For many years I’ve wanted to learn to use and cook with a cast iron skillet. I remember my mom had one (or more?) when I was a kid, but I didn’t cook much then.
Today, I was at Goodwill and saw a cast iron skillet. It was $8. I turned it over and saw the markings of “Findlay No. 8 CARLETON PLACE ONT”. The skillet isn’t in great condition, but I did a search on how to restore old and damaged cast iron cookware. After flipping through a sites, I saw the “Black Iron Blog” which gives good details on how to restore or recondition these old pieces of metal.
So, I bought it, stopped by the store and picked up the required items and am now undertaking the steps to make this a useful piece cookery again.
Finished!
I took 6 days to spray, rinse, spray and rinse the pan. I’m AMAZED at how much that oven cleaner took off the years of built-up crud! Then the water and white vinegar made the skillet slowly ‘sizzle’ and foam to get the remaining rust off. I didn’t have steel wool, but a new scrubber did a great job.
‘Cooking’ the pan for 45 minutes at 550 degrees made it HOT! I was surprised at how the olive oil was sucked up by the pan. After a few wipe downs, the oil started to build up and the pan turned dark and ready for cooking.
The next day I heated up the pan, cracked a single egg and let it cook… it didn’t stick… and it was delicious.
