BDAABAT
is one Smokin' Farker
I had a couple days off from work around Christmas and decided to try a project: make the cooking surface of some new Lodge pans smooth.
Background: I'd purchased some new cast iron a couple years ago after experiencing the joys of cast iron on Scout outings. The pans our troop uses are a treat to use! Even heat, consistent cooking, nearly non-stick. So, I purchased a 10" Lodge new and acquired a 12" from my mother. The 12" had been a gift from my father to my mom, but was only used once. My mom decided that the pan was too heavy for her to use, so she passed it on to me.
I was excited to try the cast iron. Used both pans at home. Both times, food stuck horribly. Tried re-seasoning. Cooked again with the same result; stuck food....and not in a good way. I HATE it when eggs stick to the bottom of the pan! Dejected, I left the pans in a drawer and bought a new non stick pan.
Puzzled, I started looking into why the experience with the troop pans was so different than my experience at home with the new pans. I found out that the troop pans had been gifted to the troop by one of the previous troop families and THEY had used the pans daily for several years prior to their time with the troop. The result of over a decade (maybe two) of regular use was pans that were incredibly smooth on the cooking surface with a great patina built up over time.
Back to my new Lodge pans. I decided to try to at least correct the surface of the pans. If the surface was smoother, my hope was that I'd be able to use it daily without getting frustrated. At least then I'd have a chance to build up a patina of seasoning to get them to be relatively non-stick.
Looked at a coupe videos online for how to smooth out the bottom of new cast iron. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of tools. What I had was a drill and a square palm sander. Started using a paint stripper disk on the drill to knock off the bug chunks of seasoning and rough edges, then tried the palm sander. Got a good deal more smooth surface in the center of the 10" pan, but there was a fair amount of the edges that were a bit rough. The square palm sander wasn't able to get into the edges of the pan.
Image after one seasoning session using vegetable oil:
I'm a bit OCD...those rough edges bothered me. I borrowed a friends angle grinder, bought a few sanding disks, and tried to get the edges cleaned up. Unfortunately, I ended up gouging the sides and bottom of the pan using too much pressure.
CRAP! Again, being a bit obsessive, I needed to get these pans smooth. Went at them with a couple sanding disks on the drill. After spending a good deal of time on the two pans, they're now ready to go. Smoothed out the uneven spots on the 10" and learned from that experience with the 12". Knocked off the big areas with a paint prep disk (Avanti), then sanded both with flap disks on the drill (80, then 120 grit).
After 6 rounds of seasoning in the oven with flax seed oil:
Results so far: Cooked up some sausage this morning and then cooked eggs in the 12". Results were positive. Not perfect, but getting there. Eggs still stuck a bit in places despite having sausage grease in the pan. But, it wasn't enough sticking to keep me from using the pans again.
Is the result better than what one could get new from Stargazer? Probably not. Does it make good financial sense to acquire the tools/pieces to make the pans smooth vs. purchasing new? Meh. I probably spent at least $50 on sanding disks, grinding disks, paint stripping disks, sand paper, dust masks, etc. I believe the 10" pan was $16 new. And, I spent decent chunks of three or four days working on the pans and doing the initial seasonings.
For me, it was a good project to take on for a couple days. YMMV.
Bruce
Background: I'd purchased some new cast iron a couple years ago after experiencing the joys of cast iron on Scout outings. The pans our troop uses are a treat to use! Even heat, consistent cooking, nearly non-stick. So, I purchased a 10" Lodge new and acquired a 12" from my mother. The 12" had been a gift from my father to my mom, but was only used once. My mom decided that the pan was too heavy for her to use, so she passed it on to me.
I was excited to try the cast iron. Used both pans at home. Both times, food stuck horribly. Tried re-seasoning. Cooked again with the same result; stuck food....and not in a good way. I HATE it when eggs stick to the bottom of the pan! Dejected, I left the pans in a drawer and bought a new non stick pan.
Puzzled, I started looking into why the experience with the troop pans was so different than my experience at home with the new pans. I found out that the troop pans had been gifted to the troop by one of the previous troop families and THEY had used the pans daily for several years prior to their time with the troop. The result of over a decade (maybe two) of regular use was pans that were incredibly smooth on the cooking surface with a great patina built up over time.
Back to my new Lodge pans. I decided to try to at least correct the surface of the pans. If the surface was smoother, my hope was that I'd be able to use it daily without getting frustrated. At least then I'd have a chance to build up a patina of seasoning to get them to be relatively non-stick.
Looked at a coupe videos online for how to smooth out the bottom of new cast iron. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of tools. What I had was a drill and a square palm sander. Started using a paint stripper disk on the drill to knock off the bug chunks of seasoning and rough edges, then tried the palm sander. Got a good deal more smooth surface in the center of the 10" pan, but there was a fair amount of the edges that were a bit rough. The square palm sander wasn't able to get into the edges of the pan.
Image after one seasoning session using vegetable oil:
I'm a bit OCD...those rough edges bothered me. I borrowed a friends angle grinder, bought a few sanding disks, and tried to get the edges cleaned up. Unfortunately, I ended up gouging the sides and bottom of the pan using too much pressure.
CRAP! Again, being a bit obsessive, I needed to get these pans smooth. Went at them with a couple sanding disks on the drill. After spending a good deal of time on the two pans, they're now ready to go. Smoothed out the uneven spots on the 10" and learned from that experience with the 12". Knocked off the big areas with a paint prep disk (Avanti), then sanded both with flap disks on the drill (80, then 120 grit).
After 6 rounds of seasoning in the oven with flax seed oil:
Results so far: Cooked up some sausage this morning and then cooked eggs in the 12". Results were positive. Not perfect, but getting there. Eggs still stuck a bit in places despite having sausage grease in the pan. But, it wasn't enough sticking to keep me from using the pans again.
Is the result better than what one could get new from Stargazer? Probably not. Does it make good financial sense to acquire the tools/pieces to make the pans smooth vs. purchasing new? Meh. I probably spent at least $50 on sanding disks, grinding disks, paint stripping disks, sand paper, dust masks, etc. I believe the 10" pan was $16 new. And, I spent decent chunks of three or four days working on the pans and doing the initial seasonings.
For me, it was a good project to take on for a couple days. YMMV.
Bruce