5 ms·

How do you refinish a lodge skillet? Someone accidentally used the rough side of a sponge on it and there's a shiny metal peeking through now. Also, is it safe

How do you refinish a lodge skillet? Someone accidentally used the rough side of a sponge on it and there's a shiny metal peeking through now. Also, is it safe to cook with before refinishing with that spot?

megous 8y ago
Clean it. Put cooking oil on it. Heat it to 170-180°C (depends on oil type, and I use infrared thermometer to check). Keep it at that temerature for 30min or so. It's non-sticky again. That's what I do with my cast iron pan. Alternatively you can put it into oven and bake it at that temperature.
- shostack 8y ago
  Interesting. How much oil should I use for a 9" pan? Looks like 170-180 is below the smoking point of any oils I'd potentially use, but does the actual oil matter? Is vegetable, canola, or peanut totally fine?
  - megous 8y ago
    Very very little oil (no poodles). I use a paper towel to spread it thin. You can even bake the pan upside down to ensure no poodles can form if you have non-level bottom of the pan. Use some refined oil or lard. Goal is to keep it below smoking point. It works to reseason the pan after minor damage (not yet rusted, but lacking non-sticky surface). I use the pan almost every day, so I don't have experience with fixing heavier damage. If the pan gets sticky to the finger afterwards (it shouldn't if you avoid poodles of oil), don't worry. It will resolve itself after a few cooking cycles.
fencepost 8y ago
I'm a little late to this, but it's called seasoning (or reseasoning) and you can either try to take it down all the way to bare metal or just work on building up additional layers. Plenty of articles available for either, I'm sure I'm leaving things out. Don't get too distracted by fancy processes, remember this is something people have been doing for hundreds of years. If you want to go bare-metal and have an oven with a self-cleaning cycle, that's probably the simplest way to go - put the cast iron in there open-side down and run that cycle. I'm not sure just how much smoke this will release, but you might not want to do it on a day when you can't open windows. I've also seen notes that this can sometimes cause warping, so buyer beware. To build up the seasoning, it's basically going to be multiple repetitions of putting on a thin layer of a high-smoke-point food-safe oil, heating and repeating. Darker color generally just indicates more layers. In some ways it's almost like you're varnishing the cookware with an oil-based varnish, but without some of the other components of varnish. A lot of guides will recommend flaxseed oil for seasoning, it's also known as linseed oil and used to be pretty common in varnishes and wood finishes. For a contrary (and easier and cheaper) view, see https://www.reddit.com/r/castiron/comments/5owtnm/why_i_dont_recommend_flax_seed_oil/ https://www.reddit.com/r/castiron/comments/5owtnm/why_i_dont... (see also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drying_oil https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drying_oil about oil-based varnishes)

megous 8y ago

Clean it. Put cooking oil on it. Heat it to 170-180°C (depends on oil type, and I use infrared thermometer to check). Keep it at that temerature for 30min or so. It's non-sticky again. That's what I do with my cast iron pan. Alternatively you can put it into oven and bake it at that temperature.

shostack 8y ago
Interesting. How much oil should I use for a 9" pan? Looks like 170-180 is below the smoking point of any oils I'd potentially use, but does the actual oil matter? Is vegetable, canola, or peanut totally fine?
- megous 8y ago
  Very very little oil (no poodles). I use a paper towel to spread it thin. You can even bake the pan upside down to ensure no poodles can form if you have non-level bottom of the pan. Use some refined oil or lard. Goal is to keep it below smoking point. It works to reseason the pan after minor damage (not yet rusted, but lacking non-sticky surface). I use the pan almost every day, so I don't have experience with fixing heavier damage. If the pan gets sticky to the finger afterwards (it shouldn't if you avoid poodles of oil), don't worry. It will resolve itself after a few cooking cycles.

fencepost 8y ago

I'm a little late to this, but it's called seasoning (or reseasoning) and you can either try to take it down all the way to bare metal or just work on building up additional layers. Plenty of articles available for either, I'm sure I'm leaving things out. Don't get too distracted by fancy processes, remember this is something people have been doing for hundreds of years. If you want to go bare-metal and have an oven with a self-cleaning cycle, that's probably the simplest way to go - put the cast iron in there open-side down and run that cycle. I'm not sure just how much smoke this will release, but you might not want to do it on a day when you can't open windows. I've also seen notes that this can sometimes cause warping, so buyer beware. To build up the seasoning, it's basically going to be multiple repetitions of putting on a thin layer of a high-smoke-point food-safe oil, heating and repeating. Darker color generally just indicates more layers. In some ways it's almost like you're varnishing the cookware with an oil-based varnish, but without some of the other components of varnish. A lot of guides will recommend flaxseed oil for seasoning, it's also known as linseed oil and used to be pretty common in varnishes and wood finishes. For a contrary (and easier and cheaper) view, see https://www.reddit.com/r/castiron/comments/5owtnm/why_i_dont_recommend_flax_seed_oil/ https://www.reddit.com/r/castiron/comments/5owtnm/why_i_dont... (see also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drying_oil https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drying_oil about oil-based varnishes)