Cast Iron

So here is the pan I posted about a couple days ago. I put the pan in the oven and ran the self-cleaning cycle. When it came out I cleaned off the ash and I could actually tell that some of the texture around the edge was the metal and not food. The rest of the gunk was gone.

I put a very thin layer of canola oil on it and baked it at 450 for an hour. It looks beautiful now. I’m going to do a couple more seasoning cycles and then try to maintain it.

Thanks everyone for the advice!

I started using a lodge cast iron pan about a year ago. I purchased the pan probably five years ago, but it didn’t see much use. I decided to try to move away from cooking with non-stick skillets and it took a while to get comfortable, but now I use it routinely. I have some questions about care.

The photo shows where the finish looks like it is missing. I’m guessing it is the oil coating that should build up, but I would like a second opinion. What should I do about it? Just start seasoning it until it all looks good?

I bake eggs in my oven (on a cookie sheet in ramekins) nearly every morning for family breakfast. I’m thinking I could just integrate seasoning into that existing ritual. My tentative plan is to apply a thin coat of oil to the cast iron pan and put it in the oven while it preheats to 375 (about 15 minutes), the eggs cook (another 15 minutes) and then turn off the oven and let the pan sit in the oven while it cools down. Will that be enough heat to get the oil to do what I want? I’m trying to not waste a lot of electricity and have something I can do basically every day until I am happy with the seasoning on the pan. Can I just use the cheap canola oil I already have?

I would love any feedback or thoughts.

So with some cold weather coming to some of you I thought I'd remind you that it's a great time to season your pans.

Heat your house up a bit and enjoy some food afterword.

I've been trying to avoid buying more pans just because I like the designs but my wife and siblings peer pressured me into this one.

My wall

(long time lurker, first time poster)

A few months ago, a friend convinced me on the benefits of cast iron skillets. Having only used Teflon-coated non-stick pans, I figured it would be worth a try, if I could find one at the thrift store. Sure, I could have just bought a new Lodge skillet, but that's too easy lol.

So a few weeks pass and I eventually find these two specimens at my local thrift store, for $5 and $8 respectively. It's not entirely clear to me why the smaller skillet cost more, but it was below $10 so I didn't complain too loudly. My cursory web searches at the store suggested that old Wagner skillets are of reasonable quality, so I took the plunge. My assumption is that the unmarked, smaller skillet is also a Wagner product.

10-inch skillet ($5)	9-inch skillet ($8)

It's very clear that both these skillets are very crusty. Initially, I tried to remove the buildup using a brass wire brush. This was only somewhat successful, so I switched to a stainless steel wire brush. That also didn't do much, except reveal some of the inscription on the bottom.

Some research suggested I could either do an electrolysis tank, a lye bath, or try lye-based oven cleaner. For want of not over-complicating my first restoration attempt, I went with the oven cleaner method, using the instructions from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Pvf0m9jTeE

For both skillets, I had to apply the oven cleaner six times to finally shift all the crud, each time leaving the skillets in the garbage bag for a full day-and-a-half in the sun. In between applications, I would brush off more buildup, with the handle root and the skillet walls being the most stubborn areas. The whole process smelled terrible and hunching over the garage utility sink to brush pans is not my idea of a pleasant time.

Nevertheless, having stripped both pans, I proceeded with six rounds of seasoning with very old corn oil -- it's what was handy -- at 450 F (~230 C) using my toaster oven. This happened over six days, since I wanted to use my excess daytime solar power for this endeavor. I wiped on the oil using a single blue shop towel, to avoid the issues of lint or fraying with paper towel.

I don't have a post-seasoning photo for the larger skillet, but here's how the 9-inch skillet turned out. I think I did a decent job for a first attempt. And I'm thrilled that these are as non-stick as promised, with only minimal upkeep required after each use.

After seeing this post from @[email protected] we decided to try our hand at some little Danish pancakes. So far they are not turning out as well as Jordan’s did, but they are tasty. I used the recipe that came with the pan. Next batch I will use the one Jordan provided.

Monday night is pizza night, and I love cooking it in my cast iron pan.

First time having it too. I think I found my go-to quick dessert recipe.

Recipe.

Got a new Lodge griddle a few weeks ago and I finally took it for a test drive this morning. I was worried about how it would work on a glass top but, so far so good!

Grilled some chicken breasts and thighs, finishing with a sear on my lodge double Dutch oven lid.

Seasoned with Trader Joe’s chili lime seasoning (which is also fantastic on shrimp).

Hi all, thought a nice thing to do for my dad for his birthday would be to restore the two cast iron pans he uses. I've attached pictures of the two, which basically show rust wearing through, particularly on the smaller of these. I've read conflicting advice (abraid back with steel wool on the specific areas Vs strip with lye all over and fully reseason). I have minimal experience, so was wondering what the right approach is likely to be? Thanks in advance!

I recently made chili from scratch. I don't have a recipe because I didn't use one. There are many available online. Find one with good reviews and ingredients you enjoy.

The basics are meats, onion, garlic, tomatoes, cumin, salt, black pepper, sugar, fresh hot peppers, powdered or dried hot peppers, celery, corn, sweet peppers and other vegetables. Ingredients to add umami such as mushrooms, Worcestershire, soy sauce, fish sauce, beer etc. Red wine or apple cider vinegar for some acidity. I say this as a born and raised Texan, make the chili the way you want to make it.

Some people think chili shouldn't have beans. My opinion is that cowboys wouldn't care since they are hungry. Imagine a cowboy not eating chili because it has beans in it. Ridiculous right? If you don't want beans don't add them, if you do want beans then add them.

Now here is where the cornbread gets a bit blue. I didn't plan on making chili so I didn't think about cornbread until I already starting making the chili. I didn't have all the ingredients to make cornbread but I had azul masa for tortillas.

So I checked the ingredients in the masa to make sure there wasn't anything too out of the ordinary and decided to make a hybrid of cornbread and blue tortillas. It came out okay. It literally tasted like a a mix between regular cornbread and tortillas. I did add some whole kernals for more corn flavor. I should have minced/smashed half of them to distribute the flavor more evenly though.

I stewed this chili for four hours. I always stew for a least two hours but prefer how it tastes at four hours. You have to know when to add ingredients depending on how long you cook it. Adding things too early will lead to overcooked ingredients.

Anyway, enjoy.

The trivet and Guitar pan are mostly for my wife. I'm looking forward to trying out the griddle on my glass-top. Thinking I might try pancakes on it this weekend.

I've never eaten one before this. I have a feeling it wasn't perfect but I thought it pretty good.

I usually only use this griddle for tortillas but I decided to try something different. This just a random "buttermilk pancake" recipe.

I bought a set of three carbon steel pans, and they are amazing. Is this allowed here? They are 99% iron I think.

They are lighter than a full iron pan but you still season them in the same way.

I have had an iron pan dedicated to meat cooking for a few years now, but I'm not sure it will get much use now.

These are new pans, so I'll have to see how they last, but I'm very optimistic.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.today/post/9250689

How do I test cast iron cookware for lead

So I found a griddle that was in pretty bad shape seasoning wise so I stripped it and noticed a small shiny area which worried me about lead. I ordered some lead tests that stated they were for metal (no specifics) and after doing the tests it came back positive. But this got me wondering if iron reacts with sodium rhodizonate, the main ingredient in these lead tests, to give false positives and load and behold it does. I confirmed this with another cast iron cookware that I know 100% never touched lead. So my question is how the hell do I test this? Everyone keeps recommending the same sodium rhodizonate lead test swabs just with different brand names.

Tldr: After stripping a griddle and finding a shiny spot, I tested it for lead and it came back positive, leading to concerns about the reaction between iron and sodium rhodizonate. The question is how to accurately test for lead contamination in the griddle without potential false positives from the test method recommended by others?

Edit: wanted to add some more info. I did experiment with the test themselves to see how reliable they were and they passed it so I don't suspect its the test themselves but the chemical reaction between iron and the sodium rhodizonate

Also this might be off topic for this community as this is a carbon steel pan (Merten & Storck).

I hope this is ok to post: cast iron adjacent and has not better home on Lemmy ….

Seafood feast I made for the kids last night. That fried rice started as 2c dry rice and would have been tough to make without the space of this griddle top! Or maybe it’s just me, I can’t seem to make it without spreading out and making a mess

It’s all an experiment

• only the second time cooking tuna steak
• only a few times trying to sear shrimp
• fried rice - ok, hot sesame oil was new, gave it a nice kick without being hot

Probably use it for a massive number of pancakes tomorrow

So this is also a cry for help: what can I replace this with?

• I’m getting an induction glass top, which doesn’t support griddles of any kind
• I don’t want to go back to Teflon, that all stand-alone electric griddles seem to be
• I don’t know how big to consider: during the week it’s just me and a skillet is sufficient, but kids do come home from college
• I considered getting a Blackstone or similar, but the weather here is not friendly to outdoor cooking half the year

Anyone have ideas what to look for in a stand-alone griddle that’s not Teflon, and is cast iron or cast iron adjacent?

Second time making compote but first time using cast iron to do it.

I opted for enameled over seasoned due the lemon juice added. I knew it would take a while to reduce and didn't want the extra acid to break down seasoning on my other pans.

It worked well and tasted good. Less sweet and more tart than store bought preserves.

Used it on toast, pancakes and made some tarts in the oven.