Cast Iron Experts - Please chime in

[Rule3]

I went to Amazon just now, and ordered one. Going to garage sales cost me so much....time I got a cornbread stick thingo, dang thing woulda cost me a thousand dollars

Good to hear, saved me a lot of searching. I have a old one BURIED in the garage, not sure of the brand, but have no idea where to find it!

 

[nachogrande]

GOT ONE

I'm looking for one of those cast iron units for cooking cornbread sticks. Y'all know the ones with the sections that are shaped like little ears of corn? Haven't found one at the usual stores.
Love those little cornbread ears.

Order one online easy enough. The cornbread looks cute & is nice n crispy, but doesn't make much. to be practical/make enough for more than 1-2, you would need 2-3 of them.
Regarding smoothing a cast iron surface with a spatula??? Like tunneling out of San Quentin with a spork. IMO the patina fills in the rough surface OVER TIME/USE.

 

[eveled]

Order one online easy enough. The cornbread looks cute & is nice n crispy, but doesn't make much. to be practical/make enough for more than 1-2, you would need 2-3 of them.
Regarding smoothing a cast iron surface with a spatula??? Like tunneling out of San Quentin with a spork. IMO the patina fills in the rough surface OVER TIME/USE.

Kind of how door knobs and steering wheels get worn down by hands. But I agree there is some filling in going on too.

 

[johngalt]

I'm looking for one of those cast iron units for cooking cornbread sticks. Y'all know the ones with the sections that are shaped like little ears of corn? Haven't found one at the usual stores.
Love those little cornbread ears.

Dad used to have one, it sticks much worse (more surface area) than using a skillet.

 

[eveled]

Those corn bread molds can be tough. Probably the hardest cast iron cooking to master.

Preheat the pans, Make sure it's hot enough, and greased enough the batter should start to sizzle as soon as it hits the pan. Best to drop a small drop of batter on to the pan before you commit to filling them.

Seems to help if you add just a little pancake batter to the mix, and an egg, and I like vanilla extract in my corn bread.

Also have channel locks ready to move the pans around and flip them. And a wood cutting board ready to tap the pan on to so the little ears fall out.

Worth the effort I like the little ears, better than a whole round skillet cake.

Truthfully though I tend to just fry the batter like pancakes in butter. Most delicious and super easy. I think they are called Johnny Cakes?

 

[susieqz]

there is something wrong if anything sticks to cast iron. i clean mine with warm water n a dish rag.
this is plenty because nothing ever sticks to it.

 

[Old TexMex]

Order one online easy enough. The cornbread looks cute & is nice n crispy, but doesn't make much. to be practical/make enough for more than 1-2, you would need 2-3 of them.
Regarding smoothing a cast iron surface with a spatula??? Like tunneling out of San Quentin with a spork. IMO the patina fills in the rough surface OVER TIME/USE.

I already ordered one on amz prime....
I live alone, so seven sticks are plenty, I'm not trying to weigh more than my present 150.
My skillets are over seventy years old, and have been cooked in almost daily. So, yeah a steel spatula will make them slick as a kittys ear.

 

[Muley Gil]

"Truthfully though I tend to just fry the batter like pancakes in butter. Most delicious and super easy. I think they are called Johnny Cakes?"

I jist call it fried cornbread.

 

[johngalt]

Some random thoughts...

Everyone has their own method for seasoning. I've found Crisco for 30 min at 350 works about as well as anything.

I don't like to cook bacon in my skillet. Most of it is loaded with sugar and nitrates, which leaves a sticky mess burnt to the bottom.

Frying potatoes doesn't work for me - it tends to strip the seasoning off instead of building it up.

When I first started using mine, the advice I got was to use coarse salt to scrub it out. That just makes a mess. Just enough water to cover the bottom while still hot, scrape it up with a straight edge metal spatula, dump it out, dry, and oil is quick and works well.

The secret to not sticking is to get it hot while dry, then add oil or butter to the hot pan, then add food. I get much less sticking that way.

I never go above medium - it doesn't need any higher. It will continue to store heat, and after a few minutes will be plenty hot enough to sear a steak.

It will never be as non-stick as teflon. You can cook an egg in teflon with no oil or butter. But it is non stick enough for most of my needs, except for chicken breasts and fish. They always stick for me, worse than eggs.

I'm beginning to really like carbon steel pans. Not quite as good as searing a steak since it is thinner and stores less heat, but they are very smooth. They are so smooth seasoning doesn't seem to stick as well as iron. I currently use one for my scrambled eggs.

 

[eveled]

"Truthfully though I tend to just fry the batter like pancakes in butter. Most delicious and super easy. I think they are called Johnny Cakes?"

I jist call it fried cornbread.

Not to split hairs. But to us friend corn bread would be a slice of already made corn bread fried in butter. It's all so yummy.

 

[joe44va]

Griswold of Erie, PA went under in 1957 but their quality was, and is, much better then Lodge. They can still be had on EBay. Some folks collect them. I use mine.

 

[nachogrande]

CUPPULLA CAST TIPS.

Put it in the oven to preheat while getting everything else ready, it saves time. To check the temp use your whatever oil/lard grease, then float a small amount of butter on top, when it bubbles, but doesn't burn = good to go. That last one can be used on about any skillet. Bon Appetite.

 

[epj]

Years ago I began collecting Griswold cast iron cookware.

The Griswold cooking surfaces are uniformly fine, smooth, almost polished.

The Lodge cookware I've seen is like rough concrete.

No wonder OP took a grinder to it.

You'll also note the Griswold hollow ware is much lighter than the new stuff. The older Wagner Ware is pretty good also. The Griswold is the best and older is better. Large trademark stuff is almost always excellent.