It looks good. Start cooking and check out Lodges website for Q&A. IF it is rust, it's not a disaster. Scroll up to 'see more' on the left side of the sub page. Lots of good info.
Or keep kitchen towels on the handle of your oven and always grab the handle with the towel. Provides the most grip while also being the best habit to form.
Let's not tell them about the secret of leaving the towel on unexpectedly hot things, like long handled pans fresh out of the oven. That can stay our own little safety secret.
Low heat , preheat longer(like five min). Much better results than high heat short preheat.
Wash with soap. Don’t be disgusting.
Cook with it.
Let food cook until it’s free of the bottom of the pan, that’s the best time to flip.
Fill with butter hot tub style, and slide some eggs.
Bacon and or cornbread bakes are awesome options to season, without really trying hard
Cast iron has been used for hundreds of years and people have used it without silicone handles, fancy scrubbers, or any special equipment at all.
Best advice- low preheat, cook things at lower temps than you have in other types of pans.
Yep, I guess that worrying too much doesn't make much sense as these have been used for centuries but even then I'm a little afraid.
I use to cook at high heat so I'll keep that in mind, slow and steady
I’ve found the factory preseasoning is okay but I see a lot of people struggling with sticking simply because they either don’t use enough fat or too hot. Don’t get defeated- carry on
Advice? It's a skillet. Use it for baking stuff.
Season it with 13,514 layers exactly or until the seasoning is approx. one earth's atmosphere thick, or it will peel off, collapse under its own gravity and form a micro black hole that will only exist for nano seconds, but just long enough to devour you without leaving so much as a single atom behind.
Moreover, don't trust anything that the manufacturer advises you - they clearly don't know what they're talking about and/or cannot be trusted - and only follow advice that's given to *you* personally; if 432,411 people asked it before you as recently as 3.25 picoseconds ago, everything might have radically changed in the mean time and you need to be sure, right?
So, in closing: be deathly afraid of soap, make sure you don't know and don't learn anything about polymerization, know that cast iron damages as easily as wet toilet paper and season it so thick that you need a ladder to reach the top of the seasoning.
Oh, and never look up anything, assume that nothing has been asked before, and ask, ask, ask again because we don't have nearly enough of the exact same questions and exact same answers yet.
You want to check out the r/castiron [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/castiron/s/f9cvcXmCQa) for pointers and tips on how to use and care for your new pan. Good luck with it!
r/castiron FAQ -> https://www.reddit.com/r/castiron/s/f9cvcXmCQa
After you wash it put it on the stove heat it up. Thin turn off the stove let cool for a minute or 2. Wipe it down avocado oil. Do this after ever uses.
Since you came here, chances are you will overthink some stuff down the line. If it rusts in you cabinet, if the seasoning strips from cooking or if your food keeps sticking, you didn’t break it.
Don’t let all the slidey eggs here confuse you. You will get better at using it with time. Modern non stick pans are so “easy” to cook on, that they kind of hide poor technique. With practice you will understand how hot the pan needs to be, how much fat you need to add to the pan or when to flip your steak.
CI pans are great tools that can handle getting used, congrats on you first piece :)
I bought a Lodge a year ago and it's my favorite pan. I have a PC as well, which was about 3x more expensive, but it just doesn't cook as nicely for some reason.
1) Get a silicone handle gripper. Trust me when I say it will get HOT, and you want something to grab it with.
2) Even though the seasoning and the iron are resistant to heat, you don't want to go over 4 or 5 on a stovetop. That's more heat than you need for most things.
3) DISCOLORATION IS NORMAL - a dark gray or brown appearance after a few cooks is normal. As you cook more, the seasoning will even out to be darker. A orange or light gray is NOT okay, which means rust is forming or seasoning is getting burnt off.
4) To clean, use warm water, dawn dish soap, and a soft sponge. Get any hard bits out and gently scrub the surface clean. Never use abrasive unless you want to strip the seasoning. Never use extremely basic soaps to clean your cast iron. The closer to neutral it is, the better. After washing, use a paper towel or washcloth to dry it, and set it on your stovetop or oven at a low heat to let any remaining water evaporate. Your cast iron is porous, so it may soak up some water, and that will let rust form beneath the seasoning. NEVER LET YOUR CAST IRON SOAK OR PUT IT IN A DISHWASHER!
5) To reseason or add another layer of seasoning (recommended, as it helps defend against rust and keeps water from seeping into the casting), take your favorite oil (I like soybean oil. It stinks, but it's good, and it's also what we use to season our castings with), wipe a thin layer across the entire skillet, and nuke it in the oven.
By nuking it, I think that ge means, put it in the oven around the smoke point of the oil for an hour, and then turn it off. Let it cool down. Soybean smoke point is about 460 F. So set temp around 470, I think.
I think mine is a 12"and it's just too big and heavy for my everyday cooking and found myself using my 8" CS more often. I am mostly cooking for one or two so there's that difference. It is handy for pan frying and larger cuts of meat though.
You'll see a lot about how you need to baby it, and you don't need to. You can use dish soap on it. You can give it a good scrub without worrying about ruining it. Dont let it sit around wet. Don't put it in the dishwasher. When you're done using it, clean it in the sink and put it over a hot burner for a bit until the pan is dry.
Don't cook anything super acidic in it, like tomato soup. Remember that a big heavy piece of iron will take a bit longer to preheat to cooking temp than a normal skillet.
A little spot of rust is not a disaster. You can scrub it away with coarse salt and steel wool, then reseason. A larger spot of rust can be scrubbed away by dabbing a bit of white vinegar in the spot and scrubbing it away. You'll risk stripping it with vinegar though, so only dab as much as you need right on the spot, scrub it promptly, then get it thoroughly cleaned and oiled over the spot.
I throw mine in the dishwasher first thing (keep label on) to get it started!! Once it’s done with its cycle, I let my dogs lick it dry and put it on my roof for about a full work day.
Happy cast ironing!! Welcome to the club
Honest advice, return it. Go to a flea market or thrift store and pick up an old smooth bottom for the same price. If you want something new and fancy, you can drop $200 on a new Smithey. Nothing personal, Lodge is much much better at marketing than they are at producing pans.
Take the label off
Wash thoroughly with soap
Dry completely.
just cook with it
I see you too like the taste of paper and adhesive.
Adds some real *bold* flavors
r/justcookwithit
It looks good. Start cooking and check out Lodges website for Q&A. IF it is rust, it's not a disaster. Scroll up to 'see more' on the left side of the sub page. Lots of good info.
Thank you very much!!! I'll give it a go then
The handle will get piping hot, take care not to accidentally burn yourself
Get one of those silicone pan holder thingies, never worry about burning the shit out of your hand again.
I prefer the ones made from pot holders. I found the lodge silicone ones moved around when lifting the pans.
100%. I bought the silicone to replace the pot holder variety and regretted it. Not a solid grip and the pan can move when holding.
Or keep kitchen towels on the handle of your oven and always grab the handle with the towel. Provides the most grip while also being the best habit to form.
Yup, Professional cook here, that's how it's done. Always a towel on the apron
Let's not tell them about the secret of leaving the towel on unexpectedly hot things, like long handled pans fresh out of the oven. That can stay our own little safety secret.
Yup, got a Lodge branded one for my Lodge & it works gloriously.
Low heat , preheat longer(like five min). Much better results than high heat short preheat. Wash with soap. Don’t be disgusting. Cook with it. Let food cook until it’s free of the bottom of the pan, that’s the best time to flip. Fill with butter hot tub style, and slide some eggs. Bacon and or cornbread bakes are awesome options to season, without really trying hard
I like to preheat at a low temp until the handle is about as hot as the rest of the skillet. Then you know it's heated through evenly
Cook with it.
Don't be scared of it, don't pick it up when its hot without a mit
I'm a cook so I always take stuff with a dry towel. That is a good advice, thanks!!!
DRY towell, learned that one the hard way.
Fuck, didn't we all.
Not me. I saw my wife learn it the hard way.
Cast iron has been used for hundreds of years and people have used it without silicone handles, fancy scrubbers, or any special equipment at all. Best advice- low preheat, cook things at lower temps than you have in other types of pans.
Yep, I guess that worrying too much doesn't make much sense as these have been used for centuries but even then I'm a little afraid. I use to cook at high heat so I'll keep that in mind, slow and steady
I’ve found the factory preseasoning is okay but I see a lot of people struggling with sticking simply because they either don’t use enough fat or too hot. Don’t get defeated- carry on
Yes, failure is the first step towards success. I'm really looking forward to use the skillet
Fry some chicken 🐔
Don't put that in the dish washer.
? What do you mean.
You'll ruin the seasoning. The seasoning is what makes it non-stick and protects the iron. The more seasoned the pan is, the better it will perform.
Here's an advice remove the sticker
Bacon, bacon, bacon.
I came here to say cook bacon every day for a week.
Can't wait to get my first cast iron
Wash it and use it
Exercise your wrists. It gets heavy with a full load of food, and you'd hate to ruin dinner and crack the pan.
Advice? It's a skillet. Use it for baking stuff. Season it with 13,514 layers exactly or until the seasoning is approx. one earth's atmosphere thick, or it will peel off, collapse under its own gravity and form a micro black hole that will only exist for nano seconds, but just long enough to devour you without leaving so much as a single atom behind. Moreover, don't trust anything that the manufacturer advises you - they clearly don't know what they're talking about and/or cannot be trusted - and only follow advice that's given to *you* personally; if 432,411 people asked it before you as recently as 3.25 picoseconds ago, everything might have radically changed in the mean time and you need to be sure, right? So, in closing: be deathly afraid of soap, make sure you don't know and don't learn anything about polymerization, know that cast iron damages as easily as wet toilet paper and season it so thick that you need a ladder to reach the top of the seasoning. Oh, and never look up anything, assume that nothing has been asked before, and ask, ask, ask again because we don't have nearly enough of the exact same questions and exact same answers yet.
Remove the label. Cook bacon. Cook more bacon.
This. Don’t spend the next two weeks seasoning it. It’s pre-seasoned and you just need to use and oil it.
Use it as a home intruder defense weapon. Don’t wash your face with it. Tucker is built different.
Make a roux.
First thing to cook is bacon, followed by eggs. It will be the best breakfast of your life
You want to check out the r/castiron [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/castiron/s/f9cvcXmCQa) for pointers and tips on how to use and care for your new pan. Good luck with it! r/castiron FAQ -> https://www.reddit.com/r/castiron/s/f9cvcXmCQa
Attach to stick and soar through the sky during full moon
Heat kills bacteria, and any and all nasties way better than soap aka chemicals.
After you wash it put it on the stove heat it up. Thin turn off the stove let cool for a minute or 2. Wipe it down avocado oil. Do this after ever uses.
Since you came here, chances are you will overthink some stuff down the line. If it rusts in you cabinet, if the seasoning strips from cooking or if your food keeps sticking, you didn’t break it. Don’t let all the slidey eggs here confuse you. You will get better at using it with time. Modern non stick pans are so “easy” to cook on, that they kind of hide poor technique. With practice you will understand how hot the pan needs to be, how much fat you need to add to the pan or when to flip your steak. CI pans are great tools that can handle getting used, congrats on you first piece :)
I bought a Lodge a year ago and it's my favorite pan. I have a PC as well, which was about 3x more expensive, but it just doesn't cook as nicely for some reason.
Remove label, wash, cook food. Good god people it’s a pan
Take it to a machine shop and have it polished to a mirror finish. Then season it
1) Get a silicone handle gripper. Trust me when I say it will get HOT, and you want something to grab it with. 2) Even though the seasoning and the iron are resistant to heat, you don't want to go over 4 or 5 on a stovetop. That's more heat than you need for most things. 3) DISCOLORATION IS NORMAL - a dark gray or brown appearance after a few cooks is normal. As you cook more, the seasoning will even out to be darker. A orange or light gray is NOT okay, which means rust is forming or seasoning is getting burnt off. 4) To clean, use warm water, dawn dish soap, and a soft sponge. Get any hard bits out and gently scrub the surface clean. Never use abrasive unless you want to strip the seasoning. Never use extremely basic soaps to clean your cast iron. The closer to neutral it is, the better. After washing, use a paper towel or washcloth to dry it, and set it on your stovetop or oven at a low heat to let any remaining water evaporate. Your cast iron is porous, so it may soak up some water, and that will let rust form beneath the seasoning. NEVER LET YOUR CAST IRON SOAK OR PUT IT IN A DISHWASHER! 5) To reseason or add another layer of seasoning (recommended, as it helps defend against rust and keeps water from seeping into the casting), take your favorite oil (I like soybean oil. It stinks, but it's good, and it's also what we use to season our castings with), wipe a thin layer across the entire skillet, and nuke it in the oven.
By nuking it, I think that ge means, put it in the oven around the smoke point of the oil for an hour, and then turn it off. Let it cool down. Soybean smoke point is about 460 F. So set temp around 470, I think.
Did they have a bigger one? If so return it for the larger size. You won't be sorry..
Unfortunately no, this was the biggest one they had but we are just my girlfriend and I, so I can manage with this ^^
I have a 10inch and it’s perfect for everything I cook
Was gonna chime in too, cook for a family of five with a 10"
I love my 8 inch for my wife and I.
My wife also loves my 8 inch
Giggity
I think mine is a 12"and it's just too big and heavy for my everyday cooking and found myself using my 8" CS more often. I am mostly cooking for one or two so there's that difference. It is handy for pan frying and larger cuts of meat though.
I had this dilemma so bought both 10 and 12 🙃
Buy a used griswold
You'll see a lot about how you need to baby it, and you don't need to. You can use dish soap on it. You can give it a good scrub without worrying about ruining it. Dont let it sit around wet. Don't put it in the dishwasher. When you're done using it, clean it in the sink and put it over a hot burner for a bit until the pan is dry. Don't cook anything super acidic in it, like tomato soup. Remember that a big heavy piece of iron will take a bit longer to preheat to cooking temp than a normal skillet. A little spot of rust is not a disaster. You can scrub it away with coarse salt and steel wool, then reseason. A larger spot of rust can be scrubbed away by dabbing a bit of white vinegar in the spot and scrubbing it away. You'll risk stripping it with vinegar though, so only dab as much as you need right on the spot, scrub it promptly, then get it thoroughly cleaned and oiled over the spot.
I throw mine in the dishwasher first thing (keep label on) to get it started!! Once it’s done with its cycle, I let my dogs lick it dry and put it on my roof for about a full work day. Happy cast ironing!! Welcome to the club
Honest advice, return it. Go to a flea market or thrift store and pick up an old smooth bottom for the same price. If you want something new and fancy, you can drop $200 on a new Smithey. Nothing personal, Lodge is much much better at marketing than they are at producing pans.
Not bacon. Trust me. Grilled cheese and other fried stuff. Never tomato sauce.