Smoothing Out a Cleaned -- but Rough -- Cooking Surface

R

RobHerrington

Member
I am putting this in "general" because this little #3 is clean, free of rust and gunk. It sat in my lye bath for about 2 weeks, and while it looks okay, you can see if not feel that the cooking surface is quite rough. I daren't fry an egg in it.

I don't think electrolysis will make any difference.

The question is, do I just try to season it 100 times to get the patina to fill in the tiny indentations, or do I break out the Porter Cable sander or wire brush attachment to my drill?

Before you say no, to the power drill, know that my first cast iron attempt involved a sander. I learned not to do that again while reading here, but I have to tell you the cooking surface of that ill-treated CI feels quite smooth.

I suppose I could use the pictured #3 for sauces only, but I'd really like to smooth out that surface.

Thanks for your comments!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hshepn0d3mcv5yp/IMG_20170319_105157339.jpg?dl=0
 
Don't be afraid of that surface, season it as normal and use it, I have a set of imported pans I was given as a gift, a few times with a little extra butter and I can slip eggs anywhere on it, made scrambled eggs in it this morning for the mother in law, all it needed was a wipe with paper towel, I personally wouldn't sand it, I'd cook on it
 
Okay, Jeff. I appreciate you and will take your advice.

I'm going to cook regularly on it and calendar it for review in 6 months, then a year. We'll see where we are! (Can't hurt to wait -- I've got beaucoup other pans to fry eggs on, and how many cooking pans do I really need? (Answer: just one more, right?;)))
 
It looks as pebbly as my (modern) Lodge 10.25" skillet's cooking surface looked when I got it. Don't be afraid of the pebbles, they'll even out over time when the gaps fill up with seasoning, and they don't hinder the non-stickiness one bit (once your seasoning reaches non-stickiness).

I often fry eggs in my Lodge, and they slide around like champs. :chuckle:
 
Smooth doesn't mean non-stick, and rough doesn't mean stick. Season it, cook in it and in no time it will be non stick. If you have enough oil on it to "smooth" that surface it will be a mess LOL!
 
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