New Lodge 10.25" skillet

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vagriller

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I just picked up a pre-seasoned 10.25" Lodge skillet from Walmart last night. I seasoned it a bit more with veg oil. Wish I had read up on it hear a bit. I would have used Crisco instead! Anyway, I plan on frying some flounder tonight. I was wondering if that was a good idea or not, if it would be better to fry up some bacon instead. Or if I should fry some bacon, and then flounder! I didn't know if fish would leave some "flavor" if I do it first.

Also, am I correct in understanding that the correct procedure is to clean with hot water, dry it off, coat with shortening, and put it in the oven? After every use?
 
Well you could cook fish in it tonight, but if it were me I would give it a little more time just to ensure the seasoning is good, otherwise there is a chance your fish could stick. I am probably making it sound like a bigger deal than it is though so don't let me scare you away from cooking fish tonight if you really want to.

Don't worry about the veggie oil. Crisco would have been a better choice, but using veggie oil was not a bad thing to do.

Yes, cook some bacon in it. CI likes nothing more than bacon! No matter what, it will only help.

As for your cleaning procedure, yes you want to use hot water and scrub it clean with a paper towel. Some people use course grain salt as an abrasive when needed. I have even used sand when camping. Stay away from soap until your seasoning is good and strong. Once you hit that point then do not be scared to use a little soap when needed. When I put mine away first I dry it completely. Some people take a step further and put it on a burner to make sure it is bone dry. I will put mine in the oven (if the oven had been used and is still warm) to continue drying in there, but I do this because that is where I store my CI skillet anyway. You do not need to coat it with shortening again, but a very light coating of oil is not a bad idea. I pour a drop of oil about the size of a dime (not shortening) into the warm pan and rub it around all surfaces with a paper towel. The key is to keep it dry. The oil (fat) acts as a barrier between the metal and any water. if you can ensure your pan stays bone dry then the extra oil at the end is not really necessary (but certainly won't hurt).
 
Well, it was pre-seasoned when I got it. I know it has a ways to go before it is non-stick, but I plan to make the fish in it anyway. It will be a breaded fish, so I'm hoping it won't stick too bad. Would you recommend frying the bacon, then the fish in bacon grease? I plan to use the following recipe as a guide. Not sure if I've ever followed a recipe to a T.

Crispy Fish Fillets - All Recipes
 
A quarter cup is a decent amount of oil so I actually would not worry about sticking because it is a new pan. It should perform just as well today as it will in 10 years with that amount of oil. Frying bacon first and using the bacon fat is not necessary, but it wouldn't hurt either. It will not be any better for the pan than just using the oil from the recipe, but it sure would taste good :)
 
I was really looking for this skillet to replace my beat up old (cheap) Calphalon non-stick, but now I am rather wishing I had gotten the 12"! I suppose I can get the bigger one, or a dutch oven, in the future. I can't wait to be able to do eggs in this pan!

GB, I plan on using Crisco for the fish.
 
Buy stock in Lodge...I just bought a 10 1/2" grill plate to use under the broiler! After looking at all those steaks on grills in the Jan. 29th "what's for dinner" thread I HAD to buy me a new toy and use it. Have the steaks (rib eye Delmonicos) but I need DH to get home from work at a decent hour tonight. If not I'm cooking MINE tomorrow if he ends up working late.:LOL:
 
Just finished dinner. The fried flounder was a hit. 7 year old son peeled the breading off, but proceeded to eat like he'd never seen food before!

One thing though, the flounder ended up a but mushy. Did I do something wrong, or is that just how flounder gets? It was previously frozen fish, not sure if that makes a difference. The pan performed flawlessly though. Not a hint of sticking. I'm hooked!
 
If I remember correctly flounder is not a very sturdy fish.

A friend of mine used to make a citrus fish out of (fresh) perch and when he couldn't find it used (fresh) flounder. This was done in a broiler... we ended up with fish goo. It was not appetizing.
 
Seasoning question.

I have a 12"lodge and it is by far my favorite pan.I have been having seasoning problems with this one as well as all of my cast pans.I can fry a pound of bacon,and clean the pan as I normaly do one day and it has a nice deep black finish.I can do everything the same way the next day and the clean pan has a dull dry look.Am I not getting it clean enough or to clean?I never use soap or any type of abrasives.And I allways dry it on a high flame on the stove top.I am not a fan of applying oil after its clean because I think it just becomes a big crud magnet.I guess I should'nt worry about it collecting dust because I am constantly useing it, but I would still rather not.Any tips?
 
If I remember correctly flounder is not a very sturdy fish.

A friend of mine used to make a citrus fish out of (fresh) perch and when he couldn't find it used (fresh) flounder. This was done in a broiler... we ended up with fish goo. It was not appetizing.

If flounder is not a sturdy fish then how do they fry it at a restaurant and it stays firm? Don't get me wrong, it tasted good but I would like it a bit firmer.

And it appears that I have a problem with my pan. After I fried the fish and let the pan cool, I went to clean it. It cleaned up very nice and was getting a very nice non-stick coating on it. It seemed rather slick, but not greasy or anything. I should have just left it alone at that point, but I decided to put more crisco in it and season some more (pan was NOT upside down). Well evidently I put too much in and after I let it bake in the oven for an hour or more I shut the oven off and let it cool all night. This morning there was a sticky coating on the bottom of the pan. Again, I probably should have left it alone, but I decided to try to scrape the stickness off with hot water and a vinyl scratch pad. I guess I got a little carried way, because now the pad is blotchy on the bottom. Color ranges from grayish to black. Should I scrape all the seasoning off and start over. I'm not panicking or anything. I know it can be fixed, but just want to go about it the best way.
 
You did not do anything wrong by trying to scrape the extra off after the fact. That was actually the right thing to do. From the point you are now I would just re-season just as it is. Use as little fat as possible, while still making sure to coat every surface (both inside and out). after that, cook fatty things with it for a while and that will help. It will get better with time.
 
Cool deal! I almost made an omelette in the CI pan this morning, even in the state it was in. But I figured it would be better to hold off till the seasoning is more substantial.
 
One of my staple kitchen tools is a broken off blade from an spatula. Cast iron will sometimes get crud stuck, and the blade will make quick work of it. I also use it for scraping cutting boards.
 
Lodge cast iron RULES!

Yes they do.

My Lodge 14" pizza pan was on taco duty last week. I wanted to post this on the taco thread last week but that thread was shut down.


img_875842_0_496340eef8a90e0fa4985ac88d668aa6.jpg
 
12 inch skillet

man o man do I love cast iron.

I learned to cook in my great grandmothers skillet (I have an old panotype picture with the thing on the fire!)

Hopefully you really washed it out well with soap to remove the machine oils. I typically will wash it, boil it to remove residue, place it on my BBQ with a heavy canola film and bake it for several hours (no need to worry about the smoke outside!) I re apply the canola several times during the hot cure. One thing to remember is that sometimes there is a wax film on the cast iron if it is coming from overseas!

Then I cook. Never had a problem with my ton of Cast iron skillets, dutch ovens and griddles. Just be sure to clean with water or oil and salt mixes only - no soap after the first washing.

Good luck with the Iron:cool:
 
One of my staple kitchen tools is a broken off blade from an spatula. Cast iron will sometimes get crud stuck, and the blade will make quick work of it. I also use it for scraping cutting boards.

The plastic scrapers that come with stoneware would be a great for this, and I have 2 of them. The pan is in the oven now with crisco applied lightly with a paper towel. Should be good to go. Saturday it will have some bacon frying in it no doubt! Then maybe some eggs. I'll try one after I get the bacon grease out. I heard that eggs don't do so well in bacon grease.
 
The plastic scrapers that come with stoneware would be a great for this, and I have 2 of them. The pan is in the oven now with crisco applied lightly with a paper towel. Should be good to go. Saturday it will have some bacon frying in it no doubt! Then maybe some eggs. I'll try one after I get the bacon grease out. I heard that eggs don't do so well in bacon grease.

I have a bamboo spatula that I use solely for scraping my CI skillets.
 

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