Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!:
Did you read the post I made? The guys at Cook's Illustrated actually recommend it before doing the flaxseed seasoning. Those guys know their shit and are famously well-researched and practiced.
I'm going to give it a try. My fvorite cast iron skillet is in need and with cold weather upon us it is time to turn my eyes toward indoor cooking.
Still skeptical, but trusting in FMB and Cooks Illustrated. [Reply]
Originally Posted by RJ:
I'm going to give it a try. My fvorite cast iron skillet is in need and with cold weather upon us it is time to turn my eyes toward indoor cooking.
Still skeptical, but trusting in FMB and Cooks Illustrated.
FMB is pretty passionate about cooking, I think his advice is sound as well. Oven cleaner is designed for high heat surfaces, so it does make sense. [Reply]
Originally Posted by RJ:
I'm going to give it a try. My fvorite cast iron skillet is in need and with cold weather upon us it is time to turn my eyes toward indoor cooking.
Still skeptical, but trusting in FMB and Cooks Illustrated.
Take pics of the process, if you think about it. :-)
I'm going to try it, as well, probably in December between a business trip and Christmas. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!:
Did you read the post I made? The guys at Cook's Illustrated actually recommend it before doing the flaxseed seasoning. Those guys know their shit and are famously well-researched and practiced.
They admit they know nothing about non-Yankee cooking. Hell, they add liquid smoke to recipes. Did you see the episode where they were trying to smoke a pork butt? Ridiculous. [Reply]
Okay, the project is underway. Attached are four pics:
1. The pan starting out.
2. The pan after 30 minutes of easy off and being scrubbed out with hot soapy water.
3. The pan after being in a 200 degree oven for 15 minutes.
4. The pan after the flaxseed oil coating, right before going into the oven.
It is in the oven now, will report back later on tonight how the first coat went!
Very light coat of Flaxseed oil, and the oil is not very dark. Will see how it turns out after the oven.
Old CI pans are better than the new ones cuz they used to mill down the rough texture on the cooking surface. Too much labor & expense for modern-day companies, so now they just leave the cooking surface as rough as the mold it came from. Eventually, a metal spatula will shave down the roughness (never use a plastic spatula on cast iron). Here's what I do to cheat on the seasoning process... take a grinder to the cooking surface of a cheap CI pan. Use ever-diminishing grit sizes till you have a smooth, shiny surface. Then just season as you normally do. This method turns a cheap, modern-day CI pan into one just as good as the old ones... gets a coupla years head start on developing a slick, glassy, stick-free surface. When cooking, let 'em get really hot before you put anything in them. Ain't no non-stick material on there to burn & it develops a totally even temp across the surface.
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Dang! That Duck dude is some kinda intelligentsia genious kinda guy!" But you're wrong. I've gone vegan & veggies don't seem to care if they're on an evenly-heated, smooth, glassy, stick-free surface. Meat, on the other hand, totally loves a well-seasoned cast iron pan. You degenerate carnivores would be well-served using my method of preparing cast iron for cooking meat. Might as well enjoy yourselves now, cuz you won't get to heaven destroying the planet & being mean to animals. Won't be nothin' but vegans up there. Maybe a few 7th Day Adventists & assorted Mormons. Wonder if we can eat meat once we're up there? Maybe a fat BLT with heirloom tomatoes... [Reply]
Interesting tips. Been reading a lot of stuff online, seems like there are many ways to get it done. Some of the pans I have have not been used in years, my grandma pretty much just used one pan the last years of her life, the rest she stored, and they do not appeared to be seasoned anymore. No real rust either. I am going to get some flaxseed oil tomorrow, get the rust off, and see if I can't get these pans back to life. [Reply]
Here they are, in varying conditions. Leaning towards doing the oven cleaner to get them stripped and cleaned real good, and then spend the next few weeks doing 4-5 rounds of seasoning on them with some flaxseed oil. Would love some advice from the experts though, even though these pans have not be used in years, they were my grandmas, and I would really like to do them right, not only to get them nice again, but to cook some good food in them too.
Got my bottle of flaxseed oil from whole foods. 20 bucks for a 24 oz. bottle. Hopefully that will be enough. I have six skillets to do, but am going to do one all the way through before I do the others. [Reply]
The hour in the oven is done. Oven is off, time for the two hour cool-down.
FYI, the oven smoked pretty good for the first 10-15 minutes, but did not smoke at all after that. I turned on our attic fan since it was relatively warm outside, so that helped quite a bit. [Reply]
Just took the cast iron out of the oven, still a little warm, but it has been in the turned off oven for over two hours. Not as dark as a fully seasoned skillet, but the surface sure does feel smooth. I think after four more rounds of seasoning, all is going to be good. Here is a pic.
Will probably try to do round 2 of seasoning on Tuesday when I get home from work.
