Cast Iron Cooking

Butterflied jumbo shrimp with Emeril's creole seasoning

 

New Smithey from the 50% off sale here at the local hq. Beautiful pan, fried eggs slick right out of the box!

 

Some fried rockfish.

 

Looks like lots of reading in my future, 15 pages worth! I just joined the cast iron family with this gift I got. 4 piece set of Lodge cast iron.

First question is that it says pre-seasoned, they were pretty dirty in the box so I gave them a quick wash with some warm water and tiny bit of soap. Should I put a light coat of oil and call it a day or should I go ahead with the oven bake method of seasoning?

 

I oil mine lightly after washing. I don't have any issues but I am a newbie also.

 

Always resisted cast iron until I got one for Christmas several years ago. The fancy non-sticks don’t even come out anymore. Won’t cook on anything else.

 

Thank you sir!

 

I rub mine down with vegetable oil and put it on medium heat for 15mins. Seasons perfectly.

 

Upside down for storage or while doing the seasoning?

 

Sanded and seasoned my Wagner with 8 layers of Crisco. Bacon for the first use after refurbishment. Much improved.

 

Diggin that griddle.

 

Welcome to the club. Personally I avoid washing with soap and water. It can lead to rust. Most here use salt then wipe off with clean rag followed by oil and heating upside down to reseason.

 

My first dinner on the cast iron. Pork chops they look amazing!

 

Yum.

 

Scored a 7qt dutch oven at goodwill for $30. Looks unused!

 

I'm sure I'll have some folks here calling me out on this, but for newer Lodge, I have sanded them all and started with a much smoother surface. You need a flap wheel that has the curved sides to get into the corner. You'll also need the sanding discs that work with a cordless drill, they're thinner and work. There's some Youtube videos of guys doing it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSbjJV-WDGw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAj6jUOgu9c

These videos show you what you need to use. Obviously, don't need to sand the outside of the pan, top edge or handle.

For seasoning, I found the recipe for the wax based seasoning. It's 1 oz of pure bees wax, 1.5 ounce of avocado oil and 1.5 oz of grapeseed oil. Melt it all and pour into a tin cannister. Let it cool and harden. Use proper rag to wipe it. I use to season in the oven, but I've found when I use my charcoal grill (Weber), with charcoal and wood, it seems to season much better. Just coat entire pan, in and outside, and handle, put in charcoal grill once it's hitting about 400 degrees and come get it in the morning. Or use your oven at 450+ for an hour then just turn off and check it. Make sure the seasoning is on it evenly. Good luck.

 

BTW, you shouldn't have to, but never sand a vintage CI skillet. The old ones were made in foundries that put out (either thru the process or sanding), extremely smooth pans. Plus, you'll ruin it if it's truly an old Wagner, Griswold, etc.

 

I agree. The new Lodges are pretty rough and sanding them gives a nice smooth cooking surface. I would not recommend using soap and water on cast iron. This can lead to rust and pitting. If you do wash them be sure to heat it right away. Normal cleaning can be done with salt and a rag followed by a light coat of oil.