New cast iron griddle

Phoebe said:

I just bought a new cast iron griddle, and looked around for seasoning

snipped
Carbon is the "non stick" coating. It takes awhile to build up. The
only best way to season cast iron is use,use,use it. There are no real
short cuts and you have to do it more than once. Just practice.

I have a cast iron pan that I use almost everyday to make fritatta.
When I first got it a friend coated it in Crisco and stuck it a
bonfire. I went from gray to charred black with lots of stuff on it
that I would never want to eat. I cleaned it up with cloths that I
never wanted to use again and oiled it and put it in the oven. Now
years later it is pretty much non-stick. As soon as my fritatta is
done cooking I slide it out of the pan and rinse with water. The pan
is still so hot that anything stuck on is deglazed. Then I dry the pan
in the still hot oven, and finally brush it with olive oil. I usually
leave the pan in the oven so it is hot and ready for the next time I
want to cook with it. Sometimes when I am not looking someone else
will use the pan and scrub it out with soap. Then when I go to cook my
eggs they stick. I have to scrub them off and wind up losing the
seasoning. It takes a weak of cooking and oiling to get it back to the
point where my eggs will slide out again.

Phoebe said:

there were these parts with
charred, caked on blackness which I could fairly easily scrape off with a
fingernail, but could NOT touch with a cloth. How am I supposed to get rid

of that without soap or scouring, or am I supposed to just leave it there?

The baked on/in fat is what makes the non-stick surface. To remove bits of
food that have stuck, I use a bit of kosher salt; just scrub it around with
a little of the cooking fat or a little water using a wadded up paper towel.
I also use a nylon "nail brush" sometimes when there isn't much residue.
Then, rinse with hot water, drain excess water and set the pan over heat to
dry (don't towel dry).

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Phoebe said:

I just bought a new cast iron griddle, and looked around for seasoning
instructions. I found so many different methods online, some of which
contradicted each other. What I ended up doing was cleaning the wax off with
hot water, soap, and a steel wool pad, rinsing and drying thoroughly, then
melting some vegetable shortening in the microwave, applying it all over the
griddle, and putting it upside down in the oven at 350 degrees (preheated)
for an hour, with a cookie sheet underneath to catch the drips. It came out
very dark brown, almost black

Then I fried an entire package of bacon in it, (pouring out the bacon grease
between three batches) and after that a couple of eggs. The eggs turned out
to be a mistake... I didn't really like the flavour the bacon put into it as
much as I thought I might. Oh well

Anyway, I let it cool off a bit, and tried to clean it off with just water
because you're not supposed to use soap, or abrasive stuff, and while most
of the cooking mess came off fairly easily, there were these parts with
charred, caked on blackness which I could fairly easily scrape off with a
fingernail, but could NOT touch with a cloth. How am I supposed to get rid
of that without soap or scouring, or am I supposed to just leave it there?
Maybe it's supposed to be part of the nonstick surface that forms. I don't
know...
Thanks,
Phoebe

Do not let it cool off, run it immediately under hot water and use a wok
brush to knock any stray bits of food off. Works like a charm. Then
re-heat and put a light coat of oil on, wiping off any excess. The hard
stuff that you had to scrape? Leave it be. It's the foundation of what
will become your non-stick coating.

jim

Phoebe said:

I just bought a new cast iron griddle, and looked around for seasoning
instructions. I found so many different methods online, some of which
contradicted each other. What I ended up doing was cleaning the wax off
with
hot water, soap, and a steel wool pad, rinsing and drying thoroughly, then

melting some vegetable shortening in the microwave, applying it all over
the
griddle, and putting it upside down in the oven at 350 degrees (preheated)

for an hour, with a cookie sheet underneath to catch the drips. It came
out
very dark brown, almost black

Then I fried an entire package of bacon in it, (pouring out the bacon
grease
between three batches) and after that a couple of eggs. The eggs turned
out
to be a mistake... I didn't really like the flavour the bacon put into it
as
much as I thought I might. Oh well

Anyway, I let it cool off a bit, and tried to clean it off with just water

because you're not supposed to use soap, or abrasive stuff, and while most

of the cooking mess came off fairly easily, there were these parts with
charred, caked on blackness which I could fairly easily scrape off with a
fingernail, but could NOT touch with a cloth. How am I supposed to get rid

of that without soap or scouring, or am I supposed to just leave it there?

Maybe it's supposed to be part of the nonstick surface that forms. I don't

know...
Thanks,
Phoebe

You did good Phoebe. The bacon taste in your eggs is a personal thing.
For getting that evil residue off, stop by your friendly hardware store and
buy a 1" putty knife. Try to find one that has a sharp edge. Elsewise
sharpen it yourself on one side only. Do not bevel it to a chisel tip. The
bevelled side is useful for general scraping chores. The non-bevelled
side is useful for those really aggressive little bassers that you must
attack very carefully in order to avoid damaging the surface. I can't
imagine my kitchen without my trusty putty knife. Mine must be 30
years old at least and still going strong. It gets used several times a
week.
--
The Brick said that (Don't bother to agree with me, I have already changed
my mind.)

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