TDG: Regarding Lodge's Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron

[jhodgman]

Many compliments to Dave--a fine article illuminating an (ideally) dark-as-night subject.

The idea that cast iron 'heats evenly,' though, requires some clarification. Cast iron is actually a fairly poor conductor of heat--about a third of the conductivity of aluminum and a fifth of the conductivity of copper. Indeed, my 12 inch skillet has a big old hot spot right in the middle.

This can be countered, I've found, by ample preheating: 10 minutes on the stove top, or just toss it into a hot oven, where it is blasted on all sides. Once you give the entire cooking surface time to come up to heat, however, Dave is right: it will hold onto that heat and scorching is generalized minimized, at least in my experience.

Jh

Edited January 9, 2003 by jhodgman (log)

[oraklet]

jhodgman, that was a nice piece of advice of the kind that is logical, and which i had therefore never thought of...

[Suzanne F]

Once again, eGullet was well ahead of the curve, as defined by the New York Times!

Season here and scroll down to the last item, "So That Catfish Doesn't Have to Wait."

[Dave the Cook]

BTW, Suzanne: how's that big skillet doing? Mine's still lagging a bit.

[maggiethecat]

Once again, eGullet was well ahead of the curve, as defined by the New York Times!

Yes! We scooped the Times.

(Reading it, I did actually wonder if Big Eyes are watching us!)

Now, if we start seeing articles about Georgian Cuisine and folkdancing, or beet vs. cane sugar, we'll know for sure!

[Suzanne F]

Oh, Maggie, in our heart of hearts, we already know.

Dave, thanks for asking: I'm doing fish cakes in it tonight, so that should take it a big step further. I was kind of worried because there are little -- and not so little -- pits in the seasoning. But they seem to be fiilling in. At any rate, no rust has appeared. It just isn't black and beautiful yet, sigh. Patience!

[Dave the Cook]

Dave, thanks for asking: I'm doing fish cakes in it tonight, so that should take it a big step further.  I was kind of worried because there are little -- and not so little -- pits in the seasoning.  But they seem to be fiilling in.  At any rate, no rust has appeared.  It just isn't black and beautiful yet, sigh.    Patience!

I'm having the same phenomena -- especially around the rim. So I know how you're feeling. The other night I had to fry some chicken. For the good of the pan. You know.

[pjs]

Hey, can I commiserate? I also have a 12" in the raw Lodge skillet. Six or so months old and still lacking. Fish cakes may help but I've decided to force the issue with a pound or so of pork jowl bacon.

PJ

[Dave the Cook]

Mine's three or four months old. Do you suppose it's the size that's making it slow? It hangs over my biggest burner by almost an inch on each side. Maybe it's just not heating as thoroughly as a smaller pan, and that's having a disproportionate effect.

[Suzanne F]

Dave, that sounds like a good reason. Maybe using a heat-diffuser would help? I'll try that the next time I use it.

BTW, my fish cakes were delicious! Leftover grilled halibut steak mixed with leftover mashed Yukon Golds, extra Caribbean-type spices, and some homemade mayonnaise. Double-crusted with panko. Yum.

[Dave the Cook]

Dave, that sounds like a good reason.  Maybe using a heat-diffuser would help?  I'll try that the next time I use it.

BTW, my fish cakes were delicious!  Leftover grilled halibut steak mixed with leftover mashed Yukon Golds, extra Caribbean-type spices, and some homemade mayonnaise.  Double-crusted with panko.  Yum.

Two paragraphs, two great ideas.

I never think to do anything with leftover fish. I'll have to try this. Thanks!

[col klink]

I bought a skillet two months ago and it's almost perfectly seasoned. Of course I've been frying up a lot bacon and just last night I rendered a good deal of duck fat and then sauteed the breasts. I love my skillet!

By the way, Martha did two bits on cast iron skillets this morning, the first of which she went over seasoning and the second was a pear skillet pie. Never before had I noticed how bad the editing and directing was on her show, they kept on cutting her off in the middle of a sentence!

Edited January 16, 2003 by col klink (log)

[DaveFaris]

I must tell you all how grateful I am for the cast-iron advice I've received here on eGullet. While I still am wrangling with the seasoning on the dutch oven I recently bought, the seasoning on my cast iron frying pans has never been better. Thanks!

[pjs]

I love fish "burgers". Especially ones made with fresh salmon and using sour cream as the binder. Never tried them with fresh mayo but now I will. Thanks, Suzanne.

I bought the 12" specifically to be able to comfortably cook a cut-up chicken without crowding. Apparently chicken doesn't season so I'll be doing a lot more fatty pork and beef even if the size of the pan is overkill.

I also think I need a cast iron dutch oven for deep frying on the stove-top, for the heat retention.

PJ

[Richard Kilgore]

I have found the advice of A.D. Livingston helpful in his little book Cast Iron Cooking. A.D. says to rub the skillet or Dutch oven with a strip or half strip of bacon, inside and out, including the lid of the Dutch oven. Bake it upside down in a 300 degree oven for several hours. Do this two or three times before trying to cook anything in it. Then deep fry chicken or fish in at least 3/4 inch of oil a couple of times to "sweeten" the cast iron before trying to fry an egg or steak or make a stew. (The oven treatment should work better than stove top for those 12 inch skillets.)

To clean up after frying, just wipe the pan out with a paper towel. After a stew, scrape it out with a wooden spoon (I will also use a plastic scrub pad, but not metal) and rinse it out with water; then dry it thoroughly and rub on a light coat of oil. Never use soap and never put it in a dish washer. And don't marinade in it. If you are going to blacken a steak or whatever, use a separate skillet reserved for blackening only.

Once I have done the laborious initial seasoning, I cook bacon or sausage in my cast iron from time to time to further the treatment.

[Stone]

Okey-dokey. I cooked my t-bone in my Lodge dutch oven. (I know all you Bostonians think it was a really big pot, but that's just the name.) Very non-stick for the first use. Aftewards, very nice black coating. But all that congealed grease? Just rinse it out with hot water? Doesn't do too good. Wet, non-soapy sponge? Put back on the burner to dry out? That's it?

[Xanthippe]

Put back on the burner to dry out?  That's it?

Growing up, I watched my dear Southern mama do just that countless times over the years. Once the pan has dried out, that's the moment to apply the thin coat of oil. I'm lucky enough to have three of her cast-iron beauties, all of which perform flawlessly and remain perfectly seasoned. I treat em' just as she taught me.

[Richard Kilgore]

Stone - I usually scrape the grease out with a wooden spatula and a paper towel. If something has stuck a little bit, first try hot water. (I think a plastic scrubbing pad is okay used gently, but nothing metal.) If there is still something stuck, put it on the stove with hot water covering the bottom and heat it for a few minutes. That should do it. (I rarely have to go that far. It's mostly a matter of wipe it out with a towel.) At any rate, at the end heat it on the stove and do a light coating of oil.

It might be better to fry some chicken or fish in deep oil before trying to do any more steaks in it. See my note above.

Edited March 1, 2003 by Richard Kilgore (log)

[col klink]

Stone,

I'd warm your pot up so the congealed grease is no longer congealed and then pour the excess out and then clean like you'd normally clean cast iron.

Which is clean out, dry and seal.

If you actually have stuff stuck to the surface you need to deglaze. Right after I'm saute-ing I add a 1/2 cup of water to deglaze and if needed (not often) I scrap with a metal spatula and even then it's hardly any work. I rinse it out under the faucet and if there's still a decent amount of lipids, I'll use a (clean, i.e. non-soapy) sponge to wipe out the excess and then I'll put it back on the burner to dry out. When there's only a couple of drops, I turn off the burner, take a paper napkin to dry it out completely and then take the dry portion of the napkin to smear Crisco to lay a clean layer of fat to seal.

Non-stick pans are really cool, but if that's the best technology to rival the cast iron pan EVER, I have a hard time believing anything can better it. Of course I will admit that non-stick pans are far lighter than cast iron, but since I have no problems working with the weight of cast-iron, I say it's the best.

[Suzanne F]

Well, I am pleased to report that my 12" is now a beautiful black seasoned pro. Used it twice yesterday: first to shallow-fry some curried red-lentil/chickpea flour fritters. After the remaining oil was cool, I poured it out and gave the pan a good wipe with paper towels. No washing. Later, I sprayed it very lightly with canola and cooked a 1-1/2" thick shell steak (heavily salted and peppered first). Best crust I've ever gotten on a piece of meat! I did have to rinse out the congealed fat afterwards. But I think unless I start to get flavor transfer, I'll just keep wiping it out without washing.

Mon Colonel is dead on with his procedures.

[Stone]

Amazon has the pre-seasoned 12" skillets back in stock -- here for $12.99.

Edited March 2, 2003 by Stone (log)

[col klink]

Egads, that's less than I paid for my unseasoned skillet.

Arghhh, the dutch oven they have isn't a true one. You can't put coals on the lid!!

But I want one anyway!

[tommy]

the dutch oven they have isn't a true one. You can't put coals on the lid!!

ice?

[Stone]

Yeah, I've always wanted one of those big dutch ovens, with the feet for resting in the campfire and the sunken lid for coals. Then I realized that I live in a city, drive a German car, push a button to turn on my stove, and buy meat in foam trays and plastic wrap.

[col klink]

Coals from a camp fire, geesh, didn't you watch Frontier House?

After watching that I wanted to raise a couple of chickens for eggs and food.

Anyway, you put the whole thing in a dying fire (with food I suppose) and the lid is raised and cupped to hold hot coals. That way you can cook from every direction.

I don't do much camping but that's going to change soon with the warming weather. Since not much hiking will be involved, I don't mind taking an 8lb skillet and a 19lb dutch oven.

edit: ahh here's one:

You can buy it here.

Edited March 3, 2003 by col klink (log)