Cast iron tends to be rough because it is cast in a sand mold, hence "cast" iron. Sanding might help, I don't know. I have never received a pre-seasoned pan that was truly seasoned, I've always had to season them myself to get a finish I like.

If it's really rough, though, I'd return it and get one you like better. I know we had a discussion about Lodge being made in the United States, and you might be happier with that. You'll have to season that too, I think, but the finish may be smoother.

None of the newer brands I've found have the surface of the old cast iron, unfortunately.

Annie

All Lodge is now rough, bumpy..but the more you use it the smoother it will become. My new lodge 12in skillet last fall was pretty rough its since filled in and is close to being smooth.

The olden days pans were sanded after they were cast to have a smooth, level surface. Power tools make it easier but by hand give you more control. Here's a video that looks good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mbv0_npHNg  He starts with 80 grit, using a jar of bolts as a handle, and uses a metal straight edge, on edge, to check the level of the surface.

I'd either sand it or return it.

I see no reason to return it, as a replacement would not be any better - I will get the right sandpaper and sand it. The Lodge comal is not rough, but the Camp Chef is, but I think sanding it will help. Kevin does not remember me sanding the griddle, but I seem to remember that I did. Since that was a large flat rectangle, I used the power sander, but for this pan, I guess I will have to sand it by hand.

"Preseasoned" cast iron cookware is mostly to prevent rusting during shipment, not for better non-stick cooking.

I am not sure a smooth seasoned surface is more non-stick than a rough one. Many Teflon cookware purposefully create dimpled surface to improve non-stick quality.

A very smooth surface can actually cause food to stick because of atmospheric pressure (14 lbs per square inch). You know you can't peel off slices of cucumber from your very smooth knife when you are slicing. That's why they make dimpled (cullets) knives.

dcarch

Thanks, Sol. I will be sanding my pan this afternoon, but this evening we are going to DragCon All Stars Lives at the Belasco Theater downtown. Show starts at 9PM, and I have already reserved parking 3-4 blocks away, which was the closest I could get. I've never been to this theater before (although I've been to the Mayan Theater next door, which is gorgeous), and so this should be a treat. Saturday we are going to the DragCon convention at the convention center. We went last year, and it was a lot of fun - everyone was very friendly. Our nieces want to go with us but could not get away this year, and so maybe they will come next year.

ETA: I finished the sanding and started with 80 grit and then used 120 grit to finish. I also have 180 grit, but the pan was already very smooth after only the 80 grit, and so I decided that 120 grit was fine enough. I'm very happy with the smooth interior surface and am seasoning it now. I'll find out later whether it is non-stick or not.

I agree about the smooth surface being better. I hated my large lodge skillet that I bought new and gave it to the thrift shop. I found an old Wagner skillet at the flea market for $15 and LOVE it. It's smooth as glass. I cannot see that bumpy would be preferable over smooth. I'm going to sand my new griddle after reading this!!!!! It's funny this thread came up because I had just been thinking about sanding that griddle but I wasn't sure if that would be OK or not.

An abrasive disc that fits a drill is the speedy method. 10 minutes. Sometimes 20. We brought back some 'ol rusty ones one afternoon outside on a sturdy table...wear a dust mask. Cast iron dust is horrid on the lungs.

The sandpaper method is fine just takes a long time.

Mine are all vintage except for my 8,10,12" nesting ones. My lidded dutch oven maybe 20yrs old bought new was never as gritty as those i see new.

My disc is black but this pic is what they look like. Different densities.

Oh, i do have one of the reversible griddles that are rectangle rarely used anymore. I hit that with the abrasive sanding disc as well. Took the rough surface off the ridges nice.

In science, there is a term "Lotus effect"

Lotus effect is the phenomenon of water rolls off lotus leaves and not sticking to the leaf.

https://hellomaterialsblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/lotus-leave_photo-sl.jpg

Here is a close up photo of lotus leaf's surface:

http://www.villalachouette.de/william/lotpic4_lq.jpg

And closeup photos of teflon cookware surfaces:

https://www.google.com/search?q=non+stick+teflon+surface+close+up&rlz=1C1RNHN_enUS472US472&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ah

dcarch
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Lars, I hope that pan seasons well. I always have to season mine at least a couple of times before I'm happier, and then the more I use it the more I like it.

Here I tried to find someone to sand blast a 20 inch skillet (yeah, really, 20 inches) it's a camping skillet made for over a campfire and manufactured here in Michigan at East Jordan Iron Works. The only place I could find was an auto repair shop! So if you know an artist that works with iron, they might be able to do that for you, if you think it needs more work.

Annie

decorative glass shops can do the best sandblast work.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/d5/39/e0/d539e0ca06e8234e4680834713508bf9.jpg

dcarch

I know plenty of metal workers, since we make metal furniture here in Los Angeles, but I think the sanding that I did is sufficient. I'll season the pan again before I use it. There is even a metal shop not far from my house. I've had small personal jobs done for me at metal shops for free.

Lars, now that your new pizza pan is ready for service, I'd like to see it christened with, well, pizza ☺ Certainly hope the pan plays nice, after all the elbow grease you put into it.

Btw, your weekend sounded wonderful. I had never heard of DragCon. But then, I don't get out much.

Did you get to meet RuPaul?

Sol

You're right - it's time for me to make a pizza. I have some leftover pasta sauce from lasagna that I made on Sunday, and so I can use that. I vacuum seal the leftover sauce, and so it keeps for a week fairly well that way.

DragCon was a lot of fun, but it was much more crowded this year than last year. Last year (the second year it was held) there were very few people there, and it was easy to move around. We did not meet RuPaul this year, but we did meet some of his dresses:

My head is in the lower left corner - Kevin took the photo.

When I made the sauce for the lasagna, I put a bit too much jalapeño in it (only two, with seeds removed) that I sautéed with onion, and it had a nice pepper flavor but was a bit too hot for lasagna. I should have used dried cayenne instead. Anyway, I love peppers on pizza, and so that sauce should be perfect for that. Not sure if I have enough mozzarella left over after the lasagna, but I have Fontina, which might work as a substitute.

We don't get out that much either any more, and so I was not completely prepared for the Belasco Theater where the All Stars show was. The area in front of the stage had no seats, and so everyone had to stand. I wish it had been at the Mayan Theater next door, as that theater is all seating. It was a very entertaining show, however. Latrice Royale gave a very good, energetic performance:

Lars, I used to love fashion and design, back in BC (Before Children), so with talented one-man show, RuPaul at DragCon, I know I would've enjoyed being at this event. Thank you for the pictures!

Btw, the sauce for your lasagna sounds perfect to me; I don't mind a little bit of heat on pizza either.

Cubans cook with a lot of spices, but rarely any heat. So I don't know where my craving for chili peppers comes from.

On the island, the most commonly-used pepper is called "Cachucha," similar in looks to the Habanero pepper, but unlike the Habanero, it is actually mild and sweet.

As a kid, I would eat them raw. But, somehow, that innocent little pepper started me on a love affair with all peppers, from the very mild to hell hath no fury chili peppers.

There were times when I worried that one day, I might spontaneously combust ☺

Sol

I was going to start a new thread for the pizza I made, but since you brought this back up, I will post the pizza photos here:

The pizza did not at all stick to the cast iron; in fact, it shrank away from the sides a bit, which made lifting it that much easier. I used a cake lifter (shown in the second photo) to move the pizza to the board. I did not want to cut it inside the cast iron, and I needed to let it cool for a couple of minutes anyway.

I put the dough into a cold pan (although I had been told by others to heat the pan first) because that is much easier, and I wanted to see if it would work, and it did! After stretching the dough into the pan, I let it rest/rise for a while because I was not ready to bake it yet. When I was ready to bake it, I sprinkled the crust with a supermarket blend of dried Italian herbs (very lightly), and then I sprinkled it with a bit of mozzarella cheese and baked it for 5 minutes at the highest temp my oven would go, probably 550°, with the convection setting on. Then I took it out and put the rest of the toppings on, which included thinly sliced strips of mesquite smoked turkey breast (with Kevin could not even taste), the sauce with jalapeños that I had made, and a mixture of mozzarella and Asiago cheeses (about 1 part Asiago to 2 or 3 parts mozzarella). I then finished baking it for 8 minutes more, and that seemed to be the exact amount of time it needed. It was not as thin a crust as I normally make, and it puffed up around the rim, but it tasted better than my thin crust pizza. Kevin and I were both very happy with how it came out, and I now prefer it to my thin crust pizza, but I did have to fold the slices when I ate them. I'm also glad that I sanded my pan before I used it, and I'm sort of glad that the pan is not too heavy!

As for peppers - I also grew a mild chili called Tobago, which I think are similar to what you call Cachucha - they are mild and are supposed to be related to Habaneros, but for me, they do not have as much flavor, even considering the loss of heat. My favorite chilies now are the chocolate Habanero, but I neglected to plant any this year - so far. I might still start some, but it is difficult to get them to germinate, and three of my plants from last year have started regrowing from the base of their stalks, and so I am hoping to get more chilies from them this year. I still have sauce leftover from last year's crop, but I've noticed that the heat diminishes during storage :(. Since the name "Habanero" comes from Cuba, I thought that Cubans would like heat, but perhaps the name is misleading.

I highly recommend this pizza pan! It is so easy to use - no need to heat it before adding the pizza - and I think it makes the best pizza. The main limitation is the size - it is only 13" diameter inside, and I used to make 14"-16" diameter pizzas. I have a pizza screen that is 17" diameter, but it will not fit in my oven, and I can use it only with the BGE.

Here's a video of me stretching dough onto a 14" screen and a 16" screen:

Nice instructional video, Lars.

I use my sous vide and dehydrator to start difficult seeds.

I have the full size pizza pan like yours, just a 10 minute modification to fit it in my oven.

dcarch

I cannot bend my 17" pizza screen, but then I also have three 16" screens plus the 14" screen. Only the 14" screen has holes like yours. I have multiple screens for when I have pizza parties, and I'm due for another one of those later this year.

I think my video is horribly dull, but it did help my friend's son. A lot of people have trouble getting pizza dough to fit in a pan, and I used to stretch the dough on a board and tranfer it with a peel, but I have trouble manipulating the pizza on a peel and have had a few accidents with that, which is one of the reasons I use screens. I do like the cast iron pan better than the screens - too bad it is so small.

Success!

With a bit of work, the new pan delivered, as can be seen by the delicious results. Lars; you're far more gentle with your pizza dough than I am. Try as I might, I lack the patience to handle dough properly.

I think I mentioned in the previous (cast iron pan) thread that I do not bother preheating my cast iron griddle for pizza. The only time I preheat cast iron at all is when I'm baking cornbread, popovers, or cake.

It's certainly easier to place pizza dough in a cold pan ( unless I were to roll out the dough with a rolling pin, and then plop into the pan. But, I prefer to use the tips of my fingers ), and the outcome is the same as when the pan is preheated.

In any case, I forgot to mention, that once the dough is in the pan, I give it a head start by placing it on the burner for a few minutes, just until the bottom of the crust takes on color, then, into a hot oven it goes, to finish baking. I'd use the grill, but grills and I do not get along.

At the moment, I have pizza dough in the fridge, and a cake. We'll be celebrating two birthdays, so everybody wang chung tonight.

Thank you Lars, for the video and taking the time to post your wonderful results. Btw, I'll be looking into 'chocolate Habaneros.' Qué?

Never in my life have I ever heard of these little gems.

Sol

Thanks for the tip about heating the pan on the burner before baking - I will try that next time, as I think the bottom crust could be a bit crisper, even though it was fine as it was. However, last night I tried a different method of stretching to dough to fit the pan, and this time I eliminated the ridge at the edge - big mistake.

Good luck finding chocolate Habanero chilies! They are pretty much impossible to find in stores, even here, and I have not seen them in farmers' markets either. You pretty much have to grow them yourself or get them from someone who does. If I get some this year, I can send you a few. They have a fantastic flavor that fairly unique and wonderful. It's been described as earthy, somewhat like the flavor of achiote paste. Here's how one of my plants looked December 19, 2016: