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Cast Iron and Dutch Ovens

Anonymous Fri 30 May 2014 16:34:37 No.324929 View View Reply Original Report

APPRECIATION AND MAINTENANCE
Good day, /out/, I hope today finds you well.

I am an owner of a Lodge Dutch oven that I received for Christmas of 2013. It cooks stuff really well; i have no complaints on its cooking abilities. BUT...how the fuck do I maintain this thing? It seems a little high maintenance. I've heard you're not supposed to use soap on it because the cast sort of takes on the properties of whatever's on it or something.
I've seasoned it twice since i've had it. To clean it I use a little dish soap, some sandpaper, a wire brush, and a sponge. Tips and suggestions are most welcome. Tell us about YOUR cast iron experiences and meals!

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 30 May 2014 16:35:52 No.324930 Report

Quoted By: >>324936

also it rusts pretty easily. as you can tell I'm totally new to cast. I love you /out/, please advise me

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 30 May 2014 16:43:53 No.324936 Report

Quoted By: >>324938 >>324940 >>324957

>>324930
>>324929
my girlfriend is a cast iron expert, but some of her knowledge rubbed off on me.

you are cleaning it totally wrong, and that's why your seasoning is fucking up.

when you use the oven, slather some PALM SHORTENING on the inside, coat that whole fucker.

don't overheat the oven. many people bury that shit in charcoal, but that's excessive. it does not need much coal to get it going.

You should use a wooden spatula to knock off the bigger chunks of food that are stuck to it, then heat it up on the stove and wipe it out with a rag (paper towels will disintegrate) and then slather more PALM SHORTENING on it before you store it.

You shouldn't have much trouble with it after the first few times you do this.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 30 May 2014 16:46:02 No.324938 Report

Quoted By:

>>324936
if it's extremely nasty and hard to clean you should take some PALM OIL or, less effective, canola oil, and heat up the oven on stovetop and work that oil in. let it get real hot, and while hot use your wooden spatula to scrape it.

NEVER USE SOAP
NEVER USE A WIRE BRUSH
NEVER USE SANDPAPER

a sponge is fine.

if you end up with rust use VINEGAR

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 30 May 2014 16:47:21 No.324940 Report

Quoted By: >>324941 >>324957

>>324936
coat the entire thing in PALM SHORTENING, inside and out?

I used vegetable oil on inside and out, seems to not be working too great so far

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 30 May 2014 16:49:07 No.324941 Report

Quoted By: >>324942

>>324940
just the inside really, the outside doesn't matter.
but it won't hurt.

also, can you take some pictures of the inside cooking surface so I can assess how fucked you are?

we just recently learned about the palm shortening, and have been using it for 2 months. it's been a godsend. you can never have too much oil on that fucker.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 30 May 2014 16:51:50 No.324942 Report

Quoted By: >>324945 >>326270

>>324941
thanks dood, current pics are coming. also where can I get palm oil?

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 30 May 2014 16:53:45 No.324945 Report

Quoted By: >>324950

>>324942
i think she just gets it from giant, but i don't do the shopping here so you might have to get it from some organic hipster market.

but dating an organic hipster girl isn't bad.

anyway, how are you re-seasoning it? we slather it in oil and bake in the oven at 500 degrees for some time to season our stuff

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 30 May 2014 17:01:53 No.324950 Report

Quoted By: >>324954

>>324945
dude my gf too is an organic hippy hipster. i am healthier bc of this woman, she rocks.

to re-season it, I "clean" it and put a thin coat of vegetable oil on the entire thing and bake it in my house's oven for an hour at 325.

Pic is of the bastard after i scraped all carbonized shit off of it with wire brush and sandpaper. The seasoning looks to be totally gone now

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 30 May 2014 17:07:41 No.324953 Report

Quoted By: >>324956

Also I found this article in field and stream about cast maintenance. Seems legit?
http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/gear/2013/03/how-restore-and-season-cast-iron-dutch-oven

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 30 May 2014 17:07:57 No.324954 Report

Quoted By: >>324963

>>324950
yeah I would recommend trying the palm oil method and upping your temp. to 500, after a while it gets a nice flat black look.

I really think your main problem is the metal on metal scraping you were doing. Also, don't worry if you can't get all the stuff off either, just worry about the big chunks. All the little bits add to the seasoning.

re: organic hipster girls
I've dropped almost 50lbs since she started cooking my food. feelsgoodman.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 30 May 2014 17:09:14 No.324956 Report

Quoted By: >>324963

>>324953
>http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/gear/2013/03/how-restore-and-season-cast-iron-dutch-oven
that article seems legit, and we used crisco before we found out about the organic hipster palm oil. works well, just not as well as the palm stuff.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 30 May 2014 17:09:25 No.324957 Report

Quoted By: >>324963

>>324940
>>324936
>PALM SHORTENING

i just use crisco.

apply it thick and bake for an hour.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 30 May 2014 17:17:26 No.324963 Report

Quoted By: >>324965

>>324954
>>324956
>>324957
Thank you guise for your help. The goal of seasoning it is for it to be non stick right?

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 30 May 2014 17:21:53 No.324965 Report

Quoted By:

>>324963
yessir.
once it's got a nice good coating on it it should be mostly non-stick

.......but due to the high heat and longer cooking times of dutch oven meals it usually will still stick a little. we never do much besides knock the chunks off and heat it up with some {your preferred seasoning oil} after we're done.

also you might want to try cooking some bacon or other greasy as fuck meal the first couple times after re-seasoning.

after a while you shouldn't have to re-season it ever.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 30 May 2014 19:57:14 No.325019 Report

Quoted By: >>325153 >>325362

what temperature should i season my cast iron at in the oven?

every time i try it at high temps the oil seems to smoke off & burn and im left with a sticky spot in the center of the pan...

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 31 May 2014 03:54:04 No.325153 Report

Quoted By:

>>325019
same. idk man i guess it depends on what oil you use

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 31 May 2014 12:36:02 No.325269 Report

Quoted By: >>326040

Flax seed oil is what you want to use. In the past, I've tried the Crisco and vegetable oil methods and they always remain soft and sticky no matter how long or at what temperature I bake the seasoned dutch oven/skillet. After stripping and re-seasoning from scratch with flax seed oil, all my cast iron has a hard, slick surface that's as non-stick as any I've ever used.

http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/

Anonymous

words frrom an old anon

Anonymous Sat 31 May 2014 13:05:04 No.325273 Report

Quoted By:

Cast iron isn't magic, and it's simple. To season:

>I use sesame oil, palm or peanut work just as well.
>Get it clean and free of rust.
>Coat it well and evenly with oil.
>Bake it upside down at 250F overnight.

You bake it upside down, preferably at a bit of an angle, to prevent the oil pooling stickiness mentioned upthread. You bake it overnight to let the oil make a thick coating. You bake it at 250F so the oil doesnt carbonize too much. You rub it down and repeat if you missed any spots. You wash it in the sink with the rest of your dishes. My kid ran my griddle through the dishwasher and it didn't hurt the seasoning, but I'd stick with handwashing.

Cast iron has built an amazing mystique around itself and it's just everyday cookware. Why are people so in awe of a simple piece of metal? I know teflon sucks, but it seems excessive.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sat 31 May 2014 14:16:26 No.325280 Report

Quoted By: >>325491

> wire brush
> sand paper

> dropped 50#

ITT people who hate cast iron and lucky bastards!

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 31 May 2014 18:48:37 No.325359 Report

Quoted By:

>>324929
Dish soap? Oh, god no.

Never use dish soap. Ever. I understand you were just cleaning it for the first time, but that is pretty much the golden rule of cast iron. I use large crystal salt to clean mine. I have a ton that a friend gave me and I never use it for cooking, so I just use it for cleaning my pan instead. Its course enough to loosen tough bits.

After its dry. I liberally spread olive oil around the pan.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 31 May 2014 18:54:06 No.325362 Report

Quoted By:

>>325019
olive oil is low burning.
If I were you I would pick up some frying oil. You can cook that at high temperatures for sure.

But, if you can't access it or your restricted through diet, then cook at lower temperatures. There's no benefit to cooking at higher temperatures besides timing.

Personally, I never cook anything over 425.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sat 31 May 2014 21:36:08 No.325491 Report

Quoted By:

>>325280
Even eggs just slide right out, look at that finish!

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 01 Jun 2014 22:37:01 No.326040 Report

Quoted By: >>326122

>>325269
Better be careful! Some idiot over in the last knife and axe general thread kept telling me you can't get that stuff near food. I've had good luck with sesame oil, and I do some fake Chinese cooking so I like the flavor, but flaxseed oil ought to work pretty damn well.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 02 Jun 2014 02:18:24 No.326122 Report

Quoted By: >>326145 >>326765

>>326040
that was industrial grade linseed oil fucknut

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 02 Jun 2014 03:21:23 No.326145 Report

Quoted By: >>326178 >>326180

>>326122
industrial grade linseed oil is the same fucking thing, no additives in it if you don't buy the cheap shit

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 02 Jun 2014 05:25:17 No.326178 Report

Quoted By: >>326765

>>326145
no, it's not food grade and has no FDA approval. Also the company is not liable for any health issues, such as from additives that are not displayed on the label

unless the package has a nutritional label you are not supposed to eat the fucking contents, I can't believe this is something that people need to be told.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 02 Jun 2014 05:34:41 No.326180 Report

Quoted By:

>>326145
what are FDA guidelines and Health Code Alex?

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 02 Jun 2014 05:37:21 No.326181 Report

Quoted By:

To season, coat with vegetable oil, about 350F for 30 minutes in the oven, let it cool down in the oven. Clean only using water and cloth.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 02 Jun 2014 07:27:09 No.326270 Report

Quoted By: >>326277

>>324942
why didnt you just put the pot directly on the fire/coals?

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 02 Jun 2014 08:06:55 No.326277 Report

Quoted By:

>>326270
Because that smothers the coals, reducing the heating potential?

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 03 Jun 2014 03:29:12 No.326765 Report

Quoted By:

>>326122
>that was industrial grade linseed oil fucknut
When I put up the pic I didn't say a damn thing about industrial grade or food grade, the dimwit in question took it upon himself to assume the former. For knifemaking I use the guaranteed nontoxic stuff from craft stores. It's a hell of a lot more foodsafe than all the crap that gets on a knife handle innawoods and it helps keep that crap from sticking.

>>326178
>the company is not liable for any health issues, such as from additives that are not displayed on the label

Not the guy you're talking to, but if there are any additives they must be listed on the MSDS.

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