Just about had it with cast iron - help B4 I go back to non-stick! - Page 3

[beanma]

Originally Posted by rhiandmoi

They have cast iron waffle irons. Which are teh awesome.

linky, please?

[allnaturalmom]

Originally Posted by beanma

linky, please?

Here's one:
http://www.amazon.com/Romes-1100-Fas...4750899&sr=8-1

And pass the maple syrup, please... I'm getting hungry! :

ETA: Waffles are great, but soooo labor intensive! Seriously, even back when we used a non-stick iron, they took so long to prepare. Not everyone could eat at the same time if you wanted them fresh off the iron. We just do pancakes. I've got a few griddles and everyone can eat (at least the first course) fresh off the griddles at the same time.
hth

[beanma]

OOooo! Thanks. I was looking a few years ago and couldn't find many.

[Ophelia]

OK, so last week I hadn't cleaned the pan out with water the last time I used it, was able to get the food bits out w/o scraping hardly at all. Made french toast. Didn't stick!
However, this week used my other iron pan (bigger one doesn't get used as much) and the scrambled eggs stuck like mad And I think the last time I used it, I seasoned it with the canola oil shortening then let it dry heat in the oven

Someone suggested boiling water to get the food bits off. It works great! However, isn't that the same as washing out with water, or no? Is it different if I'm not wiping it with a rag? I did that yesterday and it seemed to also take all the shiny seasoning off.

I cooked bacon in my main pan yesterday since that was suggested to get a good seasoning. After I wiped it with paper towel but I can still see bacon bits stuck on there so I'm not sure what to do about that.

If I cook bacon once a week and don't wash with water, will that help get it non-stick?

How do I clean it after cooking hamburger? Just wiping with paper towel wasn't enough.

I know which Pampered Chef scraper was talked about, I could get one. I usually use my metal spatula to scrape. Does it make a diff, plastic vs. metal? But if you think about it, back in the 'old days' they didn't have plastic scrapers.

The other problem with using my bigger pan is, we have a flat-top electric stove and the biggest burner is not big enough to cover the whole bottom of the pan

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by Ophelia

Someone suggested boiling water to get the food bits off. It works great! However, isn't that the same as washing out with water, or no? Is it different if I'm not wiping it with a rag? I did that yesterday and it seemed to also take all the shiny seasoning off.

This is the thing - you need to find what works for you. Like I said way up-thread, I wash my pans with hot water and a scrub brush almost every time. The big reason for this is that I have a thing about cooking in a "dirty" pan - and the lingering greasiness really bothers me (the exception being bacon grease used for eggs or veggies), as does any stuck-on food bits. I absolutely do not use soap, but hot water with a scrub brush to loosen any stuck on bits works really well for me. I do not let the pan sit in water, and I do not let the water sit in the pan for more than the time it takes me to scrub it. The hot water is not enough to strip all the fat off the pan (and strip the seasoning) - but it is enough to get the excess out.

Alternately, you can sprinkle granulated salt into the pan as an abrasive, and use a towel to scrub then wipe out the salt and everything it brings with it (it will absorb some grease). Generally it's a good idea to rinse after this, too, though - or your next dish winds up really salty.

[Pepper44]

I just read this entire thread. I would really like to start using my cast iron pans again, but I was unsure how to clean them after hearing/reading so much conflicting info on how to season and wash them. Some of mine got rusted and they are all waiting in a drawer for me to get them out and love them.

How would you go about seasoning a cast iron pot with a lid? I think maybe it's called a dutch oven? I can't exactly fry bacon in it.

I also wonder how you get hamburger out of a skillet. That was what made me give up on my cast iron. I cooked taco meat in it and then I absolutely could not get it anywhere near clean without using soap. Should I just have used soap and then coated it in oil and let it sit on a burner until it smoked?

[mamadelbosque]

You can season the pan just like anything else - just take the lid off and cook in it like a normal pan. If your pan is totally unseasoned (which I would guess is the case if even hamburgers' sticking to it badly), I'd give it a good coating of oil, stick it in the oven at 350 or so for an hour or so, pull it out let it cool and see how it looks. Maybe do that 2-3x. Then I'd make sure that ANYTHING and EVERYTHING i cooked I put oil in first - butter, olive oil, coconut oil, lard, whatever. Once stuff stops sticking you can eas off on how much oil your using for stuff thats got lots of fan in it already (burger, bacon, etc), but your *always* going ot have to use oil for stuff thats not oily and which you don't want to stick - pancakes, eggs, etc.

[Pepper44]

I am working on getting two of my pans back into cooking order, the big frying pan and the small one. Today I scrubbed them out with hot water and a rough sponge then oiled them and put them upside down in the oven at 400 degrees for an hour or so. I did it over several times.

The big pan has some rust spots showing through. They're not rough, just orange looking but glossed over from being oiled, if that makes sense. Is that bad? I didn't have steel wool or I would have scrubbed with that prior to reseasoning. I was hoping it would just be ok...

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by Pepper44

The big pan has some rust spots showing through. They're not rough, just orange looking but glossed over from being oiled, if that makes sense. Is that bad? I didn't have steel wool or I would have scrubbed with that prior to reseasoning. I was hoping it would just be ok...

Once rust starts it needs to be scrubbed down or it will continue. You have to strip all the orange area down to bare metal and then reseason. Seasoning over the rust will not prevent the rust from spreading.

[mamadelbosque]

Meh, I wouldn't worry too much about the rust *IF* your going to be using these pans on a daily (or nearly daily) basis. I've had bits of rust start on a couple of my pans, but just kept using them like normal and it went away.