I am now really wondering. People at Ace sent me to Target. And Target
has
lots of CI pots - although they are all 'unfinished' -- that is, the
inside has not been ground or milled. It is just raw cast iron - with
the
texture of the sand used in the mold, that is, the same as on the
outside.

I was not looking for enameled pots - they heat nice, but stuff burns on
to them. I was not looking for teflon coated pots - I dont wanna use a
wood or plastic scraper. I want to use a metal spatula to scrape pots
clean, and a greeney also. And there are 'anodized' aluminum pots, but
the
anodizing is on the outside, so the inside still leaches Al into yr
food.

But there were lots of 'unfinished' CI pots. Even in sets of three. So I
am wondering: Will those work? I picked up a 10" short rimmed tortilla
pan, just to try it. Claudia George tells me I need Crisco, solid
vegetable stuff - not lard, or olive oil, or butter - to season it.

What do you all use? All my other CI pots are 30 to 100 years old, and
have ground insides. I scrape the hell out of them with metal objects if
things burn. But most of the time they clean up after a few seconds of
hot
water and a wipe with a paper towel. And they are ready to use after 3
or
4 seconds on a burner, and a wipe with butter.

I have spent 4 afternoons over the last few weeks looking for the old
type
of pan. In Salvation Army stores, resale shops, department stores.

I will experiment with this new one. Is this the new style? Will it work
as well? I read some directions on the packaging of various pots. The
seasoning is still the same operation. But there are hints about the
pots
turning black after repeated use (and it being 'OK'). Mine are all
shiny.

So what is up with the 'new' unfinished pans?

/jno "a kitchen neophyte"

In article >, bulka > wrote:

> I am now really wondering. People at Ace sent me to Target. And Target
> has
> lots of CI pots - although they are all 'unfinished' -- that is, the
> inside has not been ground or milled. It is just raw cast iron - with
> the
> texture of the sand used in the mold, that is, the same as on the
> outside.

That sounds right. You want the pan's texture to be a little rough.

That way, after it's fully seasoned, stuff doesn't stick so much and
you can clean it better.

> But there were lots of 'unfinished' CI pots. Even in sets of three. So I
> am wondering: Will those work? I picked up a 10" short rimmed tortilla
> pan, just to try it. Claudia George tells me I need Crisco, solid
> vegetable stuff - not lard, or olive oil, or butter - to season it.
>
> What do you all use? All my other CI pots are 30 to 100 years old, and
> have ground insides. I scrape the hell out of them with metal objects if
> things burn. But most of the time they clean up after a few seconds of
> hot
> water and a wipe with a paper towel. And they are ready to use after 3
> or
> 4 seconds on a burner, and a wipe with butter.

Crisco is good because it doesn't burn at reasonable temps, and it is
less tasty to common "germs" than the alternatives you mentioned. So by
incidentally leaving some on the pan, you probably won't get a big
family'o'germs on it.

> I will experiment with this new one. Is this the new style? Will it work
> as well? I read some directions on the packaging of various pots. The
> seasoning is still the same operation. But there are hints about the
> pots
> turning black after repeated use (and it being 'OK'). Mine are all
> shiny.

Mine are all wonderfully black now. And they are more non-stick than
anything else I've tried.

I wouldn't shoot for shiny at all.

Clean up with water and a stiff brush. I avoid and have not had to use
any soap. Scraping with a spatula isn't a problem. I do that all the
time, but stuff comes off right away and the pan and seasoning are not
harmed.

This sort of cookware is just the best once you get it seasoned. (And I
have a bunch of currently-unused anodized, stainless, teflon devices in
my cupboard.)

--
Jack

>
> I have spent 4 afternoons over the last few weeks looking for the old
> type
> of pan. In Salvation Army stores, resale shops, department stores.
>


There are plenty of cast iron pans on eBay.

On Tue, 14 Oct 2003 22:32:49 -0500, bulka > wrote:

>I am now really wondering. People at Ace sent me to Target. And
>Target has lots of CI pots - although they are all 'unfinished'
>-- that is, the inside has not been ground or milled. It is just
>raw cast iron - with the texture of the sand used in the mold,
>that is, the same as on the outside.

At the present time there isn't any foundry that I know of selling
plain, ordinary cast-iron pans with smooth cast or milled interiors.
For those you'll have to buy older iron. Lodge makes very good iron,
but if you need a smooth interior they have nothing for you. Except
for my 14" Lodge pan which I use mostly for making double batches of
corn bread all of my pans are old iron with smooth interiors. Wish my
big Dutch Ovens were too, but it's not as important with them. E-bay,
yard sales, and flea markets are the places to go for old iron.

>But there were lots of 'unfinished' CI pots. Even in sets of three.
>So I am wondering: Will those work? I picked up a 10" short rimmed
>tortilla pan, just to try it. Claudia George tells me I need Crisco
>solid vegetable stuff - not lard, or olive oil, or butter - to season
>it.

Everyone's got their favorite fat to season iron with. Just about
anything will work. I think lard is the best but we don't use lard
anymore so now I use peanut oil for the initial seasoning. For
regular touch ups I give the insides a quick spray with whatever
cooking spray I'm using at the time and a quick wipe. Just make sure
what ever fat you use isn't salted or it could lead to rusting. We
don't use Crisco or other hydrogenated fats any longer, but in the
past we did and it worked fine as well. Use what you've got.

The important thing is to make sure the fat properly polymerizes. If
it comes out of the oven sticky it wasn't heated long enough. If I'm
doing a pan for the first time or doing a lot of iron all at once I
wait until I can open the windows since it can be a smoky operation.
Once you get the first good coat polymerized onto the iron you
shouldn't have to go to that length again unless you seriously thin
the seasoning.

......Alan.


Curiosity killed the cat.
Lack of it is killing mankind.

bulka > wrote in message >...
<snipped>
>
> What do you all use? All my other CI pots are 30 to 100 years old, and
> have ground insides. I scrape the hell out of them with metal objects if
> things burn. But most of the time they clean up after a few seconds of
> hot
> water and a wipe with a paper towel. And they are ready to use after 3
> or
> 4 seconds on a burner, and a wipe with butter.

I use olive oil.

>
> I have spent 4 afternoons over the last few weeks looking for the old
> type
> of pan. In Salvation Army stores, resale shops, department stores.

One word: eBay. ;-)
I got all my antique Griswolds off of ebay. The interior is smooth as
silk.
Gotta love it.

http://search.ebay.com/search/search...query=Griswold

>
> I will experiment with this new one. Is this the new style? Will it work
> as well? I read some directions on the packaging of various pots. The
> seasoning is still the same operation. But there are hints about the
> pots
> turning black after repeated use (and it being 'OK'). Mine are all
> shiny.

Give them time. The black finish is desirable.
Really, just cooking with them with oil over time will give you a
decent season if you don't soak them when you wash them. My pans are
pretty well seasoned now and I DO use soap, every time, to clean them
and it's not hurting the finish! I drop a little bit of dish soap into
the pan and use a soft scrub brush if there is anything stuck on them
(which is rare) then rinse well and dry, then rub a light coat of
olive oil into the surface between uses to prevent rusting.

If the pan is only slightly dirty, I just wipe them out with a paper
towel.

If you've roasted something particularly sticky in them and end up
with a messy pan, let your dogs do the gross work. <G> I DO use my
cast iron to roast in. It's convenient. And I have a #14 Griswold that
will hold a 15 lb. turkey!

>
> So what is up with the 'new' unfinished pans?

Uh, they suck? ;-)

>
> /jno "a kitchen neophyte"

C. (a cast iron lover)