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Thank you... it's been said 4 times here, but I keep forgetting. This has got to be one of the main tricks... I always do that on the stove top, but everything I've made in these pans has been baked in the oven, so it doesn't occur to me. I really am going to write that onto an index card & pin it to my cupboard as a reminder... I normally don't pre-heat oven goodies, but these pans require a different approach. I also need to remember what Gram said about making sure the pot has cooled before slathering with oil, which I also don't do.
One last time this evening, I did a final attack on the pot... & I do mean attack. From 20-ft away, I raced at it at breakneck speed, Brillo pad in hand, wailing like a banshee, hot water streaming down with threats to the little lad that if he wouldn't let go of souffle I'd douse him with Comet cleanser & scrub him within an inch of his life.
I'm sure my neighbors think I've got a wild party going on over here... if they only knew the day of drudgery that has instead been inside these four walls they'd take pity & leave offerings at my doorstep.
Thank you for your support... I'm stubborn for sure... this is one of the few places in life that quality serves me! haha The pot looks better, but still will need a once over with Comet. I'll stave off the oven cleaner for now... with asthma & migraines, I can't escape the side effects of that brutality in a can. Comet is a bit better but I need to sprinkle & run out of the room to let it settle before taking a deep breath & returning to work. If only there were a security cam & I could post vids, this C-D forum would be laughing for days... sometimes I feel as if I live inside a Woody Allen movie.
Thank you again... have a great Sunday.
You are so very welcome. I have two things to share, and this is for others who want cast iron, but are afraid to buy good old ones at garage sales too. O good old spritz of low odor oven cleaner "outside the house if possible" is the best way to get years of built up grease and gunk off of them. I've got a glorious, 10" vintage Wagner that I picked up at a yard sale about 10 years ago for $1. The sides and bottom were so thick with built up, burnt on grease, that you couldn't see the name or symbol on the bottom. Oven cleaner and a little elbow greast and voila! Beautiful pan.
Okay.....so, this "slathering" of grease that you do. Don't slather. LOL Another big mistake that new cast iron users make is in using too much grease or oil. Honestly, vegetable oil is just fine. The only difference between crisco and cooking oil (basically) is the number of hydrogen atoms which were pumped into it during processing time, in order to "hydrogenate" the oil, which rearranges the order of the molecules and makes the oil, firm. Well..okay, basically. LOL A light wiping of oil on a paper towel is fine. Otherwise, you can get a sticky, gucky buildup.
Here is the how I keep my cast iron seasoned. When I wash it I don't use any soap as it can get in the seasoned area and add flavor. I use very hot water. I do use a stainless scrubby on it if it needs it. I dry it on the stove until it is smoking hot. Then I add a little oil to it and wipe it all around. Let it cool before you put it up. When I am going to cook I let the iron heat up before I add additional oil to cook with. I also remember Jeff Smith(a cook from pbs) saying to add cold oil to a hot pan and the food wouldn't stick. It has always worked for me. If it was just something cooked in your pan that didn't leave anything behind then just wipe it out with a paper towel.
Just an old time tip. If you really want a good seasoning on your Cast Iron try lard instead of Crisco. The protein compounds in the animal fat bind better to the metal surface. Also using lard instead of Crisco to grease the pan/pot will provide dramatically better results. Go easy you don't need much. I have cast iron pots from the 1940's that my grandmother past down to my wife when we got married. I tried using Crisco against the advice of Nana and its was a cooking nightmare. From then on I have only used lard. Guess what? no high cholesterol issues in my family.
You are so very welcome. I have two things to share, and this is for others who want cast iron, but are afraid to buy good old ones at garage sales too. O good old spritz of low odor oven cleaner "outside the house if possible" is the best way to get years of built up grease and gunk off of them.
Sounds like you've gotten a good deal there, Mel. I love garage sales/flea markets, but currently am carless, so had to order everything online... including my bed. Not an ideal situation buying kitchenware & household items sight unseen, but it's what I've got to work with at the moment. And, unfortunately, not all of us live in homes... some of us apt dwellers have no outside areas to utilize for projects. I can't spray & stay... I have to run for the hills... so, no chemicals for me.
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Okay.....so, this "slathering" of grease that you do. Don't slather. LOL Another big mistake that new cast iron users make is in using too much grease or oil. Honestly, vegetable oil is just fine. The only difference between crisco and cooking oil (basically) is the number of hydrogen atoms which were pumped into it during processing time, in order to "hydrogenate" the oil, which rearranges the order of the molecules and makes the oil, firm. Well..okay, basically. LOL A light wiping of oil on a paper towel is fine. Otherwise, you can get a sticky, gucky buildup.
As I mentioned before, I overstate for humor's sake. I have cooked in cast iron in years passed... just not brand new. I apply Crisco liberally then wipe off with paper towels. And, I'm wondering if I also have inferior pans, as well... $60 for a set of 2 pots/3 pans/1 lid, Stansport is the brand, bought new from a seller on Amazon. I've invested so many hours in reading websites, articles, forum posts & actual time in the kitchen seasoning & cleaning, honestly, I'm putting them aside for now & won't be using them. I'll probably toss/donate them... I'll be returning to work soon & refuse to donate this kind of time to maintaining cookware which doesn't render good results.
Big bummer is I also bought brand new "stainless" steel pots/pans from Macy's for $150... again, an online purchase so I couldn't see them beforehand or I'd have left them. I'm having worse sticking problems with everything I cook & that's never happened to me with stainless steel... problem is the ad description didn't say stainless steel, but stainless. Neither of those words are engraved on the bottom of the pots/pans so I think I was bamboozled into buying aluminum pots/pans... just like the bottled waters which say spring, but they're not from an actual spring as the label would have you believe. After simple reheating this morning of my egg souffle, the pan will need a Brillo pad scrubbing, as always & is fairly scratched up in just 3 uses. I've never used Brillo pads before, ever. I believe I'll be donating/tossing these, too.
I either have no clue how to cook on electric or my pans aren't behaving in my favor. Since I'm ruining everything I cook & wasting money, I'll just settle for a few weeks of pre-made store bought goodies. I'm exhausted.
The only good purchase was my pre-seasoned Lodge pizza skillet from Ace Hardware, which both pizzas slid from... big difference in looks/quality from that & the others (in fact, the Lodge is gray & smooth & the other cast iron pots/pans are black & surfaces are extremely uneven)... maybe I'll just become a pizza connoisseur or return to Ace for a Dutch oven!
Just an old time tip. If you really want a good seasoning on your Cast Iron try lard instead of Crisco. The protein compounds in the animal fat bind better to the metal surface. Also using lard instead of Crisco to grease the pan/pot will provide dramatically better results. Go easy you don't need much. I have cast iron pots from the 1940's that my grandmother past down to my wife when we got married. I tried using Crisco against the advice of Nana and its was a cooking nightmare. From then on I have only used lard. Guess what? no high cholesterol issues in my family.
Thanks BDD... You know my grandmum/mum used lard, as well, in addition to any meat grease they kept in a jar in the fridge. Where on earth do you purchase it? Didn't it used to be available in cans next to Crisco on the shelf? I seem to remember that as a kid.
Until recently, I was a vegetarian... but this meat eating is really grossing me out, making me feel awful & even turned my face, neck, chest red & blotchy (it's either the meat or all this hard labor as of late!) , so I think I'm returning to my veggie diet & supplementing with handsful of vitamins.
But, great tip & something my forebearers would certainly agree with!
Here is the how I keep my cast iron seasoned. When I wash it I don't use any soap as it can get in the seasoned area and add flavor. I use very hot water. I do use a stainless scrubby on it if it needs it. I dry it on the stove until it is smoking hot. Then I add a little oil to it and wipe it all around. Let it cool before you put it up. When I am going to cook I let the iron heat up before I add additional oil to cook with. I also remember Jeff Smith(a cook from pbs) saying to add cold oil to a hot pan and the food wouldn't stick. It has always worked for me. If it was just something cooked in your pan that didn't leave anything behind then just wipe it out with a paper towel.
Thank you, Phawk. It seems that's the favored method of those in the know. It will help me when I get a better set of pans... I really do think I've just gotten barrel bottom quality.
I do remember the Frugal Gourmet saying that, too ("hot pan, cold oil, food won't stick" week in & week out) & when cooking on the stovetop, have done it since.
Creepy aside, if you don't know the story of what happened to Jeff Smith, you'd be stunningly shocked. You'd never have known he was such a creep... read through to the end of the article, it will blow your mind.
Creepy aside, if you don't know the story of what happened to Jeff Smith, you'd be stunningly shocked. You'd never have known he was such a creep... read through to the end of the article, it will blow your mind.
Yes I remember when he got into trouble as a pedophile. I never watched his show again. You just never know about people. No child should have to endure such things. I think justice here is just slapping wrists rather than removing the problem, if you get my drift.
Yes I remember when he got into trouble as a pedophile. I never watched his show again. You just never know about people. No child should have to endure such things. I think justice here is just slapping wrists rather than removing the problem, if you get my drift.
Same here. Words cannot describe how much I would have liked to pummel him & those who commented that it was a "well known secret in the Tacoma area for many, many years." I had one of his books, which I loved... always appreciated his knowledge of food melded with history & he was a likeable, entertaining, sociable guy & as a late teen, his recipes were easy for me to follow. I couldn't even recycle his book... threw it in a dumpster one rainy day.
Oh, BeachMel, you're right... after all my scraping, scouring & sniveling with Comet & Brillo, I still have a pan with dried on gunk... it will either need to be sanded off (read that in another link) or I'll have to use oven cleaner. I'll tackle it sometime this upcoming week... either way, I need to make another store trip. This bloody thing is as much care as a newborn...
Oh, BeachMel, you're right... after all my scraping, scouring & sniveling with Comet & Brillo, I still have a pan with dried on gunk... it will either need to be sanded off (read that in another link) or I'll have to use oven cleaner. I'll tackle it sometime this upcoming week... either way, I need to make another store trip. This bloody thing is as much care as a newborn...
Have a good week, all!
Patanjali, do you have a self cleaning oven. You might be able to put your pans in that and burn it off. My hubby has had me put his cast iron grill racks in when I clean my oven. I don't know how the pans would survive that heat and I would make sure that they cool down slowly with the oven.
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, so I think I'm returning to my veggie diet & supplementing with handsful of vitamins. 
I had one of his books, which I loved... always appreciated his knowledge of food melded with history & he was a likeable, entertaining, sociable guy & as a late teen, his recipes were easy for me to follow. I couldn't even recycle his book... threw it in a dumpster one rainy day.
