..and after a couple of decades of use, it's even enough to make a steadfast atheist like me doubt. Tired of flaking teflon coating? Tired of cleaning sticky pans? Tired of flimsy cookware that make you look like a giant pussy? If the answer to any of the above is a 'yes', hell even 'maybe', do this: Skip past the fancypants Le Creuset and other uppity brands. Go straight to your local Wal-Mart and find yourself a Lodge pan. If you have a choice, skip right past the 'seasoned' one (there's no such thing as a free lunch, and inexpensively pre-seasoned things are worth fuck all), and pick up a nice raw cast iron pan. 8" is awesome for eggs and small breakfasts (crack 3-4 eggs in one and you have a kickass sunny side up omelet), 10-12" are great for general-purpose cooking, and 14"+ ones are for serious heavy-duty meals, fried chicken, and anything else that requires some headroom. Whether you got a pre-seasoned one or not, bring it home and rub it down liberally with some vegetable oil. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES USE CRISCO OR YOU WILL REGRET IT. Bake in the oven at 300 degrees or so for a long time. We're talking a minimum of 12 hours. Once done, take it out and wipe excess oil off. Now for happy fun time. Get a couple pounds of bacon, the fattiest damn bacon you can find. Cook it up. You want a friggin' LAKE of bacon fat in there. Slosh it around so it covers the inside walls/edges of the pan. Cook up some pork sausage and whatever else suits your fancy. Once done, pour grease out and wipe down with a paper towel. Repeat the bacon cooking process a few times in the next week or two. Now you should have a fairly serious coat of black-ish grease on the pan. Do not ever use soap, dish washing liquid, steel wool or anything similar on it. Once you're done, if needed scrub it with a stiff-bristled nylon brush under warm water, then wipe down with a paper towel. For the first few weeks/month, finish off by wiping it down with some vegetable oil. Once it's fully broken in you can skip the last step. It'll take months before it's really right, but at that point you will have a pan that is more non-stick than anything you've ever tried, heats extremely evenly, and browns stuff like a motherfucker. And it just gets better. I bought my first new pan in 1995, and I'd rather give my left nut up than part with it. My mom has a pan passed down from a couple generations past and it's priceless; one day I shall inherit it (used it for pancakes as a kid) and many years down the road pass it on to my kid(s). Cast iron fucking rules.
I could never get into it when I make eggs in a basket I like my pancake griddle, stainless steel we got a few, and one that is single egg size, I like that one, but iunno I'm just leary about the no soap thing
yeah man!!! was wondering where to start with this because finishing recipes and especially steaks up in the oven is nice....and I can't do that with my current set-up....so you recommend a walmart cast iron?....I've heard of garage sale finds as well, but kinda sketchy.....definitely got to get one of these started....thanks for posting this up!!!
You honestly can't go wrong with any cast iron, as long as it's nice and thick. Lodge is real easy to find and very nice; but if you find a solid, heavy pan at a yard sale go for it. If it's rusted you can just go to town with steel wool and season it like it was a new pan.
Yeah, Lodge cookware has been around forever, cast-iron stuff is great and the price is right, and it lasts.
i've been "seasoning" my skillet for years now. there is nothing better than camelized onions done in a well seasoned skillet. nothing.
i totally missed this thread... well better late than never. yeah, and good ci pan and dutch oven can pretty much cook anything and will last a long time. how long? one of my iron pieces is a No.9 iron co. dutch oven from 1912. i still make food in it regularly conversly, i make a red "mother" sauce in it that doesn't taste as good made in anything else. kind of like a well seasoned wok (also a must have), i think the metal "remembers".
Amen to Cast Iron...my mom and dad are always cursing my grandpa under their breath...he is always scrubbing the cast iron pans...doh! Way to go Pappy...bless his little 105 year old heart, he just trying to help clean the dishes. They have started to hide them from him.