Let mix up things a lil bit with a little "cast iron pan" talk.....

I have quite a bit of lodge stuff, and have never sanded any of it. Some people do, with varying results. I have read from some good sources, that if you sand new cast iron, too smooth, that seasoning will not stick properly. It isn't lodge's seasoning, that is the problem, it is the chemistry of the new metal. Personally, I coat it with lard, and bake in the oven. Hand wash when done using it, dry immediately, and coat with lard and bake in the oven each use. Eventually your pan will smooth out significantly, as the seasoning builds. I personally don't have any problems with it, after the initial seasoning, even when it isn't smooth.

Use metal utensils without sharp edges. Over time the pieces will smooth out as you use them. As seasoning builds up and in due time it will have a smooth feel to it albeit still not as smooth as the older pieces.

I use flax seed oil. Same oil they make lindseed oil out of. Do not put too much on very thin coat and wipe it with a towel. Then put it in the oven on top of a wood burning stove in your smoker when it is cooling down etc. just keep putting several light layers on, with heat. If you do not heat it up post putting oil on you will get a rancid smell. Then use it as much as you can. Bake bread, bisquets, fry etc. you will be very pleases with the results.

i have several lodge pans, but I also have several I've inherited from grandmothers and from my folks. the old stuff is lighter and finished better and far easier to use. the lodge stuff will smooth out eventually, but I know many that have taken the palm sander to it and re-seasoned with great results. i was just never that ambitious

Personally im not a fan of lodges pre seasoning. I say strip it and start from new. Ive had it flake. That being said pick an oil. Put the thinnest layer you can of it on the pan. Put it in the oven upside down at a temp above that oils smoke point(you can google a chart online). Take it out after 15 mins and re wipe then let it roll for an hour. Turn the oven off and let the pan cool down on its own. I use one coat then start cooking. Only cook fatty things for a little while. Bacon, burgers, ect. After a little bit youll be ready to roll!

Ditto to all the above. I have one skillet i can flip eggs in.....but I NEVER pit soap on it. To clean once seasond use only warm or hot water. Table salt will help get stuck on stuff...I'll wipe down with vegatable oil after use. Good luck! :thumb:

Joshw said:

I have quite a bit of lodge stuff, and have never sanded any of it. Some people do, with varying results. I have read from some good sources, that if you sand new cast iron, too smooth, that seasoning will not stick properly. It isn't lodge's seasoning, that is the problem, it is the chemistry of the new metal. Personally, I coat it with lard, and bake in the oven. Hand wash when done using it, dry immediately, and coat with lard and bake in the oven each use. Eventually your pan will smooth out significantly, as the seasoning builds. I personally don't have any problems with it, after the initial seasoning, even when it isn't smooth.

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Same here except I use Crisco. Bake at 350 for an hour or so with the pan inverted to avoid pooling in the bottom.

I do ab0out 6 designing cycles in the oven, letting it cool down and adding a thin layer of lard each time.

Then I cook a few handfuls of potatoes skins and salt in to, then it's ready to use for anything. I make sure I do bacon and fatty stuff a lot before I do anything involving simmering liquids, etc.

metal spatulas only, in a few months it gets quite smooth, if you don't mess top that seasoning it gets thicker and smoother.

If I really wanted a smooth pan I'd just buy vintage. You can also invest in a pan by a newer maker who grinds theirs smooth, but beware you'll have to be more careful at first building uo a seasoning, a smooth pan holds it less well at first.

No need for flax oil IMO, flax works well on a new carbon steel pan where getting that first layer to stick is crucial. Everything works on cast iron, olive or vegetable oil, shortening or lard, it makes little difference.

Ronwig said:

Ditto to all the above. I have one skillet i can flip eggs in.....but I NEVER pit soap on it. To clean once seasond use only warm or hot water. Table salt will help get stuck on stuff...I'll wipe down with vegatable oil after use. Good luck! :thumb:

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Soap can be used. That line of thinking came into play when they still put lye in soap. Lye will strip the seasoning. I actually have pics somewhere of a 60's Wagner piece with the label still on suggesting the use of soap to clean the pan.


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It’s interesting if you speak to the oldest generation you can find about cast iron cooking. Basically rinse it off, heat it- wipe it off and start cooking. Fried-baked-boiled or broiled the family skillet was used- a lot. The only conscious effort made was making sure it was dry and lightly oiled after use + before the next use. And don’t get it to hot on the stove. Mom told me ours was always out ready to go on the stove top- usually with bacon or sausage grease. About once a week she would use those leaving to make gravy. This was when she’d really scrub the skillet re-oil and good to go another week. They weren’t treated as prized posessions at the time but their durability was recognized. Only later after surviving a lot of use did they have sentimental value. She remembers 3 skillets a bean pot and a meat grinder.

There’s nothing wrong with current day cast iron. I’ve got some. Lodge I use the most are loaf pann and press. Nice- heavy easy to care for.

My favorite skillet users are vintage Griswold and Wagner.
My little two Egg Griswold Skillet �� is really cool ��

Lodge also has steel skillets. They cook very similar to cast iron, but are smoother from the start, and much easier to take care of. Plus they are lighter which helps. Cast iron gets so heavy.

Around Christmas there was a thread here in this forum, and someone did take a sander to his Lodge cast iron. He loved the results. It smoother things out quite a bit.

I really doubt you could sand and smooth out cast iron to the point of seasoning not sticking. Cast iron is naturally porous.

I'm a little obsessed with my cast iron pans. I wasn't satisfied with the surface texture so I used a stripping disk attachment and a drill to resurface the pans just like this guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGLV7fd0-fQ The end result is literally a mirror like finish...whether it makes the pan more nonstick is debatable though I will say it is noticeable in my own experience.

To season, apply a layer of vegetable oil and then literally wipe off as much as you can. A very thin layer will remain. Place into a 450 degree (polymerizes the oil quickly so as not to leave tacky residue) oven upside down for 30 min and repeat anywhere from 3-5 more times depending on how thick an initial seasoning layer you want. After cooking, I clean my pans usually with just hot water and a nylon pad (sometimes chainmail if anything is particular stuck on). Dry the pan with a towel then again add a very thin layer of vegetable oil and into a 450 degree oven for 30 min. I've abandoned the process of maintaining the seasoning by oiling and heating on the stove. Takes more effort and provides inconsistent results when I do it. It's really easy and convenient to just toss it in the oven and set the oven-off timer for 30 min.

I read once where it's the left over carbon that fills in all the nooks and crannies,
over time, by high heat seasoning and years of use that helps make CI non-stick.

I don't worry near as much as some folks. Seasoning for me is a stove top job. I start with bare iron and whatever surface I have in the pan in question. Top of a range burner/hob & bring the temp up...not too fast...I have had one cast iron piece explode on me before. A couple minutes on medium heat & then start ramping it up. Once my hob is all the way up I let the pan get screaching hot & then toss in a big knob of bacon grease or lard. Swirl it around and then soak it up in paper towels. The pan is still screaming so I take a clean paper towel, wipe the bottom, and use that to coat the entire pan. After that...well, I'm done.

My great grandma didn't have flax seed oil & she (and her kind) is what made cast iron famous for most of us.

I used avocado oil to season my cast iron pans. (I know very Californian of me). It works really well and costco carries it frequently. I also use all lodge cast iron products.

- G

Deebo said:

Interesting how many different viewpoints there are on this topic. I think I will take a stripping disk to mine sometime this week. I'll take some pics and report back.

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It comes down to preference and to an extent aesthetics - I love the look of a glassy surface on a pan, but performance-wise I honestly don't think there is an appreciable difference. The good thing is no one is wrong!

I use De Buyer carbon steel pans when I need a superb sear and also to be able to take temperatures up and down quickly. It's what I used in restaurants for years (or similar from other brands) and they are lighter and generally far superior for that kind of work, but for home I just love cast iron for most things.

One Drop said:

It comes down to preference and to an extent aesthetics - I love the look of a glassy surface on a pan, but performance-wise I honestly don't think there is an appreciable difference. The good thing is no one is wrong!

I use De Buyer carbon steel pans when I need a superb sear and also to be able to take temperatures up and down quickly. It's what I used in restaurants for years (or similar from other brands) and they are lighter and generally far superior for that kind of work, but for home I just love cast iron for most things.

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European 'iron' pans are VERY underappreciated in the USA. Classic cast iron is often overlooked by all but the few who grew up on farms or have fond memories of cooking with 'grandma'.

I 'rediscovered' the joys of cooking in cast iron when I was in college and had nothing but a very weak electric coil stove to cook with. $8 for a Lodge skillet and a 30 minute preheat let me cook breakfast sausage properly and my eggs didn't stick either.

Later, when I graduated and moved into apartments, I learned to really cook more than what I could I microwave or reheat in a skillet. Pot roasts and similar things were basically pretty bland even when covered in spice because the ~3# roast wasn't browning properly and was basically being steamed. DUTCH OVEN to the rescue! Room temperature after a good salting, and a 30~60 minute preheat and, WOW! Then I nicely seared and browned pot roasts, added some potatoes, carrots, etc. and back in the oven. What a difference! All from a $20 ~5qt Dutch Oven!

I was still a slow learner with Teflon skillets for eggs. ~$30 and a couple months later, another $30 and on and on it went until ... I discovered De Buyer 'crepe' pans. Those things were only ~$20 at the time and did they ever work well! Pancakes, cheese toasts, etc. were also easier to make with its low sides.

If you like cast iron, you will like French and Belgian 'elemental iron' pans, also referred to as 'black pans' by some. They cook a lot like cast iron but weigh a lot less. If you have a strong stove/cooktop, they will sear as well as cast iron but, with their reduced mass you don't store as much energy for a good sear on a weak stove.

Regarding seasoning, flax oil never worked well for me because while super hard, it tended to flake off. Most oils work well but, watch out for lower smoke point oils so you don't smoke out your kitchen. In the end, Peanut oil became my preferred oil for seasoning but, Crisco works really well too. In a pinch, any kitchen oil (vegetable) or grease (bacon, sausage, etc.) will work.

As for cleaning, unless you need to scrape build up off, ~500F sterilizes your pan so soap really isn't needed. A bit of coarse salt and a scrubbie pad is all I generally need to keep my pans clean.

I've been using a Lodge 10.5" near daily for about 4 years and it's got a great, seasoned finish on it. I recently bought a Lodge griddle and after a couple rounds of oven seasoning, have been using that for the last few weeks.

I didn't realize how smooth the surface of my original skillet had become until I started working with the new griddle, which feels like gravel when I run a metal spatula over it. It'll come around, but just takes some time/use :grin: