What am I doing wrong with my cast iron?

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I start my bacon at a lower heat, then once its gets going I'll raise to med. Love my bacon - :pig: Guess we all have our way of cooking it, so whatever works for you - you will find out. Keeping cookin' !!
 
Barb L said:
I start my bacon at a lower heat, then once its gets going I'll raise to med. Love my bacon - :pig: Guess we all have our way of cooking it, so whatever works for you - you will find out. Keeping cookin' !!


i tried that but that didn't seem to work but have experimented and think the pan just need to be hot enough. if don't get it hot enough it leaves lots more fond. anyway now i got a bigger problem. my pan has started developing some really ugly patches but it's still non stick though.

i've started another thread to see if anyone has any ideas on what to do about it.:(
 
g23 said:
thanks gb i will continue to season but can you help me with answering this question nobody is able to answer yet. when i cooked my fillet i didn't get any fond but when i cook my bacon i got plenty of fond stuck to the bottom of the pan. what is the difference. is it the heat? i may have used higher heat on fillet but can't be sure. i thought i cooked both on same temperature.

I think you got more fond from the bacon because there's more surface area in contact with the pan. The filet would have only had a small area of the pan in contact with the pan, while the bacon probably had at least half, maybe more, of the cooking surface in contact with the meat.

I can't really help with the "patches of discoloration" unless you can show a picture.

One thing to remember: I have a 12" Lodge CI pan, which is a little to big for the burners on my electric stove. I noticed that I could keep a good seasoning on the center of the pan, but the corners, where the bottom meets the sidewall, would never had the same amount of seasoning as the center. I attributed this to the fact that the corners were not in direct contact with heat, and were unable "bake" some fat on to create a seasoning.

Also, I've always recommended that anyone with a new CI pan, use it to pan-fry or deep-fry the first few times they use the pan. This will only help build-up the seasoning.
 
hi allenok,

yeah i have the same problem of center season but not sidewalls or the other way round, i can't tell which. mine has developed a darker ring exactly where the outer electric ring is. probably cos i always put it on 2/3 to warm up and at that setting only the outer ring works. sigh!! i wish i had a gas stove so i don't have all these uneven and ugly patches on my pan from the electric stove but since it works on the stove i can't complain too much i suppose
 
g23 said:
i just purchased a preseasoned 10 1/4 skillet from lodge logic as i couldn't get the original finish. the firt time i used it on my glass top was for fillet steak and it came out perfect no sticking or whatever. i rinse the skillet with hot water and gave a gentle scrub with a plastic brush to clean it then dried it over a low heat. i was ecstatic over the ease of use and taste of the fillet.
the next time i used it was for frying up bacon and that's when stuff stuck to the pan! when i first put the bacon in, it was fine. i was able to move it around freely. this is on medium heat (number 3 on my glass top, 6 is max.) then as it cook more brown bits began forming on the bottom of the pan and stuck to it. this is not meant to happen right? it didn't happen with the fillet. what am i doing wrong?

am i not heating the pan up enough before putting the bacon in? or am i meant to wait longer for bacon to set before moving it around? have i scrubbed off the seasoning with my plastic scrubber; i don't think i have as it was only a gentle scrub. or it is that my bacon has too much water content? it's cheap bacon from the supermarket not prime stuff.


and now my pan seems to have a dark ring around the edges as well. what's with the dark ring? is it uneven seasoning from the glass top itself as most time it's on number 3 and only the outer ring work not the inner ones. would that correpond to the dark edge?

then some people say when heating or drying to let the pan smoke a little before adding oil but then some other people say than if you let it smoke this would take off the seasoning as well. which is which? i don't know anymore!

any help from anybody is most appreciated as i can't seem to find the answers and tearing my hair out in frustration. thank you in advance.



Treat it as you would for eggs, which will stick if the pan isn't hot enough. But I also start bacon in a cold skillet, and it doesn't stick. I think the trick is not to have the pan screaming hot or to low. Somewhere in the middle.
Eggs can start to scorch if the pan is too hot!

But I imagine that most of the time, if the skillet isn't hot, then the food usually sticks to the skillet.

Sometimes, reseasoning helps. Just coat the pan with a light coating of oil, let it "bake" slowly in the oven for several hours, and it should be fine.

I've been ordering cast iron cokware preseasoned as well, to avoid the aqggravating time-consuming process of having to season it myself. I own a 5-qt, preseasoned cast iron Dutch oven, which sometimes sticks. Also, a cast iron wok and a 12-inch and 8-inch cast iron skillets. All from Lodge.

Also, DO NOT WASH THESE ITEMS IN THE DISHWASHER. The harsh detergent
that is used in the machine can ruin the seasoning, causing the item to rust!
Keep the pan away from moisture and do not place it under the sink for storage where it is prone to rusting.

Yes, supposedly salt helps clean the items, but I wash them anyway for health reasons and dry them right away. And do not let them soak either. Rust can also set in that way as well. Prolonged exposure to water and moisture invites rust to set in.

You'll have to scrub it and reaseason it again, to avoid more rusting and the possibilities of your food tasting like rust!
 
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There is no kind of pan, teflon included, that bacon won't stick to. It has sugar in it due to the curing process. That sugar makes it stick. I have several cast iron pans and they work very well. Almost nothing sticks to them, except pork and bacon. Even eggs slide around on them. I sometimes have a hard time flipping eggs because they slide so easy that I can't get the spatula under them. Also, a well seasoned pan is impervious to things like acidic sauces (tomato, sweet & sour, etc.). The seasoning acts as a barrier between the metal and the food and prevents a metallic taste from developing in the food. But the pan must be very well seasoned.

As the others have said, your pans will become better as they are used. You will also learn little tricks as you go along, what temperatures to use for different types of food, how to de-glaze the pan with liquid, etc. A quick tip. The pan will wash much easier if you put it under hot water while it's still hot. But do not immerse a very hot pan in cold water as it can cause the cast iron to crack, just like glass. It has to do with expansion rates and pressures created by them.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
 
Corey123 said:

hi corey,

i've never had any problems cooking my eggs or steak just the bacon occasionally creating too much fond. strange but i think i'm gettinfg the hang of it. but his recent patches on my pan is bothering me more. it's a preseason one cos like you i hate all this seasoning business. anyway i did season it myself once in the oven and shortly thereafter a small patch developed, the it got biger and bigger and mow my pot is an ugly old thing but i can still cook and egg without it sticking. i don't know what's going on. someone said it might be my seasoning coming off but then i wouldn't be able to cook my eggs in it. i don't think it's rust cos i tasted it. oh who knows. i think my pan purposely got itself ugly cos it know it's going to annoy the crap out of me!:rolleyes:
 
Goodweed of the North said:
There is no kind of pan, teflon included, that bacon won't stick to. It has sugar in it due to the curing process. That sugar makes it stick.
Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

thank you goodweed! finally an aswer. i kind of suspected it had something to do with the bacon, something in it is making it stick and not me doing it as i had try all methods. i thought maybe sugar as i know it makes things stick but i didn't think they put sugar in bacon but now i know.

you'll be even more of a genius if you can help me solve this bigger problem

pan has developed patches the last month after i season it second time in the oven. ( pan is preseason) patch was small at first but you can scrape it off with your spatula. patch starts to get bigger and bigger and now has gone a little up the sidewalls as well! it is still non stick and works fine but what is going on. my pan is so ugly especially after rinsing off with water!:(
 
bacon is one of the best foods to cook in new cast iron to get it nicely seasoned. Bacon does leave a sticky residue with some fond in almost any pan except teflon so don't worry. THe pan will clean with hot water and a stiff brush just fine. The question is how does the cooked bacon taste? If the answer is good, you have no problems. Pans will darken unevenly at first, but by the time you pass that pan on to the next generation, it should be fine!
 

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