Cast Iron Experts - Please chime in

[bdGreen]

Scenario:
I have owned a Lodge cast iron skillet for a few short years.
It resides full time on my gas stove.
It is a daily user.

It has been a true no-go disappointment from the beginning.

I am not new to cast iron cooking.

I have decades old pieces of cast iron cookware and they are readily employed on my gas stove. Most are approaching 70-75 years old.

I realized the surface, from the manufacturer, is not hospitable to being non-stick.

In other words, it was labor intensive to say the least.

Fast forward to a month ago.

I took the skillet into my garage and hit it with my ROS (random orbital sander). I started out lightly then decided that the surface demanded a more aggressive media on the ROS. Went to 80 grit.
I took the surface down to raw iron.
I took a wire brush on my drill motor and addressed the four corners and the 'trough' around the outer edges of the cooking surface.
When I was finished I had a flat and highly polished piece of raw cast iron.
That was my goal. Nailed it.

Well, I proceeded to do a seasoning on the surface by just heating it with bacon grease, then Crisco, then a little coconut oil. This was all done during cooking processes. Eggs, chops, bacon, sausage. It all went a whole lot better than before.

But, I knew it could be improved upon.

So, today I scrubbed it clean, no abrasives, heavily wiped down with Crisco. I wiped the whole thing. Top and bottom.

I placed the cold iron in the oven upside down, per instructions.
I turned it on to achieve a temperature of 475 deg. F.
When the oven reached set point I programmed it to run one full hour at that temperature.
After one hour the oven automatically shut off.
I then left the skillet in the oven until both had cooled down to ambient room temperature.

Now. I need to get a full understanding of what the results were.
The skillet was upside down and I had a sheet of foil on the next shelf down.
I understand that the heat will cause the oils to flow. But, I don't understand where the bright red color came from. The oil on the foil is hard, not runny, and, bright red.
Not being a metallurgist I cant' wrap my head around that anomaly. I can only surmise that the iron leached out of the skillet at such an elevated temperature, blended with the oil then dripped off onto the foil. Hence the red?

This whole process has transformed the cooking surface. It is no long raw shiny looking steel. It has taken a new look. It is a hard finish. I have greased it up and heated it up on the gas stove and it maintains it colorization from the seasoning process.
I truly believe that is the result intended, but, it's quite interesting as to the outcome.

Hopefully my pictures will support my words.

Let me know what you know.

bdGreen

 

[hoc9sw]

Maybe the iron itself had impurities that are leaching out. Did you contact Lodge to ask them?

I take my cast iron to a friend who has an electrical process he doesn't reveal. Stuff that is rusty and apparently worthless comes out like new after a number of hours in the bath. What is left in the solution is almost scary.

 

[hoc9sw]

Should have said that in cleaning dozens of old cast iron pieces from Scout camp, I've never seen that sort of red.

Seeing red because of how kids treat gear now, well that's another story.

 

[bdGreen]

Maybe the iron itself had impurities that are leaching out. Did you contact Lodge to ask them?

I don't disagree about impurities.

Lodge is not a high end product. Their casting process leaves a 'moon like' surface from the factory. I removed that surface and made it flat and smooth. Their factory surface is grainy because their casting process is designed that way. Gives it the 'seasoned' look from the factory.
Don't know how receptive they would be having completely modified the original product.
I did not use any lubrications during the resurfacing project. Totally dry so I did not introduce anything that wasn't already there.

bdGreen

 

[Arik]

I have some random cast iron skillets. All relatively new. I just cook on them. I don't try to improve on them or grind on them. I just cook and let it soak in. Gets a little better every time

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[richardw]

The saturated red on the foil is confusing. Maybe leached out elements mixed with the crisco to produce an odd color.

The appearance off the pan seems to me to be a rust patina that is not uncommon when you strip a cast iron pan and hheat treat it. I have seen that before on my own 10 Inch skillet after striping it.

I just reaeasoned the pan on the stovetop. I would heat is up and add high heat olive oil rubbing it in in small doses. When the oils dried up I added more. I did about three cycles of that and let the pan cool off. Then I did it again. I repeated that process four times and the skillet gradually turned to the usual black shade. It got darker as I used it to cook.

I have been using it for five years since then and I am still alive.

 

[STCM(SW)]

I seasoned mine with Flaxseed oil, several thin coats at 350 for one hour.

All are Lodge and it works great!

 

[Abbynormal]

Rust and oil.

Cure it again once or twice and see what happens.

 

[Old TexMex]

Iron oxide. Sweated out of the surface.
iron oxide - Google Search
Blood is red because of the iron in it. So is the planet Mars red.

As far as practical experience, I never seen my cast iron bleed. I wash my skillets, yep I do, then I put them right back on the fire to het them good and dry, then wipe them with olive oil. No problems with sticking, ever. Why? Cause "Thats the way Mom did it". It's about all I cook in. Skillets and dutch oven in the oven.

 

[GKC]

I've used cast iron skillets a few times...both new that I seasoned per the instructions, and old cookware that I inherited from my mother. She hadn't used hers in at least 20 years before she died.

Frankly, I just don't see the appeal. Part of the problem for me, at least, is that I want to scrub my cookware, when I'm done. Also, most of what I cooked in the cast iron skillet stuck pretty badly...maybe it wasn't seasoned correctly, I don't know, but I just didn't like cooking in it. I did make some great corn bread in it, in the oven...but still, I wanted to scrub it afterward, and I've read that isn't good for it.

 

[Arik]

I've used cast iron skillets a few times...both new that I seasoned per the instructions, and old cookware that I inherited from my mother. She hadn't used hers in at least 20 years before she died.

Frankly, I just don't see the appeal. Part of the problem for me, at least, is that I want to scrub my cookware, when I'm done. Also, most of what I cooked in the cast iron skillet stuck pretty badly...maybe it wasn't seasoned correctly, I don't know, but I just didn't like cooking in it. I did make some great corn bread in it, in the oven...but still, I wanted to scrub it afterward, and I've read that isn't good for it.

No need to scrub unless stuff actually sticks bad. I just wipe and re oil. A few drops of cooking oil or butter and wipe all over with a paper towel.

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[bdGreen]

Arik,
The quality of the cast iron will determine results. I bought this skillet new.
I cooked on it.
It pretty much sucked.
Like I said, this isn't my first rodeo with cast iron.
Companies like Field and Butter Pat sell 'smooth' surfaced cast iron cookware.
Lodge isn't them.
Theirs is a crusty feeling and would never improve. I used it for about three years and I had had it.


Abbynormal, I agree. I think it is a couple seasonings short of the full desired results.

STCM(SW)
Those look great.

I actually have some old ones that have a true 'bark' on the outside and partially on the inside from decades of use. They are great also.

Old TexMex
I pretty much thought that was the issue. Just didn't realize that would be the result after continuous use for a few years. Must have been the one hour at 475 deg. F that brought it out.

 

[Arik]

I don't know what I have but it wasn't expensive. I know it's not smooth. I didn't bother seasoning it at first because I didn't know about it. I wasn't implying that you didn't know what you were doing. Maybe overthinking it? All I did was cook in it. Once a week over a few months time it seasoned.

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[bdGreen]

The saturated red on the foil is confusing. Maybe leached out elements mixed with the crisco to produce an odd color.

The appearance off the pan seems to me to be a rust patina that is not uncommon when you strip a cast iron pan and hheat treat it. I have seen that before on my own 10 Inch skillet after striping it.

I just re seasoned the pan on the stove top. I would heat is up and add high heat olive oil rubbing it in in small doses. When the oils dried up I added more. I did about three cycles of that and let the pan cool off. Then I did it again. I repeated that process four times and the skillet gradually turned to the usual black shade. It got darker as I used it to cook.

I have been using it for five years since then and I am still alive.

I went through that exercise for a couple of years. Problem I have is the skillet is a good sized one and the largest gas burner I have still concentrates the heat in the center. It wasn't getting the same results over all of the cooking surface. So, I did the full Monte on it and placed it in the oven.
I will probably attempt the same procedure again.

bdGreen

 

[Old TexMex]

Arik,
The quality of the cast iron will determine results. I bought this skillet new.
I cooked on it.
It pretty much sucked.
Like I said, this isn't my first rodeo with cast iron.
Companies like Field and Butter Pat sell 'smooth' surfaced cast iron cookware.
Lodge isn't them.
Theirs is a crusty feeling and would never improve. I used it for about three years and I had had it.


Abbynormal, I agree. I think it is a couple seasonings short of the full desired results.

STCM(SW)
Those look great.

I actually have some old ones that have a true 'bark' on the outside and partially on the inside from decades of use. They are great also.

Old TexMex
I pretty much thought that was the issue. Just didn't realize that would be the result after continuous use for a few years. Must have been the one hour at 475 deg. F that brought it out.

I imagine there was super fine tailings of iron in the pores of the surface from the sanding wire wheeling. The oil boiled it out.

BTW, my stuff is all Lodge, fwtw

 

[bdGreen]

I don't know what I have but it wasn't expensive. I know it's not smooth. I didn't bother seasoning it at first because I didn't know about it. I wasn't implying that you didn't know what you were doing. Maybe overthinking it? All I did was cook in it. Once a week over a few months time it seasoned.

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Ha. No harm no foul. I am kind of anal about my cooking. I want to be able to put some bacon grease on my cast iron skillet, warm it gently, crack a couple of eggs on it and after three or four minutes slide a steel spatula all the way under it without resistance or sticking.
I am trying to get away from Teflon coated anything. And, yes, they are good for the egg thing. I just want to be able to move the skillet around and have the eggs move around and not stick.
Something about using a steel spatula and not them plastic ones you have to use on Teflon.

bdGreen

 

[susieqz]

personally, i never bother with seasoning.
what i do is fill it with oil n make french fries. i keep doing this until i wanna toss the oil. i then wipe it down n i have a non stick surface.

 

[Old TexMex]

I can't stand teflon cookware. I know how you feel. I use a bamboo spatula on my castiron. Weird, huh? But it works well. Who knows.....

 

[susieqz]

my cast irons are all perfectly nonstick.
had them a long time, but i need more.

 

[1morethan8]

When you put oil on new or cleaned cast iron, this only starts the seasoning process.. when you're cooking on a solid black, smooth surface, only then is it seasoned. Then you'll be cooking on pure carbon.