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Maverick
Lover of Earwigs!




Registered: 12/18/05
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Anyone here cast their own Iron cookware?
#18868882 - 09/20/13 06:00 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Recently I've fallen in love with cast-iron cookware. I've been going thrift shopping and have bought a few nice pieces, but they are far and few inbetween, and most require a sanding, cleaning, a good 800-1000F bake, and a re-oil and reseasoning. This is fine, as you'd have to do the cleaning, oiling and seasoning to new bare stuff anyway, but the price I'm looking at for stuff is still somewhat outrageous for stuff that's rusted up and pitted. $50-$100 for cookware at the thrift stores. Sometimes I find skillets for $20 which I'll snag, but at the price I'm seeing, it's set the same price as new cast ironware.
So I'm curious. I watched a few videos and thought it looked really cool to cast your own iron stuff. Has anyone here cast iron before? How costly is it? How did it turn out? Can you cook on it?
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s240779

Registered: 12/07/10
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Re: Anyone here cast their own Iron cookware? [Re: Maverick]
#18869004 - 09/20/13 06:40 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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I've had cast iron skillets that are black and cast iron that is gray. Why the difference?
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Maverick
Lover of Earwigs!




Registered: 12/18/05
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Re: Anyone here cast their own Iron cookware? [Re: s240779] 1
#18869146 - 09/20/13 07:28 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Black means they've been seasoned. Seasoned means that you've put a light coating of oil on the pan and you've heated it to just about smoke point to dehydrate the oil and polymerize it, causing it to create that hard black coating of nonstick awesomeness. This is why cast iron is so awesome, the nonstick coating is all natural and from animal or vegetable fat (I use flax seed oil for seasoning mine).
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Maverick
Lover of Earwigs!




Registered: 12/18/05
Posts: 13,437
Loc: Valleys of Willamette
Last seen: 3 hours, 25 minutes
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Re: Anyone here cast their own Iron cookware? [Re: Maverick]
#18899284 - 09/27/13 03:46 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Anyone here built a foundry at least?
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pcplease
Salame

Registered: 09/02/11
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Re: Anyone here cast their own Iron cookware? [Re: Maverick]
#18899348 - 09/27/13 04:01 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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I've gotten almost all of my kitchenware from thriftstores for less than ~$20, but I love the idea of seasoning your own 
I never have too much of an issue with sticking, and I use a non-seasoned sauce pan to stir-fry (at high heat) a lot. And sometimes I'll use a pyrex tray for stuff at lower heat. And a couple ceramic pans to bake in.
If I twice-baked pasta frequently, or something similarly sticky, I'm sure and appreciate non-stick stuff more. Those can be a hassle to clean- hate scrubbing but at least there's steel scrubbers.
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Maverick
Lover of Earwigs!




Registered: 12/18/05
Posts: 13,437
Loc: Valleys of Willamette
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Re: Anyone here cast their own Iron cookware? [Re: pcplease]
#18899355 - 09/27/13 04:03 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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You should reseason it anyway if you got it from a thrift store PCPlease. Put it in you oven on cleaning mode and when it's clean, wash it and dry it immediately, throw it over a flame to dry it, then oil it with flaxseed and throw it in a preheated oven at 400F for an hour. Re-oil it and repeat the hour long bake (as many times as you want) for a thicker seasoning.
The reason you want to re-season it is because after you bake off the old coating (takes 800F or higher temps) you can access any rust that might have formed under the old seasoning, which will eventually cause pitting.
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pcplease
Salame

Registered: 09/02/11
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Re: Anyone here cast their own Iron cookware? [Re: Maverick]
#18899424 - 09/27/13 04:23 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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I hope I remember this if/when I ever get any full-iron dishes. The big saucepan I use has a plastic handle, as does a big pot I have for boiling. And those are the only ones I use
Well actually, now that I think of it, I have a really small (6") non-stick skillet I use for eggs and sometimes brats/burgers..  Just might have to try it now.
Any fat works, though?? I don't have flax oil but I do sunflower and coconut.
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Maverick
Lover of Earwigs!




Registered: 12/18/05
Posts: 13,437
Loc: Valleys of Willamette
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Re: Anyone here cast their own Iron cookware? [Re: pcplease]
#18899824 - 09/27/13 06:00 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Those work. Any fat works, they polymerize at high temperatures but i prefer drying oils such as flax. You can find flax at health stores or whole foods. You can use vegetable oil too or coconut, sunflower, peanut, animal fats, anything you want really, I think it's preference. Some claim others are better, I claim flax works better with acids than pork. I haven't compared it to anything else though.
I have a well seasoned cast iron pan I'll take a photo of later tonight. She's a beaut right now!
Edited by Maverick (09/27/13 06:01 PM)
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