Cast-iron..Everything everything sticks

towhead wrote:
One thing not mentioned here is how to clean a very old skillet that has gotten a thick crust on the outside. This is rarely a problem since it takes years of use to get that way. Years ago my grandfather showed me how. He put grandma's favorite skillet into a red hot fire and let it get hot enough to burn the crust off. It came out like new and had to be seasoned again before useable. That thing must have been really old, mine is forty years old now and still not as crusty as hers was.

Be very careful doing this, a friend of mine did this and cracked and ruined two nice pans we had found in a barn. He got them red hot and took them out of the fire and sprayed them with water to cool them quickly (stupid). Leave them in the fire until it burns out and let them cool gradually. They will come out like new and will need to be seasoned again.

I don't know if this has been mentioned but cooking in a cast-iron pan isn't the same as cooking in aluminum or... First make sure you pan is hot enough and it takes longer to heat than the others. Once it is hot, a drip of water should dance and sizzle, then add a bit of oil, butter or whatever.
I have a 3 year old great grandson who "cook's" breakfast with Daddy every Sunday morning. He was so proud to show me his new cast-iron mini pan that his mother found at a yard sale for 10 cents.
My second bit of advise is to never purchase a new pan, just head out to any number of flea markets and you will find dozens for under $3 dollars because folks buy them and then can't cook in them.
Once you get the hang of it, you will never want to cook in anything else.

Fun to read - as I love cooking with cast iron. One post mentioned this - but I will again. It really makes a huge difference to heat up the pan prior to adding anything.
Heat it up, then add your butter and eggs - or whatever you are cooking your eggs in...if you are putting the eggs in a dry pan - you will have trouble with sticking - it isn't like those chemically-non-stick pans.

SWMO wrote:
If you want to clean an old one and have a self cleaning oven it is too easy, just throw it in the oven during the cleaning.
I don't think the Lodge pans are that rough, at least none of mine have been that bad and a little roughness helps hold the seasoning. That's why it can be so hard seasoning a carbon steel pan, they're too smooth. I don't know about Chinese CI, never used any.

Double ditto.

SWMO wrote:
If you want to clean an old one and have a self cleaning oven it is too easy, just throw it in the oven during the cleaning.
I don't think the Lodge pans are that rough, at least none of mine have been that bad and a little roughness helps hold the seasoning. That's why it can be so hard seasoning a carbon steel pan, they're too smooth. I don't know about Chinese CI, never used any.

Also oven cleaner.. Spray it on, put it in a bag and let it sit in the sun for several days.

I use a lye bath.. A blue tote full of water and add a can of lye to it (always add lye to water, not the other way around.. can explode) ..

You can leave pieces indefinitely in this solution.. I have a couple of antique pieces in there from last year that I never got around to finishing up.

I've always fried eggs in mine, but I make sure it isn't dry. It doesn't need more than a sheen of oil, but it does need that. Scrambled, it can be done, but it will take some cleaning. Scrambles will stick to dry Teflon too though.

We fry eggs in ours all the time...just make sure to use enough oil or grease

I have a Wagner. Olive oil or Lard at 375 3 times then bring it to 500 and let it cool. She'll be right mate. My Grandmother taught me how to do it years ago, I'm 65, and I only have Wagner brand. Better Iron. Never wash with soap. Heat til it smokes and run water in it, then add oil and heat then wipe with paper towel. A properly seasoned skillet or griddle will look like hell but taste great. 1 other thing, make sure when you cook pancakes that they are brown on the bottom befor flipping as they will stick and don't do fried eggs on one as they soak up andy grease. By the BTW/Oltimers cleaned them with sand in the desert SW.

If you want to clean an old one and have a self cleaning oven it is too easy, just throw it in the oven during the cleaning.
I don't think the Lodge pans are that rough, at least none of mine have been that bad and a little roughness helps hold the seasoning. That's why it can be so hard seasoning a carbon steel pan, they're too smooth. I don't know about Chinese CI, never used any.

One thing not mentioned here is how to clean a very old skillet that has gotten a thick crust on the outside. This is rarely a problem since it takes years of use to get that way. Years ago my grandfather showed me how. He put grandma's favorite skillet into a red hot fire and let it get hot enough to burn the crust off. It came out like new and had to be seasoned again before useable. That thing must have been really old, mine is forty years old now and still not as crusty as hers was.