Pre-seasoned Lodge cast iron griddle sticking!

[quelindo]

I just bought a pre-seasoned Lodge cast iron griddle and, following directions, rinsed it with plain water, dried it, oiled it, and heated it up before making French toast on it. And the French toast TOTALLY stuck! I was so bummed.

What did I do wrong? And how can I fix it?

[peverroad]

After using it a few times it gets more nonstick. I always spray pam in it and put a little salt and that usually keeps things from sticking

[rozzie'sma]

I have noticed there pre-seasoned isn't all that well seasoned. I would season it. Rub it down with oil and bake it in the oven

[icxcnika]

+

Did you fry the french toast in some kind of oil? I fry french toast in a hot cast iron pan with a pat of butter melted in the pan first, and it doesn't stick. If it's not hot enough before I put the french toast in, or if I don't use some kind of oil/butter, it would stick. I also agree that the seasoning and "non-stickiness" of the pan will get better over time. Fry lots of oily things in it!

[quelindo]

Originally Posted by icxcnika

Did you fry the french toast in some kind of oil? I fry french toast in a hot cast iron pan with a pat of butter melted in the pan first, and it doesn't stick. If it's not hot enough before I put the french toast in, or if I don't use some kind of oil/butter, it would stick. I also agree that the seasoning and "non-stickiness" of the pan will get better over time. Fry lots of oily things in it!

Well, I oiled the griddle and then heated it up. The French toast mixture was actually made from almond butter and rice milk, so it wasn't very oily. I guess I was hoping to make pancakes, etc. that aren't oily without having them stick to the pan.

I did oil it up and put in a 350 degree oven for an hour, so we'll see if that helps. DH is going to try making pancakes on it tomorrow.

[rareimer]

yeah you definitely need to oil the pan before you cook something. but i found i even had to do that with the teflon stuff when i was using it too.

i re-seasoned my lodge pan when i got it...it just didn't look very well-seasoned to me. and it's gotten much better with time--all cast iron needs to be broken in.

[icxcnika]

+
How did the pancakes turn out? I fry mine in butter too, LOL.

[quelindo]

I seasoned the pan in the oven, DH made pancakes using LOTS of oil (and they turned out fine, though maybe a bit gooey in the middle), and now the griddle is nicely black and smooth but not tacky (like it was right after I seasoned it). So maybe it just needed to be broken in!

[Rebecca]

I bought one a couple months ago. I found you need a lot more oil initially than you'd use when frying in teflon or stainless steel. The problem I have when making pancakes or french toast is that the middle of the pan is much hotter than the edges, so they don't cook evenly. They will actually burn in the middle and be very light on the outer edges. : I really thought cast iron would heat evenly.