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Who knew there were so many ways to prep the skillet!!!
Last August, I replaced an old, faithful (20? 30? y.o.) Lodge skillet with a new Lodge (made in USA, of course) I purchased from Marshall's clearance shelf. Gotta love those cheap New Englanders!
Took it camping up in Maine, brandy new, heated it up on the open fire, tossed whatever oil was on the campsite table into the pan, had some tasty beverages, saw it was flaming some time later, put the flames out in the pan, and started cooking...
Almost a year later, I'll put some hot water in the pan to boil and wipe away any crunchy unidentifiable bits. Then, if needed, will heat it back up and add whatever grease is on hand Crisco, canola, peanut, olive oil.
It cooks eggs over medium very nicely if I put nice, gobby slabs of butter in the pan. sooo good!
Guess if I wanted the cast iron to act like a non-stick pan, I'd just use a non-stick pan and by-pass the butter heart attack route.
It cooks eggs over medium very nicely if I put nice, gobby slabs of butter in the pan. sooo good!
There is no other way, of course.
I had a flowing puddle filling the whole bottom of the pan.
But all three eggs were stuck solid. Couldn't get the metal spatula under them without totally destroying them.
Broke yellows = a sad breakfast.
3) Turned oven to 500 degrees and baked for 1 hour after reaching temp.
500 is way too hot. That's past the smoke points of all oils. It's not doing a damned thing for you chemically. It's just making a lot of smoke.
The absolute best way (assuming you have access to a restaurant kitchen) is to drop your absolutely clean and dry cast iron into a deep fryer and let it sit in the hot oil for a couple hours. Otherwise, use bacon grease and place it in a moderately hot oven -- 350f or so -- for an hour.
I use cast iron in place of teflon. I can make an omelet in my cast iron pans, and they're as slick and shiny as a politician.
Ok, here's what's going on.
First off, I had a caphlon cast iron pan that was great for a year or two. Then it got too nasty and just needed re-seasoning. Went through the process twice (including putting it through my oven's cleaning cycle to get down to the bare cast iron) and couldn't get it back to a non-stick surface. Got frustrated enough that I picked up a brand new Lodge pre-seasoned skillet. I got it from amazon and on the amazon reviews I read where people got their new skillet and before using it they seasoned it further themselves. So this is what I did as well. Took it out of the box and did the following...
1) Wiped a THIN layer of organic flaxseed oil on top and bottom of skillet.
2) Put in cool oven, upside down
3) Turned oven to 500 degrees and baked for 1 hour after reaching temp.
4) Let completely cool in oven for several hours
5) Repeated 4 more times.
Excited to give it the ultimate test this morning, I heated the cast iron on my gas stove top this morning on medium heat for several minutes. Added a bunch of ghee, completely coating the skillet. Dropped in 3 eggs (planning on making over-medium fried eggs) and waiting a few minutes for the eggs to partially cook. Went to flip them with my spatula and they were completely stuck to the pan and had to be scraped off making a complete mess.
What gives?! Why am i having so much trouble?!
Because the flax seed oil will ruin it. I always use Crisco. Some people swear by bacon fat, but Crisco gives excellent results.
Don't use soap to clean the pan after it's been seasoned. I use salt and a drop of oil, rinse quick, and dry on a warm burner.
Sounds like you were cooking all the oil off the pan. You need a pretty good amount of oil to season the pan.
After initial seasoning, remember too, that you should heat the pan, then add oil, heat the oil, and only then add food ..
Heating the pan "opens the pores" as it were, so the oil can truly coat the pan. Adding oil to a cold pan, even a seasoned pan, can cause sticking. so three steps to cooking.
I always wash in hot water and scrape or scrub with stainless steel wool, then heat on the burner to dry, add olive oil and wipe clean with a paper towel.
My MIL stored her pans with an oily paper towel between the pans. She had great pans, very well-cared for, and very old!
500 is way too hot. That's past the smoke points of all oils. It's not doing a damned thing for you chemically. It's just making a lot of smoke.
The absolute best way (assuming you have access to a restaurant kitchen) is to drop your absolutely clean and dry cast iron into a deep fryer and let it sit in the hot oil for a couple hours. Otherwise, use bacon grease and place it in a moderately hot oven -- 350f or so -- for an hour.
I use cast iron in place of teflon. I can make an omelet in my cast iron pans, and they're as slick and shiny as a politician.
This is incorrect. Flax seed oil has a smoke point of 520 degrees.
To those throwing out random numbers, each heating temperature goes with each different oil.
Please read the link above titled Chemistry of Cast iron seasoning before commenting on the flax seed procedure.
To the OP, not sure why you are having so many issues. I have done the Flax seed thing with my cast iron and it worked awesome. There is another thread in here about it where I posted pictures. Of course, you still need to continue to build the season, but it is a great start.
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