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Cream_Filling posted:What kind of place do you live that you can't find lard in the grocery store? Unless it's hidden behind the meat counter, the only place I've seen it is Sav-a-Lot.
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May 23, 2013 13:42
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Lard is usually on the baking isle with oils and shortening.
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May 23, 2013 13:43
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Chef De Cuisinart posted:Lard is usually on the baking isle with oils and shortening. For me, lard is usually in a cold box (usually the meat section) or even in a freezer and almost never with the oils and shortening.
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May 23, 2013 16:26
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El Jebus posted:For me, lard is usually in a cold box (usually the meat section) or even in a freezer and almost never with the oils and shortening. That's where I've seen it. I just figured most stores didn't carry it because it wasn't 'healthy' or something.
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May 23, 2013 16:28
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I usually see it next to shortening for hydrogenated lard and in the cold case or freezer for the nicer fresh stuff. Or sometimes in the mexican/hispanic food section. Dunno, I always thought it was pretty common since I've seen it most of the time in the midwest, there's usually plenty of hispanic customers who want it on both coasts, and the south loves it.
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May 23, 2013 16:40
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mindphlux posted:2. throw pan into sink while still really hot under running water This is a pretty good way to warp your cast iron (the only way to permanently ruin cast iron), which I guess is fine for a lodge, but not for my 100+ year old pans. Let it cool, add water then boil it again.
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May 23, 2013 19:19
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deimos posted:This is a pretty good way to warp your cast iron (the only way to permanently ruin cast iron), which I guess is fine for a lodge, but not for my 100+ year old pans. Let it cool, add water then boil it again. I generally clean mine the same way and have never had problems. I wouldn't take it straight from high heat to ice-cold water, but my old griswolds / wagners have never had a problem with running a little bit of hot water into them after coming off the stove.
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May 23, 2013 20:59
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rj54x posted:I generally clean mine the same way and have never had problems. I wouldn't take it straight from high heat to ice-cold water, but my old griswolds / wagners have never had a problem with running a little bit of hot water into them after coming off the stove. Little bit of water != throwing it into the sink with water. I have a warped lodge from college because I used to do that to it.
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May 23, 2013 22:01
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I've tried a lot of different fats (lard, tallow, sunflower seed oil, etc.) for seasoning cast iron and I have to say this flaxseed oil method is the by far the best I've used. I didn't strip my pan of its old seasoning completely, I just cleaned it well enough that the interior had a totally even surface to build up the new flaxy megaseasoning on. I even started out by just seasoning it on the stove top rather than the supposedly labor-intensive oven method. I would just rub a very thin (like just barely shiny, definitely NOT enough that it drips at all) layer of flax oil on and heat it on high until about 10 minutes after it stopped smoking. This gave me a pretty good start, but then I tried the oven method. It actually turns out to be easier in the oven. I do the same thin layer of oil, then just put it in the oven at 500 with the "cook time" feature set to one hour and forget about it. Voila, the oven goes off automatically and by the time I remember to check on it, it's usually cool enough for another coat and another hour at 500. This also allows me to do 3-4 pans at once without having all my burners running at full blast and you can even season the exterior of the pan with the oven method, leaving it looking a beautiful glossy black and protected from rust. As far as performance goes, my pans have been amazing since the flax oil seasoning. I cooked a salmon filet with some of the crispiest skin I've ever had the other night and the filet just slid around in the pan like a hockey puck, leaving nothing behind. I've also done beautiful hashbrowns in them, which can be an awful, starchy mess without good seasoning on your pan. Call it spergy, but to me it's just true. This is the best way to season a cast iron and it's not really very hard. If you're gonna be around the house for a few hours, you just put a coat on it and let the oven timer do the work. In my experience, trying to season a cast iron by cooking bacon in it just leaves me with charred, smoky sugar stuck to my pan. This flax poo poo, however, WORKS.
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Jun 13, 2013 05:48
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I had the opposite experience - I got a new cast-iron and did the flax method and it kept letting me down. I postulate that there are a few different levels of seasoning on the pan - some are lower down when the pores in the iron open up when heat is applied, and others sort of sit on top of the iron. I think the flax method is great for the higher, but cooking bacon etc really gets the fat into the pan. THEREFORE I speculate that a good method would be to have pans with decent seasoning - via bacon, etc, gentle heat with lots of fat - season them a few times normally, and only then apply the flax method. Your method, as well, implies that the pan cools down - this is something I didn't do when I did flax. I'd cool it down only enough to apply the oil, but maybe it's better if you really let it cool off. My pan's doing okay, so we will see if flax treats me better now!
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Jun 13, 2013 15:17
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Since I had nothing better to do, I decided to try the flax method. I'll be putting my 10th and final coat on tonight. Like the link in the OP says, my 12" Lodge pan didn't start to develop any sort of sheen until about the 6th coat was put on. I'm excited to cook with it.
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Jun 26, 2013 18:50
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Wachepti posted:As a vegan, "cook a bunch of bacon on it" is not a viable way for me to season a cast iron pan so this method proved invaluable. I just finished the 6th cycle of flaxseed and am pretty happy with how it turned out. I'm pretty embarrassed to post this but I just want to emphasize how important it is that your pan be bone dry if you do the flax seed method because after a few months my coating flaked off 
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Jun 26, 2013 19:16
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I just got a reversible cast iron griddle and I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with seasoning them. It occurred to me that whichever side I use the other side's seasoning will be exposed to the burner, and whether that matters or not.
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Aug 1, 2013 14:32
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Sorta. Just remember to oil it after every use and it should be okay.
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Aug 1, 2013 14:54
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Just never use the ridged side because it sucks anyways.
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Aug 1, 2013 15:23
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 Screw oiling and baking your cast iron. I'm never going inside again ever
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Aug 2, 2013 01:53
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I finally got my little cast iron skillet back from my awful ex-roommates, and one of them has created a ring of gooey, gummy black mess in a ring on the bottom. What's a good way to get rid of this without stripping the pan down entirely? The seasoning on the inside is still in excellent condition, he just did some fuckery that ruined the bottom.
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Aug 2, 2013 04:36
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On the underside of the pan? Scrape it off or ignore it.
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Aug 2, 2013 12:40
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GabrielAisling posted:I finally got my little cast iron skillet back from my awful ex-roommates, and one of them has created a ring of gooey, gummy black mess in a ring on the bottom. What's a good way to get rid of this without stripping the pan down entirely? The seasoning on the inside is still in excellent condition, he just did some fuckery that ruined the bottom. A wire brush attachment on a drill or Dremel will usually scrape it off. Just watch out for sparks.
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Aug 2, 2013 15:03
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You could try an oil/salt scrub, I've never done it on cast iron but it works wonders on my carbon steel wok.
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Aug 2, 2013 20:37
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I got an old 8" Griswold cast iron pan from a relative who had a stockpile of cast iron -- here's the weird thing (to me, at least) -- the handle is silver, like CHROME silver, and the body seems very different. The pan still says "Cast Iron" and the cooking surface seems like cast iron but the rest is strange. Any idea what the deal is? EDIT: Google says it's plated/"extra finished" in Nickel or Chromium. How can I refinish it? It's pretty stained up. lament.cfg fucked around with this message at 14:44 on Aug 11, 2013 |
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Aug 11, 2013 14:38
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Me in Reverse posted:I got an old 8" Griswold cast iron pan from a relative who had a stockpile of cast iron -- here's the weird thing (to me, at least) -- the handle is silver, like CHROME silver, and the body seems very different. The pan still says "Cast Iron" and the cooking surface seems like cast iron but the rest is strange. Any idea what the deal is? I was coming around to ask about this as well, I just got a nickel plated #6 skillet. It's still plated except in most of the cooking surface, and I'm wondering just how safe this pan is to use.
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Oct 26, 2013 05:34
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http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/318730 Sounds like you can scrub the nickel plating with steel wool if you want So I guess you still have a seasoned cast iron cooking surface but they nickel plated the rest of the thing to keep it from rusting, sorta like enameled cast iron pans Steve Yun fucked around with this message at 07:29 on Oct 26, 2013 |
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Oct 26, 2013 07:25
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Dropping in to leave my awesome cast iron seasoning method here. I've tried all sorts of things (though not the one in the OP) and this is the one that has worked best for me over the years: Make cornbread. I'm not talking about that sweet cake crap you get at Marie Calendars, I'm talking about Texas Cast Iron Cornbread. Make that a few times and you can cook whatever you want in there no worries. Assuming a 10" pan: Preheat oven to 350. Put your cast iron on the range with 1 1/2 Tbsp oil and 1 1/2 Tbsp butter. Time it to have your pan fully heated by the time your ingredient mixing is done. Dry: 1 1/2 cups corn meal 1/2 cup flour 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt Wet: 1 1/2 cups buttermilk 1/4 cup oil 2 eggs, beaten Mix dry. Mix wet. Mix dry into wet. Pour all into hot oil/butter mixture in pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Be sure you have honey and butter on hand. Chili too. Double the recipe (though not quite the amount of butter/oil in the pan) for a 12". After making a few batches of that my pan has never been happier. Maybe do some other seasoning method first if it is brand new, otherwise rock on.
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Oct 26, 2013 08:04
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This thread is so effing irritatating. Cast iron is the easiest thing. 1. Get a cast iron pan. 2. Coat it with oil. Canola/Flax/Soy/Peanut pretty much anything with a higher smoke point than olive oil. Wipe it out. Put it in the oven at 350 for a couple hours upside down. 3. Repeat step two a couple more times. 4. Cook in it. 4 and 1/2. Paper towel water is all you need to clean. Dry that sucker before you put it away. 5. poo poo gets stuck to the bottom? Use a scouring pad and water and muscle. Then repeat step two. In a month as long as you don't cook tomatoes or wine thingies, you're golden. 6. Don't cook tomatoes or wine sauces in your cast iron, you idiot. Cast iron is so hard to gently caress up. You cannot reach temperatures that will melt it on your home stove. You don't even have to be that nice to it if you're willing to reseason the next day. Cast iron is the abused wife of cookware, it will always come back to you if you promise to be better. Season that poo poo and cook her some loving bacon. All will be good.
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Oct 26, 2013 08:43
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Chef De Cuisinart posted:Just never use the ridged side because it sucks anyways. I use the ridged side to get spiffy grill marks on bread for Crostini. Works quite nicely and leaves a pretty finish on the bread. For meat or some protein based stuff, it just gets too hard to clean. Recently bought a stainless steel chain mail scrubby for cast iron. Seems to work quite nicely in scraping off the crunchy bits stuck to the pan.
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Oct 26, 2013 20:28
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Steve Yun posted:http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/318730 I think the whole thing was plated at one point, there are still bits of nickel in the middle of the skillet. I feel bad for whomever ate those little flecks of heavy metal...
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Oct 27, 2013 14:46
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I don't think so, there seem to be several owners of the same Griswold pan around the internet, and it sounds like they plated everything but the cooking surface. Olvida makes one that's completely clad in nickel, but people seem to complain about the quality of the plating
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Oct 27, 2013 14:52
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Today I set out to season a bunch of new carbon steel pans. One at a time would have been wiser, because I started losing it from all the smoke. One of the pans didn't come out so great after I gave it a rinse of water and non-abrasive sponging. I was almost able to cook an egg in there -- obviously stuck a bit to those spots but not terrible. My question is: Should I go back to square one or will those spots "repair" themselves over time? My heart says start over, but it's such a miserable task. It's a bit late now, but should I have strained my flax seed oil before using it? It had all sorts of chunks in it that seemed like they were doing more harm than good.
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Jan 1, 2014 21:27
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I got a used cast iron skillet from my mom, she never used it much but she was going to get rid of it when she moved so she gave it to me instead. Should I trust the seasoning it may or may not have already, or "reset" it and reseason it myself? What's the best way to go about this?
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Jan 2, 2014 03:21
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Captain trips, I'd just build on the existing seasoning Geetee, I dint think flax oil is supposed to have lumps. How old was it? Flax oil has really short shelf life Also, those spots will probably repair themselves over time. I've had flakes on my skillet come off, kept using it and a few months later I can't tell where the holes were. Don't stress about them.
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Jan 2, 2014 03:26
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Steve Yun posted:Captain trips, I'd just build on the existing seasoning I got some organic non-gmo hippie bullshit. Probably good for eating purposes; not so good for seasoning. I'll just strain it the next time I season something. And thanks, I will just let it roll because definitely not worth stressing over. I don't even know why I got these pans except to satisfy a must-buy-kitchen-poo poo urge. Between the stainless set and cast iron pan, not sure what place these really have. Sup first world problems?
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Jan 2, 2014 04:52
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I can use my cast iron just fine for bacon, sausages, etc. and usually all I have to do is scrape it down. But whenever I get a cast iron up to maximum heat for a steak, all the seasoning ends up smoking during the preheat and the skillet is completely different when it's all over. It feels like that sort of cooking ruins the seasoning by design. Do you guys just oil it up again and start anew?
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Jan 9, 2014 15:58
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I just scrape it down gently with a metal brush under hot water to remove leftover food particles. If the seasoning is solid, it'll survive just fine. It's a good idea to put a thin coat of oil on the skillet afterwards though
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Jan 9, 2014 16:11
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FaradayCage posted:I can use my cast iron just fine for bacon, sausages, etc. and usually all I have to do is scrape it down. Yeah searing gives your seasoning a beating but as long as you oil after each time it will keep it maintained.
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Jan 9, 2014 18:06
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FaradayCage posted:I can use my cast iron just fine for bacon, sausages, etc. and usually all I have to do is scrape it down. After using long enough, my cast iron pan can hold up to everything, including tomatoes, braising, cleaning occassionally with soap, searing steaks, etc. In fact, I have a cast-iron skillet that I use mostly for baking that does not take a lot of abuse, and the few times I have cooked eggs on them, they tend to stick. But the two skillets that I abuse the most have the best seasoning and are virtually nonstick. They get acidic foods, lots of searing meats, and aggressive use of a metal spatula took a lot of initial setbacks in the seasoning, but I think the abuse actually makes the seasoning hold up stronger in the long run. I think that some seasoning occasionally just doesn't set into the skillet well, and a chance to break down and keep re-seasoning ends up resulting in a superior seasoning over the long run. This is why using a skillet is more important than dedicated seasoning. That's why I think that lady and her blog about flaxseed oil is full of poo poo. She is afraid of using metal spatulas and acidic foods but loves her shiny flaxseed seasoning. I think it's ridiculous that she touts the superiority of flaxseed but claims that her seasoning doesn't hold up to metal spatulas, something that people have been using on their cast-iron skillets for a century with no problems. Normal people just use the poo poo out of their cast-iron and the abuse tends to just work itself out over the long run, and it doesn't matter what kind of oil you use.
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Jan 10, 2014 20:09
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For those just getting a lodge from the store and wondering why it sucks for like, the first 3 months of use, it is because Griswold/Wagner/Vintage Lodge used to smooth their pans with sandblasting/peening/etc before selling them. Modern lodge are bumpy and rough as poo poo because they sell them right out of the mold (to save cost competing against cheap 3rd-world manufactured pans), and so it takes ages to either wear down or build up until you get a slick surface. Take some Aluminum oxide sand paper and sand the poo poo out of the inside of the pan before you season it (clean it well too, you wouldn't want to eat the dust) and then do that flax oil seasoning thing and I can't tell the difference in performance between cooking in a ~1 week old lodge skillet and cooking in my mom's vintage one. I used 60 and 150 grits, but I doubt the second pass made any difference. Looking back I'd probably just do one pass with 100 grit.
TheQuietWilds fucked around with this message at 21:40 on Jan 10, 2014 |
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Jan 10, 2014 21:38
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TheQuietWilds posted:For those just getting a lodge from the store and wondering why it sucks for like, the first 3 months of use, it is because Griswold/Wagner/Vintage Lodge used to smooth their pans with sandblasting/peening/etc before selling them. Modern lodge are bumpy and rough as poo poo because they sell them right out of the mold (to save cost competing against cheap 3rd-world manufactured pans), and so it takes ages to either wear down or build up until you get a slick surface. Take some Aluminum oxide sand paper and sand the poo poo out of the inside of the pan before you season it (clean it well too, you wouldn't want to eat the dust) and then do that flax oil seasoning thing and I can't tell the difference in performance between cooking in a ~1 week old lodge skillet and cooking in my mom's vintage one. I used 60 and 150 grits, but I doubt the second pass made any difference. Looking back I'd probably just do one pass with 100 grit. My experience was the opposite. Yes, the new Lodges are way rougher than the old Griswolds in Wagners. But they were actually less fussy about seasoning than the vintage skillets that I have. They ended up being probably the best skillets I have ever used. The only reason why I got rid of them was the weight. The vintage Griswold and Wagner skillets are about half the weight of an equivalent Lodge making them easier to use on a daily basis. But my experience is that the rough surface does not affect cooking and in any way, and may in fact make them less fussy about seasoning early on. I think sanding them down is completely unnecessary.
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Jan 10, 2014 21:58
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Finally got around to a real deal restore of an old Griswold that's been passed down to me. 8" skillet. Used it previously with a simple cleaning but noticed that large and thick flakes were coming up. Decided to get at it with a wire brush and drill. Took long enough, but ended up grinding down the likely decades of old build up that was in it down to a rather smooth iron surface. Only touched the cooking area. Currently going through its third round in the oven today, hour each at 500, with soybean/vegetable oil coats. After going through this thread I probably should have went with shortening instead.
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May 4, 2014 00:47
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The seasoning madness always confuses me, I was largely ignorant of it when I got my lodge and I pretty much just used extra oil so things didn't stick until I didn't need to anymore and it turned out fine. Anytime I notice my pretty black patina starts looking ragged I make some bacon or "deep" fry something in the pan with a bunch of oil and it goes back to beautiful.
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May 4, 2014 12:49
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