. Who knew. Ebay is mostly poo poo these days.
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Dec 1, 2015 00:58
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How is Denby for quality? They seem to be having a sale on them in the UK store, though I'd just get it at Winners in CA for much cheaper.
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Dec 1, 2015 10:06
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