fight fight fight!
I dunno, I’m not going to endorse either camp except to side with Kenji because that is what I was doing anyway. I just won’t pretend that I’m sure it’s optimal.
Kenji is the Ike Haxton of cooking. We don’t know if he’s right or wrong, but we just figured out it’s easier to live our lives assuming he’s right.
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I am definitely an outlier in the cast iron pan debates because I pay very little attention to seasoning the pan and it works just fine. I even break the “rules” from time to time by cooking a vaguely acidic sauce or using a small amount of soap to clean it. I honestly think that people fuss too much to make their cast iron pan behave like a non stick pan. I have non stick pans for that purpose.
I’m mostly the same, low maintenance. Two things I do is clean them while still hot and wipe down with lard instead of oil when needed.
I’ve had mine like that for like 3-4 years and no flaking. My friend also did that and he loves it. I dunno. It’s blasphemy possibly but I’d say he did the coats too thick if that happened.
A few people have reported flaking. It didn’t happen to me with any of the many pans I seasoned, and it didn’t happen to many others as reported here. My best guess is that it happens when people use flaxseed oil that has other ingredients in it to slow rancidity. This defeats the whole purpose of using flaxseed oil, and I discovered from the posts here that many oils sold as flaxseed oil actually contain other ingredients. Read the label. Is it 100% flaxseed oil, or are there other ingredients as well?? It should be 100% flaxseed oil. If it doesn’t require refrigeration, it definitely contains other ingredients.
Other possible reasons for the seasoning to come off are putting the oil on too thickly (which will cause any seasoning to come off, regardless of the oil), not inverting the pan (which causes pooling and too thick a coating, with any oil), or cooking with acidic ingredients such as lemon, tomato, vinegar (which also will cause any seasoning to come off, regardless of the oil).
The other point I’ll mention here, though you don’t mention it, is that some people expect a glassy surface in a newly seasoned pan. It doesn’t work that way. This is a “starter” seasoning. The pan gets more non-stick as you use it. This is true no matter what oil you use.
Looks like a well seasoned pan to me. I put mine away like that.
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Just showing that I haven’t had flaking issues. That’s the smaller of my pans and I barely use it. It’s been getting use for the Serious Eats tortilla pizzas though.
Since they are Lodge, I’d like to sand down the textured surface so it’s completely smooth before I do it again.
I wouldn’t. 2 reasons:
1 It’ll smooth out in a few years anyway.
2 You might never really get the grit out of the pan. Cast iron is very porous. You’ll wipe it out, then wash it out with soap and scrub the hell out of it, and do literally anything and it’ll still be there in tiny amounts. Maybe not enough to bother you I guess though, not sure, just not worth messing with for me.
You people made me feel shame for my weaksauce sauce game so I steamed a trout with some lime and lemon and cilantro and basil and taught myself a beurre rouge.
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I am considering buying a smoker, but I am concerned about “over buying” and getting something too expensive or that requires too much skill.
I already have a standard propane BBQ. Should I just get a smoker box to put in the BBQ and see what kind of results I get. Has anyone tried that?
If you want to get into smoking but not spending a ton of money, look at a Green Mountain Grill.
I have one and it turns out really good food. But it’s a pellet smoker, and you’ll need a smoke tube to get a lot of smoke flavor out of it. But it’s pretty much set it and forget it.
Thanks I’ll look into it.
Traeger’s are mindlessly easy to use and produce great BBQ.
They also have an app that’s full of good recipes, in my experience.
I’ve used several different smokers for work and Traeger is my favorite. I think you can get a smaller-sized one for $400, maybe less.
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Thanks. I can get a smaller sized smoker, it’s just the two of us (plus the dog who will inevitably get some BBQ by using her puppy eyes on me).
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Skip the Traeger. I think their quality has declined. Get the mid-sized Green Mountain Grill. You’ll be thankful if you do a full size brisket. And their customer support is great. I’ve called them for a couple of questions and they rang me back within an hour on a Saturday.
Based on your posting/photo history in this thread, I’m taking your advice on smokers all day (=
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I have a Traeger Ironwood 650. It’s the only smoker I’ve owned so I don’t have any experience with others but I love it. You don’t need to babysit it at all, I do alot of my smoking over night while I sleep. The AmazingRibs guy has a lot of pellet smoker reviews, I believe he likes MAK Grills the best but they’re like $2k
Made a pretty tasty steak tonight. Amazing crust with 120F-125F interior is something I hardly ever achieve, but tonight it worked.
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Looks excellent 
Pan cooked?
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