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Iron skillet....is it ruined???


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Dug out my old thrift shop buys, two skillets, an 8 inch and an 11 inch. Both had a wierd plasticky residue on them. After a lot of steel wool work they are beginning to come around. I read above that veg. oil leaves a residue - could that be the crud that was on these? So glad I have lard, chicken fat, and/or beef tallow to season. I have been missing my iron frying pans sorely.

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I've read that correctly seasoned cast iron does have an almost plastic-feeling to the coating because of chemical changes after the heat. But...not anything thick and certainly not anything sticky. I think I'd always get back down to iron and start the seasoning over if I had a used pan. I'd definitely do it if it was "pre-seasoned"....since I don't trust those words. :grinning-smiley-044:

 

Good luck Kappy! They are worth the effort!

 

MtRider :frying pan:

Edited by Mt_Rider
brain and fingers are NOT coordinating!
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Last year I stripped a skillet back to the bare bottom with a lye bath. Worked a treat and I could build up a good seasoning again.

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Whoa......Christy that's a good idea. I've had a small campfire dutch oven that has never been totally cleaned. Any details I should know for doing it with the lye method. Other than be careful of the lye, of course.

 

Would you believe I left a burner on while drying one of my cast iron pans.....AGAIN :gaah: yesterday. Forgot it AGAIN....tho I was going to be standing right there. Yeah, sure. Next thing I know I'm smelling it from the bedroom and there is smoke. Course with cast iron, I never actually burn the house down......IT JUST SMELLS THAT WAY. :banghead:

 

So I started over getting a new season.....after torching most of it off the inside AGAIN. My poor pans take a lot of abuse. Only ones I dare use cuz I can't hold a thot in a basket. :groooansmileyf: I made popcorn in that pan, the old fashioned way. It does begin a season and I get popcorn.

 

MtRider .....AGAIN? :ph34r:

Edited by Mt_Rider
KAINT TYP NEETHER
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:)

 

I was aware of the dangers of lye but saw no other way to make it better again.

Followed instructions of a group for Cast Iron wares on FB.

Door to the kitchen open and extraction fan on full blast and me peering from behind the door ;)

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So glad Im not the only one! Im scrubbing just to be sure and starting over. I suspect it IS residue...neither my old iron skillet I had when first married (sorry I ever gave it to someone ) nor my mothers iron fry pan felt that way and they were nicely seasoned. I miss my iron, that is why I snatched these up from the thrift shop. Nothing ever quite worked as well for my scratch made hash browns...and I want something I can use to put in the oven, or cook over an open fire with equal impunity. Then I have to dig my new camp Dutch oven out of storage (I got one with feet) and season THAT, too. Gotta have a way to make Bean Hole Beans off grid, of course! Not to mention baking in it to pacify cranky friends & family with fresh cinnamon rolls....

 

Pre-seasoned, Mr Rider, is almost as bad a term for me as 'nonstick' coating. Not easy trying to find cookware anymore at a reasonable price without one or the other. I cook like everyone's Grandma, and I want her pots & pans as well. I have a collection of enamelware pots started as well....when I can find them.

Edited by kappydell
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Yeah, I like emamelware too. But they are better to look at than to use. Pretty! But one chip and it's done for....sooner or later it will rust thru. The old stuff was made SO MUCH MORE DURABLE! I've got an heirloom dish pan....large. I'm really careful of it but it's lasted at least 3 generations without chipping. :happy0203:

 

My other must-have is a decent selection of stainless steel. Bowls. Sauce pots. etc. NOT for frying unless it's a sticky, fruit or tomato something. I have one SS fry pan for that purpose only. Otherwise all fry pans are cast iron!!!

 

Really, I've collected everything at thrift stores and garage sales for the past 20 yrs. Pretty much started over after returning from Maui. I don't have any thing on my cookware/bakeware wishlist except a couple larger campfire dutch ovens. I have anything else I need to cook from scratch, etc.

 

MtRider ...yeah, if we cook like our Grma's we need tools like that had. Good point, Kappy. :cook:

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talk about old fashioned....remember 'agatized' wood bowls? They lasted almost forever. I just ordered a set of mixing bowls & a salad set. It turns out the company that makes them is from Sheboygan Wisconsin, about 30 miles from where I used to live. Who'd a thunk it? I loved my mothers salad set and I think dad is still using it...after over 60 years! Decided I wanted some of those to replace all the plastic stuff that I despise so much, yet am too cheap to just toss it out! (Now I have an excuse to donate to the thrift shop myself)

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I've found that because I use my cast iron skillets etc., every day, I don't bother with "seasoning". I give them a good hot soapy scrub with my "jute" scrubbie (I crochet them for myself) scald/rinse it with my kitchen sink sprayer, dry it, sit it on the burner to just hot enouh I can feel it under my hand, turn off the burner, wipe it down with some olive oil, sit it in the oven and it's ready for my next day's cooking. As for granite ware (enamel ware) I use it in my Sun Oven and in the travel trailer. If it chips you can buy the enamel touch up paint for stove tops and give it a dab. My other must have is my stainless steel cookware.

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I've found that because I use my cast iron skillets etc., every day, I don't bother with "seasoning". I give them a good hot soapy scrub with my "jute" scrubbie (I crochet them for myself) scald/rinse it with my kitchen sink sprayer, dry it, sit it on the burner to just hot enouh I can feel it under my hand, turn off the burner, wipe it down with some olive oil, sit it in the oven and it's ready for my next day's cooking. As for granite ware (enamel ware) I use it in my Sun Oven and in the travel trailer. If it chips you can buy the enamel touch up paint for stove tops and give it a dab. My other must have is my stainless steel cookware.

 

 

:sigh: THAT'S the part I keep failing at. I get distracted for 2 seconds and **BLINK** :yar: Once you really toast them back to silver.....ya gotta start the season AGAIN! But it doesn't take long when you're using them every day. SURE DOES STINK the house tho! Auuuggghh!

 

 

AND WE2......I did not know about enamel touch up paint for stove tops. I'm going to keep that in mind. Wonder if I could repair the cute set of light blue graniteware sauce pans I have? Rarely see that color. Doubt the patch would match but ....white?

 

MtRider ...love learning new things here! :gathering:

Edited by Mt_Rider
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If we burn trash (mostly wood and cardboard), do I need to worry about the possibility of cast iron cracking if I put it down in the coals? I have a few pieces from my MIL I need to completely strip and season. Might give her a heart attack if she pops her head out while I'm doing it, though!

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Dug out my old thrift shop buys, two skillets, an 8 inch and an 11 inch. Both had a wierd plasticky residue on them. After a lot of steel wool work they are beginning to come around. I read above that veg. oil leaves a residue - could that be the crud that was on these? So glad I have lard, chicken fat, and/or beef tallow to season. I have been missing my iron frying pans sorely.

 

Mine have gotten sticky when I've used veg oil OR didn't bake the lard/tallow in long enough.

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I just thot of something, Kappy. Since a lot of folks don't know how to get a good season on those pans, maybe that's why so many end up in garage sales and thrift stores.

 

MtRider :)

That's the one Miks, plus they're heavy and nobody around to teach folks how to properly use them.

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I just thot of something, Kappy. Since a lot of folks don't know how to get a good season on those pans, maybe that's why so many end up in garage sales and thrift stores.

 

MtRider :)

That's the one Miks, plus they're heavy and nobody around to teach folks how to properly use them.

 

 

oh well, that makes them more affordable for me. Unfortunate tho. maybe my preppers group would like a cast iron class.....

Edited by kappydell
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