Lodge Cast Iron Pans

Do they need to be seasoned?and if so how should they be seasoned?

Here,s how I season mine Jeff. When new, heat up on the stove and put in cooking oil and turn on medium low for about 15 minutes to let the oil soak into the pores of the cast iron then let cool down and wipe clean with a paper towel or dishcloth. The first time you use it and maybe the second too it may stick but the important thing is I never use dish soap. I clean mine by heating the pan up really hot on the stove until the oil almost smokes, ya the food in it too. I then while the pan is very hot, put it under hot water coming out of the tap too keep it from cooling down too quickly and swirl the pan so the water hits the sides etc.

I then can use a copper or brass scouring pad or whatever and scrub to get the food off. Then I rinse the pan until its clean and reheat the pan on the stove to sterilize it. When I do it this way the food never sticks and I don’t re oil it too collect dust before putting it away until next use. After doing it this way you should be good to go. Using dish soap takes the oil out of the pores and it will stick every time.

I believe they are.
Should be plenty along soon with seasoning tips-they’d know better than I, I’m not the greatest at it.

You can put a couple table spoons of vegetable shortening in the pan and bake at 500 degrees. Smokes alot so also can use grill outside.

Lodge is preseasoned. Be sure to keep them that way by never using soap to clean.

some lodge are pre seasoned and the older were not. I take cooking lard and smear it all over the pan. Fire up Weber kettle get it good and hot. put pan upside wait until coal go out. Then get some of the greases bacon you can find, fry that in the bottom of pan. Throw the bacon away or feed it to the dog let that grease sit in the bottom of pan for a day or two then heat it up and wipe it out. Nothing will stick in that pan again. DON’T EVER USE SOAP TO CLEAN AGAIN, JUST WIPE IT OUT WITH A PAPER TOWEL.

This the only cookware we cook in

Take cast iron pan put in plastic bag spray it with easy off tie bag shut let sit over night. Rinse in just water use green brill or copper scrubber if needed. Preheat oven to 225. Rub crisco over entire pan put in oven for 30 minutes. Remove pan wipe off any excess crisco pan should look shiny. Put back in oven 30 minutes then remove. Pan is now seasoned. High heat 500 etc. Turns the oils to a sticky substance does not season. Cooking off in fire at uncontrolled heat can crack cast iron also. My cook ware cleans up with paper towel or hot water and scrubber. To dry put on hi heat evaporate water rub crisco or canola spray on it . I re season once a year as wife will use soap at some point. Lol we have thrown away ceramic junk and most of the Teflon stuff.
Mwal

Contrary to popular belief, soap will not ruin a proper seasoning. I don’t always use soap, but hot, soapy water and a plastic scrubber have never ruined a seasoning for me. The seasoning is not just a thin film of oil that can be washed off, it’s polymerized oil–tough stuff.

Mwal’s got good advice. Another bit I might add is the best way to season is through lots of use!

mwal wrote:

Take cast iron pan put in plastic bag spray it with easy off tie bag shut let sit over night. Rinse in just water use green brill or copper scrubber if needed.

You’re talking about EZ Off oven cleaner, right? I’ll mention that this works really well to clean up gross, old pans. I have an old Griswold pan I found at our cabin that probably had 60+ years of crud on it. Some oven cleaner and scrubbing has it looking like a new pan!

Best way i’ve found:

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Ralph Wiggum wrote:

Contrary to popular belief, soap will not ruin a proper seasoning. I don’t always use soap, but hot, soapy water and a plastic scrubber have never ruined a seasoning for me. The seasoning is not just a thin film of oil that can be washed off, it’s polymerized oil–tough stuff.

I mentioned the soap thing not as much that it will take off the seasoning, but that the introduction of soap can impart a soapy taste to the food on the next fry. To some degree, it probably depends on the fragrances of the soap itself, but something to be considered anyway.

I also use just a paper towel to clean out but sometimes you get some crusty bits that will not let loose. Got a chain-mail type of scrubber from Amazon that works pretty well for those stubborn bits.

Dry table salt used as a scrubbing compound will cut away stuck on crud also.

So I bought two seasoned Lodge Cast iron pans, one I placed grease in and brought up to temp then cooled and cleaned worked perfect.
The second one after listening to the FW who expressed her concerns about the smoke form doing the first pan. I then decided to try cooking bacon in it.

Well I left the bacon cook,and it stuck to the bottom of the pan, I let the grease cool,reheated it and cleanded it with hot water and a rag. So I now have one nice shiny Cast Iron pan, and one that has bacon residue visible after it dried.

Whats the best cleaning option on Pan #2

Thanks

AKA/Rookie C.Iron Chef

Did you put the bacon in when the pan was rippin hot or cold? Always heat that pan up to about 375 degrees before putting food in it. Helps prevent sticking. But as to cleaning, just use one of the methods listed above. Salt rub is probably the best. Don’t worry too much about small bits. Adds character to the pan. But Lodge also makes hard plastic scrapers that work well too.

Some people avoid metal utensils, but I don’t. When I get something stuck, I scrape it with a metal spatula.

All I know is it was a battle to get my wife to understand the way I clean the pan and to get her to still trust food off of it.

I have used soap on mine. Probably only once. The seasoning is still good and I did not notice an after taste.

My mom recently gave me a cast iron set her great grandmother had used. Amazing how well they look/cook

Jonesy wrote:

My mom recently gave me a cast iron set her great grandmother had used. Amazing how well they look/cook

Score! I always keep my eyes peeled for cheap, old CI at garage sales. Even if it looks like hell, it’s easy to return to it’s glory.

Jonesy wrote:

All I know is it was a battle to get my wife to understand the way I clean the pan and to get her to still trust food off of it.

My wife stays away from my cast iron, and for someone as anal-retentive as myself, that’s a good thing!

Opening Menu;

Italian sausage stuffed portabella Mushrooms,
with chopped garlic,jalapenos,onions,and celery
smothered in a homemade tomato sauce,
and a little Mexican cheese blend on top.

Thanks for all the Advice

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Good thread here. Will be trying out Stu’s “fire treatment” this spring on an old timer I used to use for shorelunch. (Thanks again, Stu for sending photos)

Some will disagree, but you can also put them in a self-cleaning oven. I was skeptical till I tried it. Works like a charm.

BTW don’t use just any oil Peanut oil is the best, if unavailable you can use vegetable or canola oil. Never use olive oil for cast iron when seasoning or frying fish it will burn. For cleaning I add some water and bring the pan to a boil, let it cool a bit and then rub with scotch brite or something similar. After cleaning put some oil on a say a paper towel and rub cast iron frying pan with it, leaving a thin film on the pan.

in our church kitchen there’s a set of #12’s, must be 40 years old or more. They are really nice, have a really good carbon build up and are as nonstick as you will ever see. I have a couple #10’s saved from the father-in-laws garage which came out of a WWII mess kit, they were rusted as heck, but I brought them back. You form an attachment to them, and if I catch the FW putting them into the dishwater, look out!

joc wrote:

Never use olive oil for cast iron when seasoning or frying fish it will burn.

Extra light olive oil is fine, but extra virgin olive oil has a pretty low smoke point.