Thoughts on getting my cast iron skillet polished?

youtube.com/watch?v=lI2lWuoMV3I

>Smoother surface = less stick
are you retarded?

what's the benefit of a cast iron skillet over one with a handle that wont burn you if you grab it barehanded.

it will never crack, never come loose and it will never melt and burn if you put your pan in the oven ... or forgot you left it there when you preheat it for your pizza.

Unless the pan is teflon and you're never meant to put it in an oven you should always buy an oven safe pan.

shit i poach onions all the time

>Not always having a dish towel on your person while cooking

why? just season it properly
here's mine after making an omelet

here it is after wiping it clean with paper towel after it sat on the cooktop all day

>Thoughts on getting my cast iron skillet polished?
Totally pointless. I've tried it personally, it makes no difference.

People often look at the rough "as-cast" finish of an iron skillet and think that makes food stick. It doesn't. It's the texture on the microscopic level, which you cannot see, that matters. Visible sand grain in the casing is meaningless with respect to sticking.

Season your pan and use it. Polishing is a waste of time and effort that achieves no benefit.

>I've tried it personally
When you say, "I've...", we understand it is about you.

>rough textures behave the same as smooth textures
>unless it is microscopic
uhhhh okay

>having a dish towel on your person while cooking

>Turns this into a discussion about surface area and wet friction instead of a meme pan discussion

Whooooooo boy

>cu/ck/

If you can do a decent job yourself without spending a bunch on tools that you wouldn't use much otherwise, do it. I assume you're paying someone else, though. How much do they charge? If it's not more than $30, maybe. Lodge pans won't have the best casting to be polished, so it'd be worth it to get a nicer cast iron pan if that's what you're looking at.

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What's your secret? I never have luck seasoning mine.

Not the guy you replied to, but I think if you wanna go the extra mile, season with flaxseed oil.

Are you? Why the fuck would you think a coarser surface would have less stick?
All brands of cast iron, including Lodge, used to grind their pans smooth at the factory. Lodge doesn't anymore (hurp dur dur muh seasoning needs something to stick to!) but it's just bullshit to reduce manufacturing costs. There's a reason why vintage cast iron is prized and it's not because of trumped up hipster bullshit. It's the smooth finish on the pan.

1) Use flaxseed oil or lard
2) Seasoning is literally the polymerization of oils into a plastic-like coating. Tl;dr if your pan isn't heated past the smoke point of your oil, you're not seasoning properly.
If it doesn't smell like burning, smoke your house up, and set off all your smoke detectors, you're not doing it right. I season my cast iron on a gas grill outdoors.

What problems are you having exactly with the pan when cooking with it? Are foods sticking to it? I fry my eggs in a little bit of butter daily and nothing sticks, didn't even bother seasoning it myself, just left the factory seasoning on. Try going for a butter that's grass fed and high fat content, I use Kerrygold. I do fry up and saute using canola oil or evoo too, very rarely have anything stick to the pan.

I never thought about that
good point, might have to go out and get one just for that

I sanded down the cooking surface of mine a while back. Was great (better than unsanded) after seasoning.

i used lard. a very very very fine coat. place in oven with the cooking surface facing down. 350ºf for about an hour

Yes, sticking. It looks like the factory coating was removed on those pics, is this something I should do?

I have a couple Lodge skillets. Should I sand them down as well?

You could also consider getting a carbon steel skillet, which are stamped smooth

>All these cucks paying $20 for a tiny ass bottle of flaxseed oil
Yeah sure, it's high quality and all but I seasoned all mine using peanut oil and mine look just like original user's skillets after making eggs. I was pretty proud with how they all turned out and now I never use anything else to cook.

t. fal

Try frying up eggs with a high fat content butter first, see if it sticks, heat the pan up on medium for a good 2 minutes first. The eggs shouldn't stick even if the seasoning is all messed up and retarded.

Only a retard wouldn't, I wash my hands every time I'm done with raw meat so I dry them. I wipe my knife and cutting board after chopping something pungent. I wipe up little messes I make along the way. And, if course, I never burn my hand because it's the only pot holders I need.

>yfw flaxseed oil and linseed oil are the same thing and I have literally 5 gallons of it because woodworking

If it says boiled linseed oil it's not food safe, it has additives to help it dry, straight linseed oil is totally fine though and you're not going to get wrecked on price by the merchants.