I supposed this would go here.
Been using cast iron for a few years. I guess you could say I'm a collector.
I noticed on this one Lodge skillet I found at the flea market a few years back has a heart on the bottom of it next to the logo.
Can't find anything on the internets about what the heart means in relation to the product.
Anyone have an idea what it means?
Also: General Cast Iron thread
Recipes, collections, experiences.
>>7497576
I doubt it means anything, other than maybe some kind of manufacturing identification marking.
Why are you asking random internet people anyway? Just call or email Lodge customer service and find out directly from the source.
>>7497599
Nice dubs
I guess I could do that. But it's almost midnight and I wanted to know now.
Plus I've never posted in /ck/ before so I felt this was a good excuse.
>>7497576
Probably a marking for time of manufacturing, because I don't believe they're like firearms with different origins or approvals. I love my cast irons because they're dead simple, handle metal instruments, and can go in the oven, but I really want a carbon steel to have less weight and less upkeep. Too bad they're ridiculously priced...
I made corned beef in my new lodge dutch oven last week. Covered the corned beef with water and put it in the oven for 10 hours with the lid ajar.
Obviously the lid was getting plenty of steam and moisture from the water. Now there are these spots all over the inside of the lid. It looks like rust, but could the lid really rust that quickly? It was "wet" from the steam for 10 hours, but as soon as the corned beef was done I pulled it out and cleaned it, and dried completely. Immediately after drying it I noticed the spots.
>>7497613
How are Lodge steel pans priced? I've never looked/compared prices for steel but I'd imagine they'd have the better set of prices.
>>7497619
You'd be correct. Lowest price per pan, but you have to put in your effort to do an initial seasoning, then multiple cookings with fats to achieve what cast-iron aficionados keep clamoring about (like the ability to handle eggs without adding oil).
>>7497615
Can you post a pic?
I've had a spot or two develop on lesser-seasoned lids but I just scrub the piss out of those spots with a sos/scotch/steel whool pad to eliminate those spots the best you can then reseason.
It should be fine.
>>7497624
Meh.
Gotta eat.
Gotta cook to eat.
Might as well buy them and start them now.
And even with the "egg test" they still add a little bit of something, butter or bacon fat at least.
>>7497615
You really don't think rust can develop in 10 hours in an incredibly hot and humid environment? Are you really this dense?
>>7497745
I'd figure that on a decently seasoned pan rust wouldn't develop that quickly.
>>7498376
Rust can happen in a matter of seconds in a damp environment on bare metal.
And the lids of cast iron cookware are rarely as well seasoned as the rest.
>>7497624
There's always some sort of oil.
I think those who do so well at the egg test do so not just because the seasoning is so well built up but because of the oil they apply for storage from the last use of the pan.
In my last house I lived in we managed to get a coffee can full of bacon grease(we loved bacon) and it is what I would use for pre and post cooking applications.
One thing I noticed with the bacon grease...
When applied after cleaning, it would solidify on the pan and the pan would turn this slight grey color. ALMOST dry to the touch.
When I'd go to use the pan and preheat it, you could watch the pan change colors to a glossy/oily black as it got warm. In those days, yeah, I could cook a lot of meals without adding oil cause the coating was enough.
>>7499007
>When applied after cleaning, it would solidify on the pan and the pan would turn this slight grey color. ALMOST dry to the touch.
Wow, anon! you discovered that different oils have different melting points!
>>7499038
you missed the point entirely to be a dick and still you werent even funny or anything
please work on your reading comprehension
>>7499038
>oil
>melting point
What does a liquid turn into when it melts, anon?
>>7499044
>> it would solidify on the pan
It started as a solid. Then when anon heated the pan it turned into a liquid.
>>7497576
>General
>>7499043
This.
>>7497615
Clean it with some salt then rinse, dry it, Wipe it down with a heavy coating of oil. Don't wash your cast iron with soap and water or steel wool.
>>7497576
>>7499007
>There's always some sort of oil.
>I think those who do so well at the egg test do so not just because the seasoning is so well built up but because of the oil they apply for storage from the last use of the pan.
This. Clean up the pan anyway you like, just don't let it soak in water, use plain old water if it's not dirty or a soapy sponge. Don't listen to all the cake eaters crying to never use soap on your cast iron. Apply heat to dry off water in pan, let cool, while it's warm apply light coat of oil, heat up pan like 2-4 minutes med-high depending on its size, let it cool on stove top. Next time you cook try eggs, put a little bit of butter, the real deal butter that's high in fat and not that mass produced shit tier super market butter, you'll see the eggs slide across just like a no-stick pan. Good butters that don't burn & brown easily like shit tier butters are President and Kerrygold. Your eggs shouldn't stick one bit if you do this, even if isn't seasoned well or at all and muh 6 layers of seasoning nonsense.
>>7499197
Will this create mustard gas or should I actually do it?
>>7499290
It's the correct way to season a pan.
Salting, draws out any moisture prior to oiling.
/ck/ doesn't salt their cast iron, this is why there are so many problems.
>>7499290
It won't harm anything but it won't do shit for seasoning either.
When you season a pan the point is to polymerize the oil into a hard nonstick coating. There must be some kind of oil or fat present for this to work.
>>7499301
ignore this retard, /ck/.
>>7499290
Don't do it.
It's just a troll.
>>7497576
>>7497607
Cast Iron Porn?
>>7499463
>egg test
>>7499478
>>7499478
That's such an unnecessary amount of butter just to fry one egg.
If there's nothing else going in the pan I'll stick with my carbon steal.
>>7499486
>too much butter
>a bad thing
Never!
But yet that is a bit much. A performance edge. After the egg was done I'd drop my bread on the surface to absorb the butter and toast up.
>>7499545
Not my pic.
But I remember it...
It's a Griswold that is either nickle/chrome plated. I'll see if I saved any other to post.
>>7499545
>>7499551
>>7499554
>>7499561
>>7499482
>>7499986
>>7497607
I've got a set of these, pretty decent. I'm so upset that they don't machine the cooking surfaces flat on cast iron pans anymore (lodge at least), makes for a shitty cooking surface.
>>7500329
I fully agree.
Lodges are great and robust. They just take a little longer to get GOOD.
Supposedly they machined their surfaces up to the last 90s but due to lack of demand they quit.
If you want a good, relatively affordable new cast iron with a machined surface, check out Stargazer cast iron.
Mines in the mail.
>>7500357
I've taken an angle grinder to a lodge pan once, worked fine, just had to season the hell out of it after.
>>7500364
Got any pics of that?
I've debated taking a heavy wire wheel on an angle grinder and hit the surface of a random lodge piece just to see how it turns out.
>>7497615
The red is probably from the pink corned beef salt. I get a layer of it inside mine that's hard to wash off. I use a stainless steel scrubber on mine sometimes but always dry it on a hot burner and then oil it and reseason a bit.
>>7500403
did it for a friend of mine when I was in uni and had access to the shop, so no pictures unfortunately. There was still a bit of a transition where it moved from cooking surface to the sides of the pan, but not too bad.
>>7500410
>stainless steel
You talking a scour pad or one of thise chain mail scrubbers?
>>7497576
Have any of you done any deep frying with your cast iron? Thinking of doing some chicken livers tomorrow. Tips appreciated
>>7500329
>>7500357
Factory machined lodge
>>7500989
>>7500992
>>7500994
>>7499478
The fuck, is he naked?
>>7500715
Wha? They're made for deep frying.
>>7501032
I don't know if they were made for it but they can do it quite well.
You can pan fry with some oil or if you've got a deep skillet or even a Dutch oven pot to fill with oil you can deep fry.
>>7497607
I sent lodge an email yesterday.
Still no contact from their information department.
Anybody else dealt with lodges customer service?
>>7502266
I would expect a delay here; that's clearly not a common question they get so it will probably take a bit of effort on their end to figure things out.
>>7500989
I wish they would go back to that finish.
>>7502281
Me too.
If I understand correctly, they went away from it for one, lack of demand, and two, their current "textured/nonmachined" pans complete their "preseasoned" line by allowing their factory seasoning to stick better.
Ive been watching a few startup companies in the last year or two pop up and they're all doing a machined surface. If their popularity increases, I can see lodge revisiting old ideas.
