Cast iron cookware

Purchased my first cast iron skillet today. It’s a lodge 10 inch. The finish of course isn’t near as nice as some vintage Wagner or Griswold but I think I can make it workable.

Part of making it workable is in the seasoning. I’m following (sort of, see below) the seasoning process outlined by Cheryl Canter on her blog. It seems to be going well but time will tell if it works or not.

I say I’m sort of following the process because I didn’t strip the pan to bare metal before I started seasoning it. I cleaned the pan with hot water and then started applying seasoning layers of organic flax seed oil. I’m only 3 layers in so I’ll update once I’m done and have a chance to cook with it to see how it works.

Edit: Well it seems to have worked. First cook was bacon which may not have been a great choice. I ended up with a lot of burnt on “stuff” that stuck quite vigorously to the bottom of the pan. Luckily it deglazed easily with hot water for the most part and the rest came of easily with a little work.

Scrambled eggs were up next and I used the bacon grease as my fat for the eggs. This worked perfectly and the eggs were fantastic. They slid around as they cooked and didn’t stick one bit. I let the pan cool a bit after I was done and just wiped it out with a paper towel, rinsed with warm water and it was spotless clean. Put it back on the still warm burner (electric stove) and let it finish drying.

I’m going to like cooking with this pan. I think grilled cheese will be up next.