School me on cast iron!

[Special T]

And or warp so won't sit flat. Put in ove cold on clean cycle and let cool slowly.

[Kingofthemountain83]

Hearing Griswold and heat cleaning make me cringe. I'm not a metallurgist so I don't know how it happens but I have seen enough nice old pans with heat damage to know it's a thing. It's a real shame to wreck old pieces.

For my own curiosity, what does heat damage in an old pan look like?

I got one that I left one the burner to dry out real quick on high for an hour or more... Had that pink tinge when it cooled... It bowed the bottom up... I wire wheeled it down... Then hit it with some steel wool... Had to reseason it... Still works fine... Eggs slide over to the side...

[huntingfool7]

I have a ton of cast iron.  Some really nice higher end stuff and some good old stuff. 

By far and away my favorite is the Stargazer pan.  I use it nearly every day.  Cook with lard and bacon fat to fry eggs.  Add hot water from the keurag when done and wipe out with a paper towl, it's ready for tomorrow.

Oh and that handle is cool enough that I can fry that pan full of eggs and sausage and still handle it without a glove.  I like the Stargazer so much I bought a second one.

[Okanagan]

I agree with Stein, cast iron is cast iron. It is all in the finish and the seasoning. I have at least 8 of different sizes and manufacturers. If polished and seasoned correctly fried eggs slide right out. I have also never had an issue cooking on glass tops including using a pressure cooker.

Ditto to several who have mentioned smoothing cast iron with a sander.  It makes pebble surfaced cast iron into virtually non-stick.  Also ditto that grape oil is the best for seasoning.  Grape oil gets hotter without burning.  I like it for seasoning but prefer to cook with olive oil or bear lard.

[Pathfinder101]

Since the OP came on and brought up the difference between $20 cast iron and $200 cast iron, the "quick answer" is that you will have to season cheaper cast iron for years to get the same thing as a $200 pan.  If you don't mind that, then there is nothing wrong with a Lodge.  Cook things with lots of oil/grease and if you can, just wipe them down after you use them.  If you have to use water, try not to use anything else.  If you can do that with a cheap Lodge pan for a few years (and NEVER get them NEAR a dishwasher!), it'll be just fine.    

There is probably a more technical answer, but I have 4 pans (Lodge and the like) that I've been treating right for years and they are great.  Early in my marriage my wife put one in the dishwasher.  It is mostly rehabbed, but I can still tell which one it was...

[Okanagan]

Flash rust on sanded cast iron.

For those who have sanded cast iron skillets or Dutch ovens smooth, how do you handle the flash rust when you clean the sanded dust and particles from the finished surface?  I washed my first one in cold water and soap before oiling and seasoning.  When water touched the bare clean cast iron, rust flashed across it within a fraction of a second. With warm water it is even quicker.  I rubbed off the rust as quickly as possible with an oily rag but didn't like having it rust at all.

I now sand with a minimal coat of grape oil and wipe/flush the finished surface with several washes of clean oil.  That way the clean bare cast iron surface never is exposed to air or water and so does not flash rust.  I’m not convinced that an oil wash gets all of the grit particles out of the cast iron pores, but I haven't noticed any.

Anyone got a better method of sanding smooth and cleaning while avoiding nearly instant rust when the bare metal loses its seasoning coat and is exposed to oxygen?

Just to be clear, sanding cast iron smooth is a one time process for each utensil, not some repeated cleaning event.