I had it perfect until a couple of years ago when my brother did the dishes and didn't realize you don't use a brillo pad on a seasoned CI pan. lol. i didn't have the heart to tell him how bad he messed it up when i pulled the rusted up thing out of the dish rack. took a couple re-seasoning processes and quite a few breakfasts but i can finally get the eggs to slide around and not stick. i'll be washing it from now on.

did my mini meat loafs for dinner last night at camp along with my homemade perogies. nice easy recipe

1 lb cheap burger split into 3 even pieces and formed into small loaf shapes with s&p and garlic powder mixed in
fry in bacon grease until both sides have a nice crust
pull the loafs and make a roux with a couple teaspoons of flour and grease and a little butter
mix a couple teaspoons of Tones beef base in 2 cups of boiled water and add to roux
chunk up some mushrooms and throw them in along with the loafs and simmer covered on low for a while

god knows whats in that beef base because it looks like gear grease but it makes a nice gravy

i ate two of them things and a half dozen perogies with mushroom gravy and a half dozen homebrewed stouts and was out like a light by 6.

got another loaf and gravy and a half dozen perogies for tonights dinner. just need to wait until a little later to hit the stout. lol.

We cook on iron almost exclusively. My wife and I are the only ones allowed to clean them up, I watched my mother in law do it once and she almost gave me a heart attack. But, one of the best qualities of cast iron is ruggedness, so it takes a lot to wreck a skillet. Like the time my wife was drying one on the stove and walked outside for half an hour with the stove still on. It cooked off all of the seasoning and warped it all to hell. She refused to let me get rid of it, and in fairness to her, it still works fine.

Whenever we use the oven to bake something, I try to remember to put in 2-3 cast iron skillets (or a dutch oven if there is room, depending what is being baked) to add another layer of seasoning. I just hate to waste the opportunity to season cast iron iron even more when the oven is fired up. I kick myself when I don't do it (season cast iron), as I just lost a chance to "add to the smooth black surface."

You have kids fishing today?
Daughters boyfriend took his little brother, the youngster caught a 22 inches.
That boy(boyfriend) is a heck of a fisherman. He showed me bunches of big
trout he has caught over the last year. I honestly wouldn't have believed one
could catch that many 20"+ trout around here.


Today wasn't nice weather here, or up toward Altoona.
Not sure what to call the precipitation.
Little round balls, bigger than sleet, pea sized. But almost soft as snow.
Weird stuff.

Hope it was a bit nicer in the hollow by the river.

Are you just sliding the pan in the oven or adding some 'seasoning' for when it's in the oven?

When I DO remember to take advantage of an "in use" hot oven, I certainly lightly wipe the item with some sort of oil, usually either olive, vegetable oil.

dup post. please delete

You can use the edit function to delete a post.

no fishing this trip. too windy and the little hollow down there doesn't see sunshine until about 4 pm this time of year. it was cold as heck down there. i hunkered by the woodstove and ate, drank and slept all weekend. pretty much what i had planned for. next trip in april should do some fishing. might hit yellow creek or a little brookie spot i know down by chaneysville if i feel like trout fishing.

Anyone have any experience with the Lodge carbon steel pans? I love my cast iron pans, but looking at one of these 18" pans for my fathers day present for making paella.

Lodge 18" Carbon Steel Pan

No experience with lodge carbon steel, but the one I do have is my favorite. Not a paella pan, but works great for searing of most things.

Carbon steel is lighter, heats faster, cools faster.

My carbon steel pan is heavier than my larger lodge cast iron. Not sure about heating/cooling faster.