Carbon steel skillet for camping

Honestly there's nothing quite like cast iron. It just sucks that modern castings tend to be so coarse.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Honestly there's nothing quite like cast iron. It just sucks that modern castings tend to be so coarse.
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absolutely right. someone over at WAGS emailed or talked with a Lodge rep and the rep said that there was nothing wrong with the rough pebble like interior of the pans and that it will season and be non stick just like the smooth ones. sure after triple the length of time really needed to season one :rolleyes:... Basically its not cost worthy for Lodge to smooth the insides out bc it will increase the price to the customer. its crap basically. granted my friend uses a modern lodge and he seasons it well with pam and its mostly non stick but he always has to clean between the pebbles. gimme smooth any day of the week.

that being said. if you want smooth interior you need to look for pans that are mostly pre 1970's

if you want smooth, lighter (better quality iron ore), and glass like interior cooking surface you need to look for pans that are pre 1940. i have an old Wapak #7 cast iron skillet i just cleaned and reseasoned who's interior is glass like and one of my favorite pans ever was bought for 20-30 bucks on ebay. it was made between 1905-1920..
 
What Lodge would do if they were smart is introduce a premium line. Someone needs to compete with Le Creuset in the high-tier cast iron market. Casting iron is a pretty mature technology--they just need to use higher grade, finer casting sand, high grade iron (how about cast ductile?) and do a little extra finish work. The cost all adds up, for sure, but I think PLENTY of folks would buy 'em. Just look at what people are willing to spend on copper pots!
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
What Lodge would do if they were smart is introduce a premium line. Someone needs to compete with Le Creuset in the high-tier cast iron market. Casting iron is a pretty mature technology--they just need to use higher grade, finer casting sand, high grade iron (how about cast ductile?) and do a little extra finish work. The cost all adds up, for sure, but I think PLENTY of folks would buy 'em. Just look at what people are willing to spend on copper pots!
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supposedly Lodge is going to or is already experimenting with a higher line... heck the costs of those are double what you get on ebay that is much much older, better, lighter, and better quality iron ore. i wont buy iron past 1970's. UNLESS its smooth interior.
 
Good to hear. Honestly it SHOULDN'T be difficult to put out a premium line at reasonable pricing. I hope that project sees fruition. Seems like good quality iron castings started going the way of the dinosaur when thick aluminum non-stick and aluminum/stainless bonded pans started coming out.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Good to hear. Honestly it SHOULDN'T be difficult to put out a premium line at reasonable pricing. I hope that project sees fruition. Seems like good quality iron castings started going the way of the dinosaur when thick aluminum non-stick and aluminum/stainless bonded pans started coming out.
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that and the iron ore is getting dirtier and dirtier. all or if not most of the good iron ore has already been mined. lodge is still trying to keep their costs affordable (for the most part). if you have not noticed you pay quite a bit for what i call "a half ass'd pan". imagine what they would charge for a smooth interior pan? makes me shiver. since you like good quality iron, go old man. you can thank me for it later. if you need help distinguishing unmarked old pans, what companies are better or anything of that nature feel free to hit me up. also we have that cast iron thread somewhat going in the food and drink section. if you have auctions and flea markets there near you thats the best place to find good iron for cheaper. you will have to clean and reseason but thats easy as pie. all you need is 1-2lbs of lye per 5-8 gallons of water, a tub to mix that in and keep that will fit your pans. let them soak for a week. take them out when its ate up most of the old gunk. scrub it down. soak it in 50-50 white vineger solution for rust (time depends on the amount of rust. remember vinegar will eat iron if left in too long. it will eat rust too. usually an hour is good enough for me. lye is safe for iron. you can leave it in there as long as you want. scrub it down with dawn and stainless steel scrubby. preheat oven to 250-300 and let it dry in the oven for 1/2hr. take out while still warm, hit with pam or crisco. wipe completely dry no shiny spots and put it in the oven or grill at 500 degrees for 1hr - 1.5 hrs. and repeat seasoning process. very easy
 
The initial quality of the ore shouldn't have anything to do with the process, unless I'm greatly mistaken. Any impurities in the iron can be removed through refining. What they need to do is use highly refined iron rather than the dirty cheap stuff.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
The initial quality of the ore shouldn't have anything to do with the process, unless I'm greatly mistaken. Any impurities in the iron can be removed through refining. What they need to do is use highly refined iron rather than the dirty cheap stuff.
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my aplogies in bold was where i was trying to get at. it can be removed they just do not do it bc its (from what i have read) a longer process bc the iron being mined now is much "dirtier". therefor Lodge wont spend as much making the product. better profit returns. they will not machine the inside of the surface either. saving more $$.
 
Yeah if they just used better iron in the first place (like ductile iron) then they could make finer castings, lessening how much post-production machining would be necessary. The greater toughness of ductile iron also means they could build them lighter, using less raw material. :)
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Yeah if they just used better iron in the first place (like ductile iron) then they could make finer castings, lessening how much post-production machining would be necessary. The greater toughness of ductile iron also means they could build them lighter, using less raw material. :)
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understood... email that to lodge LOL.. i love lodge. just pre 1970 lodges :D
 
Agreed! I've scoped out their present stuff and their dutch ovens look more like stove-top humidifiers. :p
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Agreed! I've scoped out their present stuff and their dutch ovens look more like stove-top humidifiers. :p
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LOL that they do.. they are usable just more of a PIA to deal with until they are super seasoned. which could take a while. ill pass and take something older than my grandparents. true works of art then
 
Cast iron tends to be very very hard, so it's kind of a pain to do it unless you have specialized equipment. Maybe if you had a right angle air grinder with an assortment of rollock discs?
 
As far as using carbon steel, I like it a fair bit. Seems to be a little bit trickier on seasoning than cast iron but if you pay attention it works great.

I use the Paderno brand pans. Have a couple baking pans that I use while backpacking (most often a little 6ish inch, the 9inch stays at home and makes my cornbread most of the time) as well as a big 12.5" heavy skillet that gets used a lot in the kitchen.

Here's the little guy on a car camping trip--with care it cooks eggs and sausage very well on a Gigapower stove!
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I like the balance of qualities that carbon steel cookware has. Lighter than cast iron, heats better and more evenly than titanium or stainless, tougher than aluminum. What's not to love? :)
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
I like the balance of qualities that carbon steel cookware has. Lighter than cast iron, heats better and more evenly than titanium or stainless, tougher than aluminum. What's not to love? :)
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you are right. i never looked at it like that. i like titanium and i think it has its place in hiking. the carbon steel would have better cooking qualities for sure... i might have to look in to getting some. btw go look at the cast iron section in the cooking threads. i just revamped a 70yrs old dutch oven. :D ... i usually do not toot my own horn but i did a good job
 
Carbon steel is pretty nice for packing. The little 6inch isn't good for much other than very small one-serving meals, but as I do a ton of solo stuff it works for me, and it works a hell of a lot better than any lightweight non-stick pans, or even regular aluminum or titanium skillets.
 
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