Cooking with Cast Iron

[Hanley]

If anybody is going to be re-seasoning your cast iron pans, do it right and polish the cast iron pan before you season.

I originally wrote this back at the other place in the Low Iron level thread in Rips Q&A earlier this year:

Lodge stopped polishing their cast iron cookware before preseasoning some years back. This results in suboptimal non-stick performance due to the increased surface area. I have a cast iron skillet that certainly worked well for searing, but was decidedly less useful for eggs due to the stickiness of the surface. Today, I used an orbital sander and 80 grit sandpaper to remove the seasoning and smooth out the surface of the skillet, and finished off with 140 grit sandpaper. I then re-seasoned the skillet by rubbing a thin coat of oil onto the surface and baking at 500 degrees F for an hour. I repeated that 3 times, and the surface of my skillet is like black glass. I can turn the pan sideways and eggs slide off now. I can't do that with any of my non stick pans.

A few of us on the old forums did this after your post. It's a fucking awesome modification.

[tersh]

If anybody is going to be re-seasoning your cast iron pans, do it right and polish the cast iron pan before you season.

I'm actually a bit skeptical of the "polished is better" argument. I think it depends on the quality of the seasoning more than the surface finish.

A rougher surface may also hold little pockets of oil, and I'm skeptical that most foods can enter the fine-sand sized surface so effectively that they stick more... a very smooth pan may actually present a higher surface area in continuous contact with the food.

But I dunno.

[tersh]

A few of us on the old forums did this after your post. It's a fucking awesome modification.

Did you find that the same pan, with comparable seasoning before and after, performed significantly better?

I've been thinking about doing so, and have done on one that was a gift for a friend.
Had to hand sand, though. Up to 400, I think? I'd do 800, but that's a lot of hand sanding.
Also I didn't want to reseason in my one room apartment in mid-summer.

[omaniphil]

I'm actually a bit skeptical of the "polished is better" argument. I think it depends on the quality of the seasoning more than the surface finish.

That very well may be true. It would be interesting to experiment - but to get the comparable seasoning I think you would need to strip both pans down and then season each in the same way to compare the benefits of polishing or not.

I ruined my seasoning recently by mistreating the pan, and had to reseason - The only oil I had in the house was olive oil, so used that to season with. The results were awful. I think I'll retry with flaxseed which is a proper 'drying oil'.

For more reading on the type of oil used to season - read this: http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/ ... cast-iron/

[Hanley]

A few of us on the old forums did this after your post. It's a fucking awesome modification.

Did you find that the same pan, with comparable seasoning before and after, performed significantly better?

Yes. With the smooth surface a very very thin layer of ‘cured’ flaxseed oil is all you need. And you don’t need to baby the flaxseed layer...I’ve thrown the pan directly on a hot grill.

I was skeptical too, but the performance improvement was dramatic.

Honestly, don’t bother with hand sanding. I tried that.

Do you have a drill? If so, just buy a sanding bit. I have a few dozen of the sanding disks that fit the bit and can send you a bunch.

[tersh]

Yes. With the smooth surface a very very thin layer of ‘cured’ flaxseed oil is all you need. And you don’t need to baby the flaxseed layer...I’ve thrown the pan directly on a hot grill.

I was skeptical too, but the performance improvement was dramatic.

Honestly, don’t bother with hand sanding. I tried that.

Do you have a drill? If so, just buy a sanding bit. I have a few dozen of the sanding disks that fit the bit and can send you a bunch.

Fascinating. I'll have to give it a go then. Part of what made me arrive at the thoughts I had was that most non-stick pans aren't very smooth.
The texture of the average teflon-type non-stick pan is not dissimilar from a well-used piece of cast iron.

I'm used to the hand sanding, because of all the metalsmithing I did back in the day. You get used to not having fingerprints.
It's extra, extra tedious on ferrous metals, though.

As for bits, you mean one of these guys?

[Hanley]

Yes. With the smooth surface a very very thin layer of ‘cured’ flaxseed oil is all you need. And you don’t need to baby the flaxseed layer...I’ve thrown the pan directly on a hot grill.

I was skeptical too, but the performance improvement was dramatic.

Honestly, don’t bother with hand sanding. I tried that.

Do you have a drill? If so, just buy a sanding bit. I have a few dozen of the sanding disks that fit the bit and can send you a bunch.

I'm used to the hand sanding, because of all the metalsmithing I did back in the day. You get used to not having fingerprints.
It's extra, extra tedious on ferrous metals, though.

As for bits, you mean one of these guys?

Yup. That's the exact one I have.

[tersh]

Yup. That's the exact one I have.

Next time I place an amazon order, I'll pick one up. Or I'll check Hardwick's.

[Hanley]

These dudes

http://www.stargazercastiron.com/products/

make a fantastic pan. The interior is finished smooth and the design is very, very well thought out.

[Mattjd]

Maybe I missed it, but if I wanted to buy a sanding disk, what grit would be appropriate for taking the shitty lodge finish off?

[Hanley]

Maybe I missed it, but if I wanted to buy a sanding disk, what grit would be appropriate for taking the shitty lodge finish off?

I jumped from 80 to 240. No need to go higher than 240.

It's...messy. Wear a mask.

[tersh]

I jumped from 80 to 240. No need to go higher than 240.

It's...messy. Wear a mask.

Do those disks stand up to wet sanding? There's no goddamn reason to do this sort of work dry.
I pretty much always wet sand anything metal, if even remotely possible.

Also, you're probably right about the 240, given the use the pan will experience, but it pains my metalsmith heart to stop there.
200 is about where you START sanding after the file work. Sigh. That shit ruined me for life.

[Hanley]

Do those disks stand up to wet sanding?

Acceptable for a single pan.

but it pains my metalsmith heart to stop there.

nerd

[mikeylikey]

What about these?

https://fieldcompany.com/

Supposedly a lighter, smoother pan than Lodge and the like.


https://fieldcompany.com/p/cast-iron-field-skillet/


Apparently they turn the whole pan on a lathe to get a precision thickness, keep the weight down while still being strong, and have a smoother surface.

[Manveer]

Cast iron pans are heavy for a reason, though. So that the temp of the pan doesn't change much when you throw a hunk of ribeye in there. WGAF about "strength" in a pan beyond a trivial threshold?

[Hanley]

What about these?

https://fieldcompany.com/

Supposedly a lighter, smoother pan than Lodge and the like.


https://fieldcompany.com/p/cast-iron-field-skillet/


Apparently they turn the whole pan on a lathe to get a precision thickness, keep the weight down while still being strong, and have a smoother surface.

These are the decisions that try mens' souls.

I watched this video and decided to go with the "Stargazer" brand:

[AaronM]

Disclaimer, I haven't read all the posts in this thread...

Question, what's the best way to cook steak indoors on a cast-iron skillet? The regulator on my grill broke, and I don't have money to buy a new grill, yet. I've tried using this technique: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alto ... pe-2131274 and the house got filled with so much smoke that my smoke detectors, kids and wife had to hide in another room. But it tasted great.

Then I tried this pan-searing method: https://www.omahasteaks.com/gifs/pr_cookingguide.pdf . This method produced a lot less smoke, but the flavor didn't seem as good, and it wasn't seared enough on the flipped side.

Suggestions? We typically grill ribeyes that are 1.5" thick, medium-rare.

[bugbomb]

https://www.americastestkitchen.com/rec ... erb-butter

[Hanley]

Disclaimer, I haven't read all the posts in this thread...

Question, what's the best way to cook steak indoors on a cast-iron skillet? The regulator on my grill broke, and I don't have money to buy a new grill, yet. I've tried using this technique: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alto ... pe-2131274 and the house got filled with so much smoke that my smoke detectors, kids and wife had to hide in another room. But it tasted great.

Then I tried this pan-searing method: https://www.omahasteaks.com/gifs/pr_cookingguide.pdf . This method produced a lot less smoke, but the flavor didn't seem as good, and it wasn't seared enough on the flipped side.

Suggestions? We typically grill ribeyes that are 1.5" thick, medium-rare.

Do you have a firepit? Like for campfires?

If so, just throw the cast iron pan on the hot coals. Sear it and maybe cover to cook through (or tent with aluminium foil). Do the butter thing to finish.

Searing steaks indoors sucks.

[omaniphil]

Disclaimer, I haven't read all the posts in this thread...

Question, what's the best way to cook steak indoors on a cast-iron skillet? The regulator on my grill broke, and I don't have money to buy a new grill, yet. I've tried using this technique: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alto ... pe-2131274 and the house got filled with so much smoke that my smoke detectors, kids and wife had to hide in another room. But it tasted great.

Then I tried this pan-searing method: https://www.omahasteaks.com/gifs/pr_cookingguide.pdf . This method produced a lot less smoke, but the flavor didn't seem as good, and it wasn't seared enough on the flipped side.

Suggestions? We typically grill ribeyes that are 1.5" thick, medium-rare.

1) Liberally cover your steaks in kosher salt. Completely covered. Both sides. Let sit for an hour per inch of thickness.
2) Preheat oven to 400.
3) Rinse steaks under tap to get rid of salt.
4) Pat with paper towel as dry as you can get them.
5) Get cast iron skillet screaming hot.
6) apply some fresh ground pepper to the steak - no need for salt, the salting in step 1) imparts as much salt as you'll need.
7) Pour just a touch of oil into the skillet. As little as possible. I typically will spray my steaks with the olive oil pump sprayer and not apply directly to pan to limit the amount of oil in the pan.
8) Put steak in skillet. One or two steaks per skillet (depending on size of course) crowd the skillet too much, and it won't sear as nicely.
9) Flip after 1 minute, and then put into oven until finished.

The key to not creating gobs of smoke is to limit the amount of oil. I have smoke detector in the kitchen and I haven't had it go off in a while. I also place the skillet on a back burner so that the smoke rising get sucked into the hood more easily.

I learned the salting trick from Kenji. http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/the- ... teaks.html

**Edit** yeah, I basically just wrote out bugbomb's link.