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[Canadian John]

 Cooking grates don't count.
 
 Skillets,dutch ovens griddles etc are in the count. Enamelled or not.

 Do you find C I imparts better flavour to the food?

 Is the food cooked better using C I?

 Is the weight a hinderance?

 Do you collect cast iron cookware?

 Do you have problems developing or maintaining seasoning?

 How nonstick do you find seasoned C I cookware?

 What oil or other product do you use to season that works well?

 Disclaimer: I do own and cook on cast iron cookware.

 

[LTS]

Wow a lot of questions see what I can do

Cooking grates don't count.
 
 Skillets,dutch ovens griddles etc are in the count. Enamelled or not.

 Do you find C I imparts better flavour to the food? Maybe Just  a little

 Is the food cooked better using C I? I think so seems to crisp up the outside better

 Is the weight a hinderance? I don't  find that, but the wife does not handle the pans either 

 Do you collect cast iron cookware? Not really I have a round skillit and a 10" pan

 Do you have problems developing or maintaining seasoning? Nope, if it does need it I wash with a scrubber sponge and Hot water, heat back up oil and good to go

 How nonstick do you find seasoned C I cookware? Very good, potatoes still stick a little but a good SS spatula scraps them good cunchies off the bottom 

 What oil or other product do you use to season that works well? I have been using avacado oil latly and has been working very well , high smoke point

 Disclaimer: I do own and cook on cast iron cookware.

Thanks
LTS

 

[bregent]

>Skillets,dutch ovens griddles etc are in the count. Enamelled or not.

I've got 3 skillets ranging from 6"-10", a covered 5-qt dutch oven, an enameled 4 qt covered la creuset and an aebelskiver pan.   

> Do you find C I imparts better flavour to the food?

I haven't noticed the material imparting better flavor, other than flavor you possibly get from a better sear compared to lighter weight pans.

> Is the food cooked better using C I?

Only in that it retains heat better so it's better for certain applications.

> Is the weight a hinderance?

Somewhat. We have a glass cooktop and it can scratch very easily if the heavy pan is moved across it. We also store the cast iron in a storage cabinet, and the shelves are beginning to warp from the weight!

> Do you collect cast iron cookware?

Not intentionally

>Do you have problems developing or maintaining seasoning?

No

> How nonstick do you find seasoned C I cookware?

Nothing sticks, but I do use oil when cooking in them.

> What oil or other product do you use to season that works well?

Usually peanut oil.

[LowSlowJoe]

I cook on cast iron and also just on high carbon steel skillets.   I do it mostly because I hate coated cookware and love to use metal utensils.  I tried some stainless steel, but never really liked it much, I did learn how to make them cook without everything sticking to it, but that effectively leaves a kind of ugly coating of 'seasoning' on the pan, and then if you want the shiny stainless to look shiny and clean, you have to wash all that off, making it necessary to get another coating of that seasoning on to prevent sticking the next time you use it...


   If I could just get my wife to stop boiling stuff in my well seasoned cast and high carbon steel , I would have no trouble keeping them seasoned.

   I don't think it really adds any flavor, and I know if I wanted to , I could accomplish the same thing with stainless steel if I didn't care that shiny stainless looks ugly when seasoning is left on it.

   I use olive oil, vegetable oil, or anything I have on hand, except for the SAE varieties of oil

   I could cook just as good on non-stick cookware, maybe even easier, but I just don't like using plastic utensils or having to be extra careful with the surface. I do have some minor concerns about the overall heath aspects of cooking on coated cookware that's been used at high temperatures for long periods of time. 

  Side note :  anodized aluminum pans are worthless.

[dclord]

I have a 12 inch cast iron skillet that I use for a few specific things, mainly hash browns, burgers if it is raining outside, and putting a crust on meat that has been cooked sous vide.

Absolutely the best for getting a nice brown crust.

Weight can be a problem. With an aluminum pan I can carry the pan to the plates to serve the hash browns, with a big cast iron pan the plates have to go to the pan.

I use olive oil to season the pan because it is what I have handy. I don't have any problem maintaining the seasoning as long as I don't cook anything too wet. I tried browning ground beef for tacos and wasn't the best.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk

[Big Bear]

[quote

 Do you find C I imparts better flavour to the food? - Yes as I don't burn my food as often with CI

 Is the food cooked better using C I? - Yes, same as above and the CI maintains more even temps across its surface.

 Is the weight a hinderance? - No

 Do you collect cast iron cookware? - No

 Do you have problems developing or maintaining seasoning? - No

 How nonstick do you find seasoned C I cookware? - Better than other so called non stick cookware which can't be used at higher temps

 What oil or other product do you use to season that works well? - Safflower oil and bacon grease

[/quote]

[ArborAgent]

Unused to use cast iron but I’ve switched to carbon steel pans. All of the benefits plus a lot lighter and easier to maintain.

[Brushpopper]

Skillets,dutch ovens griddles etc are in the count. Enamelled or not.  We have several skillets and a really large pot with a bail (hinged handle on top), all just plain old well seasoned black CI.  My brother makes peach cobblers and camp bread in dutch ovens like we did in cow camps when we'd work cattle as boys

 Do you find C I imparts better flavour to the food?  Yes because of the heat distribution, IMHO

 Is the food cooked better using C I? See above

 Is the weight a hinderance?  Not for me, but the wife doesn't like the big pot we have.  Too hard to clean she says

 Do you collect cast iron cookware?  Yes.  Always keep an eye out for an old skillet

 Do you have problems developing or maintaining seasoning?  Not once it's well seasoned

 How nonstick do you find seasoned C I cookware?  Very, once it's well seasoned and I keep and eye on it.

 What oil or other product do you use to season that works well?    I perfer bacon grease if I can sneak it past the wife.  She wants me to use shortening

[pmillen]

Q.  Do you find C I imparts better flavour to the food?
A.  Only to the extent that the phenomenal heat conduction makes uniform browning a breeze.

Q.  Is the food cooked better using C I?
A.  Only to the extent that the phenomenal heat conduction makes uniform browning a breeze.

Q.  Is the weight a hinderance?
A.  It's sometimes troublesome, so, yes, but it's not a deal breaker.

Q.  Do you collect cast iron cookware?
A.  No.

Q.  Do you have problems developing or maintaining seasoning?
A.  Developing...No.  Maintaining...Yes, my family wants to help in the kitchen but they won't take the necessary precautions.

Q.  How nonstick do you find seasoned C I cookware?
A.  It's not perfect but it's relatively nonstick.  My Lodge cookware's pebble finish was problematic.

Q.  What oil or other product do you use to season that works well?
A.  My mother used Crisco and it worked well for me.  But I find that edible linseed oil (Flax oil) makes a smoother nonstick finish.  It smells awful though, so CI seasoning with it should be done outdoors.

I sold all of my CI cookware because I grew tired of re-seasoning it.  I replaced it with Le Creuset enameled CI.  It's  more nonstick and easier to clean than plain CI.  However, I will soon buy a Stargazer plain CI skillet.  Look them up on Youtube, especially their Kickstarter video.  I think it will be a major improvement over Lodge.

[Bentley]

When I used to camp, but that has been so many years ago.  Have a set of Man Grates, they are wonderful, but just not needed with my pits!

[Bobitis]

I've got a bit of cast iron but seldom use it any more. A couple frying pans were resurrected from my Grannies collection.
That's some hundred year old stuff.

From all of the reading I've done, lard is the best seasoning of choice. It's pure animal fat with no added extras. Shortening is good as well, but not quite the same.

The biggest abuser to date that I'm aware of is anything acidic in nature. Tomato based pasta sauce is a killer for the finish.
It will eat up a well seasoned pan in one cook.

[yorkdude]

 [ Invalid Attachment ]

Cooking grates don't count.
 
 Skillets,dutch ovens griddles etc are in the count. Enamelled or not.
We have 1 enameled.
 Do you find C I imparts better flavour to the food?
We rarely use anything else, so not sure.
 Is the food cooked better using C I?
We love it.
 Is the weight a hinderance?
Yes and as we get older even more so.
 Do you collect cast iron cookware?
I have attached pictures, you can decide.
 Do you have problems developing or maintaining seasoning?
On some I have worked to develope it but we find them very forgiving for the most part.
 How nonstick do you find seasoned C I cookware?
Several of them are "bullet proof" non stick but all of ours are vintage pieces that we have carefully collected and the others are from family etc.
 What oil or other product do you use to season that works well?
Lard or bacon grease
 Disclaimer: I do own and cook on cast iron cookware.

[Bobitis]

Looks like we have a winner. 

[ICIdaho]

Love my cast iron skillets and Dutch ovens.  A little heavy for my wife, so I do the cleaning. This works well as she would soap and scrub to death and put away dry.  Potato’s, pancakes etc. are no problem. Spaghetti sauce will require a re-season baking. I do taco meat often with no issues as long as it is rinsed and lightly oiled immediately after.  I have never found anything that can make hash browns or fried potatoes taste better.  Avacado oil and olive oil are my preferred oils depending on heat....oh, and butter for fried eggs, love that smell!

[Conumdrum]

Yes, I have 4 use two skillets at times.