How to Polish a New Cast Iron Pan New Cast Iron VS Old Cast Iron
2018 ж. 10 Қаң.
682 549 Рет қаралды
Join us as We take a New Cast Iron Pan and Polish it and Do a Cooking Comparison with an Old Cast Iron Pan. If you Have tools and skills, this is for YOU. Old Cast Iron VS New Cast Iron
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Going to try this process on my wife.
Great video, this will be my next project.
I got a #8 from my mom as a going away present when I was 18 and leaving the nest. I still have the pan. I'm 64 now.
aaaw, thats really sweet ☺️
And you can use it as a weapon if needed.
Damn, that was circa 1970, so long ago
This is a good video, thanks. I remember when Lodge sold GOOD products and not just their name. They actually machined the inside of their cookware and seasoning was a breeze. The new stuff is so rough, it takes for EVER to get a good layer of season to smooth it out. IF ever. I've been at this a long time. Learned to nurture cast iron from mom and her mom, who used to cook on cast for 14 people a day, three times a day, every day (on the farm) because it's all they had all those years ago and also from my time in the family restaurant and others where I worked. Here's a tip or two... If you don't want to use (or don't have) a grill, coat your cast iron with grape seed or peanut oil (high temp oils) and set your oven on 450 and let it go for two hours MINIMUM, then shut it off and let cool down WITHOUT opening the door until it's completely cooled. There will only be a bunch of smoke in the kitchen if you use too much oil or fat!! It only takes a very thin layer... And several of them. At least two for a brand new pan, preferably three if you can work it in when you start cooking. Then, do it one more time. LOL After the grapeseed/peanut oil sesons... The BEST seasoning is with rendered beef lard, (tallow), which is pure, thin and really melds into the pores. VERY thin coats of rendered fat won't smoke up the house and give an even, slick finish. When you cook steaks or burgers, etc. in your pan, after removing the food, get it HOT. If there is some sticky bits, use up to a teaspoon of SALT as an abrasive and scrub around with a WOODEN spatula/spoon, etc. and it won't take much scrubbing. Then just hit it with a quick spray of cold tap water and BAM!!! Your pan is clean. If you got all the sticky stuff clean with the salt scrub, that'll be it. And the salt won't remove or ruin the fresh seasoning job you just did. Then, just dry it with a towel or put on a warm burner for a bit and get it good and dry. What actually happens with a very well seasoned pan is that the natural polymers in the fats and oils will convert to a natural "plastic" type material. This is going to continue to build, layer after layer, until the bottom of the pan feels like a slick plastic instead of anything metal. It's pretty neat, actually. It's that natural polymer that makes it a truly non-stick pan. Once the pan has a few good layers of seasoning, you can wash it in the sink with as much hot, soapy water as you want. But you really won't need to... Once you get that slick, plastic type coating going, just add a little cooking oil be some butter, most of the time, after your bacon and eggs or a steak, it just wipes right out with a paper towel. I don't even wash it. There's nothing LEFT to wash and what residue is left behind just adds another layer of season. Especially if you fry a steak or some burgers or bacon. Other than a screaming infrared grill (that's what they use at a steak house) a really hot cast pan works best on a steak. The secret to a great steak is to finish it in the oven or indirect, high heat. Just sear your seasoned, room-temp steak on the first side for a couple of minutes, no more than three, then flip it and almost immediately transfer the pan into a 350 degree oven for a few minutes, depending on the thickness of the steak. Five minutes is good for a nice, thick rib eye or Porterhouse for med-rare. Less for thinner steaks, longer for more done, etc. You'll get the feel of it fast enough. Then you'll have a steakhouse-like steak and life is good! To finish, I'll de-glaze the hot pan with an ounce or two of red wine or balsamic vinegar (not so much vinegar), scrubbing up the sticky bits, throw in some sliced baby Portabella mushrooms, a good pat of butter and stir on med-high heat until it reduces, then pour that over top of your steak (which should be resting on a warm steak plate *grin*) and you can't tell it wasn't made at the best steakhouse in town. Use some Maitre'd butter (butter with herbs in it) for better results. Oh, and while you're making your sauce in the hot, cast pan, let a pat of that butter melt over your resting steak, as well. Umm.. ya. I know what I'm having for dinner tonight! LOL
You have my mouth drooling!!!
Probably one of the most informative and educational comments I've ever read..two thumbs up for taking the time to share your knowledge with us.👍👍
before you start getting hate comments about sanding cast iron pans I wanted to say it turned out great, I do the same thing to my newer cast iron, I just don't like the texture of the pans, people just don't understand the older pans were smooth and lighter because the factores use to grind them smooth, they say they stopped doing it to help hold the seasoning on the pans but let's face it, they did it to cut cost in production, great job
actually, if your surface is smooth then it will definitely be much more non stick, it will also look a lot better to not have all the texture.
Yes. They sell pans by other companies that come sanded but the cost over $100!
I'd agree with that 100% coming from a foundrymen casting is costly compared to just punched out pans.
@@andrewmcallister4151 Actually smoothing it just gives more surface contact for it to stick more, I mean ya if it's ridiculously ruff then ya knock it down but I think if its a bit rough, then when you season it all the low spots will fill up to the tops of the high spot with seasoning. it will keep the seasoning intact longer. Smooth it all just sits on top easy for the spatula to just scrape it off. just my opinion
Mike Eddleman I grind mine down with a flap disc too. Even smoothed out, They hold a good seasoning. The more you use it, the better it gets.
a lot of people who do not know about cast iron will say your wasting your time. but us old timers no better.. great job my friend
You're absolutely spot on. If you find an authentic old cast iron skillet at a flea market or yard sale, the old ones will be slick smooth on the bottom, and it makes a world of difference. Not only will your food cook better, you can handle it with a spatula and not leave food in the rough texture of the cast iron. Thanks for posting this. Regardless of how you like your surface finish, cast iron is healthier than eating chemical residue from Tefflon/non-stick cookware.
Excellent presentation Backwoods...was finally 'bout endeavor into something Wifey has been asking me to do for past 8yrs maybe more: Refinishing our skillets (Primariy the newer ones which were not sanded smooth prior to seasoning). Major thanks Sir to you and your instructional video because without trial and error, you provided me the precise sanding specs info that i needed to know, and to be honest, major contributing factor for the delay with respect to refinishing. Im now actually looking forward to doing this, Hi Ho Hi Ho, its off to Home-Depot I go!!
This is the video i been hunting for , I sure am glad you made this & showed how & what to do to new Cast iron , thanks a lot for all the work you done & not to drag it out for an hour. Great video ! Thanks again !!
If it was shorter, KZhead would have never suggested it. All they care about is watchin' time these days, so short videos don't get promoted in this genre. Thanks for watching.
Thanks a million! I was wondering how to smooth out the bottom of a new dutch oven. Your method was what I had in mind, but I was unsure of disc type and grit!.
I don't know why I subscribe to your channel! Every video of yours I watch makes me hungry!LOL! Wade
I got a new lodge 10” pan. Will need to grind down the inside like you did in your video. Thanks for the vid that u did it will really help!
That is impressive!! I never knew you needed to strip the store layer off. Thx for sharing.
Very good info. I did this last year to a new lodge skillet that my wife bought for us. It cooked as good as some of my Mothers iron that I inherited ( she got them from her Mother ) and that was just the first seasoning ( I fried eggs as a comparison ). Now after a year of use an egg slides around on it like Teflon. Yes indeed, if you have the tools, or money enough to get them, or borrow them, this technique really works well. Thanks for the vid Bud.
Thanks for making a great video! After finding antique Griswold and Wagner pans in antique shops I realized why my Lodge pans were so hard to use. I have basically done the same thing you did to 12" and a 10" lodge skillets except I removed ALL of the pits from the bottom of the pans and did not polish the sides because I didn't think it was necessary. I don't see any need to go through the extensive "seasoning" process you did because if the pan surface is super smooth and you are using a good fat it will be totally non-stick. "Seasoning" is just the process of filling in the porous holes in the surface of the metal until it becomes smooth. No porous holes = no need for seasoning. I just grind/polish the bottom of the pan down to a mirror, wash it with hot water and soap, throw it on the stove, heat it up until it is good and dry, put a hunk of bacon fat in it and start cooking. Totally non-stick and if necessary I can wash them with soap and water because there is no "seasoning" to wash off. If I do need to wash a pan, just a coating of bacon fat is all that is needed after drying it off. I can take a Lodge skillet from the box to the stovetop in an hour. I have been using these pans for a couple of years and they have performed flawlessly. I have also polished a bunch for relatives and friends and they love them too.
Great video and techniques, Thank You!!!
I appreciate this video, i have one of these. I need to do that too mine.. Awesome video. Thanks for the lesson..
Sir, this is the 3rd video I see on that topic and by far, you reach the most beautiful results. Thanks !
My thoughts as well.
Thanks so much I've been looking for a good way to make my cast iron look new again and hey keep it up
This is the final manufacturing step that most cast iron manufacturers don't do. They leave it to the customer. I think I would just do the bottom surface of the pan sinces that's where most of the cooking occurs. I don't have your patience or the artistic ability to do the sides. I have a flat cast iron griddle that I did this on. It's a major improvement. After seasoning, it's a much better non-stick surface than anything on the market.
Looks perfect! I have been doing my new CI pans like this for quite awhile and I think it is time well spent. thanks for posting👍👍
Another good video. What I love the most about this was the very end your honesty and saying is it even worth it if you don't have the tools. Keep doing what you're doing
FINALLY! Thank you Sir. Someone who understands how cast iron is supposed to be. The manufacturers used to produce a superior product but have become too cheap and lazy and would prefer to sell an inferior product. Thankfully, I inherited my grandmothers' 100 yr. old pans.
Not hating so please don't take it like that. Overall your process is sound. As a professional metal buffer (Truck alum) you need to completely take the surface to the grit your working with before going to a finer grit. Anything you leave like pits, bumps or grinding marks will show and will be 10 times as hard to remove with a finer grit.
Very nice work. Your finished product looks awesome. I just did this process on my new 12" Lodge as well and it turned out great. I used avacado oil.
Back in the day the factories shined up their castings much the same way, grind, sand and file all that iron until it was smooth. Today they pop it out of the mold slap a label on it and ship it. I've done the same to new iron cookware, makes for a much better cooking and cleaning surface.
All those saying that the lodge will "smooth out" with use has clearly never used one for a length of time, or not used a new one. The new ones are SOOOO gritty compared to the old stuff. NOTHING is like the old Wagnerware, Griswold, Butterpat, or even Ausion. (Yes I know the latter is a steel pan) My current wagner #9 from the 40's is like a glass surface. Things will literally slide off of it because it's so smooth. I took it down to metal and reseasoned it and it's SOOO much better than my 15 year old Lodge pan ever was. I put two new ones on the stove and put the lodge up in the cabinet.
c allen so sand your lodge and reseason it. I bought my Lodge 20 years ago and sanded it smooth about 15 years ago. Cooks right alongside my grannies 80 year old Wagner ware
I'll take that lodge off you hands if you dont want it?!😂 Can always use another
I think I'll just use mine frequently and let the seasoning build up it's own. I've heard people say that it's not good to grind it down because it blocks all the pores and doesn't absorb oil like it should. Just going to use mine as is. Haven't had any issues with it, but I'm also not trying to use it like a Teflon pan either. It's a great product, and appreciate that it's made in the USA!
Yeah do that. Thyre made to cook in and use. Not as a sanding project. Use with smooth and it down
I'd just like to congratulate you dude on 17K subscribers. I started watching your channel cause of your older fishing videos and kept watching, never even realize you surpassed 5K! Keep making great content!
You did a fantastic job on the pan AND the video.
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
People would pay twice a much for a smooth version. Thanks for watching.
@@BackwoodsGourmetChannel , people are paying five times as much for new, smooth cast iron right now. Why Lodge won't step up is beyond me!
what to do? Shave or not to shave for the next hot date?
@@BackwoodsGourmetChannel I would!!
@@robertkattner1997 not to shave, that is the answer
40/80 grit with a powered device like a metabo could easily chew right through the entire pan. I use those types of sanders to remove mill scale off welded surfaces, it's extremely easy to punch through the metal itself. Try a much higher grit such as 120 or even 200-ish.
I have no idea why people think they need to sand down the interior of a lodge skillet. The texture has nothing to do with whether the food sticks or not. I bought the exact same pan about two years ago and now I couldn't make food stick to the interior if I wanted to. Wash it in hot soapy water, put the initial cure on it, and then just take care of it. Simple.
Been thinking about doing this for a while. Thanks.
thanks I try ed this it works good
Great job brother, you taught me something!
Nice. I'm going to make smooth my new Lodge. Thanks for the video.
I just got a lodge skillet for Christmas this video is perfect
You confirmed what I'd suspected I'd have to do to get the classic cast iron finish that the old pans are so well-known for. I've seen some people on KZhead go over their pans with sandpaper, but I never thought they looked smooth enough and using seasoning to make up for a rough finish just doesn't give the same results. I never did like the factory finish on the Lodge I bought new a few years ago. Gotta try this now. Thanks for the great video.
I'd like to do this to a couple of my newer pieces of my collection that are still somewhat rough
I enjoy you video's I do a bit of camp cooking this one is good for a northern favorite. Cranberry Chicken 2 lbs. chicken breasts 1 can cranberry sauce 1 cup A Salad Dressing(French is good, Italian is good, Russian is good) 1/2 package Onion soup mix 1 Tbsp corn starch Place ingredients in a baking dish and bake at 350 for 1 hour Serve over rice I cook this in a camp dutch oven
love it ! do mine the same way with a random orbit till they look like a mirror then season 10 times...…. Teflon who ? cool channel man !
I was ready to give you heck for picking up a grinder and sander but the new pan really does look like an old Griswold finish now.
Great job!
My old (inherited) WagnerWare are very smooth ... my new Lodges are not. I thought about doing what you did w/ the Lodges ... thanks for the info ... but I'm a procrastinator. So my solution was Stainless Steel Spatulars and 4-5yrs of cooking and scrapping. You are so right, cast iron is soft ... and SS is harder. They are getting smoother by the day ... may take a few more years though ... I like your pan ... Good Job!!!
That what I do LOL!
I did this several years ago to my Lodge pan. Made a big difference.
Great job on the skillets. I got a 12" Lodge a few years back and it is my "go to" skillet. Thanks for sharing. BTW, I saw the natty in the background. Take care
Mind. Blown. I gotta try this. Worth subscribing.
The rough surface on sand cast Lodge pan consists of peaks and valleys. If you don't have the time and equipment to remove that much metal just get off the sharp peaks and let the valleys fill in with seasoning. In time a metal spatula will glide across the surface much like a machined pan. I have a well conditioned Lodge pan that comes very close to performing like my Stargazer.
This is not a hater rant ,I respect your efforts of you videos to inform. First you failed by spending your money on a Lodge product. Although you showed and demonstrated the importance of a smooth cook surface, bravo! The casting process Lodge uses is too course of medium for two reasons. First a course medium (less dense ) requires less mass to produce the pan saving them money even though you highlighted new is thicker than old. Second less dense means more microscopic porosity resulting in uneven heat distribution, a ring test (sounding like a bell when struck) shows this from turn of the century product versus new. Section (cut in half) a new lodge and an old pan and examine the cross section youll see the quality difference. Thirdly not finishing the cook surface, that saves a lot of money in employees labor costs. Like another commentor has said you can not leave any tooling Mark's on the inside, aka scratches. Hand sand with progressive grits of sandpaper until you get a mirror finish, at least 1000 grit. Holy crap you say, well to get a non stick surface that's what it takes. Eggs are easy but dry a pork chop and see what the clean up is like. My Griswold is at 1500 grit and never gets hotter than 320°F using an Infrared gun to monitor and the naked on fat ring around the pork chops scraps off like hot butter with a THIN stainless steel scraper then it's a paper towel clean off.
I am so grateful I found this channel. First I did you're squirrel recipe with my boys after their first hunt...the BOMB! Never squirrel could taste that good & be that tender...but then...I found this video. I've used cast iron for years...I've become so frustrated with the new ones as they're quality of smoothness was so inferior to that of my old ones but somehow I got the impression doing something like this was sacrilege...a cardinal sin of sorts...well buddy, I got the tools, I got me the skillets & me'z gonna go to town! Thanks for posting this and showing me how to make my CI even better! BIG THUMBS U!!
Liked the video especially your advice at the end. $15 pan, $350 in tools:) I have a lightly used 12" Lodge-really rough. I hand sanded it for a few minutes with 100 then 220 grit-that's all I had on hand. That did seem to remove the high points and I wasn't trying to remove the pits from casting. I'm going to season it in the oven with grape seed oil using the Field Company instructions. Wish me luck.
I had a rusty pan that had been neglected by me (had forgotten it was under the sink for several years lol) and I took a cheap angle grinder with a wire brush to it. Got it way better than it ever had been just with maybe ten minutes of that. I agree it ain't gotta be perfectly smooth, just an improvement over how it comes. Don't need a full machine shop to get something that'll work like it should.
How did the seasoning go?
@@takla3210 It worked very well. All I did is remove the high spots(those that tend to grab) and left the rest of the seasoning on. I've since found that all I really needed to do was to lightly sand and do a stove top seasoning which saved a LOT of time and gas! It worked great after that.
Nice job of milling ! I'm going to re-do some of my modern pans to make them like my old pans. I use lard for seasoning.
I have a bunch of lodge stuff and the only one i REALLY think need polished are the griddle i use for pancakes and stuffn and the wok. Id like those two to be smoother. Everything else seems to work fine with good amount of seasoning.
Love my cast, good job sir.
I love my Dremel multi tool high speed rotary tool. It is put to so many different uses in my model studio and around the house. I use a lot of tungsten carbide bits for carving.
I bought a Dutch oven cast iron pot and didn’t like the finish and used a die grinder with the scotch brite pads attachment. It took a while but it worked.
Found my standby 12" had a hairline crack, so bought one like you did. I'm going to work it smooth like you did and season it with lard in electric stove at 500 a few times. Ill be back with a nice set of ironware!
Found some rudely cast pans at recycle. Pretty much took the same approach and worked out well. Thanks for confirming and encourage folk to search recycle
Please check for lead in a “ find “
Thanks for that concern. I am familiar with the need to test. But a wise alert.
Home run, I'm impressed how well that skillet took seasoning. BTW, you just created the best of both worlds, a new skillet with thicker walls, yet having the polish, seasoning, and performance of the classics.
Don't stress too much on the pits left on the bottom. I picked up a used Lodge 14" pan. After removing the seasoning I found a 3/32 void in the bottom. Digging around in it to see how deep it was, I actually dug deep enough to make an .045 through hole. I could see light through it. After a couple seasonings, it filled and and just looks like a black spot. It doesn't leak and it's flush with the cooking surface. Great video. Thanks for sharing.
I like the smooth finish also. I might be wrong but you was trying to smooth the cast iron not grind out the pits, like others had said that’s the nature of cast iron in pouring it. I’m not sure why some of the viewers would think you needed to mess with trying to fill the pits? The seasoning will fill in the pits and you won’t even know it. You did a great job on showing us how to get that mirror like finish in a short time. God bless!
I strip and polish all my new Lodge. I’ve found that the flap discs dig in a bit to much because the abrasive is so much harder than the iron. What works better for me is a steel wire wheel. Get the twisted strand kind with the thick wires and it works great. Eye and ear protection! A flying broken wire can really hurt.
I use the same method, wire wheels work very well, if used with appropriate safety protection. They are excellent in the bends and corners. They don't gum up when cleaning down old pans to refinish them.
Yes I got the Skills & Tools an I cook with cast iron all the Time !! Grandma & my Mother Taught Me !!!!
THANK YOU!!! Very informative, instructional, and entertaining!!
Thanks much for the demo. Here in West Tn., the old cast iron sells for $3-10 each at flea marts. Lodge is in east Tn.
Very thorough instructions, that was great, thankyou much. And by the way I have two medium cast iron woks That I purchased and plan follow your video to smooth and season them to improve cooking quality.
I So got the skills! Whoooot! Can't wait to get to it!
All cast iron pots & pans should come smooth like that; what are these companies thinking having porous cookware. Good job fixing it.
Lodge intentionally leaves the surface rough on new pans because it's easier for them to preseason the pan in the factory. A pan with a polished, smooth surface is actually more difficult to season and doesn't readily accept the oil like a rough surface with tiny pores.
yes , that is what i am talking about....good job... the pan looks good !.......my dad suggested i do this years ago , but i never got around to it....he showed me some of his old wagner , and other old pans , they were smooth as glass on the cooking surface , and weighed about half as much as the lodge.......i have aquired a lot of the new lodge cast iron cookware over the last few years and i think i will give them the ( backwoods gourmet ) treatment......i just came across your channel yesterday , so i have a lot of watching to do........thanks , allen.
Welcome and thanks for watching. We have much more over on the channel page.
Yup, did the same with my brand new Ronnie Sunshines skillet, took the power tools to it before I'd even used it. It's the right thing to do. Refurbished a rusty dutch oven the same way.
I keep noticing that you and I drink the same cheep beer(I do like good beer too, but I don't like the price). I see one almost every video. I like to drink a few when I cook too... Cheers!
I am a cast iron pan junkie. I have polished many of these and find doing it using a drill press is the easiest way to control pressure and get an even polish. I had to make some mandrels out of long bolts that attach to the grinding tools. I hold the pan up against the tool for much of the process rather than lowering the drill chuck. Works "slick". Too easy to gouge the pans using an angle grinder and impossible in some deep pans like a dutch oven.
Potayto Vs potahto, as-cast Vs smooth, whatever floats your boat. As a metalworker in a family of fine cooks, I've doctored tons of kitchenware including cast iron pots and pans. My Aunt Merla had a huge skillet my Uncle Lyle stole from a CCC camp in the '30's. My dad worked it over 'way before power tools when I was a snoopy kid. He used a piece of broken file and just dressed of the surface roughness from the as-cast surface. He explained to me it was necessary to leave a sprinkling of the original surface "...about like you'd pepper a fried egg." His treatment must have worked because that humongous pan figured into every family gathering 'till I was in my '40's. Flocks of chickens, wagon loads of potatoes, eggs, onions, acres of pancakes, rafts of cornbread, herds of roasts, five moose, barrels of stew, oceans of sauce, etc were cooked in it for 50 years until Aunt Merla passed it down to my cousin who doesn"t cook much. She hangs it on the wall. What used to be a working tool feeding the generations is now a decoration. Tragic. We've had generations of new cooks come along in the family over the years and any new cast iron cookware seems to come to me for treatment. Using a random orbit sander, I dress off the as-cast surface to bare clean-up, working into the fillet and up the sidewall. Then, before oiling, I heat the freshly dressed pan dry to 450 F for an hour or two until a light brown oxide forms. Then I coat the pan with any oil that's handy, usually corn oil or peanut oil and return the pan to the oven for a couple more hours. It's smoky work I perform in my shop's welding rod oven. The seasoning is nothing more than vegetable oil polymerized by heat and oxygen from the air. When bonded to a pan's metal surface, it forms a non-stick surface provided an oil or fat film intervenes to prevent food from sticking. It's an oleophillic film that is for all practical purposes a pigmentless paint. According to family tradition, cast iron pots, pans, and skillets are never washed, merely wiped out. They may be wrinsed and lightly scoured to loosen crusts and build-up but never washed with soap except immediately prior to re-seasoning. That's what's worked for my extended family for many years. From this I draw a single conclusion: smoothed cast iron cookware wipes out cleaner than as-cast pans. Those of you with new cast iron pans faced with conflicting advice should be aware that purists lurk everywhere advocating their WAY as the ONLY WAY suggesting alternatives are for the weak-minded and the un-American. The cast iron cookware nut cases would have you believe your pan (possibly, your life) will be ruined if you don't use the oil from a sacred nut tree harvested at the full moon that grows only in Ceylon on the pan heated in an oven calibrated only in Centigrade. Baloney. If one way doesn't work for you, try another way. It's cast iron. It's durable. They make mining equipment, machine tools, and direct burial pipe from cast iron. Whatever you do to cast iron cookware can be undone with soap, water, and elbow grease. You can't screw it up unless you crack it. Another point is factory "polishing" - dressing smooth the as-cast cooking surfaces of an iron pan - adds to the cost. Marketers have a long history of claiming mythical advantages for cost-cutting decisions but in fact, cast iron pans dressed smooth perform better. It's significant that only low cost pans are offered as-cast whereas the higher end pans have long been polished, even machined. Lodge makes good cast iron cookwasre but it performs better whenthe rough cast surface is dressed smooth. Seasoning doesn't last forever in working pans; years sometimes but not forever. Those who would have you believe otherwise never worked their pans to full potential. If the seasoning fails, scour it out and re-season. Another point is, this is an imperfect world. You might stick an omlet. A batch of chili conqueso or spaghetti sauce may strip your seasoning. It's not the end of the world. It's business as usual with cast iron cookware. Cuss it, then fix it. Another tip: non-stick pans are delicate. Their non-stick properties fade with time until they are just another pan. The simplest solution is to figure on replacing them and send the old one to Vinnie's. A way to prolong their life is to treat them like cast iron: never wash them. Wipe them out and NEVER heat them to oil's smoke point (400 F). Do not use them to sear meat. I have a cheap non-stick omlet pan that I've never washed that must be three years old and it still releases runny, bubbly toasted cheese sandwiches.
Nice job. Just purchased 1 12in and 1 grill skillet. 1st time using cast. Season both twice. Hopefully I will get caught up using them all time time.
My great grandfather cast his own cast iron cookware & they were / still are smoother than babies behind on the inside. he had a special tool he used on them while they were still hot - I wish they were still made the 'old' way
I know people complain about lodge finish, I didn't like it at first when I got into cast iron. But after putting seasoning on it and cooking a few times potatoes, stakes, chicken, bacon. The eggs slide off the pan. I use butter or olive oil. No issues. If I get another new lodge, I wouldn't mind that finish knowing what I know now. I know the smooth finish is nice. I have a 40s Wagner that finish is nice. But the lodge can do the same.
Great information thank you very much...☮️
I do like the smooth bottom skillets like my single notch Lodge but my modern stuff works great too
I think it's alot more fun to strip and refinish old or brand new pans rather than buying one that's already been done for you.
I have old unnamed cast iron pans, old Lodge cast iron pans, and new Lodge cast iron pans. The new Lodge pans, even though they come pre Seasoned they are not nearly ready to be used easily. I don't worry about any pre seasoning that they have done. FirstI get the inside bottom of the pan smooth. I retreat it myself with peanut oil. In addition to making the pan, non-stick treatment is a Rust Preventative. In humid areas, those pants can rust very easily. Also, avoid cooking tomatoes in a new pan. If you use tomatoes in a well sesond pan, clean and dry the pan immediately when you are done serving.
Excellent video 👍🏼👍🏼
I use angle grinder from Harbor Freight for ( 15 bucks) with 50 grit on bad spots but mostly a air powered 3 inch DA sander with 320 grit then season a bunch of times in the oven with flax seed oil. I only use cast iron and nothing sticks. A drop or two of oil to coat and a little butter and omelettes slide around. Love it
Opinions on cast iron are as varied and heated as opinions on guns. Ha! I use sanding flap disks on cast iron as well, though I stop right before a mirror finish. I realize - though I have a cabinet of really nice steel pans - that I pretty much use only my cast iron (unless I boil water for soup or pasta.) On a side note: I love that pan with legs you have hanging on the wall. Nice vids.
New subscriber here! Would love to know the names of the grinder and polisher attachments so I can go pick them up and give some treatment to one of my newer pans. Thanks!
Good Job I also douce out my pan's..with a wire wheel on a grinder..... BUT THE PLASTIC SPATULA AS GOT TO GO.... keep up the good work..
Most folks yell at me a bout using metal in cast iron. Use what you what, that's my conclusion. My Grandma never used a plastic tool in her whole life.
Thanks for the video. I recently came into 3 new lodge skillets and they're rougher than a cob compared to my old skillets. I'll try out your method. Do you ever use the old long handled steel skillets. I've used them over a wood fire and over a propane camp stove and found them to be great for frying. They're light and you can handle them over a fire without gloves.
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Like your skillet with the raised groves in it I’m grinding them out so I can actually use it more but safety first put your guard on your grinder . We want to keep watching your great videos buddy
This will not work with a guard on your grinder. Tried it. Safety third on this and use common sense and some safety glasses and a dust mask. Anyone that is worried about their safety in doing this should go buy an antique pan.
+Backwoods Gourmet Channel lol, uh-oh busted by a safety nanny! you're right BG, some country-boy common sense goes a long way! if you ever start putting a bunch of blah-blah safety tips in your vids, they'd get boring and take away from what you're trying to show us, which is the reason i and your other faithful subscribers keep watching & learning. morons that have no common sense are on their own imo. my family likes your style just the way it is or we never would've subscribed. ignore the critics & the haters and keep right on making them just like you always have and we'll all always keep watching. thanks for another great instructional vid, i learned alot from it
That was very informative I can see from the stack of cast iron pans I have I've got about 3 days work cut out for me LOL
I bought a new Lodge 10" skillet about 2 years ago, I am still learning tricks and tips on how to use it. But i season it everytime after i use it and some foods still stick pretty good. I have found that if i cook eggs on a higher temp then they dont stick nearly as bad. I just recently found that the food is even less likely to stick if the pan is smooth than rough. The video is awesome and I will have to try this with mine to see if it helps any.
Your food will be much less likely to stick if you allow your pan and oil to preheat properly. You'll want to start heating up the pan WITHOUT oil. Then when the pan is hot, add in the oil and wait for the oil to heat up. Then once the oil is nice and hot you can add your food. Following this procedure of proper pre-heating goes a long way toward preventing sticking. It's coincidentally why your eggs don't stick on high heat, because it brings it up to temp before they're done. You can get that same effect on medium or low so long as you preheat properly first.
@@iPodTouchNinja5 the lodge pans come with a rough finish and that doesn't help not sticking. I've tried turning my heat up and it kept sticking until I sanded the pan flat and reseasoned
I collect and use cast iron all the time. Some of my favorite pieces are well over 100 years old. I've probably seasoned 1000 pieces of iron. Yet I've never done it on my Weber. Why? BECAUSE I'M A FRIGGIN MORON I GUESS! It just never occurred to me. Thank's now I've got a new excuse to hang around outside around my grill and drink beer! My Weber won't stay lit without constant tending with a beer in my hand. It didn't say anything about that in the instructions... but it's true.
I think I am gonna pick up a Field pan. They look awesome
Tell them you heard about it here on the Backwoods gourmet Channel. They do not sponsor me, but I would like them to.
I have 2. A #8 & #10. Well worth the price. Fantastic pans.
i would recommend washing the pan between polishing and seasoning.
thank u
Good video. I also prefer smooth and have more CI than I need, but that's another topic. What I do is when I am warming up my BBQ gas grill, I pick a few pans that need a tune up, give a micro oil and stick them in the cold grill, close it up and crank it up til ready to cook. Pull them out, pile on heat proof table and cover with folded blanket to cool slowly. Pile so no cooking surfaces are touching anything. Will leave some in if I can cook on one side and let them cool down right in the grill when done. Really spiffs them up.
I love this channel, Q: what gauge is the sheet metal that you cook on ? . By the way I just got a five piece iron skillet lodge set, and the Sportsmens Grill thank you for your content🤙🏼
Been using. Cast iron sense the fifties great video
some people have guitars on the wall, this guy has cast pans on the wall.....a real dedication
I might do this if I bought a used one at a thrift shop but new, the sandy texture works fine. I do scrub off the factory seasoning and do my own.
I did the same thing with my Pie Iron but used a small air grinder worked Great
Thanks for watching.
I’ve done this to all of mine. Figured it out when I was younger. New pans felt like Braille and everything stuck to them.
Spoonerisms are great!