Cast Iron Skillet help

[sam_gordon]

DD got me a cast iron skillet for my birthday. Before I used it, I washed it, rubbed it all over with canola oil, baked it for 30 minutes @ 400 (or was it 450?), rubbed it with canola oil, baked it for 30 minutes, then did that a 3rd time.

Cooked some eggs the next morning and they stuck to the pan. Grr.

So, clean the stuck eggs off, rub it all over with canola oil, bake it for an hour and let it cool.

Tried eggs the next morning and they stuck to the pan. Double Grrr.

So what am I doing wrong?

If it makes a difference, she got the skillet from Amazon, I don't know the brand. I want to use it because DD got it for me (she had seen me eyeing them on a recent shopping trip). But if the food keeps sticking, I'm not sure it's worth it.

DW says use non-stick spray, but I know you're not supposed to do that.
Ideas?

 

[PalmettoPath]

Are you adding fat/butter to the pan before adding the eggs? The pan should be up to full heat (not smoking hot, medium hot) and then you need to add the fat. If you're cracking the eggs right onto the cast with no butter or oil, there's a good chance they will stick. (I usually cook the bacon first to get that bacon fat in the pan and then do the eggs, but some don't want that crossover taste so just add butter or oil to the properly heated pan and the eggs should not stick).

 

[_19disnA]

Used to have a couple of cast iron skillets and found them a pain to use. Even if you 'season' them food would sometimes still stick. Some suggest you NOT wash the pan but simply wipe it out after each use which seems gross to me. I always want to wash pans used to cook my food for sanity reasons............LOL. They tend to rust if you wash them and then have to do the whole re-season routine again. Found them annoying to use and tossed them in the trash. I don't think there is anything wrong will adding butter, oil or some non-stick spray to the pan and heating it up to cooking temperature so food is less likely to stick.

If you have a glass cooktop, you also need to be VERY careful with cast iron skillets since they can easily scratch the cook surface. Tend to be VERY heavy as well.

 

[OneOftheB's]

My cast iron (which I use frequently) has instructions on how to season: clean, wipe with cooking oil, place in 300 degree oven for 1 hour, wipe excess oil off then use.

I do have things stick occasionally, mostly when I don't have enough butter/oil/etc in the pan to thinly cover the cooking surface. If things stick, use course salt to scrub then re-season the cast iron. If will take a few times cooking & seasoning it to get a really good surface on it and it will never be as good as a non stick pan for nothing sticking to the surface but they can and do work very well!

ETA: I always wipe with cooking oil after using my pan and place it on the hot or warm stove top so that any moisture evaporates before storing it.

 

[Her Dotness]

Cast iron skillets aren't non-stick like an actual non-stick skillet and never will be. I don't care what all the hype claims. Put oil or other cooking fat in just as you'd do with a plain stainless steel skillet.

And don't use but a bare film of oil to season it if you bother with doing that at all. Dry thoroughly after washing or crank up a burner and dry it on that. Put in a bit of oil and use a paper towel to wipe it all over, then a dry paper towel to remove any excess. It'll seep into the pores and season all you need just when cooking with it. Needing to bake it is bunkum.

They're fabulous for searing steaks, but I never cook eggs in mine. Very low heat in a real non-stick skillet works vastly better.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

It took about 4 years of use for our cast iron to get that 'slickness' that you are looking for. We still have to use butter in them for eggs, simply because cat iron aren't non-stick.
I use very hot water, scrub it out with a sponge, and a bit of salt. Do not air dry, don't use dishsoap.

 

[Her Dotness]

If it's really greasy, dishsoap is fine.

With all the do-this-but-Oh! NO-never-ever-do-8-different-things, you'd think you need training and a license to use a cast iron skillet. It's just a skillet! People used to use them over campfires, scrub them with sand and rinse in a creek or river. Some still do that.

You'll do fine treating it like a plain skillet. If it ever looks a bit rusty, scour that off with steel wool, rinse and dry, doing the thin film of oil bit.

 

[wabbott]

I cook breakfast every Saturday morning for our Old Men's Coffee Group, (anywhere from 6 to 12 folks) and have been for the past 6 or 7 years. I use a Lodge cast iron griddle that can handle three sets of eggs at one time. There's hardly any cooking surface that eggs won't stick to, no matter what the TV commercials say. Once you get the skillet up to temp (not quite smoking), use cooking spray - a 1 to 2 second blast. Crack eggs onto the surface, or if scrambled, I like to whip them with a teaspoon of milk mixed in. After a minute or so, lift up the edge to make sure it's not sticking. Spend some money on a decent sized spatula that can handle two eggs at once. Over easy is about 10 seconds after flipping, over medium is about 45 seconds.

As for cleanup, I use a plastic scraper, and then a sponge with hot water. No detergent. Dry it in the oven, and then wipe the surface with oil and a paper towel, then let it cool.

 

[tasha99]

I would start by making bacon and other very fatty items in the pan for the first couple months, then as the seasoning builds up, eggs. You need to add butter or oil for the eggs though. My cast iron pan is practically non-stick, but it wasn't that way from the store and it's only nonstick-like if I put oil in it.

You can use soap on cast iron. I generally wash cast iron like any other pan (immediately--don't let it sit around wet). Then dry and put a light coating of oil into the pan to help prevent rusting, though the oil isn't strictly necessary. The whole "never wash with soap or detergent" myth comes from a time when soap had lye in it which could strip the seasoning. The seasoning is polymerized oil, so it isn't easy to wash off, but lye was strong enough to strip it.

 

[nw6675]

I use a cast iron skillet every day with most mornings cooking eggs including omelets. I always use cooking spray and mine do not stick. But I have the super seasoned smooth bottom.

I never ever use dish soap. I add water to it when done cooking and still hot on stove. It loosens anything left and wipes clean.

Best one I have ever purchased:
https://smithey.com/products/no-10-cast-iron-skillet

 

[RamblingMad]

Dish soap removes the seasoning. You have to get your head around alternative ways of cleaning cast iron. This is really hard.

 

[mefordis]

You have to use plenty of oil in cooking anything in a cast iron skillet. It's not like a non stick pan. Also, I wash the cast iron pan, dry it completely then spray it with coconut oil spray. Mine sits on my stove, covered, because I use it every day. The more you use it the less things stick and I guess the coconut oil spray I keep on it really helps.

 

[FlightlessDuck]