How bad is it to exceed max temp rating of cast iron cookware?

[Red Squirrel]

I bought a Lagostina cast iron grill and just realized now the max temp it's rated for is 400F. Most things like chicken call for 450F in the oven. I bought this so I can stop needing to use a regular pan with foil paper as it's wasteful.

Is it really bad to go over the recommendation or is that just a safety margin for whatever seasoning that is already on it and will I be fine to go over?

Edit: Just realized on the link I posted it says 500F but on the box it says 400F so not sure if the one I posted is the one I bought, but just linked to it as an example as it's basically the same thing.

 

[kage69]

Pretty sure that's the zone you want to stay in to retain your seasoning, the iron itself is really hard to damage. Moisture is the enemy there, not so much heat. Unless it turned red glowing hot and you applied stress to it at that point, any cruddy scorch marks and pits is just the patina cooking off. Give it a real cleaning, maybe light scrape or sand, then re season. Start off right, go get yourself a bottle of good quality food grade flaxseed oil. Pick a day when no one else is in the house (assuming you don't live alone). Go 500F and give that iron like 4 or 5 good sessions, don't half ass it. FWIW I do chicken in oven at 425F and no issues.

 

[whm1974]

I think that the melting point of cast iron is much higher then 400F. Why didn't you just get a large cast iron frying pan instead?

 

[Red Squirrel]

Pretty sure that's the zone you want to stay in to retain your seasoning, the iron itself is really hard to damage. Moisture is the enemy there, not so much heat. Unless it turned red glowing hot and you applied stress to it at that point, any cruddy scorch marks and pits is just the patina cooking off. Give it a real cleaning, maybe light scrap or sand, then re season. Start off right, go get yourself a bottle of good quality food grade flaxseed oil. Pick a day when no one else is in the house (assuming you don't live alone). Go 500F and give that iron like 4 or 5 good sessions, don't half ass it. FWIW I do chicken in oven at 425F and no issues.

Yeah I was thinking it was just the seasoning, so I just reseason it then I should be fine? I still need to read up more on proper seasoning. I also have a cast iron pan but don't think I did it right, I used coconut oil since it's what I had but it just made the house super smoky. I will look into this flaxseed oil and see if it's something I can buy here.

 

[IronWing]

Natural gas in air burns at up to 1950 °C (3542 °F) and the flame is directly impinging on the cast iron. A blue flame is 1000°C+.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Actually that's what I find odd, it has a low temp rating yet it says it can be used on a BBQ which is going to get WAY hotter.

Guessing the rating is strictly for the seasoning and not the actual grill. I will probably want to reseason it once in a while anyway.

 

[kage69]

What I use for seasoning cast iron

 

[lxskllr]

I don't worry much about seasoning. I go over it once with olive oil, then let it season naturally through use. I think it's more important to not get carried away cleaning it.

 

[whm1974]

What I use for seasoning cast iron

I don't worry much about seasoning. I go over it once with olive oil, then let it season naturally through use. I think it's more important to not get carried away cleaning it.

I thought lard was the only proper seasoning for cast iron skillets. No veggie or plant oils allowed ever.

 

[lxskllr]

I'm sure elitists have some super special seasoning regimen, but imo, it's unnecessary unless you enjoy seasoning pans. An initial coat of olive oil to inhibit rust, then whatever gets cooked in the pan. Mostly olive oil in my case, but a little pig also.

 

[kage69]

Seasoning with a low smoking point medium is not a good idea. You're getting burnt nasties, and not really much of the dry oil lipid build up you want that makes for wet obsidian like patina. Back when American food stock animals ate more grass than corn, using pork and beef didn't work half bad. Less omegas in those nowadays, for mainstream stuff anyway.

Some oils don't work at all, some work ok, some like flax work beautifully. I've tried 6 or 7 different methods and this works the best. There is a woman who has a website dedicated to this subject, learned about her here too actually. I forget her name and the site it's been so long, but I imagine it's easy to find with a search or two. Def worth your time, she presents some excellent info. Cliffs: flax is the shit, chase it down.

We had a thread about this a number of years ago, for some reason I feel like it was either lxskllr or zin, someone with a z or x in their handle, who used Pam and a wipe down. Going by that lady's data Pam and sprays like it have better than average lipid build up. Going to search it when I have more time later, name of that website might be in that thread. Now I'm curious.

 

[DigDog]

400F for cast iron is ridiculous - cast iron will happily go in a wood oven at temps of 450C = 750F. I would expect cast iron (quick google) to hold easily up to 750C = 1400F, at which temperatures anything you put in it would be vaporized anyway.
Pizza is 400/450C at a cooking time of a couple minutes.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Since the compositions of most cast irons are around the eutectic point (lowest liquid point) of the iron–carbon system, the melting temperatures usually range from 1,150 to 1,200 °C (2,100 to 2,190 °F), which is about 300 °C (540 °F) lower than the melting point of pure iron of 1,535 °C (2,795 °F).

 

[randay]

probly just some bullshit they put on the box so that they dont have to honor warranties.

 

[JEDIYoda]

probly just some bullshit they put on the box so that they dont have to honor warranties.

Rofl, thx for your contribution...rofl...hahaaaaa

 

[whm1974]

Seasoning with a low smoking point medium is not a good idea. You're getting burnt nasties, and not really much of the dry oil lipid build up you want that makes for wet obsidian like patina. Back when American food stock animals ate more grass than corn, using pork and beef didn't work half bad. Less omegas in those nowadays, for mainstream stuff anyway.

Some oils don't work at all, some work ok, some like flax work beautifully. I've tried 6 or 7 different methods and this works the best. There is a woman who has a website dedicated to this subject, learned about her here too actually. I forget her name and the site it's been so long, but I imagine it's easy to find with a search or two. Def worth your time, she presents some excellent info. Cliffs: flax is the shit, chase it down.

We had a thread about this a number of years ago, for some reason I feel like it was either lxskllr or zin, someone with a z or x in their handle, who used Pam and a wipe down. Going by that lady's data Pam and sprays like it have better than average lipid build up. Going to search it when I have more time later, name of that website might be in that thread. Now I'm curious.

Everyone I ever met that regularly cookes with a cast iron skillet always and I mean always uses lard to season their skillets. Both my mother and great grandmother for example will come close to cussing you out for the merely asking why they don't use veggie oils.

 

[whm1974]

Everyone I ever met that regularly cookes with a cast iron skillet always and I mean always uses lard to season their skillets. Both my mother and great grandmother for example will come close to cussing you out for the merely asking why they don't use veggie oils.

However for those of you who are vegetarians and/or from India, feel free to use ghee instead.

Ghee - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Do they use cast iron skillets in India?

 

[Iron Woode]

I bought a Lagostina cast iron grill and just realized now the max temp it's rated for is 400F. Most things like chicken call for 450F in the oven. I bought this so I can stop needing to use a regular pan with foil paper as it's wasteful.

Is it really bad to go over the recommendation or is that just a safety margin for whatever seasoning that is already on it and will I be fine to go over?

Edit: Just realized on the link I posted it says 500F but on the box it says 400F so not sure if the one I posted is the one I bought, but just linked to it as an example as it's basically the same thing.

I am thinking of getting this:

Lodge P14P3 14-Inch Pro Logic Cast-Iron Pizza Pan (Black): Amazon.ca: Home & Kitchen

Lodge P14P3 14-Inch Pro Logic Cast-Iron Pizza Pan (Black): Amazon.ca: Home & Kitchen

www.amazon.ca

 

[Kaido]

I'd imagine that's more of a CYA statement than anything. The only stuff that should really have temperature warnings on it are enameled cast-iron pots that have plastic hands on the top lid, because of the heat ceiling of the handle.

I take my cast-iron skillets up to 1000F on a regular basis without problems, although usually it's more around 600F for doing stuff like smash burgers or searing sous-vide projects.

 

[whm1974]

Ever since I live in my apartment, I own a cast iron skillet that my case manager provided for me when I moved in, and never used.

My mother use to make cornbread sticks using a cast iron pan made for that purpose. I wished I've kept it.

Anyway I think for my first use of the CIS is to bake cornbread. Which I haven't had in a while.

 

[kage69]

Everyone I ever met that regularly cookes with a cast iron skillet always and I mean always uses lard to season their skillets. Both my mother and great grandmother for example will come close to cussing you out for the merely asking why they don't use veggie oils.

Most families have their own way of doing it, and it really comes down to whatever works for you. Having said that, the fact is not all oils handle high heat loads the same, which directly affects the process we're talking about. Seasoning = fat polymerization. Drying oils do it the best, and flaxseed is the only food grade drying oil.

For post cleaning wipe down on warm iron I use whatever is handy; olive oil, avocado oil, bacon fat, whatever, the point is to keep something between the iron and any moisture/air. But for seasoning, it's all about that flax. The difference is noticeable during both cooking and cleaning.

Ha! Found her original blog Sheryl Canter is her name

 

[whm1974]

Most families have their own way of doing it, and it really comes down to whatever works for you. Having said that, the fact is not all oils handle high heat loads the same, which directly affects the process we're talking about. Seasoning = fat polymerization. Drying oils do it the best, and flaxseed is the only food grade drying oil.

For post cleaning wipe down on warm iron I use whatever is handy; olive oil, avocado oil, bacon fat, whatever, the point is to keep something between the iron and any moisture/air. But for seasoning, it's all about that flax. The difference is noticeable during both cooking and cleaning.

Ha! Found that ladies original blog Sheryl Canter is her name

I have never even seen flaxseed oil. And me speaking of lard in earlier post, I haven't seen lard recently in most stores. I have use it before when I brought a 1 lb block of it over at Save A Lot once.

For a while I did some frying with it and I quickly discovered that I preferred butter. Especially for eggs.

 

[randay]

Rofl, thx for your contribution...rofl...hahaaaaa

cant tell if youre being sarcastic or not? what is so funny?