February 9th, 2014
Later Teflon hello Cast Iron
I really want to ditch my Teflon pans and until now I have only used my Teflon pans for eggs.
The time has come for me to ditch ALL the Teflon pans!
Cast Iron can be a bit intimidating, especially after someone experiences a failed fried egg in a cast iron pan.
My first few few attempts at eggs in a CI pan can be compared to pouring glue on carpet!
I have always been intrigued by cooking with cast iron and it hasn't been until recently that I have really been using cast iron.
I have been cooking a lot in my Camp Dutch oven the last several years with great success.
My folks never used cast iron, but my Wife's mother used a few cast iron pans often.
I have done so much research into working with cast iron that my head begun to spin, there are so many tips, opinions, care and remedies for seasoning and using cast iron, everyone has their method.
I have recently been experimenting with different methods for my Camp Dutch Oven and have had great success, the next thing I wanted to do was to be able to fry an egg that would slide around on a Cast Iron pan like a puck on an air hockey table.
This was the only thing holding me back to become a complete Cast Iron convert, well at the least, being able to ditch my Teflon.
I had said something to my wife about stripping her Moms Cast Iron pan and re seasoning with this new method, she said, "no", because it has been seasoning for as long as she can remember. This pan has potential but every dam thing sticks to it, its bumpy, uneven and a bitch to cook with.
So this weekend my wife was away on business so I took a chance and I prayed my wife would forgive me if anything had gone wrong, so this HAD TO WORK!
Don't get me wrong, I would have never attempted this had the pan performed well from the beginning.
I did not want a Cast Iron skillet being the reason for a DIVORCE!
Could I have just bought a new pan? YES, but they don't make them like this anymore.
Lets begin
Here is a video of the results.
I am truly sold on this method using the Flax Seed oil.
Notes / Observations:
Do not use high heat, if the butter browns too quickly, the heat is too high.
The first egg stuck in the center of the pan using high heat and the next two eggs stuck in the same place no matter how much oil I used.
The pan appeared to have some crud from the first egg. I removed the crud by scrapping with the side of a spoon and it worked perfectly after that.
If the egg sticks, make sure to scrape off the crud or food will stick to that area... this is what was happening with the pan before it was stripped and re seasoned.
Later Teflon hello Cast Iron
I really want to ditch my Teflon pans and until now I have only used my Teflon pans for eggs.
The time has come for me to ditch ALL the Teflon pans!
Cast Iron can be a bit intimidating, especially after someone experiences a failed fried egg in a cast iron pan.
My first few few attempts at eggs in a CI pan can be compared to pouring glue on carpet!
I have always been intrigued by cooking with cast iron and it hasn't been until recently that I have really been using cast iron.
I have been cooking a lot in my Camp Dutch oven the last several years with great success.
My folks never used cast iron, but my Wife's mother used a few cast iron pans often.
I have done so much research into working with cast iron that my head begun to spin, there are so many tips, opinions, care and remedies for seasoning and using cast iron, everyone has their method.
I have recently been experimenting with different methods for my Camp Dutch Oven and have had great success, the next thing I wanted to do was to be able to fry an egg that would slide around on a Cast Iron pan like a puck on an air hockey table.
This was the only thing holding me back to become a complete Cast Iron convert, well at the least, being able to ditch my Teflon.
I had said something to my wife about stripping her Moms Cast Iron pan and re seasoning with this new method, she said, "no", because it has been seasoning for as long as she can remember. This pan has potential but every dam thing sticks to it, its bumpy, uneven and a bitch to cook with.
So this weekend my wife was away on business so I took a chance and I prayed my wife would forgive me if anything had gone wrong, so this HAD TO WORK!
Don't get me wrong, I would have never attempted this had the pan performed well from the beginning.
I did not want a Cast Iron skillet being the reason for a DIVORCE!
Could I have just bought a new pan? YES, but they don't make them like this anymore.
Lets begin
1[sup]st[/sup] step was the clean cycle in the oven, wow the thing was a pile of rust when removed from the oven.
2[sup]nd[/sup] step was scrub to death with soap and water to remove the rust, wow I must say that this pan is in great shape after removing the crud, did I say crud, yes I did because it did not have any non stick properties whatsoever, so I'm calling it crud not seasoning.
3[sup]rd[/sup] step dry pan on a burner
4[sup]th[/sup] step, preheat the oven to 500° and completely wipe down the pan LIGHTLY with “Flax Seed Oil”, place the pan in the oven upside down for 1 hour at 500°. 2 hours later remove pan from the oven and repeat process two more times for a total of three.
5[sup]th[/sup] step, place on a high heat burner and using a lint free rag rub in a teaspoon of Flax Seed oil after it has finished smoking repeat the process around 8 - 10 times, let the pan cool and check to see if the inside is tacky, if the pan is tacky crank the heat till it smokes wipe with a lint free rag and then turn off the burner when there is no more smoke.
Here is a video of the results.
I am truly sold on this method using the Flax Seed oil.
Notes / Observations:
Do not use high heat, if the butter browns too quickly, the heat is too high.
The first egg stuck in the center of the pan using high heat and the next two eggs stuck in the same place no matter how much oil I used.
The pan appeared to have some crud from the first egg. I removed the crud by scrapping with the side of a spoon and it worked perfectly after that.
If the egg sticks, make sure to scrape off the crud or food will stick to that area... this is what was happening with the pan before it was stripped and re seasoned.
