My frying pan is on it's last legs as I can see the Teflon coating is starting to peel off and that's DEFINITELY NOT a good thing to be ingesting.

I need something that's good quality that's not going to cost me an arm & a leg. I'd prefer to stay away from Teflon coated pans this time around as the last two I purchased have not lasted very long. I've seen the brand name Celphalon around - are they good? As far as the 'non-stick' factor goes, are they good?

I'm a typical bachelor and don't cook much so I don't need top of the line stuff. Suggestions welcomed.

The Calphelon stuff is good and long lasting. If you want a heavy skillet that is not as expensive, go with a heavy aluminum Silverstone coated skillet, which is the primary type used commercially wherever you eat out. If you want something inexpensive that will out last you and grandkids, then go with what I prefer, cast iron. I just made an omellete in a 10 inch cast iron skillet this morning.

Even the good stuff can get ruined. Two things that will extend the life of Teflon coating are:

Always use non-scratch utensils as in wood or plastic.

Hand wash in mild dishwashing detergent. Automatic dishwashing detergents are caustic and will eventually eat the Teflon.

Nightly Reader

http://www.lodgemfg.com/

Try this site for quality cast iron cookware. They have "pre-seasoned" items that really work great. Be sure to never use any soap on the cast iron. Just hot water and a stiff brush.

Be using their pre seasoned stuff for quite some time and am happy with their product.

good quality

>good quality

Ropera, how do they perform in terms of the non-stick factor? Just as the good as the teflon coated ones?

The fact that you never wash seasoned cast iron with soap means there is always grease and oils in the pores of the pan, this makes them inherently non stick. A good source of dietary iron too.

Shelly

The LodgeLogic pans mentioned above are really good, and the washing instructions (no soap) are right on target. BUT ... cast iron pans are not general purpose pans. One of my favorite dishes is codfish cooked together with tomato sauce and capers (a Neapolitan specialty), which I always make in a stainless steel skillet. The tomato sauce will destroy the "seasoning" of a cast iron pan, as will most sauces. The sauces will taste weird, too. One of the best stainless steel skillets I have ever seen or used is an 11" Sitram pan ($56), available from Bridge Kitchenware, http://www.bridgekitchenware.com , a fine NYC outfit. Order over the web. Wonderful selection of stuff. Calphalon is good enough, but Sitram is better.

*********
Desktop: Lenovo/Windows 10; Intel Core i5; 16Gb RAM; Firefox 51; Avira Free; Netgear 700 Router

I don't think the "non-stick" qualities of the Calphalon are anywhere near what you are thinking of. I've got a couple of them and they do stick.

Our main cookware now is the "T-Fal" coating and is available from many sources. So far, no problems with the coating and it truly is no stick. We're just careful with the utensils and try to use either plastic or wooden ones in the pans.

Sears usually has some sort of these sets on sale. Or you can get as individual pieces.

Last summer I read an article on T-Fal,the gamers were cutting the centers out of the large frying pans and using the slick surface as a mouse pad.
They claim they are slicker than snot

LilJoe

WHatever type you choose, make sure that it's heavy. By that I mean stay away from the thin stainless or aluminum stuff, because they are prone to hot spots and burning of the food.

Any stainless steel utensil will have hot spots unless it uses a copper, aluminum, or cast iron heat spreader. The most friendly Stainless sandwiches these materials, so that all external surfaces are easy to maintain stainless steel

Shelly

Right on target, Shelly. The Sitram pan I mentioned above HAS such a "spreader;" they're called disk (or disc) pans in the cooking trade. Other varieties include All Clad, Calphalon Tri-ply, Paderno, and Anolon. Some of these extend the disk, or the "sandwich construction" all the way up the sides of the pan. Good stuff, but expensive.

*********
Desktop: Lenovo/Windows 10; Intel Core i5; 16Gb RAM; Firefox 51; Avira Free; Netgear 700 Router

You've been eating Teflon? That explains so much

I go with cast iron too.
You can cook sauces in them with no bad effects. It might remove the seasoning, it might not. If it does you just reseason.
You have to cook/season them before jumping right in to cooking high acid foods.
I've had gumbo that didn't touch the seasoning. I've had hot wings that stripped it clean, and hot wings (same recipe) that didn't touch it.

If you couldn't cook sauces I wouldn't be able to cook. I have all cast iron sauce pan, 4 frying pans, 2 dutch ovens, teapot, chicken frying pan, 2 pizza pans, 2 meat loaf pans, 2 woks.
Then I have one stainless sauce pan that only gets used for canning and a stainless 5gal stock pot for boiling lobsters and canning. My steel wok has been retired (it works on the samem seasoning idea).

What you don't want to do is store the foods in cast iron.

--------------
History teaches us that history has taught us nothing.

How do you know if you have stripped the seasoning from a cast iron pan? Is there signs - other than food sticking?

I've been looking into getting a cast iron skillet. As far as my research goes, the older the better and a Griswold is considered a good quality. But these of course either can be found at e-bay/garage sales/ flea markets etc.

Btw, can you cook eggs in them? or should those be done in an aluminium pan.

Thanks

Seasoning is brown to black in color. The cast iron is grey.
Food sticking can be because you are using too high of heat or not enough oil.

Older isn't always better. During WWII times they were making them pretty thin. Thin causes hot spots, it works good with a wok but not a frying pan or Dutch oven.

Griswold and Wagner come at a premium, not necessarily for their cooking qualities but their collectability. If you find one for cooking, it's a good price and good quality (thick) I would grab it, but I wouldn't set out to buy Griswold or Wagner at any cost. You really have to know what you are doing to not get stuck when collecting cast iron.

Lodge is good because they are thick and even, so they don't have hot spots, they also heat the metal high enough when casting so they get complete fills of the mold. A new manufacture Lodge isn't usually collectable so they are cheap. (My teapot is new manufacture, but they don't make them any more and I've seen them going for quite a markup.)

I have a skillet from Wal*Mart before they started selling Lodge that's made in Mexico. It's not even but it is thick. One side of the pan heats more than the other, but the fact that it's so well seasoned makes it cook great.
It's more the seasoning they've had that makes older better.
The Dutch oven I got from my sister needed sanded out because she rusted it, but because it had the seasoning so deep into the pores it reseasoned quickly. It's a lot better than my bigger one. The difference is she used hers for cooking sticky buns, which seasons them well. I use my big one for stews and soups which doesn't do much for seasoning.

Breakfast is great in cast iron, it also is great for seasoning them. Now you got me hungry for bacon and eggs

--------------
History teaches us that history has taught us nothing.

A cast iron skillet needs reseasoning when the food starts to stick, gets discolored, or you get rusty spots. At that point, scrubbing it out with mild soap is the way to go followed by going through the seasoning method. A quick and dirty way that the old seasoning is stripped out of cast iron skillets in restaurants is to burn it out by flipping the skillet upside down over the stove top burner. I've done similar by setting the skillet right side up on a camp stove outside, and getting as hot as possible.

I like to do my fried eggs in a six inch cast iron skillet, flipping them by tossing the skillet. No spatula needed.

You can crack the cast iron by doing that "get it red hot" cleaning method. My friend broke one doing that in a camp fire (dropped it) I cracked one by cooling it too fast.

If you make homemade pizza.
Line the skillet with the pizza crust and start filling it up. When it's done it lifts right out.
This is also a good way to help season, the heat and oils of bread really help.

Because of Wendy asking I had to buy a two burner griddle. While I was there I was checking the prices of the skillets and I can't imagine getting a used Griswold any cheaper than what Wal*Mart has the new Lodges for (even the pre-seasoned ones).
I don't know what sizes Griswold and Wagner come in, but the main reason I retired my made in Mexico skillet is I couldn't get a lid for it. If you get a 5qt Dutch oven from Lodge, the lid fits the 10 1/4" skillet, 7qt is 12", 9qt is 13 1/4".

The way I do eggs needs a lid. I cook the bacon, break the eggs into the grease, shut off the heat and cover for 1 1/2-2minutes. Remove the lid and pull out perfect sunny side up eggs.

--------------
History teaches us that history has taught us nothing.

Well, I took the leap and purchased my first cast iron skillet. Thanks everyone..and especially to Chewy for starting the thread.

I purchased a 12" un seasoned Lodge skillet from Walmart. I'm in the process of seasoning it now. Perhaps we will try it out for breakfast tomorrow morning

The selection here in Canadian Walmarts was limited and none came with lids but I figure a piece of aluminium foil over the top of a splash mesh lid will work just fine (please correct me if I am wrong)

Question: should I season it more than once before using it or will the one time suffice. Btw, I covered the inside and out with crisco shortening and am cooking it in the oven at 350 for 1 hour (per instructions) does this sound right?

Thanks guys

The skillets don't come with lids. You can either order one separately or get a Dutch oven who's lid will fit the skillet.
The Dutch oven that fits the 12" skillet is the 7qt. It's pretty big and expensive.
I don't think the camp type Dutch oven lids would work. The camp type have legs. So if you do go the Dutch oven route to get a lid make sure you get the right oven.

The Lodge lids have points on the interior that drip on the food, basting it. Plus they match
Most people probably don't have lids.

I usually season at least twice before cooking. I like to get mine black before cooking but brown is seasoned.
Yes that 350° for an hour sounds right.

A way the Wok place said to do it was to season it, scour it out with soap like you're trying to remove it and repeat until it stops coming off. That makes a pretty hard coating but is a lot of work.

--------------
History teaches us that history has taught us nothing.

http://www.lodgemfg.com/

this site will confirm seasoning. if your food sticks, re-season. i have a 10 inch skillet and 10 inch dutch oven with lid that also fits the skillet.

after use, just brush out with a stiff brush and hot water and litely oil the item with some cooking oil or crisco.

enjoy

I do have a cast iron lid for my skillet, although a glass or other lid that fits will do just as well. The real advantage to the cast iron lid is that I can cook something in the skillet covered while it is in the oven, dutch oven style.

The burning method of stripping out the old seasoning won't get the skillet red hot unless you really crank up the fire on an outdoor gasoline stove. Just don't drop it or cool it too quickly.

And I have cooked blackened beef on a real hot skillet because that is how Paul Prodhomme developed the recipe. He liked to get a big skillet as hot as possible (almost white hot!) on a gasoline stove and then coat both sides of the meat with melted butter and cover that with the blackening spice. When he dropped it in the skillet, it would smoke like crazy and maybe even flame for a moment. The process causes the meat to release so much steam that it actually "levitates" above the surface of the skillet. He showed a cutaway skillet that let you see just that. The end result is a nice crust on the outside of the meat and the juices kept in, even though it steams a lot.

With a new cast iron skillet, it's best to just fry in it for a while until you have really built up the seasoning. You'll know because the surface will be really smooth and have a dull shine to it when cleaned out. Once you do have it well seasoned, you can cook stuff that has a high water content in it, or even tomatoe sauce. Just don't let those foods sit in it after the thing cools.

Cast iron skillets are easy to keep clean when used just for frying. After I'm done, I wipe it out real good with a paper towel and that's it. I leave them on the stove top because I use them a lot.

Tip: "Hot pan, cold oil, food won't stick."
Warm up the pan first, then put in the oil or butter followed by the food.