My wife uses a Lodge 10 inch cast iron skillet. I have a 120 year old Erie 10 inch. Recently I found 5 cast iron skillets at the dump needing cleaning they ranged in size from 12 inch to 6 inch. I soaked them in a 5 gallon bucket of water with a can of Red Devil lye mixed in over the following couple weeks with some wire brushing, they were clean. I wore two layers of chemical gloves while cleaning the pans. Then I seasoned them with peanut oil. The results were outstanding, now we have a portfolio of cast iron skillets to use.
My mom’s cast iron skillet is so old we don’t know the brand. It came from my adopted grandmother who was born in the late 1890s. It was passed down to her from her mother who got it from HER mother. It goes back four generations from my grandmother’s mother. That should make it close to if not 200 years old today.
@@ZepG yes… just thinking about how much my mom used it alone is heartwarming. To think it goes back nearly 200 years… 200 years’ worth of family meals prepared and enjoyed… 🥹
Thank you so much for this! I regularly oil my cast iron pans, but I used to do it when they were cold! Putting the oil on when they are still hot makes a world of difference! They are really non-stick now!
I have Lodge and Staub skillets. I love both but making tomato sauce definitely calls for the Staub with the glass glazing. Seasoning the Lodge can become an obsessive activity and be a lot of fun. I've stripped and reasoned mine just for fun sometimes. I also have a 100 yr old skillet that belonged to my mother, which was purchased at Montgomery Ward and is as good as new. In those days mass produced skillets were polished somewhat so this one is considerably lighter than modern day Lodge skillets. It's a smooth as glass and my go to pan for a lot of things. I love it and am very sentimental about it. I'm 82yrs old so almost as old as the pan but not in near as good shape 😂😂😂
As someone who has been cooking with cast iron for over 12 years, and who has a large number of vintage (of varying weights and sizes), modern and artisan pans, I agree with some of your recommendations. I have found that both lighter vintage and artisan pans, when properly used, produce a good sear and even browning equal to that of heavier cans but are easier to cook with. I use the reverse sear method for cooking a steak and frequently use a vintage Griswold skillet for the task. I don't recommend using flaxseed oil as, over time, it tends to flake off and ends up in cooked foods. I prefer using Grapeseed or Avocado oil to season. I have even made my own seasoning paste with a combination of high heat oils and locally sourced beeswax, which gives artisan skillets a darker, more black seasoning layer than the bronze color the artisan skillets, and even some old vintage skillets, come in.
Came here to complain about the flax oil recommendation. Hard for me to believe they’ve actually done the testing or they would know. It was a rollercoaster of annoyance, that time after I heard about the magic bulletproof flax seed seasoning that you could even put in the dishwasher (not that I ever tried)! Doesn’t even hold up to normal use. Ive had fantastic luck with rice bran oil along with grape seed.
ANother vote for not using flaxseed oil. I'd recommend pretty much any other common cooking oil over flaxseed. Currently, I'm using avocado oil because I have a big jug of Marianne's but grapeseed oil is definitely right up there with it.
@@Niftynorm1 if your using an induction cooktop thicker and heavier works best. My Demeyere cookware works spectacular on the induction cooktop. T 3 ply not so much.
@jstones9872 I normally don't trust people who don't know how to use "you're," but I trust you as you're correct. 5 ply will have more even heat distribution.. but only if it has more weight. For example: a 4lb 3ply pan will be about the same as a 4lb 5ply pan. So make sure it has more weight. In fact a 5lb 3ply pan will be better than a 4lb 5ply pan.
I love my 10 in lodge pan. I bought it brand new a couple of years ago and after using metal utensils on it almost every day - it’s really smoothed out! I have found that using coffee filters to oil them up after a wash/dry is helpful since there’s minimal lint and it’s super cheap. Another helpful tool is Lodge’s rust remover eraser, it helps so you could tackle small rust spots instead of stripping the whole pan. 🍳
5:46 As I understand, the crazing occurs when the enameled cast iron is heated too quickly. Le Creuset instructs that one never, ever start them on anything but medium.
Yes. Iron expands faster than enamel, which is very brittle. If you apply too much heat too quickly the enamel will crack from the pressure exerted by iron's expansion
*PRO-TIPS: Scrub that nasty pre-seasoning off any cast iron you buy, then season it yourself* The artisan cast iron pans (pan#2, 5x the price of pan1) have a flatter surface, which leads to more sticking the same way race cars use "slicks" for tires. However they will become non-stick with about 50% of the oil used in a plain one. But you should be using avocado oil to begin with, which is healthy. *MAJOR TIP 3 DO NOT BUY "GLASS COATED" (or ceramic coated) CAST IRON PANS AS THAT GLASS ALWAYS CRACKS AND CRACKS TONS, MAKING THEM SUPER STICKY, AND PUTTING FINE GLASS PIECES IN YOUR FOOD.* Don't take my word for all this, watch the video again instead. They admit everything except the downsides of the "artisan" cast iron pans.
Also the "crazing" (cracking?) Doesn't happen much when you heat it fast. It happens when it cools, and there's nothing you can do about it. If you let them slowly cool the glass layer cracks. If you cool them even faster it happens even more. The ONLY way it doesn't happen is if you keep turning your burner off and on to cool it extremely slow as you babysit it for at least 20 minutes but probably an hour. Remember ATK is an advertising agency first and foremost, and only cooks good recipes because it helps them advertise. Overall though they do tell the truth, just sometimes they try to minimize those truths like in this vid slightly and other vids extremely.
@@jonslg240 "...have a flatter surface, which leads to more sticking the same way race cars use "slicks" for tires." This is completely BS. You understand neither how cast iron works nor how race tires work. In fact, pretty much everything you've written in your two comments above is made up BS.
I have 3 lodge pans and I love them. When I have to cleans some tough gunk I soak the pan with really HOT water, let it sit for no longer than 10 minutes, scrub with (your winning scrub sponge) and that’s all there is to it. I dry the pan right away, plus let the pan air out for a few more minutes then season lightly. So far so good. Thanks
@@mariaconsuelothomen No, seasoning is not difficult. I’ve even immersed my cast iron pans in warm to hot water for cleaning. As long as you thoroughly dry them, heat them a little (warm) then coat them with a wiping of cooking oil you should be good to go. That’s what I’ve always done and I’ve had my cookware for years. Even used them on camping trips. Good luck.
@@louisel.sinniger2057 I had an enamel skillet in France, and to dry it, I used to turn on a burner and put the skillet on it just enough time to dry off the water.
HELP. I bought a 6 inch cast Iron skillet from your company. I scrubbed it with Brillo. It took the enamel off the bottom. Can I still use it or throw it away? I bought it from Cooks.
For those who worry about damaging glass induction cooktops with cast iron pans: put a silicone baking sheet down on the cooktop, and cook on that. The silicone is good to like 600°F, and the induction magnetic fields can still easily reach the pan.
If you REALLY want to remove all the seasoning, just put it in your oven and run the self clean cycle. Then get it out and re-season. The self clean cycle will remove all or nearly all the old seasoning.
Check out Cast Iron Chaos channel for lots of practical videos on lye tanks, electrolysis, cast iron ID, and more. Live cooking every Wednesday and a group of friendly knowledgeable followers who love to share their tips and latest cast iron finds!
I never had a problem with cast iron, including my grandmother's lightweight skillet (80 years old). Then I bought a carbon steel pan. I never could season it to be non-stick, no matter which method I used. I tried more than 15 times. I finally found that it cooked pretty well at no more than medium-low. I stick with my small cast iron skillets almost all the time. Such is life. I love ATK, Cook's Country, and the Gear Heads!
I have Lodge, my great aunt's old Ware 9" skillet but I LOVE my Field cast iron skillets. My enameled cast iron are dutch ovens (LeCreuset). I use some form of cast iron everyday and rarely use stainless steel.
Hi ladies. We love both Artisanal (just treated ourselves to a 10” Smithey - love it!) and have been Lodge users for years. Love the way they fry, sauté, and adore the non-stick surface.
My favorite cast iron skillet is a 14 inch Wagner Ware my mom left me! It makes the Best fried potatoes and onions! The absolute Best pineapple upside down cake!!
I'm blessed to have received Grandma's collection of cast iron skillets, dutch ovens, flat griddles, and raised ribbed bottom skillets, that she cooked on for 60 years, and then handed them down to my mother, who cooked on them for another 60 years. No modern cast iron can compete with these veteran pans, made by Griswold, Wagner and vintage Lodge, which are far superior in quality compare to modern Lodge. After 170 years of use, to stay they are well seasoned would be an understatement.
Great info! I would like to add a fourth option of buying an old skillet and restoring it if needed. Those are my favorite and less expensive most of the time.
I picked up a rusty cast iron skillet from someones GARBAGE and cleaned it up and seasoned it in 2 hours. Today I see Aldi had a heavy 10" skillet for $10.
It's hard to beat a new $20 lodge pan unless your getting your restoration candidate for free. Vintage cast Iron with any of the famous names is very expensive. I've seen warped and rusting griswolds going for $50 and up.
We used cast iron skillets when I was growing up. My grandma used them them, too! I've purchased lots of the Lodge cast iron pans over the years. I'm 76 yrs old and hope my grandchildren will take these pans after I pass away.
I started with Lodge pans, started using them more over non stick, then stopped using non stick all together and went to all cast iron pans, I have a nice selection with vintage Griswold and Wagner, and then modern Field, Smithey, Stargazer, and Finex.
I have a almost 100 year old Puritan non enamelled cast iron Dutch oven and cook everything in it, even things that “shouldn’t be done” in it. Haven’t had any problems. Wouldn’t want an enamelled Dutch oven only because I’d always be worried about chipping. All my cast iron has been in the family for 4 generations now and wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Excellent video. Hannah gave a great overview and sorely tempted me with the artisanal. Val’s maintenance explanation cleared up so many questions. Now that I know I can use soap if necessary I feel better. I relied on salt. Please film Lisa’s explanation for baking in the seasoning. My brother hinted at it but stopped fearing I would blow up my apartment. ADHD is not cool with cooking when it’s not your passion.
Didn't know about the artisan pan but I have cast iron and LeCreuset and get great results from each. Sometimes it depends on the food. A steak or burger will be in a screaming hot cast iron. Sautéing chicken breasts will be done in LeCreuset.
Yes. If you're going to make long simmered acidic foods. I make a tomato based chicken and rice that I'm just not comfortable making in the Lodge 12" pan.
I find it crazy how these manufacturers stay in business. They produce products that last a very long time. I guess the reason is because people underestimate the maintenance that cast iron requires so they get tossed out.
@@Lancers262 And of course with a growing population every new household wants their own kitchen ware. Only a few want their parents old stuff even if it is perfectly usable.
@@Lancers262 To be fair every other heritage cast iron American company went out of business. And a lot of pieces were thrown out like you said in favor of non-stick. It's only recently that cast iron has seen a major resurgence.
If you can get vintage from your family that is awesome! I picked up a chrome #5 Griswold LBL, and a #6 Wagner from someone who was getting rid of her mothers pans 😢
I have a Lodge, it was my first cast iron and has held up well for years. I’ve made many cooking mistakes including a grease fire but it recovers from all of them. I’m a fan
I have gotten older, and my wrists no longer enjoy the heavier pans. I have passed down all of my larger Le Creuset pots and all of my regular cast iron except for my great grandfather's grill pan. I have kept the smaller Le Creuset pans because they weigh less, and they require minimal maintenance.
My grandmas and mom always had cast iron to cook in. My Mom had a cast iron pan with 3 inch sides, more like a Dutch oven. She cooked everything in it. It was so heavy but even into her 90’s she could sling that pan like it weighed nothing. I called it her weight training pan.
I have a set of Calphalon cookware I bought in 1990 before they came out with the enameled version. I still have it. It has aged very well. I learned just a couple of years ago what I was doing wrong with it. I should have preheated it on my cooktop for at least three minutes before frying eggs and the like. Now that I know that, cleaning is MUCH easier ! I think it compares to the Artisan Cook pan in all honesty. Plus it doesn’t weigh near what the cast iron pans do either. I find that very nice now that I’m in my 60’s. Course Calphalon doesn’t make the non-enameled version anymore. Also with the Calphalon, it doesn’t matter how long you soak them or if you make highly acidic food in them. They also drip dry after washing. Gee, maybe Calphalon better take another look at making these again !
Sadly, the original plain anodized aluminum cookware Calphalon used to make was discontinued some time ago. :( I love my anodized pans, but I will admit, I love my cast iron more. They cost less, are readily available, hold heat better, are compatible with induction, don't wear out (the Calphalon pans are very durable, but they still don't do well with metal utensils, and in spite of my best efforts, wind up with dings and scratches...they remain usable for now, which given that they are nearly 30 years old is pretty good, but they are definitely showing their age), and are much more non-stick than the anodized pans (to be fair, as long as I use enough oil/fat the anodized pans release pretty well too, but then that's true of just about any cooking surface). Oh, and as I discovered the hard way, the anodized pans should never be used with any alkaline substances (e.g. don't boil your bagels in one). Acidic foods will take away the seasoning in a cast iron pan if left long enough, but alkaline foods takes away the anodizing, and unlike the seasoning, there's no practical way to put it back. :( Honestly, I'm kind of glad Calphalon discontinued the plain anodized pans, because if they hadn't I probably would've just kept buying those, but instead I started doing more cooking with my cast iron (which I already had but mostly ignore) and discovered how much I love it.
I had a cheap (not Lodge) cast iron skillet that I used almost daily for about 15 years that was so well seasoned, eggs glided off. I washed it in soap and water with no problem. Often cooked tomatoes in it. One fateful day it slipped out of my hands onto my kitchen floor and to my utter dismay it actually broke in two pieces. Apparently, cast iron is brittle and can break if the impact is strong enough. My pans are almost exclusively cast iron. I have found that using them several times a week or more keeps them well-seasoned. I've never oil them after use. I wash them in soap and water, scrape any food residue with a plastic scraper, kosher salt or wire brush and make sure they're dry by placing them on a gas burner until they start to smoke. I've found if I oil them instead, they get all sticky which I don't like.
I think a lesson in stripping and proper seasoning of cast iron pans would be a great idea. Also an explanation of using Flax seed oil to season cast iron as it has a very low smoke point vs many other traditional oils would be helpful. Great information and also comments too. Good job Val.
my stripping lesson, put it in your oven and run the self clean cycle with the pan in there. Very easy. Then fry bacon in there. Follow the seasoning instructions only use bacon and not flax seed oil. simple and easy.
As someone who owns (what many would consider) a lot of cast iron, let me add some perspective. When she says it will take longer to make a Lodge nonstick than it does a Smithey, that's true. However, it's not $150 worth of time. The fastest I've ever made a Lodge nonstick was a week. The slowest was two months, because I didn't use it as often. I have a Lodge 10" comal that was completely hydrophobic within three weeks. It's still one of my favorite breakfast pans. I got a Smithey to the point of nonstick within three days, once. Considering I'll have these pans the rest of my life and pass them on to my children, the time difference is nothing. Smithey makes a great pan but I wouldn't bother spending the money on one unless you happen to have expendable income. There isn't a single thing I can cook on a Smithey that I can't cook on a Lodge. As for enameled cast iron, it has its place but not as a pan. An enameled dutch oven is an amazing tool and I highly recommend one for every kitchen. However, you have to be much more careful with them. If you scratch the seasoning on a regular cast iron dutch oven or pan, it heals itself while you cook. If you scratch an enameled dutch oven or pan, it's ruined and you have to throw it out. Edit: Also, you almost never need to re-season cast iron, if you're cleaning and storing it properly. If the seasoning starts to look uneven, you have an excuse to make something like a batch of skillet cornbread or a skillet pizza. Your seasoning will even out and you'll have a delicious treat. Otherwise, just cook with it. Our ancestors didn't spend time dithering over slight imperfections in their seasoning and many of their pans are still around today. I know. I've had a bunch of them.
I agree completely! I have collected cast iron for over 60 or so years. I run my newly acquired pieces through my e-tank. After cleaning, I just fry bacon in them until I am satisfied with the coating. Also, our local Scout Troup uses my cast iron on camp outs! The boys work on their cooking badges, and I get extra seasoning. It also helps that cast iron is virtually indestructible!!!
Thanks!! You just save me a lot of $$$, I did want to buy a le Creuset, but I'm a really rough cook! I'll stick to my cast iron pans , I love taking care of them, after cooking!
We love and use our Lodge pans a lot. If I do some heavy duty cooking or frying I wash it in hot soap and water. If there is stuck on food I gently/light scrape it off.* Rinse. Dry. Then add a little oil and store it away for next time. *Note: we also have a $25 Lodge cleaning chain. If you scour the surface with steel wool etc you’ll lose all that wonderful seasoning that’s built up.
With stuck on food, I add a half inch of water to the skillet, bring it to a boil, then let it cool enough to handle. Then anything that was stuck will scrape off very easily with minimal scrubbing or damage to the seasoning.
I tried the Lodge Cast Iron for a few months, but it wasn't for me. Bought a set of Le Creuset and could not be happier. Easy to clean, lighter, and just looks better. I tend to buy a new set every 3 years so duration was never an issue, also never understood why people are so proud to have old cast irons.
I have cast iron, carbon steel and enamelled cast iron, as well as stainless steel. Enamel is the most sticky by far, carbon steel the most non-stick. I rarely use the enamelled skillet any more, but I do use enamelled Dutch oven. I would not buy enamelled skillet again.
I have all also plus a granite pan.. i use the granite pan the most . I season it similar to cast iron. I'm still learning how to properly use cast iron. I tried grilling a steak. Let the steak rest 1 hour, preheated the pan until water drops danced not couldn't get a good sear. It's beautifully seasoned but a frustrating lodge grill pan
Gave away my carbon steel skillet that I could not get seasoned evenly. I have a convection oven that even at 450 just was not happy with the results! I do season my old 8” cast iron skillet on the stove-medium heat for three minutes with olive oil seems to work for me.
@@deeholm1644 A highly polyunsaturated fat is best for seasoning. These fatty acids form the chains that make the hard nonstick coating. Flax oil is considered best but grape and sunflower are good. Olive oil is mostly monounsaturated. My carbon steel skillet is perfectly nonstick but my wok is not. It just won’t keep a good surface. It basically requires a quick heat to smoke point every time I use it. 🤷
Traditional always. I will be handing mine down through the family. You use oil, but I was raised with lard. My parents cast irons are on their second generation using lard.
I have a Lodge and always wanted an artisanal. Maybe one day. I've hear you can sand the Lodge smooth though I'm not sure if it makes it more non stick, some say the texture prevents the seasoning from flaking. It is true you don't want to cook tomato based sauces, it really take off the seasoning.
I bought the cheapest enameled cast iron dutch oven I could find. And I couldn't be happier! I'm not looking for a specialized cook top pan, I just want to braise and stew. Start foods on the stove, then move them to the oven to cook low and slow. You can TOTALLY see the difference going from a normal pot to cast iron. It really does give more even cooking and therefore better results. I might never get a "real" cast iron pan for the stovetop, but you'll get my dutch ovens when you pry them from my cold dead fingers!
I have two Le Creuset dutch ovens and two cast iron skillets. I love them all but the enameled cast iron is harder to clean and is not nonstick. I just made sous vide NY strip steaks a few weeks ago and pan seared them on my 17" Lodge cast iron skillet on blazing high heat. After cooking the steaks I just use hot water to deglaze the skillet then scrape it with a flat wooden spoon and wipe it out with a cotton cloth soaked in oil.
Smithey is an awesome cast iron skillet!!! Got 2 of them 10 and 12 but if anyone wants the best to use… try the stargazer… it’s the best cast iron skillet you are gonna sure!!! It’s a work of art… long handle is perfect in weight and what not.
I have a cast iron collection that I have gathered over the years that serves me very well. Everything from my little 3 inch "spoon holder" , to my 12 inch skillet , to my 10 1/4 inch , 5 qt. Dutch Oven that I use all the time . I do not use enamel cast iron because it chips . The enamel coating can be damaged by using metal utensils , and , once the pan or pot is chipped , it will degrade .
I have 3 Le Creuset pans, 2 Dutch ovens, 1 newer santeuse. Oldest is nearly 50 years old. Zero chipping or any other kind of damage. Le Creuset’s process of enameling is rigorous, as is their quality inspection process. They are meant to last and they do.
The first kitchen ware I bought about 50 years ago was a set of cast iron skillets. They were a cheap set, but have aged well. I also inherited my grandmother's cast iron and rescued a couple more from my mother who used SOS pads on them. She just didn't deserve to own cast iron. Those old pans are slick and don't stick.
We have my husband's father's 12" cast iron skillet of uncertain parentage. It's a beast, but it makes fantastic cornbread and frittatas (among other things).
I have my great grandmother's cast iron skillet that was made in the mid 1860s. I will give it up when you can pry it from my cold dead hand, and maybe not even then!
I lucked out on a Martha Stewart close out enamel cast iron that never fails and is a snap to clean. I have an ancient one as well that I use nostalgically and I also have a enamel grill pan which needless to say is a bear to clean. In addition as a tip, never submerge while hot in water, even hot water -- cast iron can and does warp.
Mercer Culinary makes a great cast iron pan as well as enameled Dutch oven. Sanded my Mercer cast iron cooking surface down and seasoned it and it is my go to pan out of many carbon steel and stainless.
If you need to strip all the seasoning off, you can spray your pan with yellow cap Easy Off oven cleaner (Mr. Muscle in the UK), and wrap it up in a garbage bag for a few hours or up to overnight. The active ingredient in oven cleaner - sodium hydroxide (also called lye or caustic soda, depending where you live) - has a very high pH, and will dissolve fatty acids - even polymerized ones - into soap and glycerin molecules. Fun fact: the legal definition of soap is "the alkalized salts of fatty acids". A soak in Easy Off will essentially turn the seasoning on your skillet into soap. Since humans are also partially comprised of organic fats, be sure to wear kitchen gloves when handling a pan coated in oven cleaner, and avoid inhaling any fumes. Unlike in actual soapmaking, not all the sodium hydroxide will be catalysed during a soak with a chunkily-seasoned pan. Even though Easy Off only contains 2.5-5% sodium hydroxide (about the same percentage used in lye baths for traditional pretzel- and bagel-making to raise the pH of the dough's surface which accelerates browning, and in certain professional hair relaxer treatments, as well; MUCH lower than the 25-50% solution used for saponification, or the 100% pure crystals sold as drain cleaner at your local hardware store), you probably don't need or want to give your hands an inadvertant chemical peel to accompany your freshly cleaned skillet!
@@mimosveta well, you *can*, but exposing iron to very high temps for an extended period of time is probably a lot harder on the metal itself than a lye bath. Cast Iron Collectors, and other CI groups I've joined specifically to find out how best to accomplish this goal, do NOT recommend using high heat to strip accumulated seasoning build-ups, but they *do* recommend using a lye bath. So... You do you, I guess.
Hello! I have a used airfryer that is honestly a mess on the inside. Do you happen to know if this lye method will work for cleaning it, or will it strip more than the fat buildup and ruin whatever coating the basket has?
@@sarak.2440 oven cleaner is not recommended for aluminum or plastic surfaces, or nondescript/unspecified metals, or nonstick coated surfaces. The parts of your air fryer that are actual stainless steel would be okay, but most toaster ovens and air fryers would be ruined by oven cleaner.
I love both. Cast iron for searing and sautéing. Enamel for acidic sauces and soups. I love my Field skillet the most! I use it a lot more than my Lodges. It cost a lot more but the smooth surface is great.
I may have only worked as a machinist as a summer job during college, but we machined cast iron with milling machines. And cast iron is still used for engine blocks, which involves extensive machining and honing. I find it really hard to believe that the had polish involved more than a hand operating a machine. My mom's two cast iron Grisold pans probably dated back to the 1940's or earlier. They were smooth inside. I was disappointment when I did not find new pans that way when I bought mine in the 1970's.
The best choice in cast iron is antique. it's generally polished and seasoned when you inherit it or buy it. Moreover it was made when several skillet manufacturers were competing against each other for sales and they put in the extra effort and expense to appeal to ladies who really knew their cast iron cooking. Sadly, sometimes antique skillets require a restoration process, but they are worth it.
Seasoning easier than folks are led to believe. Just roast spatchcocked chicken in it repeatedly. We typically have that once a week at our house, especially in the cold months. If you do nothing else, after about four chickens you are done. If you want to speed things up, roast pork tenderloin at 425F. Preheat the pan, and put the tenderloin on top of a tiny drizzle of oil. Also consider frying bacon. These are all simple things that will quickly season your pan without any fuss.
Lodge pans are great if you are willing to take a sander with a few discs to it, start with 300 grit, after about 3 of those switch to 600 and polish it up, honestly just getting rid of that rough bottom makes a world of difference.
The whole reason I _haven't_ purchased a cast iron skillet is because of the weight. I have psoriatic arthritis and handling pans that are 8 lbs is just way too much for my hand and wrist joints. I'm now at least interested in the enamel option tho because if it's less heavy, I might be able to handle it.
They're less heavy, but not light. I just checked and the 12-inch enamel from Le Creuset is 6.75 lbs and the Lodge is 8.75 lbs, so two pounds is nothing to sneeze but but still, not light. For lightweight skillets I usually recommend stainless steel or ceramic nonstick. We tested lightweight Dutch ovens because a cast iron Dutch oven is SO heavy! Winner was stainless steel. We're always looking for testings that would help people, so let us know if there are any other pieces of equipment that give you trouble and we will add it to the list.
My favorite cast iron skillet is my grandma's Griswold skillet. I tried one of the newer skillets but I didn't get along with the rough surface and it quickly went into storage.
I have my grandmother's 12" cast iron she inherited when she got married. Plain and simple. It lives on my stove top. Makes omelettes, steaks, roasts, pizza. You can keep that enamel stuff.
Ideally this is what I want in a new skillet I am shopping for this Black Friday. How do you maintain your 12" cast iron and how often do you clean or season it? Thanks.
@shabchique7149 Really just the basics. Hot water is usually all you need and maybe a scrub. Heat it to dry and re-oil occasionally. I try not to put tomato or wine or lemon juice in it (still happens). If you have a really fouled up one, I have put cast iron in the self cleaning oven cycle and reseasoned it after and they look new. But I'm no scientist, so take all advice as such.
@@shabchique7149 Yep! At least give it a try and enjoy learning a new cooking utensil. Probably the seasoning of the pan is what really scares people. There's plenty of good articles, and cast iron is actually very simple once you figure it out.
I have a standard cast iron 3qt dutch oven with a 10" skillet lid -- does everything i need cast iron for -- though the particular brand I have (Tortillada) the skillet sides are only 1.5 inches, it works fine for cooking for one or two - and only cost about $40 for both pieces.
Lodge for the win. Use it, that rough texture goes away. Cast iron the only pans, baking dishes, and pots I use. I had a nice old Griswold until someone decided they needed it more than me and stole it out of the back of my truck.
You can use dish detergent on any of them. The reason they say not to use soap is because in the old days, lye was a common ingredient in soap and lye removes seasoning. Any properly seasoned cast iron will hold up fine using dish detergent and modern soaps.
I have a slightly different clearing routine, mainly to using cast iron while camping. I'll scrape out the excess food, boil water in the cookware, scrub with a mail scrubber or ball of tin foil. Once clean I'll rise with clean water, dry and season.
Sigh.....I found a purple Le Creuset skillet for free and was so excited as I wouldn't spend that much money on a skillet, but have always wanted one. It was non stick for a couple months and now everything sticks to it. Inkeep hearing they dont need to be seasoned. Trying to decide if I should season the inside, even though everyone says it doesn't need to be seasoned.
@jimnyenhuis560 perhaps you missed the part about the right, or I should have said correct grit paper. Start with a little coarse, then go finer. It doesn't take that long. I did it to a newer pan that was gifted to me.
@@AmericaFirstNow Well, we had different experiences then. I've bought some antique pans since then, and there's a large difference between them and what I was able to achieve (with reasonably coarse grit) on a Lodge.
I'm surprised there was nothing about sanding down the lodge and low-end cast irons. I think it's absolutely crucial, and helps build a good seasoning much quicker than not. I believe I started with 140 grit, then 220, or something like that. Then re-season and perhaps deep fry a thing or two.
One day my bones will be dust, but my Lodge pan will still be making eggs and bacon.
My Wagner 🖤that belonged to my great grandmother
My Griswolds and my Lodge - though I took a flap-disk on an angle-grinder to the surface of the Lodge first. It was really rough.
Absolutely!!! That's the only way to treat these pans. Only NOW are my pans totally non stick!
I still have my great-grandmother’s cast iron skillet😊
I want to grind mine down, but I have them all non-stick already. I guess it is a question of how much effort I want to put in.
My wife uses a Lodge 10 inch cast iron skillet. I have a 120 year old Erie 10 inch. Recently I found 5 cast iron skillets at the dump needing cleaning they ranged in size from 12 inch to 6 inch. I soaked them in a 5 gallon bucket of water with a can of Red Devil lye mixed in over the following couple weeks with some wire brushing, they were clean. I wore two layers of chemical gloves while cleaning the pans. Then I seasoned them with peanut oil. The results were outstanding, now we have a portfolio of cast iron skillets to use.
My mom’s cast iron skillet is so old we don’t know the brand. It came from my adopted grandmother who was born in the late 1890s. It was passed down to her from her mother who got it from HER mother. It goes back four generations from my grandmother’s mother. That should make it close to if not 200 years old today.
WHOA! 😮
Look up websites on "No Name Cast Iron"-- apologies if you have already. I used this to ID some from my Grandmother, but they were not that old.
Same here, and still reliable as the day it was made.
Just the thought of how many family meals were cooked in it makes it even more special.
@@ZepG yes… just thinking about how much my mom used it alone is heartwarming. To think it goes back nearly 200 years… 200 years’ worth of family meals prepared and enjoyed… 🥹
Thank you so much for this! I regularly oil my cast iron pans, but I used to do it when they were cold! Putting the oil on when they are still hot makes a world of difference! They are really non-stick now!
I have Lodge and Staub skillets. I love both but making tomato sauce definitely calls for the Staub with the glass glazing. Seasoning the Lodge can become an obsessive activity and be a lot of fun. I've stripped and reasoned mine just for fun sometimes. I also have a 100 yr old skillet that belonged to my mother, which was purchased at Montgomery Ward and is as good as new. In those days mass produced skillets were polished somewhat so this one is considerably lighter than modern day Lodge skillets. It's a smooth as glass and my go to pan for a lot of things. I love it and am very sentimental about it. I'm 82yrs old so almost as old as the pan but not in near as good shape 😂😂😂
LOL! Don’t you sometimes wish *we* could be made good aa new with a little steel wool and oil seasoning ?? 😊
As someone who has been cooking with cast iron for over 12 years, and who has a large number of vintage (of varying weights and sizes), modern and artisan pans, I agree with some of your recommendations. I have found that both lighter vintage and artisan pans, when properly used, produce a good sear and even browning equal to that of heavier cans but are easier to cook with. I use the reverse sear method for cooking a steak and frequently use a vintage Griswold skillet for the task.
I don't recommend using flaxseed oil as, over time, it tends to flake off and ends up in cooked foods. I prefer using Grapeseed or Avocado oil to season. I have even made my own seasoning paste with a combination of high heat oils and locally sourced beeswax, which gives artisan skillets a darker, more black seasoning layer than the bronze color the artisan skillets, and even some old vintage skillets, come in.
Came here to complain about the flax oil recommendation. Hard for me to believe they’ve actually done the testing or they would know. It was a rollercoaster of annoyance, that time after I heard about the magic bulletproof flax seed seasoning that you could even put in the dishwasher (not that I ever tried)! Doesn’t even hold up to normal use. Ive had fantastic luck with rice bran oil along with grape seed.
ANother vote for not using flaxseed oil. I'd recommend pretty much any other common cooking oil over flaxseed. Currently, I'm using avocado oil because I have a big jug of Marianne's but grapeseed oil is definitely right up there with it.
Is grape seed different than rapeseed oil?
@@julieobrien4056 Yes.
@@TheCharleseye Thank you!! 😊
Great info on cleaning and maintaining. I use traditional. Bought it at a thrift store and using over 50 yrs!!
honestly, save the enameled for your dutch ovens and use a combination of cast iron and high quality 5 ply or more stainless steel for everything else
@@jstones9872 yep, that’s what I do and have been doing for years
Don't waste your money on the 5 ply stainless. ATK has tested them and found no improvement over 3 ply, just more $$$.
@@Niftynorm1 if your using an induction cooktop thicker and heavier works best. My Demeyere cookware works spectacular on the induction cooktop. T 3 ply not so much.
Lisa has an even more in-depth guide to stripping.
I didn't say it, the host did in the last part of the video 😂
@jstones9872 I normally don't trust people who don't know how to use "you're," but I trust you as you're correct.
5 ply will have more even heat distribution.. but only if it has more weight.
For example: a 4lb 3ply pan will be about the same as a 4lb 5ply pan. So make sure it has more weight.
In fact a 5lb 3ply pan will be better than a 4lb 5ply pan.
I love my 10 in lodge pan. I bought it brand new a couple of years ago and after using metal utensils on it almost every day - it’s really smoothed out! I have found that using coffee filters to oil them up after a wash/dry is helpful since there’s minimal lint and it’s super cheap. Another helpful tool is Lodge’s rust remover eraser, it helps so you could tackle small rust spots instead of stripping the whole pan. 🍳
Never thought of using coffee filters, brilliant!
5:46 As I understand, the crazing occurs when the enameled cast iron is heated too quickly. Le Creuset instructs that one never, ever start them on anything but medium.
Yes. Iron expands faster than enamel, which is very brittle. If you apply too much heat too quickly the enamel will crack from the pressure exerted by iron's expansion
Anything BUT medium? I start mine on low all the time...
*PRO-TIPS: Scrub that nasty pre-seasoning off any cast iron you buy, then season it yourself*
The artisan cast iron pans (pan#2, 5x the price of pan1) have a flatter surface, which leads to more sticking the same way race cars use "slicks" for tires. However they will become non-stick with about 50% of the oil used in a plain one. But you should be using avocado oil to begin with, which is healthy.
*MAJOR TIP 3 DO NOT BUY "GLASS COATED" (or ceramic coated) CAST IRON PANS AS THAT GLASS ALWAYS CRACKS AND CRACKS TONS, MAKING THEM SUPER STICKY, AND PUTTING FINE GLASS PIECES IN YOUR FOOD.*
Don't take my word for all this, watch the video again instead. They admit everything except the downsides of the "artisan" cast iron pans.
Also the "crazing" (cracking?) Doesn't happen much when you heat it fast. It happens when it cools, and there's nothing you can do about it.
If you let them slowly cool the glass layer cracks. If you cool them even faster it happens even more.
The ONLY way it doesn't happen is if you keep turning your burner off and on to cool it extremely slow as you babysit it for at least 20 minutes but probably an hour.
Remember ATK is an advertising agency first and foremost, and only cooks good recipes because it helps them advertise.
Overall though they do tell the truth, just sometimes they try to minimize those truths like in this vid slightly and other vids extremely.
@@jonslg240 "...have a flatter surface, which leads to more sticking the same way race cars use "slicks" for tires." This is completely BS. You understand neither how cast iron works nor how race tires work. In fact, pretty much everything you've written in your two comments above is made up BS.
I have 3 lodge pans and I love them. When I have to cleans some tough gunk I soak the pan with really HOT water, let it sit for no longer than 10 minutes, scrub with (your winning scrub sponge) and that’s all there is to it. I dry the pan right away, plus let the pan air out for a few more minutes then season lightly. So far so good. Thanks
I thought seasoning a cast iron skillet was more complicated.
@@mariaconsuelothomen No, seasoning is not difficult. I’ve even immersed my cast iron pans in warm to hot water for cleaning. As long as you thoroughly dry them, heat them a little (warm) then coat them with a wiping of cooking oil you should be good to go. That’s what I’ve always done and I’ve had my cookware for years. Even used them on camping trips. Good luck.
@@louisel.sinniger2057 I had an enamel skillet in France, and to dry it, I used to turn on a burner and put the skillet on it just enough time to dry off the water.
HELP. I bought a 6 inch cast Iron skillet from your company. I scrubbed it with Brillo. It took the enamel off the bottom. Can I still use it or throw it away? I bought it from Cooks.
For those who worry about damaging glass induction cooktops with cast iron pans: put a silicone baking sheet down on the cooktop, and cook on that. The silicone is good to like 600°F, and the induction magnetic fields can still easily reach the pan.
Yes please! More info/videos on a deep-clean for my old cast iron! Very Needed!! Thank you! Love the gearheads series!
If you REALLY want to remove all the seasoning, just put it in your oven and run the self clean cycle. Then get it out and re-season. The self clean cycle will remove all or nearly all the old seasoning.
Consider an e-tank treatment. Google the process.
Check out Cast Iron Chaos channel for lots of practical videos on lye tanks, electrolysis, cast iron ID, and more. Live cooking every Wednesday and a group of friendly knowledgeable followers who love to share their tips and latest cast iron finds!
I never had a problem with cast iron, including my grandmother's lightweight skillet (80 years old). Then I bought a carbon steel pan. I never could season it to be non-stick, no matter which method I used. I tried more than 15 times. I finally found that it cooked pretty well at no more than medium-low. I stick with my small cast iron skillets almost all the time. Such is life. I love ATK, Cook's Country, and the Gear Heads!
I love my Le Creuset, but we use my grandma's cast iron skillet EVERY DAY! ❤ Good job, Val!!
Thanks Hannah! I've been meaning to get a larger cast iron pan - perfect timing for this video!
Welcome to Gear Heads, Val! Great tips!
I have Lodge, my great aunt's old Ware 9" skillet but I LOVE my Field cast iron skillets. My enameled cast iron are dutch ovens (LeCreuset). I use some form of cast iron everyday and rarely use stainless steel.
Hi ladies. We love both Artisanal (just treated ourselves to a 10” Smithey - love it!) and have been Lodge users for years. Love the way they fry, sauté, and adore the non-stick surface.
My favorite cast iron skillet is a 14 inch Wagner Ware my mom left me! It makes the Best fried potatoes and onions! The absolute Best pineapple upside down cake!!
Nothing beats vintage.
I have a very old Wagner too and it’s honestly the best.❤
found the midwest section of the comments.
Would love to see a full restore/reseason video for cast iron!
Kent Rollins has a couple videos demonstrating both. Check him out.
As Hannah mentioned in the video: see Lisa's article on the website, just search for "seasoning cast iron".
Cast Iron Chaos has multiple videos, too. Basic seasoning and maintenance. Electrolysis tank. Lye tank. Plus ID of old pans, cooking and baking.
I'm blessed to have received Grandma's collection of cast iron skillets, dutch ovens, flat griddles, and raised ribbed bottom skillets, that she cooked on for 60 years, and then handed them down to my mother, who cooked on them for another 60 years. No modern cast iron can compete with these veteran pans, made by Griswold, Wagner and vintage Lodge, which are far superior in quality compare to modern Lodge. After 170 years of use, to stay they are well seasoned would be an understatement.
Great info! I would like to add a fourth option of buying an old skillet and restoring it if needed. Those are my favorite and less expensive most of the time.
I picked up a rusty cast iron skillet from someones GARBAGE and cleaned it up and seasoned it in 2 hours.
Today I see Aldi had a heavy 10" skillet for $10.
It's hard to beat a new $20 lodge pan unless your getting your restoration candidate for free. Vintage cast Iron with any of the famous names is very expensive. I've seen warped and rusting griswolds going for $50 and up.
We used cast iron skillets when I was growing up. My grandma used them them, too! I've purchased lots of the Lodge cast iron pans over the years. I'm 76 yrs old and hope my grandchildren will take these pans after I pass away.
I started with Lodge pans, started using them more over non stick, then stopped using non stick all together and went to all cast iron pans, I have a nice selection with vintage Griswold and Wagner, and then modern Field, Smithey, Stargazer, and Finex.
I have a almost 100 year old Puritan non enamelled cast iron Dutch oven and cook everything in it, even things that “shouldn’t be done” in it. Haven’t had any problems. Wouldn’t want an enamelled Dutch oven only because I’d always be worried about chipping. All my cast iron has been in the family for 4 generations now and wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Excellent video. Hannah gave a great overview and sorely tempted me with the artisanal. Val’s maintenance explanation cleared up so many questions. Now that I know I can use soap if necessary I feel better. I relied on salt. Please film Lisa’s explanation for baking in the seasoning. My brother hinted at it but stopped fearing I would blow up my apartment. ADHD is not cool with cooking when it’s not your passion.
I love these videos. I learned the hard way that having the right gear makes a huge difference.
Val, that was great! It was the clearest introduction to seasoning cast iron I've seen.
Oh wow, the timing!! I am at the moment with a enameled cast iron skillet in my hand wondering if i should buy it
My experience? Yes. I enjoy my LeCreuset very much and use it every day.
Didn't know about the artisan pan but I have cast iron and LeCreuset and get great results from each. Sometimes it depends on the food. A steak or burger will be in a screaming hot cast iron. Sautéing chicken breasts will be done in LeCreuset.
Enamel lasts many years, cast iron lasts many generations.
@@yb5515 good enough for me, no need to last more than 50 years xD
Yes. If you're going to make long simmered acidic foods. I make a tomato based chicken and rice that I'm just not comfortable making in the Lodge 12" pan.
Enamel lasts many years, cast iron lasts many generations.
I find it crazy how these manufacturers stay in business. They produce products that last a very long time. I guess the reason is because people underestimate the maintenance that cast iron requires so they get tossed out.
@@Lancers262 And of course with a growing population every new household wants their own kitchen ware. Only a few want their parents old stuff even if it is perfectly usable.
@@Lancers262 To be fair every other heritage cast iron American company went out of business. And a lot of pieces were thrown out like you said in favor of non-stick. It's only recently that cast iron has seen a major resurgence.
@@Lancers262 this is why they keep introducing these coating based pan, all designed to be obsolete
Still can’t cook a proper bolognese in cast iron, no matter how many centuries old it is
I inherited my aunt's chrome plated cast iron pans that she bought in the early 1940s. They are priceless.
Whut! Never seen those Looking it up now!
@@AlwaysLisaLisa
They were made by GRISWOLD
If you can get vintage from your family that is awesome! I picked up a chrome #5 Griswold LBL, and a #6 Wagner from someone who was getting rid of her mothers pans 😢
I have a Lodge, it was my first cast iron and has held up well for years. I’ve made many cooking mistakes including a grease fire but it recovers from all of them. I’m a fan
I have gotten older, and my wrists no longer enjoy the heavier pans. I have passed down all of my larger Le Creuset pots and all of my regular cast iron except for my great grandfather's grill pan.
I have kept the smaller Le Creuset pans because they weigh less, and they require minimal maintenance.
My grandmas and mom always had cast iron to cook in. My Mom had a cast iron pan with 3 inch sides, more like a Dutch oven. She cooked everything in it. It was so heavy but even into her 90’s she could sling that pan like it weighed nothing. I called it her weight training pan.
I have a set of Calphalon cookware I bought in 1990 before they came out with the enameled version. I still have it. It has aged very well. I learned just a couple of years ago what I was doing wrong with it. I should have preheated it on my cooktop for at least three minutes before frying eggs and the like. Now that I know that, cleaning is MUCH easier ! I think it compares to the Artisan Cook pan in all honesty. Plus it doesn’t weigh near what the cast iron pans do either. I find that very nice now that I’m in my 60’s. Course Calphalon doesn’t make the non-enameled version anymore. Also with the Calphalon, it doesn’t matter how long you soak them or if you make highly acidic food in them. They also drip dry after washing. Gee, maybe Calphalon better take another look at making these again !
Sadly, the original plain anodized aluminum cookware Calphalon used to make was discontinued some time ago. :(
I love my anodized pans, but I will admit, I love my cast iron more. They cost less, are readily available, hold heat better, are compatible with induction, don't wear out (the Calphalon pans are very durable, but they still don't do well with metal utensils, and in spite of my best efforts, wind up with dings and scratches...they remain usable for now, which given that they are nearly 30 years old is pretty good, but they are definitely showing their age), and are much more non-stick than the anodized pans (to be fair, as long as I use enough oil/fat the anodized pans release pretty well too, but then that's true of just about any cooking surface).
Oh, and as I discovered the hard way, the anodized pans should never be used with any alkaline substances (e.g. don't boil your bagels in one). Acidic foods will take away the seasoning in a cast iron pan if left long enough, but alkaline foods takes away the anodizing, and unlike the seasoning, there's no practical way to put it back. :(
Honestly, I'm kind of glad Calphalon discontinued the plain anodized pans, because if they hadn't I probably would've just kept buying those, but instead I started doing more cooking with my cast iron (which I already had but mostly ignore) and discovered how much I love it.
GREAT video!! I LOVE my 12” cast iron pan and now I know how to keep it well seasoned. Thank you!!😊
I had a cheap (not Lodge) cast iron skillet that I used almost daily for about 15 years that was so well seasoned, eggs glided off. I washed it in soap and water with no problem. Often cooked tomatoes in it. One fateful day it slipped out of my hands onto my kitchen floor and to my utter dismay it actually broke in two pieces. Apparently, cast iron is brittle and can break if the impact is strong enough. My pans are almost exclusively cast iron. I have found that using them several times a week or more keeps them well-seasoned. I've never oil them after use. I wash them in soap and water, scrape any food residue with a plastic scraper, kosher salt or wire brush and make sure they're dry by placing them on a gas burner until they start to smoke. I've found if I oil them instead, they get all sticky which I don't like.
I think a lesson in stripping and proper seasoning of cast iron pans would be a great idea. Also an explanation of using Flax seed oil to season cast iron as it has a very low smoke point vs many other traditional oils would be helpful. Great information and also comments too. Good job Val.
my stripping lesson, put it in your oven and run the self clean cycle with the pan in there. Very easy. Then fry bacon in there. Follow the seasoning instructions only use bacon and not flax seed oil. simple and easy.
As someone who owns (what many would consider) a lot of cast iron, let me add some perspective. When she says it will take longer to make a Lodge nonstick than it does a Smithey, that's true. However, it's not $150 worth of time. The fastest I've ever made a Lodge nonstick was a week. The slowest was two months, because I didn't use it as often. I have a Lodge 10" comal that was completely hydrophobic within three weeks. It's still one of my favorite breakfast pans. I got a Smithey to the point of nonstick within three days, once. Considering I'll have these pans the rest of my life and pass them on to my children, the time difference is nothing. Smithey makes a great pan but I wouldn't bother spending the money on one unless you happen to have expendable income. There isn't a single thing I can cook on a Smithey that I can't cook on a Lodge.
As for enameled cast iron, it has its place but not as a pan. An enameled dutch oven is an amazing tool and I highly recommend one for every kitchen. However, you have to be much more careful with them. If you scratch the seasoning on a regular cast iron dutch oven or pan, it heals itself while you cook. If you scratch an enameled dutch oven or pan, it's ruined and you have to throw it out.
Edit: Also, you almost never need to re-season cast iron, if you're cleaning and storing it properly. If the seasoning starts to look uneven, you have an excuse to make something like a batch of skillet cornbread or a skillet pizza. Your seasoning will even out and you'll have a delicious treat. Otherwise, just cook with it. Our ancestors didn't spend time dithering over slight imperfections in their seasoning and many of their pans are still around today. I know. I've had a bunch of them.
I agree completely! I have collected cast iron for over 60 or so years. I run my newly acquired pieces through my e-tank. After cleaning, I just fry bacon in them until I am satisfied with the coating. Also, our local Scout Troup uses my cast iron on camp outs! The boys work on their cooking badges, and I get extra seasoning. It also helps that cast iron is virtually indestructible!!!
Thanks!! You just save me a lot of $$$, I did want to buy a le Creuset, but I'm a really rough cook! I'll stick to my cast iron pans , I love taking care of them, after cooking!
Hi Hannah & Val. Great job on your 1st video Val! Love my cast iron
We love and use our Lodge pans a lot. If I do some heavy duty cooking or frying I wash it in hot soap and water. If there is stuck on food I gently/light scrape it off.* Rinse. Dry. Then add a little oil and store it away for next time.
*Note: we also have a $25 Lodge cleaning chain. If you scour the surface with steel wool etc you’ll lose all that wonderful seasoning that’s built up.
With stuck on food, I add a half inch of water to the skillet, bring it to a boil, then let it cool enough to handle. Then anything that was stuck will scrape off very easily with minimal scrubbing or damage to the seasoning.
I tried the Lodge Cast Iron for a few months, but it wasn't for me. Bought a set of Le Creuset and could not be happier. Easy to clean, lighter, and just looks better. I tend to buy a new set every 3 years so duration was never an issue, also never understood why people are so proud to have old cast irons.
I have cast iron, carbon steel and enamelled cast iron, as well as stainless steel. Enamel is the most sticky by far, carbon steel the most non-stick. I rarely use the enamelled skillet any more, but I do use enamelled Dutch oven. I would not buy enamelled skillet again.
I have all also plus a granite pan.. i use the granite pan the most . I season it similar to cast iron. I'm still learning how to properly use cast iron. I tried grilling a steak. Let the steak rest 1 hour, preheated the pan until water drops danced not couldn't get a good sear. It's beautifully seasoned but a frustrating lodge grill pan
Gave away my carbon steel skillet that I could not get seasoned evenly. I have a convection oven that even at 450 just was not happy with the results!
I do season my old 8” cast iron skillet on the stove-medium heat for three minutes with olive oil seems to work for me.
@@deeholm1644 A highly polyunsaturated fat is best for seasoning. These fatty acids form the chains that make the hard nonstick coating. Flax oil is considered best but grape and sunflower are good. Olive oil is mostly monounsaturated.
My carbon steel skillet is perfectly nonstick but my wok is not. It just won’t keep a good surface. It basically requires a quick heat to smoke point every time I use it. 🤷
Traditional always. I will be handing mine down through the family. You use oil, but I was raised with lard. My parents cast irons are on their second generation using lard.
Please, please, please address the shiny vs dull side of the foil…does it really make a difference and if so how???
Great video, with excellent advice. I would love an in-depth video on seasoning from scratch. Thanks
Excellent video!!!! Thank you so much. I have a nice collection of Lodge cast iron pans. They've been with me for years.
I have a Lodge and always wanted an artisanal. Maybe one day. I've hear you can sand the Lodge smooth though I'm not sure if it makes it more non stick, some say the texture prevents the seasoning from flaking. It is true you don't want to cook tomato based sauces, it really take off the seasoning.
I bought the cheapest enameled cast iron dutch oven I could find. And I couldn't be happier! I'm not looking for a specialized cook top pan, I just want to braise and stew. Start foods on the stove, then move them to the oven to cook low and slow. You can TOTALLY see the difference going from a normal pot to cast iron. It really does give more even cooking and therefore better results.
I might never get a "real" cast iron pan for the stovetop, but you'll get my dutch ovens when you pry them from my cold dead fingers!
We'd like to see Lisa's in depth oven method. Great job Hannah!!
I was thinking we should take folks through the whole process, thanks for the feedback!
I have two Le Creuset dutch ovens and two cast iron skillets. I love them all but the enameled cast iron is harder to clean and is not nonstick. I just made sous vide NY strip steaks a few weeks ago and pan seared them on my 17" Lodge cast iron skillet on blazing high heat. After cooking the steaks I just use hot water to deglaze the skillet then scrape it with a flat wooden spoon and wipe it out with a cotton cloth soaked in oil.
Smithey is an awesome cast iron skillet!!! Got 2 of them 10 and 12 but if anyone wants the best to use… try the stargazer… it’s the best cast iron skillet you are gonna sure!!! It’s a work of art… long handle is perfect in weight and what not.
Thank you both for great information 😊❤
Still using my mom's 60 year old 12" cast iron skillet. Love all my cast iron.
Just in time I have 4 vintage cast iron skillets I need to season
I have a cast iron collection that I have gathered over the years that serves me very well.
Everything from my little 3 inch "spoon holder" , to my 12 inch skillet , to my 10 1/4 inch , 5 qt. Dutch Oven that I use all the time .
I do not use enamel cast iron because it chips . The enamel coating can be damaged by using metal utensils , and , once the pan or pot is chipped , it will degrade .
I have 3 Le Creuset pans, 2 Dutch ovens, 1 newer santeuse. Oldest is nearly 50 years old. Zero chipping or any other kind of damage. Le Creuset’s process of enameling is rigorous, as is their quality inspection process. They are meant to last and they do.
The first kitchen ware I bought about 50 years ago was a set of cast iron skillets. They were a cheap set, but have aged well. I also inherited my grandmother's cast iron and rescued a couple more from my mother who used SOS pads on them. She just didn't deserve to own cast iron. Those old pans are slick and don't stick.
We have my husband's father's 12" cast iron skillet of uncertain parentage. It's a beast, but it makes fantastic cornbread and frittatas (among other things).
I have my great grandmother's cast iron skillet that was made in the mid 1860s. I will give it up when you can pry it from my cold dead hand, and maybe not even then!
Amazing!! What an inheritance!!!
Lodge now has a Made in USA enameled cast iron skillet. Would like to see a Lodge vs. Le Creuset. 👍
Nice review ladies. I would have liked to see the fried egg test on each pan after 1 seasoning. Thx
I lucked out on a Martha Stewart close out enamel cast iron that never fails and is a snap to clean. I have an ancient one as well that I use nostalgically and I also have a enamel grill pan which needless to say is a bear to clean. In addition as a tip, never submerge while hot in water, even hot water -- cast iron can and does warp.
Mercer Culinary makes a great cast iron pan as well as enameled Dutch oven. Sanded my Mercer cast iron cooking surface down and seasoned it and it is my go to pan out of many carbon steel and stainless.
If you need to strip all the seasoning off, you can spray your pan with yellow cap Easy Off oven cleaner (Mr. Muscle in the UK), and wrap it up in a garbage bag for a few hours or up to overnight.
The active ingredient in oven cleaner - sodium hydroxide (also called lye or caustic soda, depending where you live) - has a very high pH, and will dissolve fatty acids - even polymerized ones - into soap and glycerin molecules. Fun fact: the legal definition of soap is "the alkalized salts of fatty acids". A soak in Easy Off will essentially turn the seasoning on your skillet into soap.
Since humans are also partially comprised of organic fats, be sure to wear kitchen gloves when handling a pan coated in oven cleaner, and avoid inhaling any fumes. Unlike in actual soapmaking, not all the sodium hydroxide will be catalysed during a soak with a chunkily-seasoned pan. Even though Easy Off only contains 2.5-5% sodium hydroxide (about the same percentage used in lye baths for traditional pretzel- and bagel-making to raise the pH of the dough's surface which accelerates browning, and in certain professional hair relaxer treatments, as well; MUCH lower than the 25-50% solution used for saponification, or the 100% pure crystals sold as drain cleaner at your local hardware store), you probably don't need or want to give your hands an inadvertant chemical peel to accompany your freshly cleaned skillet!
or you can just pop them in the oven, highest temperature, for 30 minutes - 1 hour, and then wash the ash off. the seasoning will burn off
@@mimosveta well, you *can*, but exposing iron to very high temps for an extended period of time is probably a lot harder on the metal itself than a lye bath. Cast Iron Collectors, and other CI groups I've joined specifically to find out how best to accomplish this goal, do NOT recommend using high heat to strip accumulated seasoning build-ups, but they *do* recommend using a lye bath. So... You do you, I guess.
@@path4061 oh, you mean like the hottest setting on a home oven, the self-clean cycle? O.o
Hello! I have a used airfryer that is honestly a mess on the inside. Do you happen to know if this lye method will work for cleaning it, or will it strip more than the fat buildup and ruin whatever coating the basket has?
@@sarak.2440 oven cleaner is not recommended for aluminum or plastic surfaces, or nondescript/unspecified metals, or nonstick coated surfaces. The parts of your air fryer that are actual stainless steel would be okay, but most toaster ovens and air fryers would be ruined by oven cleaner.
I love both. Cast iron for searing and sautéing. Enamel for acidic sauces and soups. I love my Field skillet the most! I use it a lot more than my Lodges. It cost a lot more but the smooth surface is great.
I may have only worked as a machinist as a summer job during college, but we machined cast iron with milling machines. And cast iron is still used for engine blocks, which involves extensive machining and honing. I find it really hard to believe that the had polish involved more than a hand operating a machine.
My mom's two cast iron Grisold pans probably dated back to the 1940's or earlier. They were smooth inside. I was disappointment when I did not find new pans that way when I bought mine in the 1970's.
Excellent job ladies ❗👏
I really needed this information!!
I prefer my antique Wagner. It has a very smooth inside, like most older pans do.
There's a reason they cost a fortune in vintage shops. They're amazing!
The best choice in cast iron is antique. it's generally polished and seasoned when you inherit it or buy it. Moreover it was made when several skillet manufacturers were competing against each other for sales and they put in the extra effort and expense to appeal to ladies who really knew their cast iron cooking.
Sadly, sometimes antique skillets require a restoration process, but they are worth it.
Hi Val, Great job!
Seasoning easier than folks are led to believe. Just roast spatchcocked chicken in it repeatedly. We typically have that once a week at our house, especially in the cold months. If you do nothing else, after about four chickens you are done. If you want to speed things up, roast pork tenderloin at 425F. Preheat the pan, and put the tenderloin on top of a tiny drizzle of oil. Also consider frying bacon. These are all simple things that will quickly season your pan without any fuss.
Definitely. Would appreciate Lisa's cast iron tips.
Lodge pans are great if you are willing to take a sander with a few discs to it, start with 300 grit, after about 3 of those switch to 600 and polish it up, honestly just getting rid of that rough bottom makes a world of difference.
The whole reason I _haven't_ purchased a cast iron skillet is because of the weight. I have psoriatic arthritis and handling pans that are 8 lbs is just way too much for my hand and wrist joints. I'm now at least interested in the enamel option tho because if it's less heavy, I might be able to handle it.
They're less heavy, but not light. I just checked and the 12-inch enamel from Le Creuset is 6.75 lbs and the Lodge is 8.75 lbs, so two pounds is nothing to sneeze but but still, not light. For lightweight skillets I usually recommend stainless steel or ceramic nonstick. We tested lightweight Dutch ovens because a cast iron Dutch oven is SO heavy! Winner was stainless steel. We're always looking for testings that would help people, so let us know if there are any other pieces of equipment that give you trouble and we will add it to the list.
just get carbon steel, it's like cast iron but way lighter, and cheaper, can be easier to season as well
@@hannahcrowley2030 why not carbon steel??
We have all of the above. Some are family heirlooms (hand me downs) they all have a place for cooking. The "artisan" piece is from around 1910.
My favorite cast iron skillet is my grandma's Griswold skillet. I tried one of the newer skillets but I didn't get along with the rough surface and it quickly went into storage.
I love all my Lodge skillets!
I have my grandmother's 12" cast iron she inherited when she got married. Plain and simple. It lives on my stove top. Makes omelettes, steaks, roasts, pizza. You can keep that enamel stuff.
Ideally this is what I want in a new skillet I am shopping for this Black Friday. How do you maintain your 12" cast iron and how often do you clean or season it? Thanks.
@shabchique7149 Really just the basics. Hot water is usually all you need and maybe a scrub. Heat it to dry and re-oil occasionally. I try not to put tomato or wine or lemon juice in it (still happens). If you have a really fouled up one, I have put cast iron in the self cleaning oven cycle and reseasoned it after and they look new. But I'm no scientist, so take all advice as such.
@@postmodernrecycler I appreciate the input and making it simple. I've overcome my cast iron maintenance fear and will get one this week. 😊
@@shabchique7149 Yep! At least give it a try and enjoy learning a new cooking utensil. Probably the seasoning of the pan is what really scares people. There's plenty of good articles, and cast iron is actually very simple once you figure it out.
I have a standard cast iron 3qt dutch oven with a 10" skillet lid -- does everything i need cast iron for -- though the particular brand I have (Tortillada) the skillet sides are only 1.5 inches, it works fine for cooking for one or two - and only cost about $40 for both pieces.
Yes! I'd like to see Lisa showing how to reason cast iron in the oven.
Hey Val!! Thanks for your tips!
Both have their applications that are unique and necessary while still having wide overlap that makes for great versatility.
Lodge for the win. Use it, that rough texture goes away. Cast iron the only pans, baking dishes, and pots I use. I had a nice old Griswold until someone decided they needed it more than me and stole it out of the back of my truck.
why not carbon steel?
You can use dish detergent on any of them. The reason they say not to use soap is because in the old days, lye was a common ingredient in soap and lye removes seasoning. Any properly seasoned cast iron will hold up fine using dish detergent and modern soaps.
I have a slightly different clearing routine, mainly to using cast iron while camping. I'll scrape out the excess food, boil water in the cookware, scrub with a mail scrubber or ball of tin foil. Once clean I'll rise with clean water, dry and season.
Hit flea markets, thrift stores and estate auctions. Find Griswold or Wagner Ware. Restore as needed. Smooth as silk. Good for generations!
YES Laura!!!
I inherited a 100 year-old Lodge set that has the ridges on the bottom for stovetops from that era. Slicker than oil on a gold tooth.
Best videos explaining iron skillet! Thank you
Vitreous means LIKE glass, not necessarily “derived from” glass.
Short soaks in vinegar also helps remove rust.
Sigh.....I found a purple Le Creuset skillet for free and was so excited as I wouldn't spend that much money on a skillet, but have always wanted one. It was non stick for a couple months and now everything sticks to it. Inkeep hearing they dont need to be seasoned. Trying to decide if I should season the inside, even though everyone says it doesn't need to be seasoned.
A palm sander with the right grit paper will smooth out the rough surface.
An angle-grinder with a flap-disc can as well, as would an orbital sander.
It might be worth trying.
Not really. You need something more aggressive, or be prepared to be at it all day.
@jimnyenhuis560 perhaps you missed the part about the right, or I should have said correct grit paper. Start with a little coarse, then go finer. It doesn't take that long. I did it to a newer pan that was gifted to me.
@@AmericaFirstNow Well, we had different experiences then. I've bought some antique pans since then, and there's a large difference between them and what I was able to achieve (with reasonably coarse grit) on a Lodge.
Lodge fills my kitchen cabinets. Two of them were my grandmother's.
Traditional. I've been using it for 60 years. 😊
I bought a Lodge and did the polishing myself.
Grapeseed Oil is the best for seasoning, IME.
My skillets are ancient. Love my vintage Griz and elderly lodges. I use them daily for everything!
Great video for us amateurs cooks.
Val did a great job. That’s essentially how I season my cast irons. It’s not a perfect seasoning (still rough and ngl craggy) but it’s never rusted.
Short answer: It depends on what you are trying to do. Both seasoned and enamelled cast iron have their uses.
I'm surprised there was nothing about sanding down the lodge and low-end cast irons. I think it's absolutely crucial, and helps build a good seasoning much quicker than not. I believe I started with 140 grit, then 220, or something like that. Then re-season and perhaps deep fry a thing or two.