cast iron pans

[sci_fireader]

i would like to know WHY is it after i wash my cast iron pan and then i go to fry eggs in it the eggs have turned black on the bottom...almost like a soot....

i wash my pans in PLAIN hot water and use margarine to season it or they WILL show signs of rust and that be another WHY....

i am almost at my limit of controlling my short nitroglycerin fuse of a temper if my wife and daughter don't stop getting my cast iron pans real hot. i have toTOLD my daughter time and time again once the pan gets fairly hot TURN DOWN THE &*^$# HEAT....
maybe if i a pan off her head she'll understand...

i NEVER use soapy hot water on my frying pans and i HATE it when wife cooks hamburgers in them and then adds COLD water to the pan when it be hot....now i know why one of them cracked where the handle is...how can i also convince her to STOP using plastic spatulas...??? i keep telling her the pan will melt it....

i have a website and it be called recipe world...some of the recipes i created so if you see ioldman2 that be mine...pennymind is my wife's recipe...and of course i couldn't forget mom either...so here be my recipe website address:

http://livejournal.com\users\ioldman2...

bon appetite....

[Suzanne]

Hi, Sci Fi!

Margarine is not that great to use for seasoning cast iron -- it's got too much gunk in it. Try using Crisco or some other plain vegetable oil.

If your pan has been abused too much, you might just have to scrub it all the way down to the metal and season it all over again. Yeah, I know that's a pain, but at least then it will do what it's supposed to. Do you have anywhere to hide it, so that no one else (mis)uses it? That's better than bonking someone over the head with it, OUCH. And maybe you should tell your wife that if she can't touch the pan with her bare hand, she should just leave it on the (turned off) burner -- so she won't add cold water.

I'll admit to you that I DO use soapy water on my cast iron -- and even steel wool if something won't soak off. But since it's well-seasoned, and I use a very light hand, it holds up just fine. I just coat it lightly with grease before putting away, and ALWAYS dry it right after washing.

[sci_fireader]

Originally posted by Suzanne
Hi, Sci Fi!

Margarine is not that great to use for seasoning cast iron -- it's got too much gunk in it. Try using Crisco or some other plain vegetable oil.

If your pan has been abused too much, you might just have to scrub it all the way down to the metal and season it all over again. Yeah, I know that's a pain, but at least then it will do what it's supposed to. Do you have anywhere to hide it, so that no one else (mis)uses it? That's better than bonking someone over the head with it, OUCH. And maybe you should tell your wife that if she can't touch the pan with her bare hand, she should just leave it on the (turned off) burner -- so she won't add cold water.

I'll admit to you that I DO use soapy water on my cast iron -- and even steel wool if something won't soak off. But since it's well-seasoned, and I use a very light hand, it holds up just fine. I just coat it lightly with grease before putting away, and ALWAYS dry it right after washing.

thank you for your reply to my post suzanne...the trouble is the cast iron pans are the only thing we have to fry food in. i use nothing but margarine to fry my eggs..potatoes in..MAYBE i buy another set just for me and tell wife and daughter to not even THINK of touching them....

[Peachcreek]

Do yourself a favor. Go buy yourself a good egg pan, a teflon coated one from a restaurant supply house. It might run you $15.00. 8" is a good size for both eggs and omelets. For the sake of your family lock it up where ONLY YOU have ascess to it. No black stuff. Eggs release perfectly with a light coating of cooking spray. Too small to cook burgers in. Cast iron is a great tool but not the best for this job.

[Armand]

Peachcreek,

what is cooking spray?

I never heard of it.

Armand

[Peachcreek]

What I mean by cooking spray is aerosol vegetable shortening in a can. "Pam" is a common brand in the U.S.

[Jim]

I agree w/Peach. A good teflon-coated skillet goes a long way. I have a 14" teflon-coated that I have used regularly for the past 11+ years and it has yet to fail me. It, too, needs to be treated w/respect. Don't come close to it with anything metal nor wash it with anything abrassive. Other than that, "hot pan, cold fat, nothing sticks!" Eggs, pancakes, omeletes, etc slip out with ease.

Suzanne, I, too, 'hard wash' my cast iron, if necessary. I agree that once it is well seasoned, it goes a long way to maintain it's patina to resist rusting and loosing it's seasoning. A bit of steel wool with a gentle hand never hurt anybody.

[sci_fireader]

Originally posted by Peachcreek
Do yourself a favor. Go buy yourself a good egg pan, a teflon coated one from a restaurant supply house. It might run you $15.00. 8" is a good size for both eggs and omelets. For the sake of your family lock it up where ONLY YOU have ascess to it. No black stuff. Eggs release perfectly with a light coating of cooking spray. Too small to cook burgers in. Cast iron is a great tool but not the best for this job.

yes...i do agree teflon coated pans are great. i have used them buuuuut i love my cast iron pans. i would feel that i am betraying them if i bought a teflon pan..you ever see cast iron pans go on the war path???..hehehahaha.....the reason i like cast iron pans is that they retain heat better than any other pan that i have ever used and they get hotter quicker too and that way you can turn down the temperature on a electric stove or gas stove..now there is something to talk about...preference of electric or gas stoves....

[Suzanne]

Of course, no one, human or metal, wants to feel they're being shunted aside for some young whippersnapper. But don't worry -- just tell them that they've worked so hard for you all these years, you want to give them a rest. And before you bring in the Teflon, explain to it that while you have a special reason for adopting it, no one pan is more important to you than any other, and you want them all to get along together. Introduce them to each other, and then maybe give them a little time alone, so that they can be open with each other and not have to worry about you listening in. But please, if they don't seem to be getting along, try to keep your "hair-trigger temper" in check.

Let us know how it goes!

[Kimmie]

Why in the world would you want to you use a cast iron pan for cooking eggs?

For fried eggs, heat a non-stick skillet greased with a small amount of butter, margarine or cooking oil at medium heat until just hot enough to sizzle a drop of water.

Break eggs and gently slip into the skillet. Immediately reduce heat to low. Cook slowly until whites are completely set and yolks begin to thicken but are not hard (turning eggs gently to cook both sides or adding a small amount of water and covering with lid to cook tops of eggs). Season with salt and pepper as desired.

[sci_fireader]

Originally posted by Kimmie
Why in the world would you want to you use a cast iron pan for cooking eggs?

For fried eggs, heat a non-stick skillet greased with a small amount of butter, margarine or cooking oil at medium heat until just hot enough to sizzle a drop of water.

Break eggs and gently slip into the skillet. Immediately reduce heat to low. Cook slowly until whites are completely set and yolks begin to thicken but are not hard (turning eggs gently to cook both sides or adding a small amount of water and covering with lid to cook tops of eggs). Season with salt and pepper as desired.

ah. not to sound snotty or sarcastic, but, the job of frying eggs was all mine when i lived at home. i asked mom why she wanted me to fry the eggs and she said i could do it better than her(can you believe that) we used electric skillet and i really don't need anybody to tell me how to fry eggs...but i do appreciate your reply...thank you.....crack the eggs and hold about 3 inches above pan and let them go....never broke a yoke yet an i been frying eggs since i was 11 years old and i be 59 now....

[Pete]

Though I have a nice teflon coated pan, I prefer to use the cast iron. Maybe it is mental or something, but eggs just taste better, made in a cast iron pan (of course that is how Mom made them).