Growing up I remember having nothing but cast iron cookware in the house. I remember getting up in the morning, walking out to the chicken coop, grabbing some eggs and then to the garden and picking some potatoes right out of the ground, heading back inside and cooking up a fresh breakfast and then spending the rest of the day running around our property pretending I was exploring some distant jungle looking for exotic creatures.
The pots and pans we used in our house were awesome. you almost never had to grease them and the eggs never stuck. They are the ultimate camping cookware. Throw the pan right over the fire and cook breakfast lunch and dinner. They’re indestructible and hold heat like a champ. The only issue my wife has with them is that they’re too heavy. Tough, honey, you’ll get used to it.
It was these memories that spurred me to start buying cast iron for my house and family. There was only one problem: No matter what I did to them, the modern cast iron I bought would NEVER let go of the food I was cooking. All the eggs end up scrambled just trying to flip the bastards. I’ve followed many different peoples advice on how to season them and still they’re crap.
That is until I discovered this page ( RichSoil.com – Cast Iron) via this podcast (The Survival Podcast: Episode-787- Paul Wheaton on Cast Iron Cooking, CFLs and Rocket Mass Heating). A side note: Both these guys, Paul Wheaton and Jack Spirko, and their websites hold so much knowledge and resources about self sufficiency and living a fulfilling life. Check them out.
Come to find out, I’m not crazy or inept at cast iron cooking; it’s the pan. The saying is true. They just don’t make them like they used to. The dominant modern company for all your cast iron needs doesn’t put out a product like they did “back in the day”. When it says “Pre-Seasoned” on the package, that’s code for “The pan is covered with a hard black crust that offers less than zero benefit to you”.
Today, as I was scrubbing my pan I had an epiphany. I noticed a chunk of the “black crust” was missing and peeking out was a patch of grey metal. “Hmmm…” thought I and I took my metal spatula and started scraping. Instantly flakes started flying as more and more of the actual cast iron was exposed. I kept this up for about an hour, keeping the pan on medium heat with about a 1/4″ of water in it at all times to help carry away the slag.
When I was finished I gazed up on the bare metal in wonderment. Why do they ruin it the way they do? It’s still going to take years and years before my pan is of similar quality to the olden days, however. According to the above page, the old pans get a factory milling, smoothing out the pan allowing for almost instant no-stick goodness. Since Lodge never expects you to actually see the cast iron, the surface is bumpy and rough. (I’m not sure I’ll ever understand. One of the main reasons you buy cast iron is to take advantage of its’ non-stick conditioning properties. Why cover that up?) After years of use with a good metal spatula I suppose that the high spots will be ground down and the low spots filled with “seasoning” allowing for an adequate cooking experience.
Even so, after a quick greasing, I crack an egg on the freshly exposed surface. To my surprise, it was easier to flip than ever. It still took a little digging to get it over, but it’s already better than before.
Lesson learned. From now on I’ll only buy the good stuff: Griswold or Wagner according to the Rich Soil article. You can’t go wrong at estate and yard sales. You can go wrong at Walmart.
