Kitchen

[olewoman]

im an ole woman from the mountains i have a large collection from my grandmother down to me so for.I pour a lot of oil in my pans.just let them sit for week until pan soaks in all the oil.when they need seasoned again i do the same thing over again.you can take the most rusted cast iron pan found at garage sales for almost nothing bring home get some kind of dish pan or something sit pan or pot in pan buy cheapest kind of cooking you can find cover the pan in oil put away for few weeks it will be just like knew.i have let them sit covered in oil in my basement for weeks the longer the better.

[chickenbutt]

I just wanted to add - I know that you see people on tv talking about high heat all the time and I just don't get it. I've been cooking since before most of them were born and there really is never a need for high heat. They could take the 'high' off of my stove and I wouldn't miss it.

Well, one thing - I live at 5,000 feet above sea level so it practically takes an act of Congress (and we know that's not going to happen - ha!) to get water to boil. So I would put a very large pot on the stove to boil water and put it up pretty high.

Other than that, you can sauté or sear or anything without ever using high heat. It's all in the type of pan you choose for any given task and heating up the pan before putting the food in it.

[Biftu]

I've had my Lodge cast iron skillet for over a year and things still stick. I know Lodge says the pans are pre-seasoned, but surely not enough. I do season mine with Crisco and it helps. How long does it really take to get cast iron truly seasoned?

[jaxs mom]

On 11/19/2014 chickenbutt said:

I just wanted to add - I know that you see people on tv talking about high heat all the time and I just don't get it. I've been cooking since before most of them were born and there really is never a need for high heat. They could take the 'high' off of my stove and I wouldn't miss it.

Well, one thing - I live at 5,000 feet above sea level so it practically takes an act of Congress (and we know that's not going to happen - ha!) to get water to boil. So I would put a very large pot on the stove to boil water and put it up pretty high.

Other than that, you can sauté or sear or anything without ever using high heat. It's all in the type of pan you choose for any given task and heating up the pan before putting the food in it.

LOL at the act of congress. I'm not at quite as high of elevation but I hear you on boiling water, it's one of the few things I use high heat for.

I think professional chefs often say use high heat because they are cooking in more responsive metal pans like aluminum. When the pan will cool down in less than a minute you can get away with that. But cast iron is not responsive in that way it holds it's heat for a long time. Which has it's own benefits of certain cooking tasks but isn't best suited for others.

[jaxs mom]

On 11/19/2014 MFitz said: I've had my Lodge cast iron skillet for over a year and things still stick. I know Lodge says the pans are pre-seasoned, but surely not enough. I do season mine with Crisco and it helps. How long does it really take to get cast iron truly seasoned?

It depends on what you're cooking in it. Fatty foods will season the pan faster. Also the more you use it, the faster it seasons. As far as sticking, there is one other thing, food will stick if it's not cooked enough to release, especially proteins or foods with high natural sugars. Don't try and move the food. Let it sit there and cook until it naturally releases from the pan.

[peaceful1968]

I was so excited about buying my Lodge Cast Iron pan, but had issues like yourself with burning and high heat.

Here is a really good article that helped me out!

www.seriouseats.com/2014/11/the-truth-about-cast-iron.html

Hope this helps!!

[Lisa now in AZ]

Thanks for the article, peaceful - it did give me some better ideas on how to treat it. It looks like the flat pan would be easier to reseason than the one with the ridges,but I think I have a good idea how to move forward. Thanks again to all of you who helped. And LOL about Bobby Flay = Boy burns food!