new cast iron question please help

I can attest to Slime's estimate of a "couple hundred years" of use. Neighbor does Revolutionary War re-enactment and had several Civil War period pieces including a 16" round griddle with a hanging handle (strictly for transport - only hangs by two points). Civil War pieces weren't correct for him so I found a good half dozen pieces hanging over the fence for me one day a few weeks ago - including the 16" griddle. Had a georgous #10 Griswold muffin pan in there as well. Couple of pieces needed a bit of Dremel work to fully clean but after seasoning they're absolutely terrific to cook with. And, yes, 4 pounds of bacon later the griddle's perfect...

OK, I recently bought a preseasoned Lodge cast iron pan. I have cooked bacon in it to get it more seasoned, but the bacon always leaves a layer of 'stuff' on the pan. Then I have to rewash it again to get the stuff off it and I'm back to square #1. Any further ideas so I can use my new cast iron pan that we bought with our 25th anniversary money? Thanks, Maggie

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Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.

Strip it clean! Get that factory coating off if there. Use hot water and soap, dry in a warm oven, and re-season.

Once it's seasoned, don't use water to clean it. Use oil* & salt. The seasoning will get better & better with time.




*Uh, vegetable oil of some kind. Valvoline 10W-40 is NOT recommended!

Thanks for all the "rust' answers....

I would love to be able to cook on my cast iron, especially the frypan!!

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Kathy

When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost. -Billy Graham

We use cast iron most of the time and recently bought a new pan. It was a Lodge and preseasoned. It did recommend rinsing in hot water and coat the surface with oil before using. We did it have had no problem. One thing after seasoning we never use soap. If it is a bad build up we use hot water and a wire brush. The pour a little oil in the pan and wipe with a paper towel. For years I never was seasoning this pans right and I was always using soap on them. Now I do it with a brush and if should ever need to be reasoned I coat with oil and put it in the oven for awhile. That doesn't need to be done hardly ever as I keep the soap off it and I love these pans. I find the older ones are better and they are lighter than the newer ones. I have a mixture of both.

RenieB

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The Will of God will never Lead You where the Grace of God cannot Keep You

When I was in the boyscouts (many, many, many years ago) and we used our dutch ovens to cook in. Sometimes things would end up sticking. Do you know what we did to clean them??? Hold onto your hat..... WE USED DIRT!
That's right dirt. We would put about an inch of dirt and sand in the bottom of the pan and add enough water to make a runny past. With a rag we would then scrub the pan and the baked on mess would easiely come clean. Dirt and sand is very abrasive and it doesn't hurt the pot. The dirt and sand rinse out with ease. This also works great on those rusty pots ya'll have been talking about. After cleaning with dirt just reseason and your good to go for the next time.

Just my opinion...

I wonder if the old rust trick of Coca-Cola (phosphoric acid) and aluminum foil would do anything to help remove rust while doing minimal damage to the seasoning. I've used this trick on chrome before without causing any damage. Too many steps? Thoughts?