From the Lodge FAQ:

I think cast iron is overated. I like stainless steel. Maybe, I just don't know how to use cast iron

feels smooth and works fine for me :^)

This. Retards get super autistic about cast iron even though one of the main reasons to use it is because of how hard it is to fuck it up.

...

I had a cast iron Dutch oven sitting in storage for a while and I just dug it out.

It's rusted to shit, so I went to town with some steel wool and got most of it off.

The thing, when I went to rinse off the old rust and dust I created from sanding, the metal rusted up again almost instantaneously...even if I dried it down as quickly as possible.

Any ideas?

Use a metal scouring pad on a power drill.

sand and don't rinse..

Wipe out the chips with a (cooking) oily rag.

Im not worried about the old rust...the little tiny spots I missed can be had with some elbow grease I think.

But it's completely covered with dust from sanding...are you saying I just wipe it off with a rag or something?

I was just reading about something like that...probably try it out

>inb4 made my own pan

It looks pretty lame though

>tfw currently reseasoning my grill grates for a burg and dog apocolypse tomorrow

smokey af rn desu senpai, but I know it'll be worth it. they factory seasoning was shit last year, and I'm glad to be rid of it

I've thought about it.

I have some new lodge pans, also I have some old pans from my grandmother. The lodge stuff is porous and old stuff satin smooth, there are circles inside of the old pan where you can see how this was done. They perform equally.

I understand sanding down a bit that sticks out because it's annoying to have a speed bump for your spatula, but it's not advantageous to sand down to glass smooth.

A proper seasoning, regular use and good maintenance are what makes these pans non-stick.

Anyone who sanded down their new cast iron could have just gotten a carbon steel pan.

I didn't want to, but the cheap factory-seasoned skilled I have has been chipping like crazy. The stuff they seasoned it with is hard as nails, but it can't seem to deal with an induction heat source, not even if I try to gradually up the power.

When the bottom started to look like surface of the moon, I grabbed a sander and tried sanding it all away. Been at it for half an hour and most of it is still there. Only the center has a small patch of shiny iron now. I don't know what kind of kryptonite based coating they used to season it, but I think I'm going to need a chisel involved.

Any advice on Dutch ovens? Mine rusted so I sanded and wired them. Tried seasoning with bacon fat but got funky.

>tenth of an inch

>bacon fat
You used to be able to use bacon fat back when pork diets were natural as they had a lot more of the type of fats needed for the season, however with a modern pork diet, the fat content is actually NOT good to use for seasoning.

You want to use Flaxseed. I also will sometimes use Ghee.

Thanks user

get it sand blasted and nickel plated

You need to salt it before you season it.
Number 1 beginner mistake Veeky Forums misses every time.
Explains why we see so many of these threads.

A material as porous as cast iron will have to be sandblasted to get it completely clean again.

Iron is bad for you in the quantities this pan provides. Avoid at all costs.

t. Surgeon General in 20 years

I recently discovered the secret to a really good seasoning - really high heat. I have been using a carbon steel pan for two years now and I used to think I had a pretty good seasoing going - I could make eggs in that pan without any sticking at all. But a few weeks ago I put some canola oil in that pan and let it heat up on the stove while I drank some tea in the next room. Of course I forgot about it and when I came back into the kitchen there were huge white clouds of canola oil billowing out of the pan and the whole kitchen was filled with smoke. I had to put the pan otside to let it cool off and it kept smoking for several minutes. At first I thought the seasoning was ruined because it was all gummy and uneven inside, but after the first time I cooked with it that was gone and all that was left was a completely black, incredibly slick surface, like oiled glass. I had had no idea actual seasoing could be that good. Blue smoke is not hot enough.

Not paying $2.00 for an antique Erie at Goodwill. It's like a mirror, it's so smooth and paper thin...

Best thing I ever did was throw my Lodge cast iron pan in the trash. You're constantly chasing some great pan that jsut isn't there. Either buy a 20 year old one from Goodwill or don't bother.

What are you on about? It's a piece of flat iron that gets hot. The only "coating" is the one you create by cooking stuff on it. If you can't get a good coating it's your fault, not the pan.

Lodge has a precoating of garbage on it, that's why they look like ass compared to a vintage pan.

Just compare
to

>Do you sand your cast iron before you use it?

I've tried it before as an experiment but found it makes zero actual difference.

Sand it if you're a sperg and it triggers your OCD. If you just want to cook with your pan then don't bother.

>it makes zero actual difference
Probably because you're using your CI for what CI is good for. Reddit potatoes, corn bread, no-knead bread, steak, and muh hamboigahs

The reason tards sperg over flax oil and sanding is that they fell for the "cast iron is good for everything" meme, so rather than just buy the tools for the job, they spend 20 hours a week maintaining their old timey frontier cosplay toys so that they can fry eggs almost as well as a teflon pan

>they spend 20 hours a week maintaining their old timey frontier cosplay
Kek, or you get a vintage pan which already has a decent season on it and you simply don't leave it sitting in water.

If you use your cast iron daily, or even every other day, you need do no more maintenance than cooking on it. The best thing you can do with your cast iron is use it, using it protects the season. If you don't use your cast iron that often, you'll end up spending FAR more time maintaining it than someone who uses their cast iron every single day.

>Lodge has a precoating of garbage on it,
That's true, but you can easily just scrub that off with a steel pad and start fresh.

Yea like the OP post is about, just sand it down.

why don't they just make it right before it leaves the factory? I'd be so fucking mad if I bought a lodge pan and had to sand it myself.

Because for basic cast iron purposes it will still work, it's just inferior to a sanded cast iron pan, you can still buy high end cast iron today, that has been sanded in the factory, you'll just be paying $80+ easily when a lodge would run you $20 for the same size.

>why don't they just make it right before it leaves the factory?
They did. There is absoloutley no practical reason for sanding the pan. It makes no difference at all.

The only people who sand pans are those with OCD who have some sort of mental hangup about it.

It would make the pan more expensive, but imo, but not prohibitively so.

It's not like the pan is better for being smoother.

Quite honestly, you want something really smooth and metallic that'll do everything cast iron does, get carbon steel. And the best factory seasoning for cast iron is an enamel you can build upon.

You don't HAVE to sand it down. But the preseason can come off or flake depending on different factors. On thing I've noticed is that while induction is great for cast iron, it'll remove shitty seasoning quick.

No, I'm not saying you need to sand it down. Scrubbing with a steel pad removes the seasoning (coating), it doesn't make the surface smooth. Seasoning will actually make it smooth eventually on its own with enough use.

>no practical reason for sanding the pan

You mean besides for the vastly superior nonstick properties?

Sorry but flaky pitted bottom or smooth sanded bottom, which do you think is gonna stick to food easier? Put the same seasoning on both pans, the one that's sanded will be MUCH more nonstick than the nonsanded pan.

Now that pitted cast iron will EVENTUALLY provide an adequately smooth surface after many many many uses and proper care.

But sanding and applying a fresh season gives you basically the same thing on day 1 instead of 18 months down the line.

>You mean besides for the vastly superior nonstick properties?
He said no PRACTICAL reason

Cast iron's thermal properties are advantageous in exactly the opposite scenarios where nonstick is advantageous

>having a large pan that can be used for multiple purposes is bad

uh okay user, whatever you say.

>You mean besides for the vastly superior nonstick properties?

It makes no difference whatsoever regarding nonstick properties. I've tried it. I've even tried sticking a CI pan on my lathe and facing the bottom perfectly flat. Zero difference whatsoever. Yes, I do own a lathe large enough to turn a 12" cast iron pan with the handle. sticking out.

What you need to be concerned about regarding food sticking is microscopically small irregularities in the surface.

>I can therefore I should
Did you use a keyboard to type that? Lol what a lazy bum, why aren't you pecking out the 1s and 0s on a breadboard using a sharp metal stick?

That's not even a good analogy.

I wouldn't use cast iron for everything, but if what I'm cooking isn't any better in something else I'll probably use my cast iron just to keep the season in good condition.

>salt before season
Explain please? I've got a few pans and would love to know what you're on about.
>no sarcasm intended

Yes, but to be fair it didn't make much of a difference. It's not necessary.

>Year of the Jew 2017
>Still persevering with the cast iron meme

Leave that fragile shit in the stone-age where it belongs. A cast iron skillet is a mark of the ultimate cuck.

>buy old rusty cast iron skillets at flea markets for little to nothing
>sand and season with minimal effort
>resell to hipsters for 10x what you paid

EZ MONEY

I was just about to make a thread, I found a cast iron skillet in my family's home and want to use it but there are parts that are sticky. I washed and dried it very well so it's dry. Still sticky. Do I need to season it? I have some Crisco.

Pic related

It looks like it could use a good season or 3.

Should I try and scrub the sticky parts off before I season it? Also when I was drying it, some black stuff came off onto the cloth. I can take close ups of the pan if necessary.

Take it outside, throw in two handfuls of potato peelings, a heaping table spoon of salt and a real shitload of oil, then heat it to searing hot until the oil smoking white and keep it smoking for ten minutes while constantly stirring. Your seasoning will be perfect

Get a steel pad and thoroughly scrub it with soap and hot water until the ancient sticky seasoning is removed. Heat the wet pan on high heat to completely evaporate all the moisture. Your cast iron has now been reset. Apply a thin coating of oil to the hot pan and spread it around the entire pan. PAN NICE AND HOT. You can also put it in a hot oven to polymerize the oil. Your cast iron now has a basic starter level seasoning. Start cooking with it to build up the seasoning.

>Your cast iron now has a basic starter level seasoning. Start cooking with it to build up the seasoning
With a fresh pan I like to do at least 2 initial seasonings, sometimes 3.

I find it allows for the season to build up better than just a single initial season.

sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/

Flaxseed oil.

Then cook a throwaway batch of hot Italian sausage.

Unless u get a Gris or Wagner or BSR or some other vintage piece, u won't get a glassy surface. U can take a wire wheel and sander to a modern Lodge but I frankly don't see the point. I have 2 smooth Wagners and 1 bumpy Lodge and they all can cook the same stuff without probs.

i've been using this one pan just about daily for eight or nine years that started out with that bumpy surface, it's only just now started to get nice and smooth.

confused canadian most likely

vintage ones were often machined smooth, modern manufacturers leave it rough to save money
that's why they look like ass