Posted on 08/15/2020 7:58:08 PM PDT by HonkyTonkMan
I have several pieces of Lodge cast iron. I use it mostly for cooking over an open fire while camping. I’ve noticed the rough texture and heard other brands mentioned as having a better factory finish. I’ve been considering taking a sander to mine, smoothing, virtually polishing the inside, the re-seasoning. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
Agree. We have family 100 plus year old cast iron— the old heavy kind that were originally seasoned (the proper way slow in an oven) and never allowed to have water sitting in them, to pit them.
From the very first and over the years, the pans have a cover of black shiny seasoned baked in oil that creates a real non-stick surface. Black shiny surface that covers the pan bottom— no pores and no moisture can get through.
Memories of Nana cooking salmon croquettes at a low consistent even temperature-— getting wonderfully crispy.
That’s another thing— the cast iron pans of those days were evenly cast... heat is dispersed evenly across the bottom and sides.
Use your cast iron for everything. Just run it through the dishwasher like anything and use again.
Also have a large Scanpan ceramic non-stick large skillet. It has been great. Excellent durability and heat distribution.
I would never buy a "set" of anything though because you get a lot of what you don't want as a compromise and don't get what you really want.
Bkmk
It’s hard to beat the price of Lodge cast iron pans. You’re right, though. For them to be non-stick they have to be really well seasoned. If they are not, good luck getting the gunk off them.
I seasoned mine with flaxseed oil. I coated them lightly, but completely and put in the oven, then let them cool. Then I repeated the process 6 times. Now they are smooth as a baby’s butt. And they have a nice glossy finish.
Are you being ignorant or mischievous? Do not run cast iron pans through the dishwasher. That’s almost a surefire way to ruin them.
Cast iron. I had your same opinion on nonstick, but then when i got it seasoned right, and learned how to operate it, it’s as good as any nonstick.
And I’ve never had a non-stick that lasted more than a short time.
Probably the closest to a success in a non-stick was a costco set.
LOL, great minds think alike!
I have cast iron, carbon steel, and stainless fry pans, each for their different characteristics (none of them expensive versions); for a nonstick pan, I wanted a non-teflon surface because of the toxicity risks; turns out none of the options can be expected to last a long time; I chose an inexpensive ceramic finish (that surprised me because it felt rough) from a discount store, expecting to replace it every so often, and have been exceedingly happy with it. It was made by Oster, and I think I paid all of $12 for it.
“heat is dispersed evenly across the bottom and sides.”
If you pre-heat your cast iron pans in the oven, you will get heat evenly dispersed. My burners don’t heat evenly. I bought a laser thermometer and measured a 10” skillet when heated the stove. Temperature across the bottom of the pan varied as much as 30 degrees.
He is going to need a slicer.
Field brand cast iron. Polished to a T. I love mine but it wasn’t cheap.
Here's a YouTube homesteader doing exactly that... https://youtu.be/VMxzAtQai5k "Making cheap cast iron work better than teflon"
“I’ve been considering taking a sander to mine, smoothing, virtually polishing the inside, the re-seasoning. Anyone have any thoughts on this?”
Yes. Be sure to start seasoning them immediately after sanding. It doesn’t take much time for cast iron to rust in spots where the seasoning has been removed.
We’re still using our Wolfgang Puck stainless cookware we purchased over 15 years ago, on a daily basis. I don’t think you can beat stainless for daily use. And no worrying about scratching or dangerous coatings in your food. We avoid all Teflon cookware and utensils. Stainless cleans up really well if you use a little water and a flat bottom wooden spoon on it immediately after removing cooked food.
Yeah— that is the wonder of the really old cast, truly heavy cast (no bubbles inside the metal) iron pans. Uniformity of temperature.
Have never cooked on an induction stovetop with pans designed to be used with the induction system— but they claim precise and uniform heating.
Nothing quite like gas cooking on real old cast iron or high end pro cooking pans.
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