Cast Iron Cooking Help, please!

I've never used a pre-seasoned cast iron pan, so I can't comment on that, but seasoning it is pretty simple. Just coat it with cooking oil and bake at 350* for one hour. Cast iron pans get better with age!

Cast iron takes longer to heat up than a regular frying pan, so make sure you heat it up for several minutes before adding any food to it. I would use the high heat only to sear the burger, then turn down the heat so it doesn't burn.

First of all, you need to season your pan before you start using it. Secondly, I don't know where you read "high heat", but on the Lodge website, it says a cast iron pan rarely has to go above medium heat. In the event that you need a higher temperature to seer your meat, turn the heat down immediately after you put the meat in the pan.

I agree with Vamp and JLF.

First, you have to season your pan. I seasoned my Lodge skillet by cooking bacon in it a few times and wiping it clean. That worked like a charm.

My current cast iron is Le Creuset. I heat that up on medium until the pan gets hot. Then I turn it down to low and start cooking.

To clean a cast iron pan use coarse salt-never use soap, the salt helps to keep it seasoned. Just wipe it out with paper towels.

Thanks so much - I did a google search and a Bobby Flay recipe came up and it said to cook the burger at high. I will definitely season it and then cook it lower next time. Thanks so much for your help. I knew I came to the right place.

Don't use high heat. You don't need to. Burned outside and raw inside is the perfect example of using too high a temp. Sorry you found inaccurate information and ended up with a mess your first time. Just use medium heat and make sure your pan is preheated before adding food. It will naturally season as you cook in it. If you want to grill veggies or other low fat foods then a little fat on a napkin brushed on the raised grill area will help until the pan is fully seasoned.

You don't want to coat a grill pan with oil and bake in the oven. All that will happen is the oil will congeal in the grooves and form a sticky mess. If you want to do a baked seasoning layer in a grill pan, then use a very thin layer of preferably solid fat and then turn the pan upside down so any excess can drip off. It's easiest to do this on your bbq, just put the pan on once your done cooking your next meal. But really, it's easier to just cook in it.

And you want to preheat the pan at the heat level you want to you cook at. Not higher and then turn it down. Cast iron retains heat more than other metals. That heat on high turn down thing works best on responsive metals like copper, aluminum and clad stainess. Not cast iron.

On 11/19/2014 Lisa in VA said:

Thanks so much - I did a google search and a Bobby Flay recipe came up and it said to cook the burger at high. I will definitely season it and then cook it lower next time. Thanks so much for your help. I knew I came to the right place.

Honestly at our house we call him Boy burns food.

On 11/19/2014 jaxs mom said:

On 11/19/2014 Lisa in VA said:

Thanks so much - I did a google search and a Bobby Flay recipe came up and it said to cook the burger at high. I will definitely season it and then cook it lower next time. Thanks so much for your help. I knew I came to the right place.

Honestly at our house we call him Boy burns food.

ITA with Jaxsmom - no need for high heat. You should heat the pan up before putting the food in, but high heat is just not necessary. I'd go somewhere between medium and medium high. Do everything she said and you will have success.

Lodge pans are pre-seasoned, so there is no need to season it right away unless you want to, but I don't use oil either. It just makes the pan tacky. I've used Crisco on mine with much better success - WHEN there is a need to season the pan.