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amyable
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| Posted: May 13 2007 at 9:01am | IP Logged
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I've had a cast iron skillet for many years. I never use it because, despite reading many websites on its care, I can't seem to clean/season it right.
I need to talk to real ladies, in real trenches (kitchens!) - if you use these, give me nitty gritty details on use and cleaning, especially for a pan that is relatively new. My dh used it today to make me bacon, and now it's up to me to clean/put away.
Today all I did was fill the house with smoke in trying to reseason and the pan still doesn't look right. Not that I know what it should look like!
Help!
and
Happy Mother's Day to you!
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Amy
mom of 5, ages 6-16, and happy wife of 
The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler
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Elizabeth
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| Posted: May 13 2007 at 9:41am | IP Logged
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It should look black. I can't write a bunch now because I need to go make breakfast for dh and get out the door. But, since it's mother's day I wanted to share a memory you brought back. One year, when I was about ten, I saw cast iron skillets in the store. They were silvery-gray. I was horrified to think of ours at home--all black. For mother's day, I spent about two hours the night before, scrubbing and scouring my mom's skillet to return it to its former pristine condition. She was  and probably  but she hid it fairly well. 
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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PDyer
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| Posted: May 13 2007 at 9:57am | IP Logged
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I don't know if this is the 'right' care and feeding of a a cast iron pan, but for what it's worth...after cooking bacon I sprinkle the pan with coarse salt and scrub with a stiff scrub brush, rinsing with hot tap water periodically until the pan is clean, then dry it with a paper towel. Then I spray the pan with olive oil from my pump sprayer and let it sit on the stove for a bit to 'soak'. When I'm done with all the other kitchen duties I wipe the excess oil from the pan and put it away.
I have Lodge cookware, so I've tried to follow their instructions: Lodge Cast Iron FAQ
I adore my cast iron cookware and I have my eye their Dutch ovens....or maybe a Grill/Griddle...oh dear, I need to stop looking. 
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Patty
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stefoodie
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| Posted: May 13 2007 at 10:13am | IP Logged
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I do exactly as the Lodge FAQ says. *Love* my cast iron skillet and grill/griddle. The Dutch oven has been on my list but haven't had a major reason yet to buy it -- maybe this year, as my beloved Le Creuset's enamel is getting sticky !, and I don't want to spend the $ on another one. Plus the Dutch oven looks really great for camp cookery!! 
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stef
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Betsy
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+JMJ+
This is the web site that I turn to will all my questions. It gives a great run down of what to do and how to season.
Betsy
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chicken lady
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| Posted: May 13 2007 at 3:06pm | IP Logged
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I use cast iron follow the beforementioned links they are good regardless of the brand!
BTW....I lOVE my Dutch Oven, well worth the money!!!
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: May 13 2007 at 3:31pm | IP Logged
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I scrub under hot running water with a scrub brush.. then put it on the stove and heat it up to dry it.. then while still hot wipe with oil.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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Rachel May
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I do the same as Jodie. I've recently started using my skillet as a pizza pan.  Before that, I ONLY ever cooked tortillas/quesadillas on it.
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Rachel
Thomas and Anthony (10), Maria (8), Charles (6), Cecilia (5), James (3), and Joseph (1)
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juststartn
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| Posted: May 14 2007 at 9:23am | IP Logged
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Well, we cook bacon in ours. LOTS of bacon. And after it has cooled down, we use a paper towel, wipe it down, all up the sides of the insides of the pan, until it is nice and shiny (but not drippy, if that makes any sense).
To start off the seasoning process? Hm. Start out with a hard grease--bacon grease, lard, vegetable shortening--Dh says that he would use the first two over the last hands down, except in a pinch.
Here are his instructions:
Wash the heck out of the thing. Get the oven hot, put the pan in, get it hot. Rub it down with some of the grease/lard, inside and out, and then put it back in the oven. Do this three or four times, getting it heated back up each time.
His key was to NEVER EVER EVER use liquid oils or fats to season it (like olive, vegetable, etc, oils). If you can, find a good metal canteen cup, and use it to collect your bacon grease in for a while (this is what we do), then season your pans with it. Not to mention cook with it. Whenever you cook in your cast iron pan, use a hard solid grease, if the food is not grease producing on its own (ie, if you are making eggs, use some of the bacon grease, unless you have JUST made a big batch of bacon beforehand, cwim?).
HTH
Rachel
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amyable
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| Posted: May 14 2007 at 3:30pm | IP Logged
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Thank you everyone - I had actually been to one of the websites linked, but *misread* the directions which is what filled my house with smoke!  I will read and re-read the websites and your advice and see what I can do for my poor 'ol pan.
(Elizabeth, your story made me )
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Amy
mom of 5, ages 6-16, and happy wife of
The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Cast Iron Pans - help!
