[cwshields]

Originally Posted by TheWorstChef

Thanks for the advice guys..one question: How can you tell if you've lost some of the seasoning? The surface of the skillet has some swirls in it but it's generally still the same dark color throughout. Also, say I want to season it...can I just take the fat I get from cooking bacon in the skillet, and just rub it all over the pan, put it in the oven, etc.?

The best way I know to tell if spots of the pan lost it's seasoning is to look for dark grey vs black & shiney, the grey areas will have lost some of it's seasoning.
Absolutely use some of the fat from the bacon, but use only a thin coating. Pre-heat oven to 350 or higher, lightly coat the pan and turn it upside down in the oven. Let it bake for an hour or more then turn off the heat, DO NOT remove the pan. Let it cool as the oven cools, could take several hours. My favorite method to season my cast iron (do to the ammount of smoke) is to use my gas BBQ. I crank up the heat and put my lightly coated cast iron in upside down, bake for a hour then turn off the heat, let the pan cool the ambient temp, wipe off any excess, and I'm done.

[TheWorstChef]

Originally Posted by shel

Years ago I bought a couple of cast iron skillets, and, being young and foolish, almost ruined them because i didn't know how to properly care for them. I was able to rescue one, and now that I know better, can honestly say that for some cooking tasks there's nothing better.

Has anyone used the new pro-logic skillets from Lodge? Comments?

TWC, is there any particular reason you chose to get a farberware skillet? Do you know if a lid is available for them? Couldn't find anything about them at the Farberware site.

Shel

Well the reason I got a Farberware skillet was because it was really cheap (8 bucks and free shipping) and I thought that there wouldnt be that much difference in quality from one cast iron skillet to another...Was I mistaken? If you pros think it's worth it for me to toss this and buy a better cast iron skillet, I'll do it. And no, there is no lid.

[Suzanne]

I'm a Crisco girl, myself. For seasoning cast-iron pans, that is.

And I'm also in the "it's okay to wash it" camp, because I use a lot of marinades that tend to burn on and need to be soaked off. If I'm concerned that I may have damaged the seasoned coating, I just heat up the pan after cleaning, brush on some Crisco, heat it until it barely starts to smoke, then let it sit. When it's cool I wipe out any extra.

TWC: it's a good idea to reseason the pan every so often in any case. And you'll know if/when it needs it, anyway: it starts to develop rust spots. Just scrub those off with steel wool and reseason. No need to junk the pan. (Although hey, free shipping for a cast-iron pan -- wow! )

[DC Sunshine]

I'd be tempted to treat it much like a wok - re-season it with oil over heat, rinse off with hot water (and a wok brush to get the sticky bits off) , dry off *completely over heat. And never wash in detergent again

[TheWorstChef]

Thanks guys..my cast iron pan is in the oven as we speak. So was it a mistake to purchase a Farberware cast iron pan? I was thinking the brand didn't matter since it's just a hunk of iron...

[phatch]

Brand doesn't automatically matter. The better brands, Wagner, Lodge, Camp Chef are more reliably smooth casting. I would buy one of these pans without having seen it without worrying much about the quality I'd get.

Once you get into the off-brands, good pans can be had cheap but I wouldn't buy one sight unseen. You need to inspect them for smooth and even casting thickness, no warping and no cracks or chips.

[Jock]

Originally Posted by TheWorstChef

Thanks for the advice guys..one question: How can you tell if you've lost some of the seasoning? The surface of the skillet has some swirls in it but it's generally still the same dark color throughout. Also, say I want to season it...can I just take the fat I get from cooking bacon in the skillet, and just rub it all over the pan, put it in the oven, etc.?

The fact is, you didn't have much to start with. The gray spot in the middle you spoke about may have been some lost "seasoning".

You don't want to use an animal fat to cure the pan. It has too low a smoke temperature and it can go rancid on you. A vegetable oil is better. Rub some olive or peanut oil over the pan and put it in a 350 oven for an hour or so. Wipe off any excess oil. That is just the beginning. The more you use it and with proper cleaning the seasoning will continue to improve. Soon enough you will be able to say, Teflon? Who needs it?

Jock

[cookie jim]

worst chef,for anything that sticks while you are reaching the optimal season,instead of soaking,heat pan till it gets to smoking point splash hot tap water in it and scrape bits off with a wood spatula,careful of the steam.it's just like we remove browned bits from pan to make sauce or gravy.then wash with water and re-season pan.lids can easily be found in most hardeware stores...good cookin...cookie

[MikeLM]

If you use Phil's upside-down seasoning approach it would seem appropriate to put a cookie sheet under the skillet so any fat drips don't get vulcanized to the bottom of the oven.

I've got a well-seasoned Wagner 11-3/4" skillet that has developed a rounded bottom. Just doesn't work on the ceramic-top electric cooktop we've got now. Stuff in the center burns while stuff around the periphery is underdone. Looking around for a Lodge.

What's a Lodge "Pro-Logic?" How do they get a computer into a cast-iron skillet?

Mike