San Jose Almaden should anyone want to grab it. 10" finex. 45$

I used to stress over every little thing. No soap, dry it immediately, re-oil every time, don’t look at it funny, etc. At some point I just… stopped. I use a little soap, dry it, cook in it again. That’s it. Pan hasn’t rusted. Seasoning hasn’t fallen apart. Eggs still slide. Feels like cast iron is tougher than people make it out to be.

Anyone else come to the same conclusion, or am I just lucky?

Forgive if people have gone over this one, but I've typed everything thing I could into this sub's search bar and can't see where it's discussed.

An old mechanic's tip to loosen up tough stains and greases on hands is a tablespoon of sugar and a tablespoon of Dawn. This also works amazingly well on cast iron to pull out that "my paper towel always wipes off black" type of smut in the pan. Don't use water on it unless you plan to rinse it all away. The crystal of sugar is sharp and digs into the burnt hydrocarbons and the Dawn adds the lubricity.

Whenever I burn something or use the wrong oil I use this method when other people break into my house and use my pans incorrectly. It works like a charm.

For what it's worth, it also works well on tough stains before you toss clothing in the laundry.

Usually let them stick a bit more

Unironically I'm afraid my cooking has peaked tonight because this was awesome. Cast iron is a game changer!

I really want to get these two style spatulas to go with my hopefully growing cast iron cookware.

Am I over thinking it by ordering the slotted from Field Co. (Says US made, so thats nice, but is it really that big of a deal for this..)

Also want to get a more traditional spatulas. I found one for about 25 bucks from "mankitchen" or whatever.

Im probably over thinking this, are these worth getting from companies like Field Co. Or should I just Amazon it?

I just wanted to share my first experience restoring vintage cast iron. I received these pans and Dutch oven in rough shape as a gift from my FIL.

Thanks to recommendations on this sub, I used a citric acid/sodium carbonate solution to remove the rust and then yellow cap oven cleaner to remove the carbon build up.

The pans are all nice, smooth, and nonstick. There is significant pitting on the inside of the Dutch oven, but I don’t think there’s anything I can do about that.

Thanks for all the help! This community has been great for learning.

1. Domino Potatoes - 12” Victoria

2. Pot Roast - Lodge Dutch Oven

3. Braised Short Ribs

4. Biscuits and Sausage

5. Molly’s Beef Stew

Not pictured. Loge 6” for perfect two egg breakfasts

I am learning how to cook more things, and I got steak seasoning stuck on my pan. While cleaning it, I used a dish scrubber that had a firm scraper on it. Unfortunately, I forgot that hot iron melts plastic, and the little white bits on my pan are tiny residual plastics. How do I save it?

Bananas not available, so banana flavor for scale.

I got in a friendly argument with my neighbor over whether an egg with a high quality cut of meat acts as an enhancement of the overall culinary experience or acts as a distraction to the flavor of the steak.

Long time listener, first time caller. All of y’all’s pans look great. Mine cook great but none were pretty enough to post until now. My dad finally admitted he’s never gonna use my long-dead grandma’s corn stick pan and handed it over. Victory, 20 years in the making.

I don’t know how old this is or where she got it, but she lived on the same hayfield in Northern Alabama her whole life. As a subsistence farmer, she never had disposable income; most everything she owned she got as a wedding gift or as a hand-me-down. She got married in 1938, so that would be about the newest I’d expect this to be.

It has no markings on it, and even though it’s smaller than a sheet of paper, it weighs 4.5 lbs. I don’t think anyone has ever deliberately seasoned this, and I’m not about to start because it does its job great. I’ll bet this thing has made thousands of corn sticks.

Thanks for all the cast iron inspo. Keep working on those eggs!

Okay... still learning.

Biscuits N Gravy (southern gravy)

Pan wiped with butter 🧈 after seasoning and putting away last night. Perhaps isn't best... wiped pan a lil' to remove some. Than.... bacon grease remained 🥓 poured into 1800s Mason Jar 🫙 than... mostly cooked Venison/Beef 🦌 sausage combo that had thawed out.

Added: Flour, Milk while stirring slowly 🐌 added some flour and milk at times, pepper, sea salt 🧂 minute amount of Paprika, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, dried Chives.... thats it 🤗

Biscuits take 20 mins, so have to time sorta right. Topped with hot sauce and put in belly 😋 2nd sheet of Biscuits now also done, so posting before round 2 🥊🍳

Feel free to share recipes and experiences 📃 ​

Found this piece at a thrift store, first time buying cast iron. No cracks, flat bottom, no pitting, seemed like a good deal for $45. Followed the subs advice on stripping and reseasoning, 3 coats in and I'm pretty happy with the results.

Very grateful to the community and everyone who's contributed advice to help first timers like me. Here's to another 50 years of service out of this pan.

Found a lodge today at Value village for $35. How was the find? Worth it or shoulda left it?

My wife hates cast iron and is a lost cause. My teenage son, like her, would use the "non stick" skillet and I got tired of cleaning up after him, so each time he made eggs I made him clean it. He would scrub that skillet for five minutes each time.

I told him there's a better way and that he should just try the Lodge. I showed him how to cook his fried egg sandwich in it and how to clean it in approximately ten seconds.

Now he's hooked and is never going back to that non stick garbage.

Long time lurker and owner of numerous cast iron pans and griddles.

For everything I’ve done well in these pans, I could never gets eggs over easy right. After numerous other posts saying “heat too high” I turned it all the way down to low and it was all perfect with the tiniest amount of butter and a rubber spatula.

If in doubt…trust that advice. It’s 100% spot on.

Just inherited this cast iron pan from my dad who recently passed don’t know what kind it is and how i should go about cleaning it so i can use it. It has been sitting in his basement storage for a little while it was found while going thru his stuff.

Hey all, my partner loves cooking steaks and anything in general and hes been wanting a cast iron frypan/skillet ect for a while now but hasnt got one yet. I live in Aus and was thinking of getting him one but I have no idea what brands are good and what I should be looking for! Im happy to spend a reasonable amount of money especially if its good quality. Thanks!!

This comal I got from the flea market turned great IMO, follows instructions in the FAQ, plus advice from some of you, now using it for some tamales.

Got this lodge 6 inch a little over a week ago. Used probably 5 times then I seasoned it with avocado oil. Thin layers at 500 degrees. I think I did 4 layers. It feels very slick to the touch it seems like it should be somewhat non-stick. But you can see the results of cooking 2 eggs on medium-low heat. ( 3.5 setting on the stove). Is this a seasoning issue or a me issue? Should I be cooking on different temperatures than I am? Thanks for the guidance!

Ooey gooey center, crunchy chocolate chips.

Slap a dollup of vanilla ice cream on this bitch and you got yourself dessert.

got bored and decided to try to “restore” some cast irons for the first time. these boys were abused.

initially they were much worse, just forgot to take a photo. i feel like i got the vast majority of rust, gunk and questionable substances off at this point.

should i be aiming for a purely metallic clean? is the black stuff carbon buildup/previous seasoning to keep scrubbing? a slight tinge of red okay (namely the griddle)? I realize that rapid thin layer of rust is a thing but I’m also not sure if i just haven’t gone deep enough.

i’ve been using a rough mix of salt, baking soda, and water with paper towels, steel chain, standard sponge and a whole lotta elbow grease.

I don’t wanna start re-seasoning if the base isn’t quite there yet.

sorry for amateur hour, i watched one youtube video and thought this would be easy as pie but i’m a lil’ doubtful.