I seasoned a skillet last night and tried cooking some scrambled eggs for my son. Some of them came off onto his plate but there's a layer of stuck-on eggs on the pan. What the deal? I seasoned it according to directions and the claim is cast iron is non-stick.

I'm going to have to get a wire brush to get this out and re-season it. Do I have to do this every time? What kind of cave man BS am I into here?

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
I seasoned a skillet last night and tried cooking some scrambled eggs for my son. Some of them came off onto his plate but there's a layer of stuck-on eggs on the pan. What the deal? I seasoned it according to directions and the claim is cast iron is non-stick.

I'm going to have to get a wire brush to get this out and re-season it. Do I have to do this every time? What kind of cave man BS am I into here?

Start here. Very good results.

Others will have more information then me but the non stick like finish comes from use, not an initial seasoning. I've been using my cast iron for close to 30 yrs and there is a major difference in the finish between the larger pan that get used a few times a week and the smallest one that rarely gets used.

To clean it, try boiling water in it and lightly scrape the bottom with a metal spatula. Once clean heat it up and wipe it with oil.

If you have the time to strip the existing seasoning, i'd suggest doing that. But I've had great results with crisco. I still cook with butter or bacon fat or even oil depending on what I'm cooking, but once you get it seasoned, it only takes a little maintenance. I find that after cooking acidic foods or cooking something for a long time, I need to do a more thorough re-season. For the most part I rinse or wipe the skillet after use, put it back on burner and dab a little bacon fat and wipe it around. Done.

There is seasoned, and then there is "seasoned". I've had my pan for near a decade now and I'd put it up against any shitty teflon. Here is the procedure I've followed the past few years...

- Wash only with hot water.

- After drying, heat on the stovetop and ensure all the water has been pulled out

- Every so often when I've got the gas grill going outside, I will apply a liberal layer of vegetable oil to the pan and let that sucker SMOKE for a while. After it cools down I'll wipe out the excess oil and put away.

- I almost always layer a very light coat of vegetable oil after use.

- Use autoshop paper towels vs. traditional paper towels. The auto shop towels won't leave lint.

I know how you feel. It took me a few years to finally get a system down that worked.

Hopefully Exx will jump into this thread, it was he and his wife who really schooled me on the awesomeness of cast iron and how to best take care of it.

For stuck on foods, after the skillets cool, I add water, let them soak & as mentioned, use a metal spatula to remove any stubborn remains. Hot water rinse, good towel dry & wipe down in oil with a paper towel. I'll use veg. canola, peanut, whatever I have. Return to stovetop, ready for the next use. It's a labor of love.

Entering this realm myself. Seems the pan wasn't hot enough when the eggs we put in? When the pan is hot= no stick.

quote:

Originally posted by braillediver:
Entering this realm myself. Seems the pan wasn't hot enough when the eggs we put in? When the pan is hot= no stick.

It's possible, but my guess is it's not very well seasoned just yet, or he didn't use enough butter .

Ok, so it just takes time. I'm willing. How do you get to that point without getting stuff stuck in the meanwhile?

quote:

Originally posted by MikeGLI:

quote:

Originally posted by braillediver:
Entering this realm myself. Seems the pan wasn't hot enough when the eggs we put in? When the pan is hot= no stick.

It's possible, but my guess is it's not very well seasoned just yet, or he didn't use enough butter .

Butter? I didn't use butter. I did start the heat before putting the eggs in but I didn't wait long enough. There was no sizzle.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeGLI:

quote:

Originally posted by braillediver:
Entering this realm myself. Seems the pan wasn't hot enough when the eggs we put in? When the pan is hot= no stick.

It's possible, but my guess is it's not very well seasoned just yet, or he didn't use enough butter .

Or his little woman hasn't cooked enough bacon (3 lbs) and begun making him bacon sammiches to his heart's desire.


Oh, and recommend using a plastic putty knife to scrape the pan clean. Metal might be to harsh and scratch the season away like Teflon.

I keep using my pan for steaks and frying. Still scared to do eggs because I don't know how to tell if it's sufficiently seasoned.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
Ok, so it just takes time. I'm willing. How do you get to that point without getting stuff stuck in the meanwhile?

Only cook thing with fat in them at first like bacon, ground beef and the like.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
How do you get to that point without getting stuff stuck in the meanwhile?

Basically, you don't. As somebody noted, one "trick" to minimize sticking is to ensure the pan is hot before adding the food. And use enough oil, which you also pre-hear. But, yeah... theres a lot of "stick" required to work through before you get a nicely seasoned pan.

Bear in kind that non-stick surfaces were invented for a reason. While a nicely seasoned cast iron skillet is great (we have three in different sizes) nothing is as slick as teflon. When it comes to frying an egg, you'll even see teflon skillets used in commercial kitchens.

Thanks for the tips. I'm just so very through with uneven bottoms on aluminum/teflon pans that just don't cook evenly. I really want this to work for us.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
Thanks for the tips. I'm just so very through with uneven bottoms on aluminum/teflon pans that just don't cook evenly. I really want this to work for us.

Mark, what type of range or cooktop do you have?

Peruse "Kent Rollins" on YouTube. He's great.

I use all clad or top end calphalon non-stick for eggs and fish. These never get exposed to more than medium heat on the high burner. They've lasted years at a time and remained flat and slick. I fry / omelette eggs almost everyday

It sounds like your biggest mistake was not allowing for a proper preheat. Medium-low heat for at least 10 minutes. You gotta think ahead a little. After it's evenly heated add oil/butter (I spray a bit of avocado oil) and start cooking.

I use mine every single day.

If you're using an electric stove you need to allow extra time to evenly heat the skillet, a little bit at a time. Don't just turn it up to 11 and put the pan on it.

And always use some kind of grease or fat to cook anything that might stick, like they said earlier.

Thumper types faster than me