Thanks. Whenever these discussion come up, I want to say, “it’s a frying pan. It’s not supposed to be hard to operate. If it’s hard for you, get a better frying pan.”
I like my cast iron pan, but I don’t work very hard to care for it.
I didn’t read the whole thread, apologies if this is redundant.
I had a Lodge skillet that I had tried to season repeatedly and never could get it right. Things stuck constantly and the seasoning was sticky in spots and had flaked off in others.
Part of the issue I think was that this was at the time a “new” Lodge skillet that came both with some awful preseasoning and a bumpy surface instead of smooth (apparently this is intentional, but damned if I understand the logic of those engineers).
I eventually gave up and decided a start over…and stripped the stupid thing down to the bare metal using this method. I bought a wire brush attachment for my drill, similar to this, to get all the built up seasoning off once the lye had softened it.
Afterwards I reseasoned it using this method. I went nuts and probably did 10 coats. The end result is a much, much better experience. It’s still not perfect because of that fucking bumpy surface.
Good luck.
This was exactly how mine was advertised on the shelf. “Pre-seasoned”? Nope, not even close. Those bumps on the surface puzzle me to this day. I have yet to see or hear a proper explanation of them.
If I had the proper tools (which I don’t) I would use the power drill method mentioned above. It looks like I will using steel wool and elbow grease.
Money and time. My last ink explains it a little. Ignore the bullshit that Lodge spouts about it being a feature.
Yes it is just a frying pan/skillet. neglected for sure.
Why the snark? I asked an honest question, got many helpful answers, and you reply with this?
Whenever I have a cast iron I need to reseason from scratch, I just run it through the self-clean cycle and see where it leaves me. It’s always worked fine for me and seems to even get rid of surface rust. Then I proceed with the usual seasoning method.
The real ‘trick’ to cast iron it to use it daily. I wouldn’t take a gold nugget for mine.(well, maybe a big nugget) Mine are very old inherited pans. When I was cooking for the whole family they were used everyday and held their seasoning. I have a 12inch one I use nearly everyday for eggs. It’s perfect at the moment.
Long term storage does things to them.
I think it’s because it would cost more to grind it down to create a smooth finish after casting it.
How was that snarky? I gave more specific advice earlier, about scraping off the rust and seasoning it. But at the end of the day, I think people often make the mistake of over-thinking it, and doing more work than is needed to maintain a cast iron frying pan.
Sorry. I took your post the wrong way. All of everyones’ suggestions are appreciated. My resources are quite limited at the moment (Steel Wool? Would require a 20 mile trip), hence my initial comment about “toss into a campfire until glowing red”. I realize that it is not that complicated but really want to bring this skillet back to life. And yes, I am most likely over-thinking the situation.
I can’t see a camp fire would hurt it. Maybe not red hot. Cast iron can and will crack. But a good burn off should help it. Then get lard or crisco and put a goodly amount in the skillet and put it back on the fire for awhile. I think it might just work.
ETA, a large amount of salt in the cold pan with a damp sponge will scrub it out. Do this first. I never use steel wool on my pans.
Sorry, cabin fever, I didn’t mean to offend.
I would try to remove the rust. If steel wool isn’t realistic, I bet a handful of sand would do the job. And I agree with beckdawrek that burning off any crud you can burn off won’t hurt. If so that before scouring it.
Then season with any edible oil, as mentioned by several people.
Best wishes.
For the record, throwing it in a campfire is probably in the top 3 of best solutions. It’s nearly identical to the cleaning cycle in an oven. If the rust is more than superficial it’ll need extra attention, but a hot fire will strip the seasoning as well as anything. Steel wool will be fine for the rust so long as it’s not pitted.
Griswold and Wagner are THE best brands of cast iron, and are usually quite expensive on the secondhand market unless somebody doesn’t know what they really have.
I have a 12" cast iron Griswold that I got for $1.20 (90% off sale for an antique dealer who was getting out of the business and it was completely covered with a thick layer of rust. I scrubbed it off (eventually) and gave it the Crisco treatment and guess what? Good as new! I don’t use it frequently, but when I do, food doesn’t stick.
This is the bee’s knees for seasoning cast iron: The Ultimate Way to Season Cast Iron | Cook's Illustrated
Christ, if I tried to cook eggs in my cast iron pans I’d be scraping egg off for days.
I keep an All-Clad 8-inch non-stick pristine as my omelette (and fried egg) pan. I pan-fry better chicken in a beat-up 25-year-old All-Clad 12-inch steel skillet than my 14-inch Lodge cast iron pan.
I look on y’all with these magic cast iron skillets with sheer envy.
You’re not doing it right.
Unfortunately i can’t help you, because I can’t manage it either, but Rhiannon8404 can make up a batch of eggs and leave the pan cleaner than when she started.
…and that’s why nobody else in the family is *ever *allowed to use her ‘egg pan’.
After you strip the previous seasoning, you have to do at least 18 hours more work on the pan to get it ready. Granted, most of that time is just letting the pan sit—but that’s a helluva lot of work to get it ready.
Why don’t they sell pans already seasoned using this method? It sounds like it’d lend itself well to commercial work.
Flax seed oil is a bit precious for my taste. Crisco works just fine. Granny never had no stinkin’ flaxseed oil.
It’s certainly not needed at all, but it kind of gets you there much more quickly than the traditional method, at least in my experience.
And, yes, properly seasoned, a cast iron skillet shouldn’t require days of scraping to get the eggs off. 
With my cast iron, at least, the surface isn’t nearly as easy to work with as a non-stick egg skillet – not even close (weight being the biggest factor, but shape another), but I can cook eggs on them without creating a big mess. This guy’s video flipping over eggs on a cast iron is where my pans are at, and (except for two mini pans – maybe six-inch? – I inherited from my wife’s grandmother) they’re just cheap-ass Target cast iron pans, so not milled to a smooth glassy surface or anything like that. Unseasoned, they have kind of a sandpapery texture to it, but with enough seasoning, they’ve become smooth.