I have cleaned several of the vintage Griswold CI skillets as presents for my children and very close friends. I take the skillet outside in an area where there is not a lot of wind. I like to have plenty of large pieces of flat cardboard (boxes) and lots of old newspaper and a good size trash can with disposable liners for the clean up as you go. I use the Easy Off Oven Spray that works on a cold oven and start the project with at least two cans. You will want rubber gloves of some sort; I use the heavier, longer kitchen ones that have been around forever. I also use a putty knife and one of those painter gadgets that a single blade razor blade slides into. I then start by laying cardboard on ground and spraying skillet good on both sides and let set on cardboard. IIRC this takes about twenty minutes each time you spray. Then the old crud starts to loosen and you scrape with the scrapers till no more will come off, use the newspapers to clean off and repeat. I usually do this over a course of days. You can take breaks in between if you want. When I get all of the old stuff off, I have a beautiful skillet that is smooth as glass. Then I go through another process of bakings to get the mirror finish that I want. If you decide you want to do this, I can share the process I use to put a great seasoning/sealer on my skillets.

For cleaning, I have found that the plastic bag in the sun will do the job without scraping in a day or two with oven cleaner, or several days with household ammonia cleaner. I actually had an oven with self clean that I could have used, but since the bag/sun thing works, I don't see the need.

l g: My reseasoned every day ci pan works well, but it is not all smooth. Part of it appears a little crusty although it feels smooth while other parts are shiny. I don't really want to re-do it since an egg will slide on it, but if I had a better method of seasoning, it might be worth it. I would like to hear your method.

I would like to hear your method lizbeth-gardener, as well as your chaseO45.

walnutcreek: I'm sure others besides us could use a tried and true seasoning method so I hope lisbeth-gardner sees this. I hope you were asking for detail of my cleaning or de crudding method. One takes a kitchen garbage bag out in the sun and either spray grungy pan or pans with Oven Cleaner or pour some ammonia into the pan. I guess one could dab some ammonia on the other surfaces, but as I recall, the fumes will attack all surfaces anyway. The plastic bag first protects the surrounding area from the chemicals. The bag is then closed up to retain fumes and left in the sun for a day to several days. Then carefully take the bag or pan to a sink to be rinsed off. If you are lucky, all crud will come off or perhaps a razor blade might chip off a lumpy chunk or two. Otherwise, repeat the treatment.

Finally, rinse and quickly dry, then heat and add a very light coat of oil from a paper towel to prevent flash rusting that would take place almost immediately.

Then wait for advice from l-g or .....

Yes, Chas, this is exactly what I wanted to know. Thank you. Now if lizbeth responds, we will all know her method. Can hardly wait to know what it is.

I just cleaned the ones I got that needed it with an SOS Pad and fairly hot water. After it was dry, I reseasoned it.

I WANT to like cast iron, but it's not easy for me. I have just one pan - a 10.5" pre-seasoned round griddle. I only use it to cook steaks on. I love that it gets really hot and I can get a nice sear on a steak and have it still be nearly raw inside. But I HATE cleaning it. It takes me days. I soak it and scrub it and then repeat that again and again. It never feels or looks really clean to me. So, I overlook what I couldn't remove and oil and bake it a while, then put it away. I've read posts about other's pans becoming glass smooth with use. Part of what I don't like is that the surface is pebbly, which makes it hard to clean. Here's a question - would it be possible to have someone use a grinder, then a buffer to fast forward to that glassy smooth surface? I think I could live with that, because it should be easier to clean.

My mom always taught me to never use an SOS pad on cast iron pots and skillets. She said to use the Copper Chore Girls (think they are called Chore Boys now and not a good quality as they used to be).

Donna, really old smooth as silk cast iron skillets were ground inside. That method seemed to go away, that is why pots have the pebbly feeling now. If you could find a really fine master of grinding iron down to a smooth finish, I am sure it could be done.

No difference between the copper pads and the stainless pads, you still have to season after cleaning. (at least once and sometimes 2 or 3 times. Oven cleaner, sos pad, copper pad, you are removing the baked on finish and it must be restored to obtain the no stick of cast iron.

Donna, yours is one of the new pans and the pebbly finish is what is making it hard to clean. Yes, you will have to grind it off or really keep seasoning for quite a while. There are several threads on here about how to grind smooth and then reseason.

Couple of things to consider:

Cooper pad v.s. steel pad, which one is better?

Some time ago, they discovered that the copper of The Statue Of Liberty caused significant corrosion damage to the steel supporting structure and major repairs had to be done. Copper, by galvanic action, will cause rusting in steel.

Making cast iron skillets mirror smooth for non-stick?

You may notice that non-stick design purposefully create dimples to enhance non-stick quality., and knives also have granton edges (dimples) to improve non-stick. You of course have the experience that on a very smooth knife, you will have a hard time peeling off a slice of cucumber.

So, should you have a very smooth surface on your skillet?

dcarch

For those wanting my seasoning method: I am computer challenged and cannot do a link.

The method I use is online. If you go to sherylcanter.com or try doing a search for "Chemistry of Cast Iron Seasoning: A science Based How-To" . She explains her theory and method. I find it works well.

If anyone can find and link, I would appreciate. If you want me to break down and post the steps, I can do that. I found the information she provides very interesting, but I like knowing why something works-not everyone cares.

Edited to add: the link that happens in my post is not where I wanted to go, so best search by article title.

Chemistry of Cast Iron Seasoning

Thanks, Ci! That's it.

Dcarch, even my older than me shiny stainless steel NOT non-stick frying pan releases the meat once it's got that stupendous sear and is really not much trouble to clean. Yes, I want smooth as glass.

"Yes, I want smooth as glass."

Simple.

Harbor Freight angle grinder $15

Wire brush for grinder- $5.00

Flap sanding disc for grinder $4.00

Using grinder and wire brush to remove all old build up and thick rust in 5 minutes.

Using flap sanding disc and grinder to polish glass smooth in 10 minutes.

There is no need for any chemical.

dcarch

I urge the pans in lemon juice and flow to the dishes. Then it is pure

What?

I contemplated doing the Sheryl Canter method, but for me, life is too short for such an involved process. Also, it will smoke up your kitchen for hours.

My method is first to do the Matfer Bourgeat method which is peels of 2 potatoes, 2/3 cup kosher salt, and 1/3 cup oil (that is for a 10-12" pan; decrease salt and oil proportionately for smaller pan). Heat all together on medium-high burner for about 8-10 minutes stirring, until the peels are crisped. Throw away, and dry-wipe pan of salt/oil. Repeat the entire process. So, now you have invested 20-30 minutes. The last step is to take Crisbee Stik Cast Iron Seasoning, spread it in the pan, wipe up excess with paper towel, and put pan face down in 400 degree oven for an hour. After an hour, turn off oven, and leave pan in there until both oven and pan have completely cooled. The Sheryl Canter method takes days, and a lot of patience. This is easier. My eggs slip around like hockey pucks.

For touch-ups, I spread the Crisbee thinly around the pan, wipe up excess with paper towel, and put on stove burner for a few minutes until it starts to smoke. Turn off flame, leave pan on there until it is cooled. That is 5 minutes or less.

I like Annie's seasoning method. If I remember right, it's make French fries three times. :)

Pillog, that is a great method. I could eat French fries 3, 4, 5, maybe even 6 times! I MUST REMEMBER THIS!

Friedajune: Certainly use whatever method suits, but Sheryl Canter's method is pretty simple once you have read through the instructions and it doesn't smoke up the kitchen. If you read the instructions, she tells you to use a very thin coating and then wipe it down before heating-no smoking!

Donna: Throw or give away the Lodge pan that is meant to have a rough surface and buy a vintage Griswold or Wagner skillet if you want a machined surface that will feel like glass. They aren't that hard to come by at auctions, e-bay, estate sales and antique or consignment shops.

Another vote for power tools.

Fastest & Best Way to Smooth Cast Iron Skillet

I have a small rusty dirty pan which I had not used for a long while.

So with an angle grinder, wire brush and a flap sanding disc and 20 minutes of work -----

Here it is, mirror smooth, shiny like chrome.

dcarch

Oklamoni -- someone has probably already mentioned this, but be sure to use good eye protection. Just the "rust" stain from metal in/on your eye can cause loss of vision.

I've got several OLDER smooth (unlike the Lodge pans) CI skillets. Our family always cooked w them. Mine have a smooth, black patina on them. I usually just ringe with hot water and a stiff nylon brush. Occasionally I use a bit of detergent (say, after cooking something strong, like salmon.

No nuclear bombs, just patient scouring. You'll get there. Of course, never leave them soaking in water. I have a few in my family who don't seem to get that wooden cutting boards. Chef's knives and cast iron should not be left soaking.

Galvanic rusting from using a copper scrubber on cast iron??? Not at all likely unless you soak them together is a saltwater solution for days!
Old cast iron, Griswold or Wagner are the best.
Grandma scoured with a copper Chore Girl as did my mother....and I gave them to my kids,,,,still without "galvanic action" rusting from 2 minutes of scrubbing with a copper scrubber on the rare occasion when they didn't simply wipe clean.

Bumblebeez SC Zone 7

"Can I send you my pans, dc?"

Oh, you are so generous! If I have more pantry room, I would accept your gift. (LOL!)

Final step - seasoning. Avocado oil in my oven.

So slick and so black!

dcarch

Do a little research on flaxseed oil. It can be dangerous. It can self-ignite.

dcarch

I'm a little late in the conversation, but here are my views.

Cast iron has been my preferred cooking utensil material for over 40 years. I normally keep 3 sizes of fry pans, 1 griddle and 1 dutch oven. I use them in-home, when traveling and car camping, on extended canoe trips and any other mode of traveling except when I have to carry them on my back.

A SS scouring pad is essential.

Keep the cooking side clean and seasoned at all times.

My preference is for butter rather than other animal or vegetable fats.

Do not cause rapid temperature changes by quenching or similar.

It can warp the pan.

I would NEVER use any chemical other than a normal cooking/eating utensil type cleaner and a SS scouring pad to clean them, not even an oven cleaner. Metals can adsorb [correct spelling] chemicals into their surfaces. Washing does not remove them. Heating the utensils can release them. Adsorption is the reason behind why fuel tanks that have been cleaned out, then while being repaired, explode when being worked on. The fuel adsorbed into the metal is released when heated.

Heating the pan in a self cleaning oven is not a bad start-over-from-scratch cleaning method. Be sure the pan's temperature does not change too fast. Cooling too fast is the more likely. As said earlier, it can warp the pan.

If rust for any reason, like turning a canoe over in a river, forms on the pan, Scour it until the CA is as clean as you can get it. Then, season it. Wipe it out with a paper towel. If rust shows, scour it again and re season it. No need to be paranoid about it. Some rust is not harmful. In fact rust is pretty innocuous. It is safer than an aluminum pan.

I never worry about the exterior of the pan. The sides of mine get pretty grunged up over the years with whatever has stuck to it then gets baked on. I have never worried about it. But, a self cleaning oven would quickly and easily take care of the problem.

I do not use cast iron that much any more. I now cook on a glass top stove. And, my galfriend makes all kinds of weird faces when she sees my pans in use. In the interest of getting along, I don't use them that much any more. Although, I do miss them.

This is why I do not and will not a a smooth top stove. I will NEVER give up my cast iron!

Cast iron is great on induction, which is smooth top, and there are no problems at all. If you have burrs on the bottom, sand them off! They're not there doing anything useful.

I've used a smooth top stove-top for years and still used my cast iron. The only reason it's cautioned against it, is in case you accidentally drop the skillet. If you're careful, there's absolutely no reason not to use it on a glass-top stove.

I have a single portable induction unit, and my cast iron overheats the unit quickly, but it can be controlled by using a silicon hot pad under the skillet.

Sherry, plllog is right, I season my cast iron by making french fries. Works especially good for dutch ovens, LOL, because they are deep. I scrub the pans clean and if I compromise my seasoning, I fry a batch of french fries. The grease just seeps right in. Then I make another batch, and then another. Usually by batch 3, the pan is nicely greased and seasoned and good to go until I make something sticky and have to scrub it again, and there goes my seasoning...

I have a couple of favorite pans that I never make sticky or acidic foods in because I don't want to compromise my seasoning, but the dutch oven just seems to get a lot of use, including baking cinnamon rolls and apple pie when we're camping.

Annie

I don't have to reseason. My cast iron is used for frying and baking only. I have stainless steel for everything else. I just adore french fries!

Yeah, I know that feeling. You notice that it takes me THREE batches of fries, minimum, before I think the seasoning is good enough. (grin)

I also have stainless, and use them, as well as some enameled Le Crueset, which I use occasionally. I just revert back to my old favorite cast iron for some things, and definitely for camping or cooking outside.

Annie

Dishesdone suggested that I use this to clean my cast iron pans. I am new to this game, but it works well when used with kosher salt. I re-season it with palm shortening. Seems to do the job! I have a Lodge flat sizzle pan that I use in the broiler or in the bbq. I'm not much of a fryer.

I ran my CI through the self cleaning cycle. Came out rusty. Got rid of the rust with SOS pads. There is a couple of places, that need to be smoothed out. I will go to HD and get one of those sanding thingies... and see, what I can do with it.

I think, I will like one of the pans given to me. The other one is heavier, and I kind of like lighter cookware and plates and such.

Will take a couple of pictures and post them when I get the pan finished.

Moni

so sorry, still haven't taken a picture. Right now the two pans are in the oven. That was a BIG mistake....

It is cold in this house, and I turned the oven on to bake some muffins to make the kitchen warm. Decided to put the pans in the oven... YIKES, it stinks now. The muffins taste fine.

I will put the whole thing on hold, till I get a venthood, or it is warmer and I can have all the windows open.

Moni

PS, I read Sheryl's blog. Need to get some flax seed oil!

There is a sponge that you can buy that is very coarse - almost like an emery board which is used for cleaning bad porcelain. I use this sponge on my pizza steel and it gets most everything off except the burnt on stains that have become permanent. Then you nave to re-season the pan. I don't like using oven cleaner under any circumstances. I can't tolerate the smell.

This is why I do not and will not a a smooth top stove. I will NEVER give up my cast iron!

Like Pillog I have a smooth top induction cooktop and the cast iron pan works very well. One of the best ways to make pizza is in a cast iron frying pan!

I have a few cast iron skillets, and an induction range, glass-topped. When I am worried about scratching the surface, parchment paper works wonders.

Sherry_7bAL "This is why I do not and will not a a smooth top stove. I will NEVER give up my cast iron!"

Huh? Why would you have to? I have cooked in my cast iron on a glass-top stove many many times.

I, too, use my cast iron on my glass smooth top. You just need to make sure your skillet doesn't have the ridge on the bottom, so it can make contact with the cooking surface.

I have four cast iron skillets. I season them by doing the method Phyllis Stokes uses on her You Tube channel. That works great. I do not use them much any more as I think they are way too heavy for me with shoulder problems. I too like the ceramic skillets or stainless ones. This is the link to the way she seasons her skillets. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NdSVwXrKpw

I also have a smooth top electric range and have no problems with using them, it is just me and my bad shoulders.

Sue

I was not familiar with Phyllis Stokes, but I just watched one of her videos and she stated that as she had a new glass-top range so she had not used much of her cast iron lately. She is quite misinformed if she thinks you cannot use cast iron on smooth-top ranges. The Lodge company states clearly that they have smooth-top ranges in their test kitchens. Guess what kind of cookwear they are testing?

As to her seasoning method, I used that method, ONCE. I couldn't stand having my kitchen smoke up like that, so I never season in the oven now, I use my gas grill, outside. It works perfectly, and no worries about smoking.

I did not have a problem with much fumes at all. I turned on my exhaust vent. Since Phyllis Stokes made this video she had a problem with her smooth top and now has an electric coil top range, so I suppose she is using her cast iron skillets again. I love my electric skillets too, none are non stick. So handy.

Sue

I turned on my exhaust too, of course. It didn't do much to reduce the smoking or the smell. The gas grill eliminates the possibility of either. And you don't have to worry about any dripping oil either.

This is a good video on that method, also an important tip at the end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Csya0QBVek 

I stated in my previous post here that I was not using my CA much any more because of now cooking on a glass top stove.

I cringe every time I place the larger pans, griddle or dutch oven on the stove top, not because they work any less efficiently, but because it sounds like I'm tapping on a window pane with a hammer, even when I'm being very careful about it.

I realize the glass is tempered and is as nearly unbreakable as anything glass can be.

I still can't deal with it.

This is only one of several posts on glass cooktops.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2313200/my-glass-cooktop-exploded?n=24

WOW!

Our stove is a Frigidaire "Gallery Series".

I will be even more careful in using it than I already am.

It is the first Glass top I've ever used.

It came in our house when we bought it 4 to 5 years ago.

Now, I'm leery of it.

Solo Voyager,I just took out one of my cast iron pans and sat it on the cooktop. It sounds very very solid. I then sat it on my quartz countertop. THAT sounded fragile.

I did not want a smooth-top range when I replaced my old electric coil, but gas was not an option, and the coil ranges just did not offer the features I wanted. So far, I love the range. That said, if my cooktop were to crack, you better believe the replacement unit would be coils. But I am hoping this is the last range I buy.