Hello, from Saskatchewan Canada

Cody_S

New member
Good morning everyone,
My name is Cody and I am from Saskatoon, SK, Canada. I am fairly new to the cast iron world and my first pan was a modern day Lodge 12”.

My adventure into cast iron is below. It’s only been a little bit, but the story drags. Feel free to just read the tl;dr at the bottom if you don’t want to read all the meat and potatoes.

I was watching an episode of Alton Browns ‘Good Eats: Reloaded’ and the first episode talks about reverse searing a steak. He mentioned to go buy the cheapest piece you can find at a hardware store, and season it at home in the oven. I didn’t want “the cheapest” and settled on the Lodge because it is still cheap, but also a USA made piece.

I followed his instructions and did the pan three times. It was the most non-stick pan I’ve ever used. Eggs slid around all over the place. I was in awe.

Now like any hobby I find myself starting into, and enjoying, I go way too fast, way too quick. I started looking online at all the old antique pans (Wagner, Griswold, ERIE, WSG, vintage Lodge, some other brands I’ve never even heard of, etc). They where all smooth. So I thought, “why don’t I do that to my lodge”. So I did. I ground it all down by hand, and started over. I seasoned it. It sucked. The seasoning wouldn’t stay. It would flake. It would almost just “wash off.” I was so mad. I blamed the cast iron. (At this point of time I’d only ever used Canola oil)

But that didn’t stop me. I started looking at more of the newer stuff. I noticed almost all of it it is “machined” and milled flat. The pricing threw me off though. Especially when it would cost another $100 just to get it on the north side of the border....

However, one day when browsing at Canadian Tire I found one of their “high end” brands, Paderno, on sale. It was a cast iron pan, with a machined bottom! It was $40! Albeit made in China, I bought it. I took it home seasoned it in the oven a couple times and... a big gross mess. Food stuck. Now at this time, I didn’t realize that all these new comers (Smithey, Field, Prepd, Stargazer, etc.) actually hand finished their surfaces. They machined them for flatness, and then hand worked them for smoothness. Not this Paderno. It was machined and that was it. It had prominent machine marks. Of course food would stick...

At some point after that I acquired a cheap $10 no name pan from a supermarket. I bought it to just play around in and figure out seasoning and different oils to use, methods, temperatures, etc. It was my test piece. It’s my experiment 626.

Skip some minor details and I finally had my Lodge accept a seasoning and method and I made some pancakes on it. Silky smooth. Almost instant release. Then I made cornbread. Then eggs. Then a full breakfast (sausage, bacon, eggs, potatoes) It was perfect. I was finally happy with it. Like really happy with it.

I was so happy with it that I got excited and I went and found an old Griswold #8 on eBay. Small logo. I believe it’s that late 1930’s era. It showed up and I stripped it, oiled it, and left it. Then I wanted a new American piece to compare to. So I ordered a Stargazer. What a beautiful piece.

I’ve slowly been building up the Griswold and Stargazer now. The Griswold had very minor stickage on an egg. So I seasoned it again last night. The Stargazer isn’t being used yet - it’s too nice to use. I just want to hang it up! I cleaned that Paderno right down for the sake of it, and redid it as well. It’s just as good as my Lodge now. Nothing is sticking in the machine marks.

To:dr: Bought a Lodge, sanded it, ruined it, fixed it, bought another “cheap” pan, thought it was garbage, figured out how to season it, it’s now amazing, bought a Griswold #8, and a Stargazer. Feel like an addiction is forming. Might start experimenting with surface finishes and textures.
 
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