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Older ones seem to be made better than newer ones. The newere ones (that I have seen) are very rough textured cooking surface.
I use shortening. It has a high smoke temp and seems to season CI very well. I put a small amount on the outside, I bit more on the inside. use my fingers to get the shortening in the nooks and crannies.
I reseason all of my CI once in a while. Put as much as I can fit in the oven. I think I use 350 degrees for about an hour. let em cool and check them.
Like others typed: No soap to clean, I scrape the tough stuff (if any) with metal spatula and scrub the rest with a nylon dish bruch and hot water.
Some folks use on CI skillit for seafood only. I have not found the need.
When cooking with CI. Wait for the skillit to thoughroly heat up. The handle should be HOT. It takes a while to get used to cooking with CI.
If you can do scrambled eggs whithout making a total mess of the pan, you are doing great! (don.t skimp on the cooking fat (butter, oil, etc) Avoid acidi ingredients for too long a time. (Like I would not cook Chicken Cacciatore in CI...)
I've never used vegetable oil and I've never had any problems, nor has my family. Several of our skillets are well over 75+ years old. Lard and olive oil are the main items we've used.
^^^Same here, only I just use very small amount of olive oil. Wash it in Dawn dish detergent, it cleans it up really well. To dry it, put it on the burner for a minute, watching that it does not scorch. This has been my method for 35 years. People get over-zealous because cast-iron skillets are *trendy* now. I just feel that they are a reliable kitchen workhorse.
It took me a while to understand exactly what "seasoning" is. You aren't just lubricating the pan as you do when cooking with a little oil, you're actually creating a smooth layer of carbonized grease (no longer sticky or smoky when seasoned, because that's all burned out.) If your cast iron skillet is rough on the inside, it has not been properly seasoned (or needs to be re-seasoned).
Best advice I ever read: If the pan is rusty or flaky on the inside, strip all that out, up to and including using a steel brush drill attachment (use goggles!) If it just needs reseasoning, just take a steel scrubber to it. (This is the only time you'll ever use a steel scrubber!) Scrub and wash it clean as possible.
Wipe a layer of bacon grease or shortening (not oil) all around the inside, making a layer but not blobs or puddles. Bake at high heat. This will be smoky; you're burning it on purpose! The fellow who wrote the advice actually has an oven in a very ventilated location like a shed, so he heats up to the highest bake temp on his oven.
Purpose of repeat seasoning of a new pan is to put a few layers of carbon on the pan. Once it's properly seasoned, you need very little oil as you've in effect created a non-stick surface, and it's the best thing to cook in. But if your pan is porous and not smooth, you'll have trouble and you'll hate cast iron.
They take some preparation and care, but they're worth it!
Do not use coconut oil on a cast iron skillet, ONLY use vegetable oil, you will find that information at Lodge Logic's website as well as the proper way to season a cast iron skillet.
Also, do not "soak" the cast iron, use a scraper that you can purchase at lodge logic or the one's that come with pampered chef items and a scrubby brush but not a wire brush.
I've skimmed their site and didn't see anything about not using coconut oil. What's wrong with coconut oil?
Why is there a need to dry by heating rather than just using a towel?
It took me a while to understand exactly what "seasoning" is. You aren't just lubricating the pan as you do when cooking with a little oil, you're actually creating a smooth layer of carbonized grease (no longer sticky or smoky when seasoned, because that's all burned out.) If your cast iron skillet is rough on the inside, it has not been properly seasoned (or needs to be re-seasoned).
Best advice I ever read: If the pan is rusty or flaky on the inside, strip all that out, up to and including using a steel brush drill attachment (use goggles!) If it just needs reseasoning, just take a steel scrubber to it. (This is the only time you'll ever use a steel scrubber!) Scrub and wash it clean as possible.
Wipe a layer of bacon grease or shortening (not oil) all around the inside, making a layer but not blobs or puddles. Bake at high heat. This will be smoky; you're burning it on purpose! The fellow who wrote the advice actually has an oven in a very ventilated location like a shed, so he heats up to the highest bake temp on his oven.
Purpose of repeat seasoning of a new pan is to put a few layers of carbon on the pan. Once it's properly seasoned, you need very little oil as you've in effect created a non-stick surface, and it's the best thing to cook in. But if your pan is porous and not smooth, you'll have trouble and you'll hate cast iron.
They take some preparation and care, but they're worth it!
Soaked in White Vinegar will bring back the most rusted skillet you have ever seen. You really need to wash the crud off after soaking a week or so and oil and season immediately(or it will rust again immediately).
Uggh and here I'm thinking seasoning will be the hardest part, but cleaning sounds like it's not going to be fun at all.
The food cooked in it better be worth it!
So funny, my dad had a cast iron pan and when I'd find it in his cupboard all sticky/oily, I was like man, why does he do that??? Why doesn't he wash this thing! lol. I had no idea what this seasoning stuff was all about.
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