Trying to find an 8" CI skillet with sloping sides

[stevenkan]

OK! My Lodge Pro-Logic skillet arrived, and it's heavy! I probably will be able to flip with it given some practice, but it's going to feel _very_ different from my aluminum pans. It's also not very non-stick yet. Time to cook some bacon or sausage. Or both!

Video may follow later, if I can get my eggs sliding well enough

 

[pacanis]

Ahhh, I want to see the one where you flip, but they stick
I should be getting my Lodge DO any day now, so I'll be seasoning right along with ya.

 

[Callisto in NC]

To season cast iron like that cook cheap corn bread mix and use as much oil as the recipe calls for. It will season your pan better than cooking bacon because it will cover the entire surface.

 

[pacanis]

I just got my new CI griddle in today.
I was wondering about a giant "cornbread cookie" to season it, so I don't have to use the oil and bake method. Or, rather than cooking bacon on it, just cook saved bacon drippings... Seems like there should be a trick to it, to turn it into a well seasoned piece of CI.

 

[Callisto in NC]

pacanis my SIL is a chef and she seasoned many a CI pan. She says make a big ole batch of corn bread batter. Go by the directions, add the oil as indicated and cook. Don't eat it though. That's her big "heck no" is eating it. Don't do it. If you can do it twice, definitely do it. Every time my dad messed up his CI she would go get a box of Marie Calendar's or Jiffy Mix corn bread, bake a batch in the CI and it would be good to go. For a new pan, two or three batches is best. Cooking bacon is cool, but the corn bread covers the whole pan.

 

[pacanis]

Yeah, UB mentioned that a while ago, for a skillet. I'm just trying to figure out a way to adapt it to season other CI cookware. Such as my griddle with very low sides, or my DO I should be getting tomorrow,,, how much corn bread to go all the way up the sides? And would it react the same way?
I'll get r done.

 

[Andy M.]

Why waste cornbread or worry about complete coverage? Use the method recommended by Lodge. Shortening all over (inside and out) then a 350 f oven for an hour. Cool and repeat. Then, when you make cornbread, you can eat it.

 

[Uncle Bob]

I'm just trying to figure out a way to adapt it to season other CI cookware.

For a new pan...Follow the manufacturer's directions....It seasons the outside as well as the inside....You may want do this two or three times before using your pan...It's a good start towards a well seasoned pan....

Have Fun!!

 

[Callisto in NC]

Why waste cornbread or worry about complete coverage? Use the method recommended by Lodge. Shortening all over (inside and out) then a 350 f oven for an hour. Cool and repeat. Then, when you make cornbread, you can eat it.

It's not wasting corn bread, it's spending 89 cents to perfectly season your new pan. The manufacturer can't say "bake cornbread" on their instructions because they'd have to include a recipe. The cornbread method is TNT and works better than Lodge's method.

 

[pacanis]

...And nobody said I wouldn't eat the corn bread

 

[Callisto in NC]

...And nobody said I wouldn't eat the corn bread

don't eat the corn bread. Don't do that to yourself.

 

[pacanis]

don't eat the corn bread. Don't do that to yourself.

One night..... I was hungry for something sweet and cookie-like and the only thing I had on hand that met those requirements was corn bread...... and chocolate syrup
It will do in a pinch

 

[AllenOK]

I always like to do a little deep-frying or pan-frying in a CI pan to help the seasoning process.

If I'm at work, I cheat. I have a little CI "sizzle platter" type thing, like what fajitas are served on. I'll clean it, dry it over low heat on the stovetop, then, using a towel wrapped around the handle, and dunk the whole darn thing into the deep-fryer. I then take it out, and wipe it down with a couple paper towels, then flip it up-side-down and place it in the salamander at the lowest setting to bake the oil on.

 

[Callisto in NC]

One night..... I was hungry for something sweet and cookie-like and the only thing I had on hand that met those requirements was corn bread...... and chocolate syrup
It will do in a pinch

All I'm saying is don't tempt yourself. Make cornbread to season the pan and throw it out THEN make a batch you can eat. Just don't eat the batch that you make for seasoning. Think of it like drinking the dishwater. The dishes are clean, but the water isn't.

 

[gadzooks]

Sorry I checked in here so late in the thread. I use an 8" (20cm) black (carbon) steel pan for eggs. Actually, I have two of 'em. One is fairly thin, and light. Nice for flipping. The other is heavier, almost as heavy as a CI one would be. Both have a nice slope to the sides, and they were cheap. Under $15 new, or $4 used in a thrift. Cure just like CI, and they are slick, no stick. They also go from stovetop to broiler very nicely.

 

[stevenkan]

First flip!!!

I tried using my new pan as-is for about a week, and it was a disaster. The eggs stuck to the pan like Velcro. "Pre-seasoned" doesn't really mean much. So I did a proper seasoning in the oven and tried again.

On my first attempt I used 3 eggs, and it was a bit too much mass to get over with my "normal" flipping technique, and I ended up with a half-folded, scrambled mess.

This morning I tried again with 2 eggs, and I flipped it successfully. The wrist motion is really different from that of a non-stick. The eggs will release, but they don't really slide. On my Teflon pan once I had them loosened I could move my wrist in a circular motion and the eggs would just slide around like they were on bearings. Flipping from Teflon required just a quick forward-and-back flick to get the eggs over.

Flipping in this Lodge pan requires more of a up-and-over motion, since I have to propel the eggs upward instead of relying on the far lip of the pan to do it for me.

Anyway, the omelet was a success! I still need to make a few more before I get the feel for it, but I like eating them, so that's not a bad thing. Off to get myself some crab meat and avocados . . .

Video may follow later, if I get ambitious.

 

[gadzooks]

Ooh...I had to drive across town this morning to pick up a check for some computer/network work I did, a big five minute ride, so I stopped at my favorite in-town thrift on the way. Picked up a slightly burnt 22 cm (8-5/8") French black steel fry pan. Riveted steel handle. Boiled it in a pot of water with heavy duty degreasing Dawn and then scrubbed a bit with Scotchbrite. A light scrape with my griddle spatula, and it's like new. I left the bottom as is. It is in the oven now, curing with olive oil, for all you vegetarians. Medium weight, not heavy like a blini pan, not thin like the black steel that is coming out of China these days. Perfect egg pan...low, shallow sides for fast cooking, easy flipping. Handle long enough to go in the broiler to finish the cheese on top of my omelet. $1+7¢ for Ahnold.**Update...I just fried and flipped a pair of eggs in it. Nice. I'll try an omelet in the morning. Oh, and I always spelled omelette like that, but spell check says I'm a...bad speller.

 

[stevenkan]

The pan is improving with use. Now that I've been using it pretty regularly for about a week (since properly seasoning it), it's definitely loosening up, so to speak. I made two omelets this morning, and they were definitely sliding in the pan. I still have to work on my heat control, though. The first omelet was nearly perfect, but the second was a little browned because I let the pan get too hot.