Need a New Cast Iron pan

[Vdubchaos]

You don't understand... That lodge coating does not come off with steel wool. Once it starts flaking off you have to remove it all, or else it slowly continues flaking over time and ruins any coating.


Once the stock coating starts flaking it ALL has to be removed. I was able to do this on one of my pans with about 6 hours of work.... Heat to 700f+, then use 120-200 grit sandpaper and wire wheels to grind it off. It's a huge PITA, and not something you can do without specialized tools.

I didn't have to do it and our coating is fine/doesn't flake......yet

 

[NetWareHead]

I dunno why all this hate for factory lodge seasoning? I have several lodge items and they get used heavily. Cast iron is my primary cooking utensil. The pans are yearts old and have been seasoned heavily since day one. Somewhere under all of my added seasoning is the factory original seasoning which has never flaked or failed. I even cook with some very high heat and sear steaks with mine. To each his own I guess,

BTW, sweet griswold waffle iron. Do want!

 

[yuchai]

Have to echo others that the pre-seasoning sucks. It's not even helpful because even when it's brand new you have to re-season otherwise food will stick.

On top of that, you have the flaking issue. Have to agree that you're better off with no seasoning in the first place.

 

[Vdubchaos]

I dunno why all this hate for factory lodge seasoning? I have several lodge items and they get used heavily. Cast iron is my primary cooking utensil. The pans are yearts old and have been seasoned heavily since day one. Somewhere under all of my added seasoning is the factory original seasoning which has never flaked or failed. I even cook with some very high heat and sear steaks with mine. To each his own I guess,

Yep, agreed

 

[SpatiallyAware]

I dunno why all this hate for factory lodge seasoning? I have several lodge items and they get used heavily. Cast iron is my primary cooking utensil. The pans are yearts old and have been seasoned heavily since day one. Somewhere under all of my added seasoning is the factory original seasoning which has never flaked or failed. I even cook with some very high heat and sear steaks with mine. To each his own I guess,

BTW, sweet griswold waffle iron. Do want!

Nope, disagree.


:rolleyes; at vdub.

 

[mnewsham]

at vdub.

wouldn't be the first time, wont be the last time.

 

[Born2bwire]

You don't understand... That lodge coating does not come off with steel wool. Once it starts flaking off you have to remove it all, or else it slowly continues flaking over time and ruins any coating.


Once the stock coating starts flaking it ALL has to be removed. I was able to do this on one of my pans with about 6 hours of work.... Heat to 700f+, then use 120-200 grit sandpaper and wire wheels to grind it off. It's a huge PITA, and not something you can do without specialized tools.

Exactly what happened to mine. I seasoned over the original seasoning and it worked great. But I had in storage for several years when I was living abroad and the seasoning started to flake off (my girlfriend managed to burn off a significant portion too). It's never been able to take a seasoning properly since. I think I'll have to stick it in a huge bed of coals on a grill to burn it all off to the bare steel so I can start again but I don't have any power tools to do the job right. It has been nothing but a pain in the ass. What's worse is that the seasoning on the bottom of the pan has flaked off and surface rust has developed.

 

[NetWareHead]

Exactly what happened to mine. I seasoned over the original seasoning and it worked great. But I had in storage for several years when I was living abroad and the seasoning started to flake off (my girlfriend managed to burn off a significant portion too). It's never been able to take a seasoning properly since. I think I'll have to stick it in a huge bed of coals on a grill to burn it all off to the bare steel so I can start again but I don't have any power tools to do the job right. It has been nothing but a pain in the ass. What's worse is that the seasoning on the bottom of the pan has flaked off and surface rust has developed.

I hear oven cleaner (aka lye) works well. You can google for the exact procedure.

 

[Vdubchaos]

Nope, disagree.


:rolleyes; at vdub.

You can roll your eyes all you want but at the end of the day I still have 1 griddle and 4 Lodge skillets that I use almost on daily basis....with no problems or flaking.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

I've got a Lodge and I'm not totally thrilled with the kind of "matte" finish that is on it. Stuff tends to stick to it more and it's harder to clean than the other pan I have that is 50+ years old and is a smooth surface.

That matte coating is a sprayed on hard chemical coating.

So, you can cook bacon in it for 10-15 times and it won't stick..... But your first 550f steak will cause the factory coating to flake which ruins the pan and the time spent seasoning it.


These lodge skillets are IMHO not usable for high heat searing or frying. 400f or less is ok, that's about it.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

You can roll your eyes all you want but at the end of the day I still have 1 griddle and 4 Lodge skillets that I use almost on daily basis....with no problems or flaking.

Yea not yet....

 

[Vdubchaos]

These lodge skillets are IMHO not usable for high heat searing or frying. 400f or less is ok, that's about it.

You might have a point there. I simply don't cook at those temperatures....

 

[vi edit]

Interesting info here. After a 600+ degree steak cook on the grill with that lodge I mentioned it did come away permanently discolored.

 

[Anubis]

.


These lodge skillets are IMHO not usable for high heat searing or frying. 400f or less is ok, that's about it.

well thats unacceptable as thats like most of the intended use of one

besides buying used, any other options. used ones seemd to be silly expensive

 

[jaedaliu]

Interesting info here. After a 600+ degree steak cook on the grill with that lodge I mentioned it did come away permanently discolored.

I think at those temperatures it doesn't matter what type of seasoning is on there. It's probably going to start burning off.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Buy a lodge, run it through an oven clean cycle, spend a few hours sanding it, then immediately reseason.

 

[Vdubchaos]

I think at those temperatures it doesn't matter what type of seasoning is on there. It's probably going to start burning off.

I was just going to say.....

 

[SpatiallyAware]

I think at those temperatures it doesn't matter what type of seasoning is on there. It's probably going to start burning off.

I use my sanded and reseasoned lodge all the time on my grill at 500-600f to sear steaks and make smashburgers.

 

[NetWareHead]

These lodge skillets are IMHO not usable for high heat searing or frying. 400f or less is ok, that's about it.

Going to have to disagree here. My dad owns a restaurant and uses cast iron lodge pans to sear steaks on a commercial stove. Each burner is between 30-40K BTUs. These burners can bring to boil in an impressively short time.

Starts off with a dry clean pan placed on the burner on high for 5 minutes to preheat, then a steak with some veg oil is placed inside. Flip once and after a few more minutes it's done. Certainly that pan reached well over 400 degrees and this is on the factory seasoning without any problem (pans were never stripped and seasoned from scratch).

 

[SpatiallyAware]

I guarantee that he's already burned off the coating at those temps.

 

[Vdubchaos]

I guarantee that he's already burned off the coating at those temps.

I don't know about that.

when I baked in my seasoning it was at 450 degrees......no coating came off

 

[SpatiallyAware]

With my skillets it happened during the Alton steak process, which is the largest gas burner on high for only a few minutes, dry pan.

The center turned a little blue but seemed ok. The next time I used it, even at low heat, the coating was flaking off in the middle and sticking to the food.

This happened on both skillets. I also have a Dutch oven, and the coating came off after making tomato sauce at low temps.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

I don't know about that.

when I baked in my seasoning it was at 450 degrees......no coating came off

Which is nothing compared to a 30k btu restaurant stove top.

 

[Vdubchaos]

Well, you are not suppose to use anything Acidic on Cast iron for at least a year or 2.

Also, what's stopping you from returning it? Amazon has a great policy.

Personally I see no reason to cook at such high temperature. I prefer to cook my stuff on low, heck NO HEAT AT ALL.

I usually heat up to Medium for few min, turn it down to Low > apply oil and at this point I can simply turn off the heat all together (for eggs at least).

I can wait extra few min for a steak to cook vs cooking at super duper temperatures.....but I don't do steaks often, and when I do, they go on my charcoal grill anyways.

Which is nothing compared to a 30k btu restaurant stove top.

Yes, and he just said his father owns a restaurant with those and has no issues....

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Return it for what? No one else makes cast iron nowadays. I would just end up with another pan with that brittle coating layer.

This coating issue is a well documented problem, and like I said, it is fixable..

I think it's important to warn people before they spend a bunch of time building up the seasoning layer just to have it all flake off due to the shoddy base coating.