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Cast iron is easier to deal with if you have an outdoor or really-well-ventilated oven for re-seasoning, which you'll have to do from time to time, in my experi

Cast iron is easier to deal with if you have an outdoor or really-well-ventilated oven for re-seasoning, which you'll have to do from time to time, in my experience. It's actually far, far easier to just get a new pre-seasoned cast iron pan (I also bought Lodge, as the fine article's author did), but if you're going to buy a new pan every year anyway, suddenly nonstick doesn't seem like a bad deal.

jb1991 4y ago
I’ve been using a lodge for eight years, the same one, and I’ve never once put it in the oven. Still works beautifully, occasionally a full scrub clean and just do a bit of oil coat on the stove.
thebetatester 4y ago
Part of the "will outlive us" is not buying a new one every year. I know I've been trying to reduce the waste I produce lately and going with cast iron pans has been a part of that plan. Buying one every year instead of taking the 1 minute to wipe it with oil and then throwing it in your oven for an hour is laziness. If you don't like the smell and you have an outdoor grill (preferably one where you can set a temperature) it's pretty easy to season your skillets in one of those and let the wind deal with the smell of polymerizing oil. There's been a lot of discussion in the cast iron fanatic circles about how terrible Lodge's pre-seasoning is and how it's better to build up your own. I own one Lodge and two other brands and I've noticed the other two I seasoned myself are basically as good as Teflon and the Lodge (which admittedly hasn't seen as much cooking) sticks like it doesn't have any seasoning at all. YMMV I guess but I feel like it's worth putting in the effort to season yourself and keep up the seasoning.
- randallsquared 4y ago
  One hour. Haha. There are a dozen mutually exclusive methods for seasoning cast iron. I’ve never found one that works as well or as simply as advertised. In a 1bd apartment, the seasoning process will make it difficult to breathe for nearly the full process unless you have incredible ventilation. Stripping the previous seasoning after burning something (only once, but it mentally scarred me, as you might be able to tell from the ranting… ;)) is incredibly difficult. So much steel wool. So much elbow grease. That was the final time for me, and I gave up after several weekends without being able to get the burnt odor to go away. There is a limit to how many hours I’m willing to invest in cookware, and it was not much higher than ten. You are welcome to call me lazy over it. :)
peatmoss 4y ago
I have just started a business recycling peoples' cast iron. Please ship me your offcasts, and I'll sure that they are re-seasoned and re-released into the wild. Jokes aside, you can buy some flax oil, wipe it on thin, and let the pan sit a few months and the oils will polymerize on their own in a few months. Or, you can buy a naturally pre-polymerized boiled linseed oil (flax oil that has been heated--just make sure you get one without chemical dryers like Tried & True brand) and it'll polymerize on its own in a few days. Likely it'll still smoke a little bit when you cook. But you could also get a cheap hotplate and take it outside if you're really worried about the smoke. You don't need to use the oven method, just use a very, very thin coating of oil, bring it up to temp slowly and hold it there. Cast iron is a decent heat conductor, so you can get good coverage. People get way too obsessive about seasoning cast iron, like it's magic to get a good seasoning and a horror if the seasoning gets stripped away. It's not. Badly damaged seasoning is like 10 minutes inconvenience.
- coryrc 4y ago
  Don't use flax. Just use canola and fry things.

jb1991 4y ago

I’ve been using a lodge for eight years, the same one, and I’ve never once put it in the oven. Still works beautifully, occasionally a full scrub clean and just do a bit of oil coat on the stove.

thebetatester 4y ago

Part of the "will outlive us" is not buying a new one every year. I know I've been trying to reduce the waste I produce lately and going with cast iron pans has been a part of that plan. Buying one every year instead of taking the 1 minute to wipe it with oil and then throwing it in your oven for an hour is laziness. If you don't like the smell and you have an outdoor grill (preferably one where you can set a temperature) it's pretty easy to season your skillets in one of those and let the wind deal with the smell of polymerizing oil. There's been a lot of discussion in the cast iron fanatic circles about how terrible Lodge's pre-seasoning is and how it's better to build up your own. I own one Lodge and two other brands and I've noticed the other two I seasoned myself are basically as good as Teflon and the Lodge (which admittedly hasn't seen as much cooking) sticks like it doesn't have any seasoning at all. YMMV I guess but I feel like it's worth putting in the effort to season yourself and keep up the seasoning.

randallsquared 4y ago
One hour. Haha. There are a dozen mutually exclusive methods for seasoning cast iron. I’ve never found one that works as well or as simply as advertised. In a 1bd apartment, the seasoning process will make it difficult to breathe for nearly the full process unless you have incredible ventilation. Stripping the previous seasoning after burning something (only once, but it mentally scarred me, as you might be able to tell from the ranting… ;)) is incredibly difficult. So much steel wool. So much elbow grease. That was the final time for me, and I gave up after several weekends without being able to get the burnt odor to go away. There is a limit to how many hours I’m willing to invest in cookware, and it was not much higher than ten. You are welcome to call me lazy over it. :)

peatmoss 4y ago

I have just started a business recycling peoples' cast iron. Please ship me your offcasts, and I'll sure that they are re-seasoned and re-released into the wild. Jokes aside, you can buy some flax oil, wipe it on thin, and let the pan sit a few months and the oils will polymerize on their own in a few months. Or, you can buy a naturally pre-polymerized boiled linseed oil (flax oil that has been heated--just make sure you get one without chemical dryers like Tried & True brand) and it'll polymerize on its own in a few days. Likely it'll still smoke a little bit when you cook. But you could also get a cheap hotplate and take it outside if you're really worried about the smoke. You don't need to use the oven method, just use a very, very thin coating of oil, bring it up to temp slowly and hold it there. Cast iron is a decent heat conductor, so you can get good coverage. People get way too obsessive about seasoning cast iron, like it's magic to get a good seasoning and a horror if the seasoning gets stripped away. It's not. Badly damaged seasoning is like 10 minutes inconvenience.

coryrc 4y ago
Don't use flax. Just use canola and fry things.