Cast iron

Most cast iron is rough when it's new. It gets smooth from seasoning and use. I have my grandmother's pan and it's almost like glass. The pans I bought new, about 40 years ago, are just starting to get that way. They were quite rough when they were new.

I also have some that I bought used. They were in pretty rough shape, rusty and such, but I seasoned them thoroughly and they've turned out to be pretty good pans.

I've also bought new ones. I found that the ones made in China were the lowest quality. I get mine from Lodge. They're made in America and of decent quality, although not quite as heavy as the old ones. Walmart carries them, but you can also order them online. They're pre-seasoned, but I still add a couple more coats of seasoning before I use them.

You're not going to find them as smooth as the old ones. You can find smoother ones in the off brands too, but you have to investigate them pot by pot. Lodge has pretty good castings. I think Camp Chef is very close to Lodge casting quality, but not always easy to find. MACA pots/pans are also very high quality but not easy to find.

You can look for old cast iron at garage sales and those sorts of things.

The smooth is nice, but with seasoning and use, the slightly rough cook and release and clean very well. Smooth isn't as important as you seem to think.

I vote with Phil. The roughness will pass, as you use the piece, because as the cure develops some depth you are, in effect, filling any pores, scratches, roughness, etc. Just imagine pouring a thin layer of plastice in the pan. That's the effect. And it's also why a well-cured piece is essentially non-stick.

The problem with the cheaply cast pieces is that there's more than surface roughness involved. There are occlusions, and voids which can be near impossible to fill, and you never achieve that rich, deep-black cure we all strive for. .

I have an article on how to season your cast iron cookware.  The steps take about 2 hours and produce a good season.  Good cooking ways to season a piece of cast iron cookware are cooking bacon, fried chicken, baking corn bread, and toasting corn tortillas (I usually do about 40 to 50 at a time because we make our own taquitos out of left over roasts and then freeze them for later use).  Using cast iron cookware for soup or stock will not strip the season from a well seasoned piece in my experience, just tomato and wine will do a number on your season if it is not been established good enough.  I would still season my new cast iron piece at least three times with the oven method before even consider using it for any cooking.  As for the roughness, the season would not be as good if the pan were smooth.  That's where the carbon molecules collect that make the season, and like everyone says it takes time to get a really good season.  Older pans seem smoother because of the years of use and the amount of carbon stored in the pan already.  I am sure that at least half were refinished a few times in there life span, but with that type of casting I would say that is about as good as it is going to get.  The process has not changed much over the years.  All in all I will only use cast iron cookware, I love it.  No more chemical's for me please.

http://www.oregonlive.com/foodday/index.ssf/2011/02/seasoning_a_wok_is_easy_pays_o.html

This article above is comprehensive, and quite complete. I rinse and even scrub with water, but use

only cold water. Hot/boiling water will remove kek as well as finish. Best way found to start off fresh is to

bake pan with herbs and oil for about 30 minutes at 300 degrees. Allow to cool slowly ( HOT ) and then wipe clean.

Cooks Illustrated a couple months ago had a short how-to that was sent in by some one. That person used flax seed oil to season the pans. ATK tested it and found the flax seed oil has more omega-3 fatty acids and when heated makes a better harder seasoned surface than other fats. They did a hot oven - as hot as your oven will go -  treatment 6 times and now they use it for all of the cast iron cookware.

I tried it on some new De Buyer carbon steel pans, and it produced a very smooth finish. However, it didn't stick to the pan. The very first time I used the seasoned pans, the seasoning flaked off and I got little black bits in my food. I use two pans - a 24cm and a 32cm - for most all of my cooking now. I lightly scrub them after each use with hot mildly soapy water, and never have a problem with anything in them sticking. Since I got these steel pans, I may very rarely use cast iron again.

Cap - I know what you are saying re: the smooth finish - I have a couple of VERY old cast iron pans & flat griddles I got from my parents and they got them from some other older friends. The surface is just like glass!

Just a note.  Those old cast iron pans are so smooth because they were *machined*.  The new ones aren't.   The old smooth ones are a little more troublesome when they've been freshly seasoned, but they seem to wind up with an amazing, natural non-stick surface the rough ones take years to achieve.  Of course an orbital sander with 80 grit aluminum oxide sandpaper helps out the new ones a bit.

Doug

I love my cast iron.  I clean my cast iron skillets with kosher salt, as advised by Cook's Illustrated.  Scouring with the salt is easy and cleans better than using the brush Lodge suggests for cleaning.  After each use, I lightly oil the pan and let it bake in the oven for a few minutes.  

A site with interesting information on the care of cast iron is panman.com.

http://www.panman.com/cleaning.html

I had some heat plates cast by a forge. Theres no real science involved there. It's roughly this many old brakes, this many old tin cans, a dollop of that because it stops something reacting and once the mould has cooled sufficiently they break it up with hammers or jack hammers then they will roughly sand it down using grinding disks before treating it some where else. So pits, holes, impurities and roughness are there and real and there's absolutely no reason you can't get some 180 grit on an orbital sander and go your hardest.

that's easy, cost. You spend $6 machining something you need to sell it for between $12 and $18 cover the cost of production on the $6 investment. Would that rise the sale price by too much? Probably considering that you are competing against imported stuff.

People are so particular about the use and care of their cast irons. Ive learned to just ask ahead of time before even touching them or washing them!

To capsaicin: the link is http://www.thecampden.com/articles/

Some companies used and still use metal molds to cast their cast iron cookware, I think Le Creuset uses metal molds instead of sand molds.

Sounds good, there are a lot of opinions of what to do for seasoning cast iron cookware.  Certainly my way is not the best way but it has worked for me and has had great results.

Old or new, I treat my cast iron the way my mom and grandmothers did; let the item cool enough to handle, rinse well in hot water, wipe dry and use a bit of lard to coat before I store it in my oven. If something should stick, I heat a cup of water in the pan, then use the back of a fork or a wooden paddle to get the bits off, using them for gravy if I want. Never any soap, never cold water. I know one lady who runs her cast iron through the dish washer; she gets so upset when it rusts. 

As for buying old cast iron cookware at a garage sale, I've done it. I take a Dremel tool with a wire bristle attachment and scour away any rust. Then I wipe it down well with the driest of damp cloth, and season. Works great!