cast iron reseasoning ?

[miniwendy]

I have some old (antique) cast iron pans that I got all the "gunk" off of and started the reseasoning process. I wiped them down with Crisco, then used a paper towel to wipe off the excess so they looked "wet" but not gooey, then cooked them 30 mins at 500 degrees. I did the entire process 3 times total. I thought the larger pan was seasoned since it was smooth and slick, so I tried to fry some bacon in it. The bacon stuck! So, I have some questions for you cast iron experts out there- #1 Am I doing the reseasoning process correctly? #2 How do I know when the pans are reseasoned correctly and ready to use?

Thanks!!

Wendy

[doogster]

I generally don't season pans in the oven, if you do make certain they are upside down, on a baking sheet with tin foil on it. I've never heard of using shortening, vegetable oil only, NOT olive, use corn or canola. Maybe the hydrogenation process of shortening messes things up. Never season with the pan right side up, you'll end up with the runny oil forming a pool in the pan that burns into a sticky glaze. I prefer the stove top, don't know what type of oven/stove you have, for gas or induction the salt seasoning method is great, no smoke. A great tip for seasoning a cast iron skillet came from Rachel Ray, yes I did manage to not throw something at the TV long enough to get this, otherwise she make me want to fire a large projectile at the TV. Do a few shallow pan fries in the skillet, then start using it. Eggs and like will stick, and you have to give iron some heat to work right. You may even have to add a bit of oil, even with something like bacon.

What heat did you have the bacon at when it stuck?

[miniwendy]

Had the bacon frying at Medium Low on a gas stove.

Tried the oven method before using canola and the pan ended up sticky, the canola didn't pool, it just never hardened.

What is this "salt seasoning method" that you're talking about? Is it similar to step 9 in this salvage/season method? http://curbly.com/chrisjob/posts/1673-salv...n-cookware#jump

[SallyG]

When I cook with my cast iron pans, I will put a quarter sized amount of oil in the pan and spread it with a paper towel or napkin. Even with bacon!

Always make sure you wipe down the inside of your pan with oil after you clean it and store it with the glaze of oil. You just need a tiny bit.

[miniwendy]

Maybe my problem was not oiling the pan before cooking, rather than the pan not being seasoned enough. I'll give it another go tomorrow with a bit of canola before frying the bacon. :lol:

[Deb]

When I first saw the subject line, I thought it said "Cast Iron Reasoning" and thought, "Yep, a good ole #8 is the best way to reason with an unruly husband". Then I read the thread and realized I'd made a mistake. <cackle> Oh well, it's still good advice. hehehehehe

As for reseasoning those skillets, my dad taught me how to do it when I was a kid and he used a clump of bacon fat from the can on the back of the stove. LOL! I've always used Crisco and then slapped it down on the highest possible flame on a gas burner. An open fire is the best way but unless you have a fireplace or a camp fire, that's not always possible. In other words, the hotter the fire the better.

Food may stick for the first few times you use it if the grease didn't penetrate far enough into the iron when it was seasoned. That's fairly normal. Just keep rubbing in a bit of crisco or oil before you toss in the food for the first few times you use it and it should be fine. As long as you never wash it in water unless it's absolutely necessary, it'll be great. I've always used mine for just frying and wiped down out thoroughly when I was done. When I use it for gravy, I wash it immediately and set it back on the burner to dry completely.

Deb

[woodland_miniatures]

Oh, HAR HAR HAR, Deb - I saw the same thing when I first saw this topic! Wondered who was reasoning about what with whom....and ended up getting some pretty good tips about how to keep the cast iron pans I no longer have nice and non-stick. I will be keeping an eye out for cast iron next time I go the to the thrift shop, though - there really isn't anything like cast iron to cook on, and I do miss it very much.

Now, if there was just a way to have that marvelous cast iron chicken fryer not weigh so bloody much....SIGH!

[grazhina]

There was a cast iron skillet at one of the local antique stores a while back. It was over 100 years old and was smooth as a baby's bottom. The one I have now is all dimply like it has cellulite.

I would have considered shelling out a small fortune for the smoothie, but it was too small. I did bid for one on Ebay once, but it got too rich for me.

[woodland_miniatures]

Yeah, I've watched some of those auctions on eBay for cast iron ware, and began to realize just what I had given away four years ago. I actually had my grandmother's (she was born in 1888) chicken fryer with lid, her dutch oven, and her 10" skillet - as well as a couple of smaller pans I'd bought and seasoned myself thirty years ago. All given away - ARGH!!!!!

[JaniceG]

I have been using my cast iron skillet for about five years and it isn't even close to smooth. I don't think I cook with enough fat to get that nice finish. When the seasoning starts to look thin in places, I bake corn bread in it and get a nice shine again. Preheat the skillet in the oven until it is up to temp, take it out (with an oven mitt, of course) and pour a good amount of canola or some such oil in the bottom, a nice thick coat. Then pour in your batter and it will sizzle like crazy. Toss it in the oven and bake. The oil also gives the cornbread a nice crisp crust. MMmm, I want to bake some right now

[miniwendy]

From what I read on one site, they all start out with the bumps. Then some are machined down to a smooth surface and others are sold "as is" with the bumps.

The couple pans I got are from the Goodwill for a few dollars, very smooth. One has some minor pits inside but from what I understand they'll fill in with oil over time as you cook.

LOL I like the idea of "cast iron reasoning!" Calls to mind some of the old cartoons where someone is always getting whacked over the noggin with a pan

[doogster]

Seasoned steel likes to cook on the left side of the dial, medium to low is for non-stick and simmering. I rarely go there. Except for simmering I should say. Non-stick is where most people learned to cook, you need to use medium to low heat since teflon has some nasty habits at higher heats. Like giving off toxic fumes and releasing from the substrate, generally aluminum. Chefs almost never use non-stick, cooking is about applying heat, not threatening to do so while you're T-fal pan cringes in the corner. My crepe pan from Paris, the city not the so-called actress (actually I would love to know Paris Hilton, I'd probably be driving a Ferrari rather than an Olds, but I digress), is carbon steel, works best on high. I mean high, put it on, butter in, 1 egg beaten, all done in about 1-2 minutes, never sticks. Doesn't have time to.

[miniwendy]

Good tips Doogster, thank you much. I did learn to stove top cook using coated pans. Guess I'll have to entirely adjust my way of thinking now that I'm using cast iron. My stainless steel pans seem to work best on medium heat (for pancakes). Hot just tends to burn the outsides quickly and leave a gooey interior.

I did find a nice metal spatula at the Goodwill today. A bit more tapered toward the end and nicely rounded at the corners. Think it will do nicely for cast iron, as my other spatula seemed to be scraping the pan corners with its sharper corners and square shape.

[grazhina]

From what I read on one site, they all start out with the bumps. Then some are machined down to a smooth surface and others are sold "as is" with the bumps.

They all seem to have bumps now, but the ones I had in the 70's didn't. I've read that it has to do with the fact that they just don't make them like they used to. They're all made in China these days. Heck, I bought some new tissue paper for NEM last week. I always buy it from the same store, but this last batch is thinner and softer than the tissue paper I've used before. The nutcracker I bought last year to replace my old sprung one looks just like the old one, except that it's lighter weight metal and a tiny bit thinner.

newer is not better, it's just chintzier, which reminds me:

Some time back, I wrote about the finish on some of my old pots going all weird on me after going through the dishwasher, and how they started smelling bad. I did buy new cookware, anodized aluminum. I checked to see if they could go in the dishwasher, and the instruction slip said, yes they could though hand washing was recommended.

Well, one night I had just enough room in the dishwasher for this one pot, so I popped it in. When I took it out, the outside of it had a little residue on it, so I wiped it with a sponge. To my surprise, the wet sponge wiped the black exterior finish off the pot. I was left with just the scratchy bare metal.

I went online to check this out, and found that although the packaging in my box said they could go in the dishwasher, their website now says hand washing only. They were made by Revere, BTW.

I sanded the outside of the pot with steel wool, and continue to use it.

[minime]

I stop in at the thrift store almost every morning to see what's new. Today I found a Wagner 11 3/4" skillet for $2.50 and a Lodge 13" wok for $4.50. I bought both of them.

[havanaholly]

When I buy an old cast iron pan at the thrift stores I wash it and scour off all the rust, and dry it thoroughly while I preheat the oven to 450. I rub the pan thoroughly with veggie oil all over and pop it into the oven and turn off the heat. I do this after supper. Next AM I taki it out of the oven and spray it with canola cooking spray and repeat putting it into the prehated oven (after breakfast) and take it out before cooking supper (unless I forget about it until I put something in the oven and then have to take it out). The first thing I use a newly reseasoned iron skillet for is to bake a batch of cornbread, so I simply pour 1/4 cup more veggie oil back into the pan and put it back into the oven and preheat it to 375-400 whilst I mix a cup of self-rising cornmeal, 1/2 cup self-rising flour, an egg and 2/3 cup milk soured with 1 tsp lemon juice or white vinegar; slowly pour in the hot oil from the skillet while madly whisking it into the batter to keep from scrambling the egg, pour all the batter back into the skillet and pop it into the oven for half an hour or so, until it sounds hollow when I tap it with the handle of a tableknife, and the pone pops right out of the skillet onto the serving plate. The pan is then seasoned and ready to cook.

[miniwendy]

Yummmmmm.... that sounds delicious!!!

Pam- my smaller pan is made by Wagner. I'm very happy with it and bet you will be with yours as well!!

[minime]

When I buy an old cast iron pan at the thrift stores I wash it and scour off all the rust, and dry it thoroughly while I preheat the oven to 450. I rub the pan thoroughly with veggie oil all over and pop it into the oven and turn off the heat. I do this after supper. Next AM I taki it out of the oven and spray it with canola cooking spray and repeat putting it into the prehated oven (after breakfast) and take it out before cooking supper (unless I forget about it until I put something in the oven and then have to take it out). The first thing I use a newly reseasoned iron skillet for is to bake a batch of cornbread, so I simply pour 1/4 cup more veggie oil back into the pan and put it back into the oven and preheat it to 375-400 whilst I mix a cup of self-rising cornmeal, 1/2 cup self-rising flour, an egg and 2/3 cup milk soured with 1 tsp lemon juice or white vinegar; slowly pour in the hot oil from the skillet while madly whisking it into the batter to keep from scrambling the egg, pour all the batter back into the skillet and pop it into the oven for half an hour or so, until it sounds hollow when I tap it with the handle of a tableknife, and the pone pops right out of the skillet onto the serving plate. The pan is then seasoned and ready to cook.

Both pans are seasoned now and the wok was used for fried rice already. The skillet is a little big for cornbread for just two of us but it does sound good.

Yummmmmm.... that sounds delicious!!!

Pam- my smaller pan is made by Wagner. I'm very happy with it and bet you will be with yours as well!!

I have a smaller pan that is Wagner Ware but this one is Wagner, I think they are different companies. I have several pieces of cast iron and I use it a lot. I even have an electric cast iron frying pan that I love.

[doogster]

I have got to go the the thrift shops, Wagner's are great pans, I also need to get a stand alone electric burner so I can use the round bottom woks with ring. The glass top stove doesn't recommend it, as the ring can scratch the glass and that can lead to cracks, I have a cast iron wok I need to play with, it's thin you can (carefully) bend it.