/ck/ - Food & Cooking

[Anonymous No.4799507]

Hi /ck/,

Today I was lucky enough to stumble upon a Wagner Ware Sidney O cast iron skillet, made from 1924-1935, for $10. Now besides the simple stuff(don't wash it with soap, don't let the pan soak, dry it completely, don't use metal utensils, only wash with hot water, etc) I really have no idea what I should do with it. It doesn't appear to be rusty, the bottom has some bumps on it that look like barnacles but other than that it's smooth. What should I do with it? Try cooking something in it to test the seasoning? Or should I just clean it and reseason it right away? Am I being paranoid to think that someone could have used this for storing motor oil or something?

Pic related, it's the pan I picked up(except mine says 10B on the bottom.)

[Anonymous No.4799526]

Clean and season. Boiling water will do, and maybe a dash of soap if you really want to get down to it. (If you want to completely redo it use an oven cleaner).

Then coat in lard or flaxseed oil, put in a cold oven, turn it to 500, wait an hour or two, and then turn it off to let it cool. Repeat that process five times.


But honestly, if it was used for cooking, it's probably already seasoned and all you would have to do is clean it, give it a small coat of oil, and then start cooking.

[Anonymous No.4799541]

>>4799526
Cleaning would just consist of running it under hot water and cleaning it with a brush right? I'll give that a try and see how it turns out.

Thanks for the info btw.

[Anonymous No.4799549]

>>4799541
Pretty much, or you could do it with boiling water.

I've honestly never heard about not using a metal utensil on cast iron, so I usually use a metal scrub brush.

[Anonymous No.4799561]

>>4799549
Alright I'll clean it and then fry up some bacon and see how it turns out.

You seem knowledgeable so I hope you don't mind me asking, but what happens if I start getting some rust on the pan(like I think I have some really small bits of rust on the pan I just bought?) Do I just clean the whole thing with something acidic and reseason it?

[Anonymous No.4800130]

When you use soap / abrasives / shit you clean other pans with you loose all the built up seasoning on the pan.

Faggot retards only use soap or metal abrasives to clean. Honestly, fucking google search for those who disagree with me.

Use salt and a cloth to gently scrub any stuck on shit. A heftier scrubbing with the salt/cloth is needed if you have a shit pan, but it sounds like yours is fine?

To re-season, pour grapeseed oil (no other due to temp. differentials) and coat entire pan. Put on a baking sheet and bake at 500 degrees for a few hours.

[Anonymous No.4800375]

So I bought a new cast iron skillet today. I didn't know anything about it so I just put some bacon in and it stuck as I was laying it down. So I took it out and put some grease in it. Then I cooked the bacon and made an omelet afer that. It stuck completely. The whole bottom was coated in egg. Now I can't get it out scrubbing with just a rag.

Wat do.

[Anonymous No.4800396]

>>4799507
Just clean and season. Mild soapy water and a rag will be just fine. Then reapply the seasoning.

[Anonymous No.4801802]

>>4800396
Thanks for the infograph. I never came across anything that said to apply a thin layer of lard after each use but it makes sense.

[Anonymous No.4801859]

>>4799507
>don't use metal utensils
That only leaves wood right since the synthetics melt.

[Anonymous No.4801864]

>>4801859
Is this a question lol? Yeah wood only, you could use metal but you run a chance of scratching up the pan.

[Anonymous No.4801886]

To clean my cast iron pan I just fill it with water and let it boil for a bit. Then just give it a rinse out.

[Anonymous No.4801890]

>>4801864
>you could use metal but you run a chance of scratching up the pan.
Remind me why I want a cast iron pan again?

lol

[Anonymous No.4801903]

>>4801890
Wouldn't it be better to get aluminum without a coating?

[Anonymous No.4801907]

>>4801890
When you add food to it the temperature hardly drops at all. Plus once you build up a seasoning it works better than any nonstick pan you can buy.

[Anonymous No.4801916]

You can use metal utensils all you want with cast iron. That's one of the major advantages over shit tier teflon pans.

[Anonymous No.4801920]

I've never heard of not using metal utensils. I use steel in mine all the time and it's fine. I seasoned with canola oil, five times in a 500F oven for an hour each time.

[Anonymous No.4802031]

meh too heavy to use

[Anonymous No.4802060]

>>4799507
http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/

If you read a bit into the comments there's a more in depth article if you want to know more.

[picnkn No.4802276]

hey op, not to hijack your thread, but im in for a small experiment, and ill post a few pics here on the progress.

first step, make a proper anode.

[picnkn No.4802366]

>>4802276
be back in a few hours with results, if it all doesnt blow up.
yeah i live innawoods

[Anonymous No.4802393]

>>4802366
What in the literal fuck

[Anonymous No.4802402]

>>4802276
>>4802366

Pls post more

[Anonymous No.4802411]

>>4802366
Dude... Are those battery cables sticking out of a bucket of water?

[Anonymous No.4802415]

>>4802393
>>4802411

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolysis

[Anonymous No.4802418]

>>4802411
it's electrolysis
idiot
it removes the rust

[Anonymous No.4802419]

>>4802366
tfw you realize you've been watching too much Breaking Bad

[Anonymous No.4802425]

>>4802418
Couldn't of just said that without the idiot part?

Dick

[Anonymous No.4802439]

>>4802425
Not the same guy, but you are an idiot for using "couldn't of."

[Anonymous No.4802441]

>>4802425
4chan is 18+
you take chemistry in high school

[Anonymous No.4802462]

>>4802425
>getting mad because someone called you an idiot on 4chan

faggot pls

[Anonymous No.4802472]

>>4802462

>trying hard as fuck to justify being an asshole to another human being

The guy had literally no reason to call the other anon an idiot. He just wanted to be a smug asshole. And you (though you're probably him) are trying to act like that's an okay thing to do. You have a net negative effect on the world.

[Anonymous No.4802496]

>>4802472
Net positive

now you know what electrolysis is

[Anonymous No.4802503]

>>4802496

Already knew. I was

>>4802415

Tried to educate them without being an asshole.

[Anonymous No.4802512]

>>4802503
Well Gordon Ramsay believes firmly in negative reinforcement and this is a cooking board so his word is law

[Anonymous No.4802522]

>>4802472
not him, i'll try to be a nicer guy

[picnkn No.4802628]

well shit, i went to walmart to get some arm and hammer sodium carbonate and when i got back the genny was out of gas, so had to turn around and go back to town for fuel.

in the short amount of time it was going though it turned the water brown, with just plain water.

its up and going again, so will be later today to show some results.
its ok if people are not nice. people are not nice to me all the time.
that superior feel.

[Anonymous No.4802650]

>>4802628
Can you show mid-level results

[picnkn No.4802688]

wow after adding the soap shit its going crazy. gonna let it work for a few hours then ill pull it and get pics. from what ive read this can take upwards of 18 hours.

ive never done this before but didnt seem too hard having all this stuff on hand. that pan didnt even look that rusty to me.

[Anonymous No.4802705]

>>4802512
Gordon Ramsay is a shit tier cook and an even shittier sell out who is willing to be a douchbag for money.

If you like him, your probably the lowest common denominator.

[Anonymous No.4802710]

>>4802628
>>4802688
Good lord, you have created a modern day /ck/ related witches brew.

[Anonymous No.4802715]

>>4802688
That's not actually a lot of rust there

[picnkn No.4802899]

geez /ck/ hold me!

im not sure on my amperage, I have a tester so im going to do some googling and see if my tester can get a reading. but its seems to be working. hope the pan doesnt disintegrate lol

[Anonymous No.4802917]

Here's a 3-inch deep skillet I bought pre-rusted for $5 at a yard sale. It'd been left out in the rain and had rust so bad it was flaking off. I scrubbed it up and the final pics are after the first cycle of seasoning.

>>4802366
>>4802628
>>4802688
Well, it seems someone got trolled pretty damn hard. LOL

Electrolysis is the absolute worst way possible to clean a cast iron skillet.

It only takes like 10 minutes of scrubbing to clean the rust off a pan like >>4802276 and you're done.

>>4802715
>>4802688
It actually oxidizes as it removes the metal and colors the water rust colored without there being that much rust in the first place. The pan will be soot black then need to be scrubbed to remove the black off and it'll be super new metal shiny. Then it'll need like 40 cycles of seasoning in an oven to regain what has been lost.

There's a high chance it will pit the skillet.

This would be awesome if you had an electric oven to power coat the skillet once you get it down to bare metal.

[Anonymous No.4802919]

>>4802899
I think your skillet might be ruined. Better take it out.

[Anonymous No.4802920]

>>4802441
>>4802899
WHAT THE FUCK MAN

[Anonymous No.4802925]

>>4802899
I wouldn't use your tester on that unless it is a clamp meter. Most testers will blow a fuse if you test higher than 10 amps.

[The Australian with koala powe(...) No.4802952]

Having this drill bit easily removes all rust in a few seconds

electrolyte bath takes way too long and expensive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2fSxfvmkZQ

[Anonymous No.4802977]

>>4802952
Those are nice. I have one. But, his skillet isn't bad enough to need that. He just needed a good stainless steel pot scrubber.

[The Australian with koala powe(...) No.4802997]

>>4802977
I hate scrubbers and besides a good copper brush bit attachment can cut down work by a considerable amount. Sometimes I find pieces of rusted metal so i can remove it ...

[picnkn No.4803001]

ok shit i pulled it! how long since i put it in there?

[Anonymous No.4803003]

>>4802997
It depends on the level of rust. Light rust just needs a scrubber for a few moments. I actually had a piece of coat hanger wire bent so I could use it in my drill to hold a metal scrubby for places the cup brush wouldn't reach.

[Anonymous No.4803005]

>>4803001
mfw people think this is actually safe to eat out of now

[Anonymous No.4803007]

>>4803001

[Anonymous No.4803008]

>>4803001

Looks good.

Toss some bacon in and eat it.

[Anonymous No.4803012]

>>4803001
like 2 hours or more if the exif is correct

[The Australian with koala powe(...) No.4803019]

>>4803003
Having the actual attachment is a lot more fun and recommend it

>>4803001
reminds of coco

[picnkn No.4803026]

i dont have words.


fucking naysayers are the reason this world is doomed. i knew it would fucking work, just like everything i try to do.

i will season it like a kings cook my fellow /ck/'ers who believe.

[Anonymous No.4803035]

>>4803026
>tfw too lazy to lift the cast iron pan and just use copper.

[Anonymous No.4803036]

>>4803026
You probably just removed most of the rust just by cleaning all the shit off it from >>4803001

[Anonymous No.4803046]

>>4803026
>all that to remove a tiny amount of rust

I actually thought it was the larger rustier skillet you were doing that to. Now I'm LOLing even harder.

[Anonymous No.4803055]

>>4803036
That's because that was all lose rust? You know when he pulled it through that huge pile of rust foam?????

Hello????

[The Australian with koala powe(...) No.4803067]

>>4803026
Why wouldn't it work ? They do this with rusted guns and it works but it's time consuming

[Anonymous No.4803081]

>>4803046
>all that
>put a pan in a bucket

[Anonymous No.4803097]

>>4803081
In a bucket of god knows what

[picnkn No.4803112]

back side. my feel is feeling. i will now have to hand scrub larger pan and see if indeed i could have just scrubbed it. and i will scrub it hard fuckers.

but im gonna electrolyte the small one. its the same brand as the one in OP's pic, which i gratefully thank for letting me squat his thread, if he cared.


always pics tho, so you can see something other than ramenkeks.

[Anonymous No.4803113]

>>4803097
A bucket of water?

Lol

[picnkn No.4803154]

since this is more /diy/ ill just post it there so it can die and no one can here my tail.

'His goal was to make the blade pay. With his blood sweat and tears.'

[Anonymous No.4803200]

>>4803154
Very interesting. Thanks. And great results!

[Anonymous No.4803250]

>>4803112
good job anon and welcome to the family of irons

[Anonymous No.4803301]

>>4803250
Is cast iron really so good? Are there other really good pan-types?

[The Australian with koala powe(...) No.4803310]

>>4803301
Depends on what you are looking for but Walmart sells cast iron

http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?ic=16_0&Find=Find&search_query=cast+iron&Find=Find&search_constraint=0

[Anonymous No.4803314]

>>4803310
I was more interested in the merits of different types of cookware

[Anonymous No.4803316]

>>4803301
>Is cast iron really so good?

yes, it works better than other pans and it never needs sharpening. u should know that when u first use a cast iron it will be hard but u need to read shelly canter and massage the pores while rubbing salt on them so the patina forms. then when the patina is forming u brush on ur flax oil and after that u must never wash the pan that's why all these retards say it sticks because they washed it.

>Are there other really good pan-types?

no, modern pans are designed to be sold as expensive as possible but you can tell their not heavy like cast iron so their not any good. a pan is like a hammer, the more it strains ur muscles to swing it, the higher power level it has. furthermore to that most pans are now made in china and places like that where u cant see what's in them. it could be dangerous toxins or even radioactive metals! the best pans are made with trusty 18th century metallurgical techniques right here in USA where u can see them. GO USA!

[Anonymous No.4803322]

So exactly how "clean" should these be.

It seems that salt+paper towels will still pick leave the towels brown even after doing it multiple times.

I may have over-scrubbed it the first few times, and then I said fuck it and only really just cared about getting just the visible filth off

[The Australian with koala powe(...) No.4803324]

>>4803314
Little to no difference you do not need a cast iron but it's something to have

[Anonymous No.4803325]

>>4803316
I'm sold

[The Australian with koala powe(...) No.4803328]

>>4803316
Modern pans are good do not understand this cast iron licking it's some sort of meme now in /ck/

[Anonymous No.4803341]

>>4803328
Everyboard has something like this.

Somebody mentions how X is good and possibly even superior in certain aspects, other anons take advice and get X too, newfag X owners mindlessly praise it despite having little to no experience with the matter, more anons decide to give it a shot, more newfags, more hyping, etc.

I love Cast Iron pans but they can be impractical as fuck just for the sake of "MUH EVEN HEATING", and some people would just be better off with normal pans

[Anonymous No.4803349]

>>4803341

I use mine for meat and sometimes I bake in it, depending on what I am baking. Also pizza, which I guess faulls under the baking part.

>pic related, muh pizza

[The Australian with koala powe(...) No.4803350]

>>4803341
I feel bad for the person using iron skillet after being praised it was going to be the second coming. Anything will work just fine and Walmart has a selection of cheap cast iron skillets to choose from

[The Australian with koala powe(...) No.4803356]

>>4803349
That's nice but not everybody needs a cast iron but it's tired out old meme

[Anonymous No.4803360]

>>4803356

Sure they don't NEED it, but it's really good for cooking multiple things and is a perfectly reasonable thing to keep around the kitchen. It probably gets more hype than it deserves on /ck/ but it does a few things very well, like cornbread and steaks.

[The Australian with koala powe(...) No.4803371]

>>4803360
Not everybody is going to cook all those things and these pans require more up keeping than your standards pan. It's fine to keep but recommending it every single time is a bit much.

[Anonymous No.4803375]

>>4803349
I've been wanting to try making foccacia in my cast iron pan,

I'm kind of hesistant since I've never baked bread from scratch (I'm not very /ck/) and it seems like it'd be easier to fuck up compared to normal bread.

>>4803356
>>4803360
I personally consider cast iron pans (nowadays at least) as something to add to your kitchen, like a breadmaker or juicer. It's not an essential, and not really some that is used for everyday-usage.

[Anonymous No.4803379]

>>4803375
something*

[The Australian with koala powe(...) No.4803400]

>>4803375
Why would you think so much ? They are dirt cheap...

[Anonymous No.4803410]

>>4803400
For the price of a mediocre cast iron pan, you can get a mediocre 3 piece skillet set.

Nobody (not counting some manchild who bought his first pan via /ck/s persuasion) buys cast iron pans unless they already have proper cookware.

If this is 1880 then it'd be a great multi-purpose cooking device and would be a stable for the kitchen, but not nowadays when simple and cheap pots/pans are the norm, and are more convenient

[Anonymous No.4803414]

>>4803410
staple*

God I suck at typing

[Anonymous No.4803418]

>>4803400
Like your mum.

[The Australian with koala powe(...) No.4803432]

>>4803410
Just do not know why they think so much about prices when they are so cheap in price it's like they are making the biggest purchase in their lives

[Anonymous No.4803436]

>>4803432
House? Car?

[Anonymous No.4803438]

>>4803432
Because people don't like throwing money away.

I'm not gonna fucking spend $20 on something unless I think I'll have a use for it and enjoy it

[Anonymous No.4803445]

How much is a good normal pan?

[Anonymous No.4803454]

Going to have to agree with everyone on most points. Personally, I think once cast-iron is properly seasoned and kept that way (yes, it requires maintenance), it's easier to clean than any other pan I own. It's that caveat that gets most people, "if properly seasoned"... some people just don't know how to take care of cast-iron. Sadly it's a combination of their own fault for not trying, laziness and misinformation. People who never have good luck with cast-iron are either retarded, bad cooks to begin with, using cast-iron for an application that it's not suited for, or they were just plain taught wrong.

Now I'll just leave you with knowing that I occasionally have to metal utensils on my skillets because I just don't have the equivalent in wood (I use wood when I have it), but I've never had a problem with scratching. I mean seriously, If you're pushing a sharp metal object into ANY skillet, ,hard enough to scratch it, then please go outside and shoot yourself in the face because you're obviously doing something else wrong in the first place to put yourself in a position where your food is sticking to that point!

[Anonymous No.4803468]

>>4803371
>require more up keeping than your standards pan

This is true, but barely so. You pretty much just have the initial time investment of seasoning it and then you can just boil water in it to clean it.

[Anonymous No.4803917]

>>4803055
The rust foam is actually CREATED by the electrolysis. The original rust was not enough to make that much of a mess. The same thing happens with non-rusty iron items I work with in electrolysis.

[picnkn No.4803959]

cast iron is a novelty. just like a straight razor. cool and all but not many people will even try them. and its better that way. its bad for the bottom line.

fuck scrubbin a pan when i can electrify that fucker though.

[Anonymous No.4803987]

So related question. I got a wok a few months back for stir-fry. Went to use it recently and it was rusted up a bit. How do i get rid of the rust to make it safe to cook with again?

[Anonymous No.4803999]

>>4803959

I agree with this. Growing up my mom used cast iron. When I moved out I got aluminum cookware because fuck the special care cast iron requires.

[The Australian with koala powe(...) No.4804035]

>>4803438
It's fucking 10USD plus taxes its not hard

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Lodge-8-Cast-Iron-Skillet/5969627

[Anonymous No.4804050]

>>4803454
>an application it's not suited for

no such thing. learn to cook.

[Anonymous No.4804054]

>>4803987
>a little rust is unsafe

If you're really worried about it, get yourself some Bar Keeper's Friend. The oxalic acid that it contains eats surface rust for breakfast and I personally swear by it.

[Anonymous No.4804068]

>>4804050
Good point.
redacted

[Anonymous No.4804157]

>>4803959
That super rusty one is the only one I would use electrolysis on. That one is pretty bad. The largest is a 5-8 minute scrub job at most.

[Anonymous No.4804158]

>>4803999
>aluminum cookware

Enjoy your metal disorders.

[Anonymous No.4804171]

>>4804158
*mental disorders

Anyway, that's exactly what I was thinking too