Sanding, Polishing, & Seasoning Lodge Cast Iron Skillet
2018 ж. 9 Қаң.
643 633 Рет қаралды
Took a year but I was able to put out a new video to show this process on the Lodge series of cast iron. Thanks for watching!
Took a year but I was able to put out a new video to show this process on the Lodge series of cast iron. Thanks for watching!
Mom died a few months ago on 10/16/20. A week or so later we all got together to start cleaning out her house. While my moron brothers were fighting over her furniture, lamps, and TV's I was quietly walking out the back door with a treasure trove of cast iron that looked just like these...mirror smooth and exquisitely maintained. All of this stuff belonged to my mom's mother who died well before I was born in late 1968. I can remember mom me telling that her mom acquired all this cast iron cookware by payroll deduction in the 1940's each Friday as an employee benefit of sorts. It's truly timeless and priceless stuff.
That's awesome. Sorry to hear about your Mom.
Very sorry about your mom. I bet she's smiling down at you for taking her most prized cookware.
@skogenburzum It's definitely a lifestyle. I have my grandmother's carbon steel cornbread pan but also her mother's Wagner Ware Sidney-o double skillet.
i guess im asking the wrong place but does anybody know a trick to log back into an Instagram account..? I stupidly lost my login password. I love any assistance you can offer me.
@Collin Immanuel instablaster =)
I'm glad you recognized the potential hazards of breathing metal dust created by mechanical processing iron surfaces. Siderosis is the deposition of excess iron in body tissue. When used without qualification, it usually refers to an environmental disease of the lung, also known more specifically as pulmonary siderosis or Welder's disease, which is a form of pneumoconiosis. However, I'm not sure you realize that you were wearing the wrong respirator. That 3-M 6000 series respirator was equipped with acid gas and organic vapor CARTRIDGES. Cartridges do not stop the ultra-fine particles of your concern, (those less than 5 microns in size). Instead of using those cartridges you should have used FILTERS such as the magenta-colored P-100 filter. That filter will capture 99.97% of particles down to 0.03 microns in size and is effective against dusts and fumes.
good information, I have both filters for my mask but i wonder if its any value to add strong magnets around the pan during the sanding process?
Magenta… the round, pink ones?
OK Mister know it all
I just read that after getting close to my cars brakes, and some had gotten in my mouth! Wtf!
Thank you, finally wearing ppe is now acceptable by the employer as the time it takes to put on protection outweigh the higher insurance costs.
I have a couple of lodges that are awesome, and just now came across an old Griswold that I bought. It is amazing to see how different they are manufactured and how the Griswold is so smooth.... I think ill try this with one of my Lodges, thanks for taking the time to make this video, it really does help.
Thanks for watching. Good luck. Just remember to anneal and temper the metal after you smooth it out. Oven clean cycle should do the trick with adequate cooling time.
Wonderful work , wish I could get one like that , I have an 8 inch , fairly new , I don’t use it as much as I would love to , as the inside is very rough , and, I don’t have neither the tools or patience to get that job done , love to see the finish job , very great work .
I grew up with my father using Dutch ovens and mother using cast iron in the kitchen. My father took his best Lodge oven. A 12" deep and machined the lid to fit perfectly. I still have that oven. Use it all the time.
My first encounter with Lodge cast iron 12” skillets was in bush camps in northern Manitoba,1970. No idea how old they were. They were treated like a rented mule, badly. We took them for granted and they never failed to make breakfast or bannock. They never stuck. They were never sanded. Fast forward to today,53 years on, my 10 & 12” Lodges are as is, never sanded, do not stick, are well seasoned and in regular use. ISI ply do not understand this KZheadr obsession with having to sand them. If you want to deal with difficult seasoning, get a modern “artisan” skillet and find out how hard it is to get a good, long lasting seasoning on something like a Stargazer. I seasoned one gifted to me 7x before I was happy and o, it will not take the rough used I demand of my skillets without constant intermittent re-seasoning. I just don’t get it…
Another great way if you can’t/don’t have a machine shop options is run to your local autoparts and buy valve fringing compound and cough the ring for the lid and put the lid on and just spin it back and forth until it’s a smoother fit 🤘🏻😎
I did the same to a Lodge carbon steel pan, it improved so much. Did the same process to a Lodge cast iron Dutch oven. I even use that one to stir fry at high temperatures. The process works.
I have a square cast skillet I bought probably 40 years ago. It has been all over the country and has cooked alot of food over open fires. I bought a 10 inch lodge 10 years ago and have done the same with it as well. But like you said, that 40 year old skillet is almost glass smooth inside. Nice video.
Daniel Locke totally agree, learned most about my cast iron and care from Kent Rollins along from a couple of other people here on KZhead, and if it's worked for them for so many years, can't be all wrong, but thank you Scott for some extra education from this video and what and how you went about doing your CI, there's always something to learn from others dealing with CI
Great JOB. Beautiful.
Tom Scott thank you
Good choice of pans, the Lodge Combo Cooker shallow skillet (smoothed and seasoned in the distant past) has been my scrambled egg/omelette pan of choice for a decade+. If you can find a stainless steel pot lid of matching diameter it gives the ability to create a steam environment if wanted as well; much handier than using the much heavier deep skillet.
I know this is a veeerry long comment but you'll find a lot of good, helpful and interesting info. :) Lodge USED to machine their products in the "good old days," when they had competition. Now that they have 95% of the major market, they choose to save a few bucks and leave it rough because they know people will buy based on name alone, which is too bad. There are other companies, like Finex, though they are much more expensive because you get what Lodge USED to give you. Lodge still uses a better casting process compared to the import pieces from China. I have new and old iron on my kitchen racks. I also have several much older pieces (not lodge) that are finely machined and it's easy to season and cooks great. You just have to be willing to spend time preparing and seasoning what you have. I use an electrolysis process to restore old, crud and rust covered cast and reseason. The best (read easiest, readily available and easy to maintain) way to season cast iron, bar none (in my opinion, others like flax oil, etc. and that works, too), for ease, flavor- enhancing and the ultimate "non-stick" finish, that won't turn rancid, is to use rendered beef fat, a.k.a. tallow. It's produced in some amount everytime you cook beef and can easily be made in larger amounts by rendering down some fat from your saved trimmings or acquired from the butcher. It is great for cooking with and makes food tasty and adds "flavor" to your cast iron pans. :) When you cook some beef and put the leftover juice/gravy in the fridge and the hard, white layer of fat forms on top, that's rendered tallow. It takes several LIGHT coats, not one thick coat, to initially season a cast iron pan. Heat the oven to 400°-450° (hotter is better), bake the piece(s) for a FULL hour, minimum, i go an hour and a half, then turn off the oven and DO NOT open the door until the oven is back to room temp. Unlike seasoning with some oils, you won't smoke yourself out of the house, either (the other reason not to open the oven). ;) From then on, every time you do a steak or burgers, bacon, etc. The seasoning layer will build up until it finally covers all the bumps in the bottom of the pan. Once the bumps are covered, the layer of polymer will build smooth and slick. NOW you're cookin'! The fats turn into a type of polymer, almost like a slick plastic. After enough steaks have been cooked, the bottom of my favorite pan is covered with a "plastic" layer going on 1/8" thick, and building. That has taken a long time and a lot of steaks, bacon, burgers and minimal scraping or "cleaning." I just get the pan really hot, scrape lose any sticky bits, then just wipe clean with a paper towel. Ok For cooking residue that isn't stuck fast or a lot of wet stuff clinging on after you cook, just get the hot and give a blast of cold water. Dry off any remaining water or throw on a hot burner for a couple minutes until it dries (the best way to ensure a dry pan). While its still warm, rub in a very thin coat of cooking oil. You can use metal utensils (spatulas, etc.) but be careful not to gouge into the finish, wooden works best for stir-frying and cleaning. A thick season layer in the bottom of a pan will feel slick as a skating rink and be amazingly non-stick, with liquids just rolling out like water off a well waxed car. If food burns and sticks, take a wooden utensil and a tsp. of salt and, with a hot pan, scrape the sticky bits loose then give a quick blast of cold water in the sink and the pan will be good to go. Wipe out any water residue and you're good. For that matter, depending upon what you cook, I just wipe out the pan with a paper towel and it's good to go, no washing or scrubbing needed. Deglazing a hot pan with wine, cider-vinegar or water helps for pans with heavy cooking residue, as well. Always scrape off any stuck food, as I said, with a WOODEN (or silicone coated) utensil in a HOT water. Lodge even makes a bristled scrub brush that is designed to not damage your hard earned season job. But you don't need it. Washing with soap will NOT ruin the finish or make food "taste soapy." That's a myth. Simply rinse well in hot water until the soap is well rinsed out. That's it. NO DISHWASHERS or all bets are off. It will melt off the seasoning layer and the pan will rust before it comes out of the washer. But a well seasoned pan is so easy to clean, I just have to wipe it out when I'm done cooking. :) If you do have to wash your pan thoroughly, put it on the stove, heat it up and make sure it's very dry. You can then, while it's still very warm, rub in a small amount of tallow or a thin film of high temp cooking oil, like canola or REGULAR olive oil (NO extra virgin olive oil won't! It won't take high heat!). Always use regular olive oil to fry/season with and extra virgin to put in/on your food after its cooked! Just rub in the oil well (heated pan) and wipe out any excess. It should feel almost dry to the touch. Almost. :) Use this same process to clean and reseason your copper coated, "non-stick" modern pans, as well! They claim "use no oil!" and show eggs slide out of the pan... BUT, that's to actually cook with, if you read the small print in the instructions, it tells you that you must first season the pan, as above (tablespoon of high temp oil rubbed into a hot pan) and to reseason after every machine or thorough hand washing! And then it tells you that you may need a small amount of oil, anyway, depending on what you're cooking. Liars... lol You don't need to add too much oil or fat to cook in those newfangled pans, IF you season/cook with only high temp oil. NO extra virgin olive oil or PAM type cooking spray or it will burn and turn your pan dark and loose the non-stick-ability. Sneaky little buggers, they don't tell you that part in the commercials. I mentioned all that because, though you can't really see it against the dark of cast iron, cooking spray and extra virgin oil will cause your food to burn much more easily, so beware. :) After a good seasoning layer is down you can use Pam, etc. BUT just be aware, as I say, of burning your food. It'll happen a lot faster than with regular, "hi-temp" oils. If you really wanna go the extra step, save your beef fat trimmings in the freezer when you trim up your meat. Then, when you have some (a pound or two) saved up, put the trimmings in a pot set on med-low heat and let it go, stiring occasionally, until all the little meaty bits are crispy and floating on top. It takes a while, be patient. Skim off the bits of meat and debris, pour the clear fat into ramekins or small, metal pans (cupcake, meatloaf, etc.) to cool and you have a beef tallow bar that is good for everything from seasoning cast iron to cooking your favorite foods (instead of oils) to making candles! If the power goes out and you have no candles or flashlights, just poke a hole into a piece of tallow, insert a wick (in a pinch, use kitchen twine dipped in hot fat and allowed to cool) and you have a great candle!! And for the best French fries you've ever eaten, just fry your 'taters in beef tallow (that's what put McDonald's on the map) and hit them with some seasoned salt while still hot... Yeah, buddy. Enjoy!
Thanks! I am going to start using beef tallow!
This is an incredibly long but incredibly great comment. Thanks.
@@Doomzdayxx You're welcome and I know it's long. LOL But it's not a simple subject as there is so much miss and missing information out there. Thanks for the reply, I reread and realized there are some typos to fix. lol. I worded it a little better, too. Try some of the suggestions and I'm sure you'll be happy! Happy Easter to you and yours.
@@MtnBadger Thanks. the good thing about long comments like that is since it's an interesting subject, it's easy to read through. also, online, if it's a positive casual conversation like ours, little typos don't matter. Lastly, I just splurged close to $300 on a 12" Finex cast iron skillet with lid. You only live once right?
@@Doomzdayxx Yes, but I'm a perfectionist. lol. And a grammar nazi, so I'm always trying to be aware if I'm wrong and fix it, so I can call out some troll with impunity. lol I'd love to have that skillet but firearms have taken all my money, lately. I really want one of their dutch ovens, they look great to cook in, a spout e very 3 inches. Hehe.. I know its quality stuff but, I have a hard time with the price. I often look for older, quality pieces of other brands as a compromise. But... I know my day at the trough is coming . :) Happy Easter!
Great video. I have many lodge skillets etc, but once in a while I'll get one that just don't want a season. I do what you did here and it makes a huge difference. Not to mention I like to display my cast iron in my kitchen and it looks much better smooth.
Glad to hear it. Thanks for the comment. Truthfully my cast iron goes from the stove to the cupboard.
Great video
Very nice that you acknowledged other “you-tubers”. Enjoyed this video. Great job!
gingerchipper if it wasn’t for them I would have not stumbled into this.
That's a well detailed video. Well done!
I have all kinds of old/new(er) cast iron cookware, even a 43 year old Wagner pan I bought new, and really, they're all great, but they all behave a little differently. I really think it just comes down to personal preference. But I do have a couple of newer pieces I clamped down to a jig and ground/sanded smooth. One is a Lodge chef pan, and to this day, after buying/using cast iron cookware for more than 40 years, it's my favorite. It has a beautiful, smooth patina and food just slips and slides all over the inside of it.
I just got my frustrated second hand lodge it was full of black lumps whcih I scraped out with a snife and then was kinda socked that it looked silver underneath. Is that normal? Then I tried to season it but it looks brown not black. I dont have an oven so om thinking maybe build a little campfire to get it hotter I'm not sure but I guess it smokes and then it looks like the old dried then I out on another thing layer. Not sure if that's more for maintenence seasoning. Anyway now the little black lumps I couldnt get off I'm now getting black flecks in the food. I was worried it was Teflon but I guess it's layers of the old food from the other owner. Can you guve me any advice should I start over and sand it back to metal or season it more or at a higher temp than my stove top allows or maybe longer time.
All of this my Great-grandmother taught me when I was 6 or 7 years old..she was 89 then..taught me how to make cheese, soap, medicine for roots/flowers/ weeds..dyes. all kinds of stuff..some still use today..and I'm almost 62 now..
Your grandma had a Dewalt drill back then? :-D
Lodge could solve a lot of arguing between its customers, by making a smooth version and a porous version for people to buy what they want
True
Country Style Living Channel of Lodge were to use finer greensand to cast it would not have as much putting either...
Country Style Living Channel Cast iron is cast iron and it all starts smooth. The grit is a coating. Really. kzhead.info/sun/n86MgdaLpoWPdH0/bejne.html
A A Wrong. Harder to clean, food sticks. Check here for better advice. kzhead.info/sun/n86MgdaLpoWPdH0/bejne.html
@@tc96z1 no, Cast Iron is Cast Iron and it all starts out with a rough sand cast finish. Back in the 50s Lodge decided that machining out the inside of their pans was costing too much money, so they stopped and started advertising that it was for their new preseasoned finish to adhere to. Do some research outside of KZhead.
Wow thats impressive! My 10 piece dutch oven box just arrived from the post as i was watching your video lol. So this is what I will be doing this weekend. Thank you sooo much!!
Good luck. I have different pieces, some old smooth and new sanded smooth. Love them all.
Wow! Good stuff! Impressive results! Well done! Cheers from the “States”! 🇺🇸 🇨🇦👌
Good idea on mounting those to work on them. I've tried that as well on some newer Lodge I've come across. But damn, that's a lot of work!! I just buy the older stuff from the thrift stores and garage sales and recondition those slick, old surfaces. Thanks for sharing.
Great job
GREAT VIDEO, Thank you.
Good tips. Gonna have to do this to my new Lodge cast iron pan. Thanks.
Great project. I’m doing it too. The polished cast iron cooks wonderfully.
Gunnar Ross how high did you go on the grit to polish your cast iron?
Gunnar Ross how high did you go on the grit to polish your cast iron?
I use a flap sanding disk on an angle grinder. I have a number of cast iron items, a few of which I've used tools on to smooth out, and I've gotten great results. I have an ages-old Wagner, and it came from the factory fairly smooth, so anyone that harshes on owners mechanically smoothing out their iron is just being dim. I love cast iron, and I was surprised to realized I do pretty much everything in iron, other than boil water.
This is excellent... thanks for the info
Jennifer Brannon Your welcome
Excellent tutorial. If Cowboy Kent Rollins believes in sanding off the roughness for best results, then that's good enough for me. Also I second your point about wearing a face mask. I wish I'd been that smart for the first couple skillets I smoothed out.
AMEN BROTHER!!! Love Cowboy Kent.
Daniel Locke b.
Cowboy K is the man!!!
3 months ago, I bought my first Cast Iron (Lodges), followed Cowboy Rollins (on KZhead) instructions for before you cook and how to clean and care for it. And .... BAM Perfection. Been cooking on it at least 3 times a week from sausage/pancakes/blin and yesterday made a deep dish pizza. Works great, just keep Cowboy Rollins in your hip pocket. :)
B Bennett I did the same thing with my modern Lodge skillets. I seasoned mine with a high-grade olive oil about five or six times (turns out it has a high smoke point, contrary to popular belief), and to my absolute delight, fried an egg and nothing stuck to the pan. Bumps and all, that pan performed beautifuly. what kind of oil did you choose to season yours? I have another new lodge I want to try something different for the fun of it.
I saw your video yesterday just before my Math 12 test. After test I run to homedepot everything, spent 4hours to grind my cast iron skillets to perfection from Costco. Thanks
John Michael I’m glad you tried it and did the project in 4 hours. Did you put the piece through an oven clean cycle before seasoning it?
john, lay off the meth 12 ;) ;)
Used to buy them smooth. Mine were - and I got them over 40 years ago...
I have a Griswold that came smooth as well.
They got lazy now a days and cast them crappy and rough
Yea only reason there not smooth no more is pretty much because people got lazy
you sir did it correctly. I used the stripping disk then went to a random orbit sander and a pneumatic die grinder with sanding disk for the sides but I do have a lot of metalworking tools already. Also used a flap disk on an angle grinder.
Just what I was looking for! Thank you.
No problem. Thanks for stopping by.
Great instructional video. I have done this with an Emeril pan made in China. Came out great and after seasoning is better than Teflon!!
Paul Calabrese thanks for the comment glad to hear you tried this.
Thank you 👍 And thank you very much for the safety advice 😎
i love me a smooth cast iron! Great tutorial
I added too much oil to my new preseasons cast iron skillet. I put the skillet in the oven at 350 for 1 hour. It ‘s surface was very rough.
How do I get it smooth? I don’t have a drill
Wow. Nice job
Great job man. I don't understand why they just don't do it out of the factory. I have a nice 20" when I looked at the finish I couldn't believe they sent them out that rough. It's Lodge, we'll work it. Thanks for sharing your process!
The machining alone costs more than the entire rest of the manufacturing process. You can still buy modern machined cast iron, but you could buy four Lodges for the same price, and even without being machined, a Lodge is still pretty decent.
They were always rough cos they're cast in sand. The seasoning flattens it out. I dont think it's bad that uts rough. So long as its seasoned well it should get smooth.
I use cast iron griddle for a certain south Asian crepe and having an absolute smooth surface makes the crepes come off real easy. This is exactly what I was looking for
I went and bought a new cast iron skillet that isn't made with the pebble blasted surface. Nice and smooth machined surface. Works FAR better than any lodge I've ever owned. (made by Smithey if anyone is interested. It's a bit pricey but damn is it nice.
Good on ya mate for giving credit for your info..
I found my cast iron clan! Looks awesome.
this is exactly the set I have. I like it too, it's great for pan casseroles and almost anything but eggs or other things you don't want to stick. I like it as a dutch oven as well. thx!! I'm gonna use a grinder 80 - 120 flap discs !!!
My eggs never stick but I am getting black flecks. Think I need to remove more.
I have to say, that your finished skillets belong on a Home & Garden magazine cover.. Very nice!
I sanded my lodge pan down on the inside around 10 years ago. It made a HUGE difference. Well worth the effort. I hated it when I first bought it and almost gave it away. Now I use it on my grill, bake with it, make crepes in it, fry eggs over easy with no problem in it, and a whole lot more. They’re great.
Damn that looks awesome! I want my pans to look like that!
Great news. Just follow the instructions. Enjoy.
great video
Killed it on this video! Perfect short instructions. Video quality on point. Audio same. Huge fan right now! Nice job!
Thanks, try it yourself. It changes the way you look at cooking on cast.
I have done this before on the Cast Iron from Lodge and the Wagner Sets you could buy in 1991 up to 1994. These pans had a ton of writing on the bottom but were sadly so rough it was difficult to season those correctly. Since Lodge is the only American made cast iron cookware left now their stuff is as rough as it can be. I used a Lodge Dutch Oven for years on camping trips but eventually got into collecting. When I obtained a few really vintage Wagner, Piqua and Griswold pieces and found out how smooth they were I sold all of my Lodge and New Wagner Ware and started using the old stuff. The old pans and Dutch Ovens were thinner and lighter than the new stuff. Now I only cook in vintage Cast Iron. Your video is a great example of how to Fix the problems created by modern methods of casting Cast Iron. Thank you. I found it very interesting and if someone can't locate or afford vintage cast iron your method is perfect. And thanks for showing people your methods and concerns about a person's health doing this. Great Video and well done with good commentary.
Ron Martin thanks for the comment. I wish I was able to collect but my next purchase will be when I am in Portland. Finex makes some great stuff.
@@ScottCush Good Luck. I don't know if they have Goodwill Stores where you live but I found an old Piqua Skillet last week in one where I live and bought it for $3.99. It is a 10 inch pan and although extremely grimy and crusted with everything you could think of it, but is a great pan. Very smooth and lighter than modern Lodge. I use the Heat method of cleaning cast iron. Self cleaning oven for 3 hours and once it cooled I popped the pan with the heal of my hand and all of the grime just fell off in the sink. If you have a Goodwill Store near you visit it as often as you can. You might find a wonderful old pan or skillet.
@@ronmartin3755 we have second hand stores and I do look. My problem is I can't collect, what I have so far is all I need for cooking.
@@ScottCush OK well thanks for a really good video Scott. I really enjoyed it.
I have this same 2-n-1 set. I sanded mine with an 80 grit sandpaper wheel. I coated it with oil and fried a perfect egg. It didn't stick at all.
Patrick Palombo it will not stick also without sanding it. lol.
Thanks for your sharing and I come from Hong Kong
Just want to thank you for this video. It's really good content.
RJ Sparling no problem. I’m glad it worked for you.
Hi..im from indonesia..i 've used have local craftmanship cast iron..then i had lodge cast iron skillet 10.25 which i bought expensive in Indonesia..it's so good to have lodge..its so much better than local cast iron..i love lodge product..i can cook pizza right on stove top..no oven anymore
I just took the old seasoning off fifteen skillets, sauce pans and dutch ovens I bought at an auction using a lye bath. I'll get some of those diablo discs, I've only found the sixty grit though no forty ones around. Guess I'll have to buy some extra then. I have those rough surfaces you talk about on at least nine cast iron I have.
Pretty awesome! I started looking for videos to see if anyone else had the idea to just use power tools. I used the stripping disc (not the same one but close enough) except I put the disc in a drill press and moved the pan around; much better control I think. I didn't have any sanding discs around so I used my angle grinder with a flapwheel disc. One of my pans is so pitted it looks like the surface of an asteroid, so I just finished at the flapwheel disc. Would like to take it to a machine shop and have them mill it, lol
^Gecko^ drill press sounds intense. Thanks for sharing. I love that you tried it as well. The best surfaces are sanded.
It's not /that/ intense, just the reverse of how you did it Lowered the table completely out of the way, etc.
The sanding marks disappear pretty quickly when you burn some food on there. And then just continue cooking and seasoning it. I had great results with out sanding that much.
Jason Bubley I agree I went farther than I needed to. I enjoyed the results and know if I just stopped earlier it would have been just as good. No regrets though.
I noticed that the dutch ovens I ordered say they was seasoned at the factory, but I plan to season them myself once I get the material I need. I am waiting to receive the skillet which I ordered from the factory, but I know that I am on a waiting list to get it, and have to be patient. I plan on doing the same thing with it and until then my grandmother's skillet will have to do like it has been doing for decades with my family.
Scott - Great video and presentation. I have some Lodge and not really a fan of them (overall). For my home, I use Finex but they don't leave the house. What I've done for my camping pans is I now just keep my eyes open for old Griswold. The quality is night and day compared to Lodge. The amount of work to get them mirror smooth is about 10%...plus they will ALWAYS get smoother than the Lodge. The problem with "new" cast iron is it's porous and porous throughout the thickness. As far as the old cast being sanded before seasoning, that may have been but it's a fact that old cast iron was/is much better than new cast... just ask the wood plane collectors. Take care and thanks for the video.
Coaster Brookie I agree the workmanship of older pans were better. I think the iron quality is the same or better considering all the testing done. The iron pours into whatever surface is set up for it. Today’s iron is cast with sand clay mix and quantity can sacrifice quality. If Le Creuset can make a fairly smooth pan, lodge could as well. Cost is always a factor. Since iron will literally last forever if I do come across a nice pan I will gladly accept it.
I did the Kent Rollins method on my Lodge. It is amazing now! I'm not a power tool pro or anything but it really works! The skillet is such a joy to cook on! I recommend using 60, 80 and 120 grit paper!
+1, @Nunya Biz. As you know, Cowboy Kent Rollins also includes the crucial nuance that instead of going for a full 'mirror finish' -- which creates a seasoning-resistant surface -- one should sand Lodge cast iron enough to greatly reduce (but not completely obliterate) its pebble surface. This approach worked a treat for me. Cowboy Kent is a righteous (ranch) dude! Cook on, Nunya!
@@lilithgrace1175 I'm going to try his method as I have a mouse sander like his. Thanks for confirming his method.
I did mine today with a DA 36, 60, and 80 then corse, medium then fine scotch brite. Fantastically smooth, well worth the effort.
I bough my first Lodge skillet yesterday and sanded it by hand; 60, 120 and 240 grit sand papers! It took a while, but it's a huge difference. Seasoned four times with the oven method, and now it has a pretty decent seasoning.
Great to hear. I stop at 120 now. There is a limit to how too smooth will accept seasoning. Let me know if you lose the seasoning.
@@ScottCush I sanded new lodge with 220 orbital and seasoned twice. It was a blotchy black yellow surface that worked great for about 5 rounds of cooking. Now the seasoning is completely gone on the bottom and it smells like iron again. Any suggestions?
@@sethharrell6463 220 is smoother than I would go. To get a better bond, oven clean cycle, let cool it will turn a dull grey patina. Seasoning will stick to the base afterwards.
@@ScottCush ok; thanks for the tip. ill try that. I'm right on the verge of buying one of those 8" finex skillets. I have a nice large antique skillet already; i was just trying to get a small pan going for eggs etc. Theres also a 6 inch LeCrueset on amazon for 120$ that might work
Thank you for sharing! I've thought about trying this with a fresh skillet. I'm not sure how valuable do the sides of a double cooker is? Does look pretty. I can say from experience that if you just use your rough-ass lodge skillet for 10+ years it becomes smooth.
A friend of mine did that job on a metal lathe securing the pan as you did here. He first did a round carving on the board and drilled a hole on the center to center on the board back a piece of pipe with a flange secured to the board to hold the board with the pan in the lathe chuck. It was a very easy job.
They do what you are describing on newer cast iron to get the ultimate smooth feeling. Congrats, I had to go the second option.
@@ScottCush If I would have the money Scott I would buy the Rolls Royce pan, the cooper made pan. I believe those are still made in Mexico or fly to Chile where cooper is not that expensive. Un gran abrazo mi amigo desde Costa Rica
Thanks Scott did mines yesterday! Seasoned it last night cooked egg over easy and boy did it glide off like butter. Thanks!
My non sanded lodge pan performs the same way.
All of my cast is Lodge. Lodge uses a type of sand to cream the mold for forming their cast products. I’ve never sanded any of them. I’ve found that after three seasoning cycles, theres no problems at all with the rough surface.
Superb, well done that man, long life to you and your pan.
Good info, thanks
I used my angle grinder and a 40 grit flap disk, followed by a mouse sander with 80 grit paper, and then a bit of hand sanding with 120 grit. Took me about 5 minutes with similar results. No vice needed 😀
Glad to hear your method was successful. I came to this by watching others. Do what works for you and eventually the process gets refined.
I just found your video, and I have t say, that right out of the gate, you are a class act. Great of you to give credit where credit is due!... Now back to the video. :-) It is great to see that you are using breathing protection, a short discussion about safe work practices would have been a good thing.
Jeffory Newkirk I did it wrong the first time. Eye and breathing mask were a must. Thanks for the comment.
I did this a couple years ago. Seasoning doesn't stick as well. Comes off easily, even after seasoning it many times before using. I think maybe the newer stuff isn't the same metal content as older pans. I'm going to hit mine with a sand blaster to rough it back up and re-season it. Even when it is working, it isn't any less "non stick" than the original finish, well-seasoned. Looks prettier, though.
I did this to my brand new lodge. No regrets!
Glad to hear it.
I had to do this to my cast iron skillets after a friend's wife ran them though a dish washer. Yes I about crapped a brick. Over 8 years of seasoning gone. Stuff happens now they are a smooth finished so all ended well.
Not everybody understands cast iron. I grew up using stainless steel or Teflon. I would have made the same mistake as your friend’s wife. I didn’t come to appreciate the finer things that our ancestors did and the cooking tools they used until I was on my own, and later as a bride. That was when I started baking bread, home canning. I had acquired a few inexpensive pieces of cast iron and used them a few times and then relegated them to the far corner of my pot and pan cupboard. They had a rough surface and food stuck. Once the internet became a thing, I joined websites with other like minded people and learned about the proper care of cast iron. Then I went to an estate sale and there sat a stack of Wagner ware for $5 per piece!😀. I bought the stack, rusty as it was and got it home, cleaned it, seasoned it and fell in love with cast iron! I wouldn’t hand it off to anyone else to clean! Not even if I took them food for a funeral! I would transfer the to a container that I don’t care if I ever see it again. My 99 cent store sells Tupperware type containers for cold food. Aluminum trays for food to go in the oven. Tell them to keep the container, as a gift! Be careful who you entrust with your precious cast iron. Because really, in someone else’s care, you might never see it again. You’re lucky you got it back.
I have two Lodge skillets (one with lid), and one Stargazer skillet and the Stargazer has a better finish and you can cook better in it, but I can cook in the Lodge skillets also, but the finish is rougher, but nothing which affects it's ability to cook in. I also have two Lodge dutch ovens also (one with legs on it) and have used one to cook with on the stove and the other for cooking with outside and have cooked in one on my stove and was going to use the other one outside when we lost electricity, but we got the power back on before I got to use it. I never sanded my Lodge ironware as I didn't want to damage it and they are still nice for cooking in and I keep them oiled up.
Sidney Mathious good to hear. Thanks for the comment.
I have 2 pieces of Lodge - rough, one piece of Wagner - originally smooth, and a bunch of Chinese pieces - super rough. The Wagner skillet has worked fine for years. I haven't smoothed my Lodge pieces, at least not yet. I have smoothed out my biggest piece - a Chinese 14 inch skllet that had a very rough surface. I left some pores in it. After seasoning, In my opinion, the food came out of the pan more easily, which is the real reason for doing this. It isn't about making these pans beautiful. It's about function.
Get rid of that lead filled Chinese junk
How did you dry, aneal, season it as you were describing? Looks amazing!
I've done it both ways. I've sanded it down extremely smooth.. say 98% smooth like glass with only very deep pits that showed. I've also sanded it for maybe 15-20 mins with a 40 grit then finished with a 220 grit using an orbital sander. From my personal experience of using the two at least 4 times a week, I can say that the quick rough sand is much much better than the glass finish. I cannot for the life of me get the glass to keep seasoning. It'll take seasoning pretty well but it'll lose it quick if I don't maintain it. The rough orbital sander pans have much better hold for seasoning and I can even use a scraper to clean the roughest parts out quickly and easily instead of having to scrub forever or spend 30 mins with a plastic scraper. I've actually repurchased a few pans that I have glass finished just so I could have the better seasoning on the rougher sand job. I can cook just about anything and clean up is quick and easy with a metal scraper that you'd use with something like a flat griddle. I wipe it down or if it's extra nasty I'll wash it then dry it on the stove with a light coat of oil to the point of smoking then turn it off and let it rest until next use. Also I've found with seasoning is it's best to bake on a few super thin layers of some high smoke point oil. I personally like peanut oil since it smells sweet when smoking and doesn't stink as much as others. Do a few cycles of burning off oil. Most would say to let it completely cool but I'm impatient and usually just let it cool for a few mins so I can throw on a new layer and just repeat that for a few hours with maybe 30 mins in between cycles. Once it's done then burn some oil off like you're cooking something (outside because it will get very smokey). You can it to cake up and get nasty and like tar because this creates the final super slick layer that will last forever. I'd recommend using a scraper to pull the layers off and keep it smooth as you can. Down the road if you notice it sticking a little just do a new stovetop burn and it should go back to normal. You can spend hours and hours doing it perfectly but ultimately it's a tool and meant to be used and beat up and abused but also taken care of.
Have you tried the oven cleaning approach to the glass smooth one? My seasoning improved far better after I let the metal heat up hot, and then cool to a grey iron color.
Very good tutorial. Yes, this is exactly how to do it. Lodge has been using coarse sand in their casting molds for some time. It is cheaper, but it produces a bumpy finish that will, at times, cause you to "stub" your spatula when trying to turn something over in the pan. In my opinion, this is a serious manufacturing defect. And that Lodge doesn't even inspect for this condition is woeful. They have even gone to the extent of selling their customers a bill of goods by saying that the bumps are supposed to be there and are needed to hold the seasoning. This is total BS! Just look at the old Griswold and Wagner cast iron pans. They were all ground smooth, and have had no problem in holding seasoning for many, many decades. Kind of a rant here, but you get the idea. The beautiful job that Scott has done on this set of pebbly-rough cast iron is to be admired. I own Griswold, Field (unbelievable stuff!), old SK, and yes Lodge. The 1891 series by Lodge had very smooth interiors and are good pans. If buying new production rough-cast Lodge, you will want to sand them down in order to gain all the benefits of having a good cast iron surface upon which to cook. Just my two cents. Cheers!
Sir, sand has been used for casting molds since ancient times, perhaps since the copper age. The rough surface everyone is commenting on is a designed-in feature to facilitate the in factory post casting seasoning application. The rough surface allows the sprayed on seasoning oil to better adhere to the pan itself. In my experience a well built up seasoned surface becomes smoother with use and time. Happy cooking.
Robert is right. The roughness is to hold the bulk seasoning that’s sprayed on. We as society got lazy with the advent of Teflon and other non stick surfaces. Those ones sold years ago were never preseasoned. People had one or two for a family and everything was cooked in them. They developed a good seasoning fairly quick. We as cheap Americans. We are too lazy and too cheap to buy machined cast iron. It’s making a come back. I love my old skillets and have tried sanding newer lodges down. They work fine out of the box. Sanding them too far will make them not accept seasoning very well.
By not machining them Lodge makes their equipment affordable and then we can machine it smooth ourselves. Besides having a smooth skillet for less money we also learn how to do something for ourselves and take pride in a job well done. You can pass it on to someone and tell them you machined it yourself.
This is 100% correct.
@@kenney9120 I work full time and have other hobbies, as well. I just want to buy a set of smooth cast iron skillets for a reasonable price. Field or Stargazer, it is, apparently. Their selection is pretty limited, though, compared to Lodge.
I popped my lodge in my Ooni pizza oven for 30 minutes and the entire seasoning just came right off! It was nice to start with a complete blank slate to get it just how I wanted.
Wow those turned out beautiful. I wish I'd started my pans like this, because that slick finish really looks amazing.
You can start your pans like this. It takes a bit of elbow grease, an oven clean cycle... they are great. Thanks for the comment.
Nice Job, Thanks
This might be a good project if you want to give it a try. But I've had cast irons for 20 years, and they all work great with just seasoning. Flax seed oil was always something I heard works. Somewhat skeptical, I tried it, and it worked incredibly well. Eggs slide off of it now (no joke!).
I did the same, flax oil seasoning worked well. I also found that wiping my skillet with a thin coat of shortening then using butter, eggs just slide ride off.
@@W4ABNmy first old pan I just got and I scraped off a lot of black lumps but I didnt scrape it fully back or sand it. Now eggs are fine I admit but I'm getting balck felcks and think maybe I need to sand it back now. I should have left the balck crud on it maybe. I also have no oven and not sure the seasoning is being done right. I lightly oiled it put it on the hob till it smoked and the oil looked like it. Soaked in dried up then put another wipe of oil and did that ten times. But its brown not black. Except for the black chunks I couldnt get off. Should I start over and get rid of the balck lumps or just aeson more heavily. Or maybe different oil. I think I used animal fat and ive read that vegetable oil is better. Smokes faster on a lower heat. Also how long am I meant to let it smoke for? I've just done it for maybe five or ten minutes as it got so smokey in the kitchen. Maybe I should do a campfire outside?
Thanks for this! Mine arrives in the mail today and I will be using this method on it
Todays cast iron MUST BE SANDED, it will never get as smooth as my Griswold and Wagner skillets
There's a few companies that make smooth polished cast iron pans in the USA.
Workbench and some clamps, and yeah...I rushed it the first time and didn't wear a mask. I took a shower in my clothes to knock off the shavings, before I took a shower without them. And then a half an hour with q-tips in my nose and ears... Sigh...but now, my favorite two-egg pan is my shiny 6-incher. :) Good vid. Here's yer' upthumb.
Great vid. I also like your sword reviews on your other channel.
Thanks but I think you have the wrong guy in mind over the sword thing.
Thanks for the video
No prob. Learning should be shared.
Thank you very much!
I will try this on one of my pan - wet sanding with water proof sandpaper - to avoid breathing it in.
Nice!
I season mine on my Treager smoker. Oh my…..things taste better!
Wish I had someone to do this to my newer Lodges. I don't have the tools, confidence in my drilling skills or the desire to do it myself but I sure would love it if they were this smooth.
You can do this, I take this to the extreme because I could. Trust yourself or just invest in a machined version. They are just as good. Try Finex.
@@ScottCush I have a Stargazer 10 inch and I love it! I also have two old school Lodges that are fabulous. But I have several newer Lodges I'd love to have polished smooth, a big 15 inch and a chicken fryer. Thanks for the vote of confidence. Maybe I'll treat myself to the tools one of these days and experiment.
@@a_noelle8595 there are a few guys on etsy who sand down brand new Lodge skillets and sells them. I think the price was around $80 or $90 for the 12".
I have a $25 lodge skillet that i seasoned a few times with crisco before using. No problems whatsoever with sticking or cleaning. I think the whole smooth as silk bottom thing is somewhat overrated or just personal preference. I for one am not about to do all that work to get a smoother finish, or spend $100 to $200 on a stargazer.
Shaun Casey I myself spent good money on Finex and it comes down to what your time is worth. I found great satisfaction in both. Good for you in your own journey.
If your using your pan to sear steaks, make burgers and hot dogs etc, then a good seasoning is all you need. What this process does is make a refined surface that will take a carbon seasoning that will allow you to cook fish and eggs in a cast iron pan without any oil like it was a non stick skillet. I am a professional chef with decades of experience with pans.
I too have sanded mine, feels good but its harder to get the patina to cling, it comes off with easily with scour pads. id like to give 180 grit a shot.
juan de la cruz If you have it smoother, try putting it in an oven clean cycle and letting it cool naturally. Then season it again. The metal will turn a greyish color and take on seasoning better.
Unfortunately my oven doesnt have that cycle its old model. Ill try etching it with vinegar; i read from one comment here. hope you can update us once you have your skillets fully seasoned. looking forward to it. cheers!
juan de la cruz they are seasoned in the last shot. I used the method shown by the culinary fanatic in KZhead.
juan do not use scour pads. hot water and paper towel should clean the pan
Good information...
Gosh, those turned out gorgeous ❣. Good job and thank you for sharing; why don't you buy them new and do this (that's a lot of work, many people would pay big 💰 for) and sell them on eBay or wherever. You could sell them right up there with the old vintage smooth cast irons. Just beautiful 😘
There are people that do what you suggest. They don't sell like vintage smooth versions. You would be better off buying a Finex, Stargazer, etc. Thanks for the comment. Anyone with some time and some power-tools can to it.
Thank you for your information any way
Faye Randle what I mean is reword what you just asked.
This is basically the method I use to re-finish pans too. I use a more powerful drill with a handle. I start with sandpaper, the quick strip disc was a waste of money IMO. I remove a lot more material than shown in this vid. All the little bumps telegraph through your seasoning causing sticking. I like to only see the big pits left. With the backing pad you can push really hard and get it to bend into the corners. All those little pits in the corner contribute to stuff I bake sticking.
Thanks for the comment. I agree. The quick strip disc really warmed me up to the pan and I think it was worthwhile for learning.
@Scott Cush the reason Lodge leaves it that way is that their Seasoning process requires them to spray the pans as they are hung this method of doing it requires the surface to be of a rougher texture to hold the oil as it moves down the assembly line to the ovens . Long enough use will even out the seasoning at home but a smoother metal surface takes less time to get that non-stick cooking we all like about Cast Iron
I have watched the videos on how lodge makes their iron. I don’t disagree that the more I use a pan the smoother it becomes. I would say that this process shown here will return to the roots of the cast iron production environment. Lodge makes smoother pans. They also bought a competitor that mills the surface with grooves (Finex). They make a premium model (Blacklock). Seeking to sell people on an idea that it is the same or just cook more on it to make it like the better pans is a bold move. It is a way to charge a bit less but make more inventory. I would say you are right and I also prefer smoother pans. Thanks for the comment.
@@ScottCush Didn't know that i just thought i would point it out because i know messing with the metal on KZhead probably caught you a lot o flack
I've done this for years. My method has no quick-strip disc I use an automotive Dual-Action Air Sander (D/A) and 80-grit. The residual 'pits' that are left over get filled in time with seasoning 'varnish' and use. Then when the seasoning isn't looking good any more and I have to take it down again with 80-grit the pits are filled-in this time and the surface is much smoother. It can end up like a black mirror and completely non-stick.
67dodgepolara thanks for the comment. I like the way you put your comment. Glad you tried it and achieved a great result.
When sanding the elemental advice us to always keep it moving. That is, do not stall over any spot. Old timers just hand sanded the inside bottom of any rough cast skillet or to clean a rusted pan. You need to buy a few quality full sheets of garnet paper and fold them into quarters. That's it. 120 grit is the classic but you can go more coarse to start or finer to finish if you want. But buy 120 if you are only buying one. The crappy garnet paper from Home Depot isn't worth getting. Anything they have isn't like the garnet paper that automobile paint supply houses carry. Mattos used to carry the real thing and probably still do if they haven't closed. You'll know it when you see it. And try it out. Hand work will not remove a ruinous amount from your pan even though it may take patience and time. Good luck!
Glad your project came out. I bought my Lodge skillet 8 about 20 years ago cooked and burnt a lot of stuff then one day burnt something really bad. I waited about a week, scraped the hwll out of it then used a wire wheel then sanded by hand. Reseasoned and it has gotten better and better. Now almost glass smooth. Cooks eggs like a champ. Just was gifted my grandmother's 80 year Wagner #8. Surface looks about the same. Cant wait to cook on it.
Love it. Thanks for the comment.
Love cast iron is in my prenuptuals I get all the iron and keeps the dog