There’s a lot of folklore around cast iron, so be careful when taking advice on what to do. Please wash your pan even if people yell at you for doing it; it’s hygienic and won’t strip the pan unless you have soap with lye in it. If your soap does have lye, you’ll probably want some that doesn’t.
Also, don’t feel like you need to coddle it. It’s a big chunk of iron. It’ll be fine despite people insisting you need to follow their way or your pan will explode. It can get weirdly cult-like. If you mess up too badly, you’ll just need to strip the pan and put a new layer of seasoning on it, which isn’t that difficult.
That said, you’ll probably need to use more fat than you thought you’d need while cooking when you’re building up the seasoning. Eventually, things will stop sticking as much, though.
I want to second your advice here and tell anyone thinking about it to just jump in. A basic Lodge 10" cast iron skillet will show up at discount stores occasionally (like tj maxx and ross or whatever, got mine there for cheap) but you could definitely look at thrift/donation stores as well. Also make sure to peep garage sales!
Keep in mind it’s a big hunk of iron. Meaning, if you screw things up somehow, it’s really easy to just reset. Start from zero, re-season in the oven (my preferred method) or however you want. Does it suck to have to start over in terms of seasoning? Sure, but that’s learning, and the pan will let you do it as many times as you need to, over and over and over.
I have seen pans restored to being usable after discovery as a rust lump in the woods. They can really take a beating. That’s their best feature imo and it’s really not talked about enough. They’re basically impossible to actually ruin beyond the point of recovery. It’s awesome!!! Just don’t try to rinse it in cold water while it’s piping hot and you’ll be fine lmao. Wait for the pan to cool just a bit, still warm but not playing hot potato. Wash with gentle soap and a sponge, dry well and apply oil immediately. That’s it.
100%, but to add a caveat on buying used, I’ve heard some people use cast iron pans for melting lead. Depending on who you buy from, you might want to test it before cooking with it, although I’m not familiar with how to test it or how common lead melting is/was.
There’s a lot of folklore around cast iron, so be careful when taking advice on what to do. Please wash your pan even if people yell at you for doing it; it’s hygienic and won’t strip the pan unless you have soap with lye in it. If your soap does have lye, you’ll probably want some that doesn’t.
Also, don’t feel like you need to coddle it. It’s a big chunk of iron. It’ll be fine despite people insisting you need to follow their way or your pan will explode. It can get weirdly cult-like. If you mess up too badly, you’ll just need to strip the pan and put a new layer of seasoning on it, which isn’t that difficult.
That said, you’ll probably need to use more fat than you thought you’d need while cooking when you’re building up the seasoning. Eventually, things will stop sticking as much, though.
I want to second your advice here and tell anyone thinking about it to just jump in. A basic Lodge 10" cast iron skillet will show up at discount stores occasionally (like tj maxx and ross or whatever, got mine there for cheap) but you could definitely look at thrift/donation stores as well. Also make sure to peep garage sales!
Keep in mind it’s a big hunk of iron. Meaning, if you screw things up somehow, it’s really easy to just reset. Start from zero, re-season in the oven (my preferred method) or however you want. Does it suck to have to start over in terms of seasoning? Sure, but that’s learning, and the pan will let you do it as many times as you need to, over and over and over.
I have seen pans restored to being usable after discovery as a rust lump in the woods. They can really take a beating. That’s their best feature imo and it’s really not talked about enough. They’re basically impossible to actually ruin beyond the point of recovery. It’s awesome!!! Just don’t try to rinse it in cold water while it’s piping hot and you’ll be fine lmao. Wait for the pan to cool just a bit, still warm but not playing hot potato. Wash with gentle soap and a sponge, dry well and apply oil immediately. That’s it.
100%, but to add a caveat on buying used, I’ve heard some people use cast iron pans for melting lead. Depending on who you buy from, you might want to test it before cooking with it, although I’m not familiar with how to test it or how common lead melting is/was.
There are lead testing swabs to test for lead. I think they discolor when lead is detected.
Wow, I’ve never heard that but I’ll remember it now! That’s definitely important.