Fairchild#17
I think it's more personal thing the washing not washing the coffee cup, pot, etc, or how you clean your cast iron pan.. I like it the way it is and it works for me, others can leave it alone don't concern them. Some folks are clean or neat freaks, sorry I don't fall into that category. I'm ok with with grabbing the tin cup off the branch by the hand pump rising it and using it, then hang it back up for the next person. Some folks have to have their water bottle shipped in sterile from some foreign mountain spring?? personal choice...I don't care to let other use certain knives I have. That is one of my weird things.
I've cleaned my cast iron lots of times with beach sand, in a gravel drive way, hand full of dry leave or grass. Once ya wipe it out with paper towel it's all good.

Mac

Use that thing for a drownder on your trap,and get a Teflon pan.

I read Teflon kills brain cells, boco. You must lick the pan.

I know what you lick.

Haha

So that's what happened to Canada, now we know lol...

I prefer flaxseed oil, makes a sweet coating. Google it you will find cheryl cantors method. Heat pan at 200 or so. Pull from oven and. Turn oven up to (correction 400-450) , coat pan. Wipe it ALL off. Cook for one hour. Shut stove off and walk away. If youre getting blotchy spots youre not getting it all off. Check at 15mn and wipe again if u have issues.

If its a new pan. Its rough as a heck! Grind it. That is the ONLY difference from vintage wagners/griswalds to todays lodges. The old school cast is smooth! I took an orbital to 800 (start with the grinder, finish with orbital finish around 360 grit). 800 is tooooo smooth lol! factory lodges are waaaaay to rough!

I took a sngle grinder to one. Was able to fry up an egg with ZERO seasoning! Theres a good video on grinding. And at the end he does the same thing. U can swirl eggs better than any non stick or properly seasoned ss pans doing this!

I followed this and it came out exactly like this. For grinding. He also has a good video showing seasoning. There is a faster method of grinding using the advanti pro stripping wheel. But a grinder works well. Just watch the corners. The advanti wheel makes getting tge corners simple!


The egg cookings toward the end.
Grinding vid
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pVmCglTZWT8

the biggest myth/missconception in cast iron cookware is that seasoning makes it non stick!

Seasoning keeps it from rusting and nothing more. As you build layers you are essentially.....smoothing out the surface!!!

Start smooth and keep the seasoning thin!

When I get a new piece of cast iron, the first thing I do is smooth the roughness out of it with one of those round grit impregnated sponges that you put in a drill. They're used for removing paint. Grind that sucker down to bare metal. Will take about 20 min. Try to get it as smooth as possible. Wash it out really good. Preheat oven to 350. Put in oven for 2-3 min to dry completely. Use olive oil, lard, bacon fat, crisco and apply a THIN coat in your pan. Put in oven UPSIDE DOWN for 1 hour. Take out and apply another THIN coat and put back in oven UPSIDE DOWN for 30-45 min. Repeat 3-4 times. The oil applied must be thin. Let cool and you will have the best non-stick surface you've ever seen. Never wash with soap, just wipe out with a damp cloth. For really crusty burnt on crap, heat up on stove and run HOT water from tap in it. Wipe out with damp cloth.

Fwiw.... Your seasoning isnt making it non stick!!! Lol. You can cook on bare steel once you grind it!

Aint buying it Tradbow.

When mine is seasoned well it's pretty non stick. When I wash it, things stick (eggs)...even with oil in the pan. Cook with it awhile and it becomes pretty darn non stick again.

Just my experience using my old, hand me down, cast iron pans.

I agree with Calvin. I need to wash mine every now and then. When I do, it's crappy. I never learn my lesson. Lol.

New pans suck for at least two years. Use everyday till it gets nonstick

Calvin. Watch tthe video. I have cooked eggs on bare steel with a shot of pam. Smooth as butter! He does the same thing!

New pans suck because they are corser than 36 grit toliet paper lolol!!!

For the most part, but wipe it down with cooking oil after and you good.