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I do just about everything except pasta in either bare or enameled iron these days, whichever is better for the given task.
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Jan 31, 2022 08:16
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I have a vintage enamelled le creuset roasting pan and it's pretty great. Thing is probably at least 30 years old (and about as many kg heavy) and the enamel hasn't broken down yet. I've had some cheap poo poo where it's broken down within a couple of uses, though.
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Jan 31, 2022 12:18
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Nettle Soup posted:I have a vintage enamelled le creuset roasting pan and it's pretty great. Thing is probably at least 30 years old (and about as many kg heavy) and the enamel hasn't broken down yet. Anyone know if re-enamelling is possible? I've had a Le Creuset  for years now & recently noticed a couple of tiny dings in the enamel. There should still be plenty of life in it yet, so I'd like to see if it can be saved.
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Feb 2, 2022 20:45
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The roasting pan I was talking about has been dropped at some point and has a small crack in it and a chunk taken out of the enamel and it's still ok, if that helps at all. It's not really on the cooking surface though. It's possible, but I dunno how much it would cost. Most of the time it's fine to just keep using it and just season the iron where it chipped. On another note, I bought a carbon steel wok yesterday! That's gonna be fun to season! Nettle Soup fucked around with this message at 21:08 on Feb 2, 2022 |
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Feb 2, 2022 20:58
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Frazzbo posted:Anyone know if re-enamelling is possible? I've had a Le Creuset https://www.lecreuset.com/warranty.html#castiron
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Feb 2, 2022 21:30
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Merci!
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Feb 3, 2022 17:10
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I'd like to take a minute to say that induction and cast iron is the best parts of the 19th and 21st century.
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Feb 15, 2022 02:00
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i got some brandani cast iron pans at TJ maxx a year or two ago, a huge one and a tiny one, and I wish I'd gone back and bought a fuller set because they have become my favorite pans. they have a smooth finish and the huge one is juuuust lightweight enough to toss food and to hold the pan just slightly above the cast iron stove for 3-4 minutes to sear a steak on ultra high without triggering the thermal shutdown on the induction cooktop. I need to make a jig to hold it just above the stove but still in the induction zone
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Feb 20, 2022 14:10
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Anyone have experience cleaning up/restoring nickel-plated cast iron cookware? Picked up this neato c. 1920's Wagner skillet at the antique store a couple weeks ago. The cooking surface is in great shape (and is not plated - it either never was or the plating there has rubbed off), but the plated exterior is pretty grody. Advice online for the most part says abrasive scrubbers/polishes are bad and lye is good. I suppose I can pick up some soft brushes and scrapers and get more info on whether copper wool would be appropriate. I would like to avoid having to deal with lye, but would go there if I have to. An aside: for abrasive scrubbing tools (for use on cast iron that is not nickel-plated or enameled), is anyone else a fan of pumice? I think I like pumice more than steel wool for stripping seasoning or removing gummy buildup.
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Feb 25, 2022 22:06
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I would run it through an oven clean cycle first to burn off any seasoning and then see what you're dealing with.
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Feb 25, 2022 22:21
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If I had an oven clean cycle I would do that (forgot to mention that that wasn't an option). My oven is such a piece of poo poo 
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Feb 25, 2022 22:48
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Queen Victorian posted:If I had an oven clean cycle I would do that (forgot to mention that that wasn't an option). My oven is such a piece of poo poo Do you have a friend with an oven clean cycle? it will reduce that stuck on seasoning to dust and save you a lot of time. Short of that, I'd try a wire wheel, though I'm not sure what will do to the nickel.
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Feb 25, 2022 22:51
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Found a great free cast iron pan on the street today. It was flaking like crazy, both otherwise perfectly intact. After cleaning it and reseasoning it pretty thoroughly, the bottom of the pan is still tinted brownish reddish. Is this pan hosed?
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Apr 12, 2022 02:36
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What did you use to clean it?
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Apr 12, 2022 03:20
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Do you mean the bottom as in the side that sits on the burner? Don’t worry about it
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Apr 12, 2022 04:34
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The bottom is completely brownish red, but also the inside has several large brownish red splotches.TITTIEKISSER69 posted:What did you use to clean it? Baking soda paste to scrub off all the flaking and rusted bits. Splash of vinegar to completely strip it. Canola oil thinly coated, then baked for an hour. Then repeated the canola oil bake again. Maybe I’ll have to start over? Or If I goofed up, that sucks but at least it was free.
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Apr 12, 2022 11:45
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Take some pictures?
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Apr 12, 2022 11:56
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Nettle Soup posted:Take some pictures? Here’s what the inside looks like  And here is it next too my 8 year old cast iron for reference 
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Apr 12, 2022 13:51
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Bread Set Jettison posted:Here’s what the inside looks like Personally I'd run it through an oven cleaning cycle to burn off all the seasoning. Then decide if it needed a wire brush or angle grinder treatment before reasoning.
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Apr 12, 2022 15:04
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Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:Personally I'd run it through an oven cleaning cycle to burn off all the seasoning. Then decide if it needed a wire brush or angle grinder treatment before reasoning. Yeah, Ill just start over. I dont have a cleaning cycle oven so I had to really scrub and it already looks way better.
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Apr 12, 2022 16:09
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Bread Set Jettison posted:Yeah, Ill just start over. I dont have a cleaning cycle oven so I had to really scrub and it already looks way better. I drill and a wire brush will make life a lot easier
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Apr 12, 2022 16:20
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Learning about the method that has me blast the skillet is working wonders for me. Haven't used it yet, but there's a night and day difference between how it was and how it is now. Thank yoooou
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Jun 9, 2022 06:13
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what have I done to my pan here? strange spot in the middle that oil beads on and slides off of like it's teflon I have been trying to rehabilitate my friend's gummy cast iron and there is a patch with similar properties on the exterior — an oiled paper towel leaves a uniform matte darker finish everywhere except the patch, where oil beads [X-Files theme] 
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Aug 23, 2022 18:00
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Does food stick to it? If it's a gas hob then it tends to season differently above where the flames are, and you do get those rings in the center.
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Aug 23, 2022 20:43
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More of an adventure in new cast iron, but figured it might be of interest: I've a wood burning stove, and despite the marginal savings figured given energy costs it might be a bit of fun to cook with it too. I found this panino maker online for about $45:  You're meant to toss it in the stove on a bed of ash to get up to temp, take it out and put a panino in it. In this mode it works pretty well, though you can see from the burn marks in the above pic that it can get heated unevenly:  From what I've seen on youtube people also have had success cooking hamburgers in it by preheating it and sticking it back in the stove for a while to cook. I've not tried that yet but the lid is something I'll probably use as a burger press on a regular griddle. I also wanted to use it on my induction hob since in warmer weather I'll not have the fire on. The only issue with that is it has four little feet on the bottom that stand it about a 1/4" off the surface. The lid preheats fine but the 'pan' takes forever to get up to heat and probably isn't very efficient, so I took an angle grinder and ground the feet off:  It now works a lot better on the hob, to the extent I might try it for grilling veg and the likes. I guess if I keep seasoning as normal the bare metal will darken up over time?
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Dec 11, 2022 17:12
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StarkingBarfish posted:In this mode it works pretty well, though you can see from the burn marks in the above pic that it can get heated unevenly: Maybe it's a bad photo but a long time ago I worked where we had a commercial panini press and that looks at least as even as any sandwich I ever made. Depending on placement of ingredients (particularly tomatoes and cucumbers) some areas have more or less water content than others which impacts the temp of the bread slightly
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Dec 11, 2022 23:00
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Hadlock posted:Maybe it's a bad photo but a long time ago I worked where we had a commercial panini press and that looks at least as even as any sandwich I ever made. Depending on placement of ingredients (particularly tomatoes and cucumbers) some areas have more or less water content than others which impacts the temp of the bread slightly Oh that one came out ok, I meant the charring on the press and lid in the pic above
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Dec 11, 2022 23:58
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I'm at my wit's end with my cast iron. My wife got me a great 12 inch Finex which I love to use, but I find myself constantly having burned residue on it, ruining the non-stick. I've tried kosher salt and a chain-mail scrubber to get it off, and with enough elbow grease I've found it's worked on much of the surface but in the edges I still can't get it all out. I've even tried soap and hot water figuring if I could get it off I would just do a few seasoning passes on it, but that hasn't helped as much either. Is my cooking technique just bad? For example, I might marinade some chicken in spices, then when I sear them on high heat on the cast iron there's almost inevitably burned residue on there. Same thing for a steak with kosher salt and pepper. Appreciate any thoughts as when I google this I get a lot of "use salt to clean" or "don't put it in the dishwasher", and I feel like I'm following recipes intended for cast-iron directly on a freshly cleaned and seasoned skillet and getting burned patches of stuff all over it especially at the edges. Thanks all! I'm sure I'm doing something super wrong but just not sure what it is.
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Jan 26, 2023 20:33
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I know some people say not to, but for burned on stuff I usually just boil some water in the pan for a bit to loosen it up before I scrub at all. Then I do a proper seasoning in the oven. I will mention though that this is not the norm whatsoever. Typically I'm just making a grilled cheese for my kid and wipe the thing down after. I only maybe have to boil stuck on burned stuff out a few times a year. Over time searing things will be less and less difficult to clean out if you use the pan frequently in other applications.
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Jan 26, 2023 20:57
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Pic of the residue? I just hit my pan with a sharp, straight edge burger flipper to knock any crusties off, hit it with a tiny bit of oil and put it away. The only time I need to get it super smooth is when making eggs and usually they go in after the sausage so everything is lubed up ready to go.
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Jan 26, 2023 20:57
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Hadlock posted:Pic of the residue? I just hit my pan with a sharp, straight edge burger flipper to knock any crusties off Yeah I do this too if it's not too bad. Helps to do it immediately after you take the food out of the pan while it's still hot. I have a lovely little 6" round flipper with one flat side that works great.
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Jan 26, 2023 21:00
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You can try and remove the old seasoning fully and start fresh. I used 2 kinds of wire wheel on a grinder, but there is also an oven cleaner method, long tedious and strenuous sanding, electrolysis. I'm in the refrigerated food grade flax oil for at least 3 cycles camp for seasoning now. My wife will set a not fully dry pot in our less used and stored cast irons and rust them occasionally so I had to re do them a year ago, they were about due anyway from me being kinda lazy about care sometimes.
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Jan 26, 2023 21:50
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Your always gonna have fond if you're getting a good sear, but if you're burning food on there all the time you may be using too high heat/too long/still need to add some fat when cooking.
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Jan 26, 2023 21:52
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I found an old pan (old like 5 years old that I just haven't touched) and I remembered why I haven't used it much. The surface is absolutely terrible, I remember trying to do the "proper" seasoning steps but that's where it ended up, probably because I'm an idiot who didn't know how to use cast iron. any suggestions how to get it into usable condition? I do have power tools, wire wheels and sanding disks, if necessary 
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Mar 27, 2023 15:49
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Wash it, wire it down to bare metal, and then if you feel like it then sand until smooth and shiny, and then follow any seasoning guide. Once you've got it to bare shiny metal you need to oil and season it right away, because it will start to rust. It might go yellow, and it will smoke out your kitchen, once you've got a couple of layers on it then just keep cooking with it. You can get it to super smooth and shiny bare metal, but it will make it a little more difficult to get the seasoning to stick, and it can apparently reduce "value" if it's some old and valuable piece. Shrug! https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-season-cast-iron-pans-skillets-cookware https://unocasa.com/blogs/tips/cast-iron-smooth-vs-rough Edit: This is a cool video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNrBGi63FFo Nettle Soup fucked around with this message at 16:44 on Mar 27, 2023 |
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Mar 27, 2023 16:20
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I bought one of these for $8 https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B009LN4832 It's a burger flipper with a machined edge. I use it to knock down high spots of carbon deposits. Then paper towel in about a tablespoon of olive oil If you have a 5" grinder with flapper disc you can take that thing down to bare metal in about 30 seconds and start over from scratch
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Mar 27, 2023 18:23
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Thanks both! I did wire wheel it a bunch but it didn't seem to be getting through everything. Turns out I only had 320 grit discs so the sandpaper clogged up pretty quickly. I'll have to get some more later. I think it does show though that the casting was so-so because it's not just rough but there are some significant irregularities like on the bottom-left
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Mar 30, 2023 14:16
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Yeah you want like, 40-80 grit max. Harbor freight sells a 24 grit flapper disc but that's probably too extreme for this. That depression certainly exists but it looks like it's maybe half a fingernail thickness deep. I doubt a fried egg or bacon is going to notice that while boiling in oil. I would focus on feathering the depression
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Mar 30, 2023 15:42
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I've got this cast iron pan with a busted wooden handle that just spins on a rod that I can't get out https://i.imgur.com/t0jBWZz.mp4 If I can somehow get the rod out, I still don't think there is likely to be anything nice I can replace that with right?
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Apr 2, 2023 11:42
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You can just use another wooden dowel or something, you'd need a lathe to make it nice though. Alternately you could drill a hole on the underside of the metal part of the handle and put a screw into the wood to hold it in place
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Apr 2, 2023 13:45
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