I saw a beat up 10 inch Lodge from the 50s at this shop downtown, listed for $45 with a crack in the handle. Is that thing worth rescuing or just a waste of good grease?
I was digging around on a cast iron restoration site last night and found out that Lodge used to machine grind their pans smooth until about 1985. After that they stopped doing it to keep costs down. So all those rough textured new pans are actually a cost cutting move not a feature. I looked at my 2019 Lodge skillet and it is like sandpaper compared to pictures of the old ones. Makes me want to hunt down a vintage Griswold or an old Lodge at a garage sale. Has anyone here switched from a new Lodge to an old smooth one and actually noticed a big difference in sticking?
He said I should just buy one of those newfangled enameled ones since mine looks 'beat up'. I told him the seasoning on this thing is older than his marriage and I can slide eggs around it like a hockey puck. Made me think, when did people start treating perfectly good cookware like it's disposable? Anyone else have a friend who doesn't get the whole 'patina of use' thing?
I had to choose between using a metal scraper or a chainmail scrubber on my 1940s Wagner skillet that had some burned on food. I went with the metal scraper because I figured it was faster, and now there's a visible scratch in the seasoning that won't fill back in no matter how many times I oil it up. This was last Sunday after making cornbread, and I'm kicking myself. Anyone else had a hard time getting a deep scratch out of their seasoning layer?
Was cleaning out my grandma's place in Akron last month and pulled out a Griswold #8 from 1942. Thing was buried under three decades of dust but the surface was still glassy smooth. Beat my modern Lodge by a mile. Anyone else find old family iron that still cooks better than anything you can buy today?
I always thought preheating slowly was overblown until last Tuesday when I put my cold pan straight on a gas burner on high. Fifteen minutes later a hairline crack ran from rim to rim while searing a pork chop. Anybody else had a pan fail like that from thermal shock, or was mine just a dud from the start?
I kept seasoning my old pan with vegetable oil and it stayed sticky no matter how thin I laid it on. Switched to flaxseed oil after a buddy swore by it and now eggs slide around like they're on teflon. Has anyone else had better luck with a specific oil for seasoning?
I tried searing a steak on my 12-inch Lodge last week and cranked the burner to full blast thinking that's what you're supposed to do. Within two minutes the pan was smoking like crazy and the steak got a black crust that tasted burnt, not charred. Then I noticed the seasoning had started to flake off in patches right where the heat was hottest. Turns out cast iron heats unevenly on a gas stove and going nuclear on the heat just stresses the seasoning and burns your food. I learned you gotta preheat slow on medium for about 5 minutes then go to medium-high if you want a good sear without destroying your pan. Has anyone else killed a meal by assuming hotter is better with cast iron?
I washed my 12 inch Lodge after cooking bacon, left it to dry on the rack, and woke up to orange spots everywhere the next morning. Took me 45 minutes with steel wool and three rounds of reseasoning to fix it - has anyone else had a surprise rust attack that fast?
I finally figured out why my cornbread always stuck to my fancy new Lodge but never to her old beat-up Griswold. That old pan is so smooth from decades of use, it’s like glass. My new one has that rough factory surface that grabs everything. I tried seasoning it 4 times with flaxseed oil and still got patches. Her trick? She just cooked bacon in it every morning for 40 years. Anyone else notice a huge difference between old smooth pans and these new rough ones?
Left a half-cooked cornbread in my skillet overnight by accident. Next morning it looked like something from a petri dish. Green fuzz, the works. Took me three rounds of vinegar and scrub to get it back to bare metal. Then had to reseason from scratch. Took all week to get the seasoning right again. Has anyone else had a corn disaster take out their whole pan?
I was totally against buying a preseasoned cast iron pan for years. Thought it was just a gimmick and real seasoning takes months anyway. My buddy Jake in Denver swore by his Lodge that he bought at Target for $25. He said just cook bacon in it a few times and it's good to go. So I grabbed one last month after my vintage Griswold cracked on me. Cooked some cornbread in it last weekend and nothing stuck to it at all. I still think old school seasoning is better long term but honestly for $25 it's hard to beat. Has anyone else had a preseasoned pan actually perform right out of the box?
I caught him explaining to his friend that she just cooked fatty meats and wiped it clean with salt, and now I'm wondering if I've been overthinking my whole seasoning routine with all these flaxseed oil layers, has anyone else tried the just-cook-and-scrub method for years?
I tried that flaxseed oil trick I saw on a blog last month, and after making bacon three times the seasoning started peeling like sunburnt skin. Has anyone else had this happen, or did I just mess up the temperature when applying it?
Had this 12 inch Lodge for about 4 years now and could never get a good sear on steak without setting off the smoke alarm. I kept using regular olive oil because that's what I had in the cupboard. Last week I picked up some avocado oil on a whim and tried it at medium high heat instead of high heat. Night and difference. No smoke, perfect crust on a ribeye. Been doing it every day since. Anyone else have a similar switch that fixed their smoke problem?
Picked up a Griswold #8 last Saturday for 15 bucks at a sale in Decatur. Looked it up later and found out it was made in 1952, same year my dad was born. Thing had a layer of crud so thick I could barely see the logo, but after two rounds of lye bath and a vinegar soak it cleaned right up. Anyone else find older pans that surprise you with how light they are compared to new ones?
She said using any soap strips the seasoning and I should just scrub with salt and water, but I've been using a tiny bit of dawn for years with no issues. Who's right here - does a drop of soap actually mess up the seasoning or is that old-school thinking?
Everyone acts like vintage Griswold is the only way to go, but my $20 Lodge from Target seasons up just fine after a month of use. Has anyone else noticed the old ones actually warp more on modern glass stovetops?
I got it in my head last Sunday that I could make donuts in my cast iron skillet... filled it up with about 3 inches of canola oil and everything. Thing is, I forgot that the walls on that pan are shallow, so when I dropped the dough in, the oil bubbled up and spilled onto the burner. Caught a small grease fire that singed my eyebrows a bit. Lesson learned: stick to the Dutch oven for deep frying, or at least use a bigger vessel. Anyone else tried something dumb in a cast iron pan that backfired?
So I was out in my driveway last Saturday cleaning a carbon buildup off my old Lodge pan with a chainmail scrubber and my buddy Mark from two houses down walks over. He's like 70 and has been cooking on cast iron since the 70s at least. He looks at what I'm doing and just says "you're making it harder on yourself" and pulls out this beat up pan he found in his shed that was totally crusted with rust. He grabs a potato cuts it in half dips the cut side in baking soda and started scrubbing the rust off like it was nothing. I stood there watching him for 10 minutes while he explained that the acid in the potato helps break down rust without stripping the seasoning underneath. On one hand it sounds like an old wives tale but on the other hand that pan looked brand new when he was done. Has anyone else tried this potato method or am I just getting pranked by an old timer?
He handed me a chainmail scrubber and told me to use coarse salt and oil instead, and after one deep clean my eggs slid around like they were on ice, anyone else have a tool they were using wrong for way too long?
It's every week now. Someone on social media says "modern soap is fine" and douses their pan in Dawn. People act like that rule from grandma is just old wives' tales. I get it. I use soap on my stainless pots. But I've stripped three seasoning layers from a single wash before. My lodge skillet took me two months to build a decent coat. One wash with soapy water and it was patchy. Not worth the risk. Stick to salt and a rag. Has anyone else had to reseason because they listened to that advice?
I used to do the whole oven method with flaxseed oil and wait for hours, but since I started just wiping a thin layer after frying bacon like that guy said, my skillet hasn't looked this good since I bought it - has anyone else found a crazy simple fix that actually worked better than the fancy methods?
I was dead set against spending money on something so simple... I mean, a metal scrubber? For 40 bucks? But after burning through three different nylon brushes trying to clean my skillet after searing some ribeyes, I caved. First time using it, the stuck on bits came off in like 10 seconds flat. The residue was gone with almost no elbow grease. Now I'm wondering if there's a cheaper option that works just as good, or did I get lucky with this one?
I kept getting uneven browning on my cornbread until I started preheating my 10 inch Lodge in the oven at 425 for 15 minutes before adding oil. Everyone online says to heat it on the stove but that gives you hot spots unless you have an induction burner. My oven method gives me a consistent crust every time. Has anyone else tried baking their pan hot before cooking?