Oil beads on skillet

[Chub]

Hi Ya'll,

I've been into Dutch Ovens for a year and have been bitten hard by the CI bug. Now I'm getting into skillets and have enjoyed reading your info here over the past few months . Here goes my first post.

Picked a 10-1/2" skillet at an antique store in a little rural northern Indiana town.
No rust. Nice seasoning with only a little gunk. This is to be a user. I'm not a collector---Yet!

I burnt off the old seasoning on my gas barbeque grill and gently scraped off the dessicated crud with a brass tooth brush type tool.
Soaked it in Coka-Cola for a couple hours to remove the surface rust.
Wiped it clean and rinsed in hot, then cold water.
It looks great. No pits, no rust, just bare grey metal.

Seasoned two times in my kitchen oven with a light coat of Crisco @ 500 degrees F. That's how I do my Dutch Ovens and they turn out great.

So this morning I decided to use the skillet for the first time by frying a couple eggs.
But the oil beaded up like water on a freshly waxed car hood. I could not get the oil to spread out evenly on the surface. I fried the eggs anyway. It was so slick I could barely flip those suckers for my "over-easy". Those eggs were sliding around all over in there.

What's the deal with this surface?
Is it seasoned exceptionally well or did the seasoning "not take" as the reason for the oil beading on the surface?

Thanks,

Otis "Chubby" Campbell

[Duke Gilleland]

Welcome to WAGS there Otis from down in Texas!
Just a guess but moisture is usually what beads up on a well seasoned surface. Never had that problem here. But with the slippery/no stick surface I would just keep on using [smiley=thumbsup.gif]
Maybe some of the others can offer an opinion :-/

[Chub]

There is no agua on der.

When this skillet was seasoned, the bottom and outside has a normal looking seasoning"texture".
But the inside cooking surface is completely smooth.
I've never seen oil bead up and run off CI.

On the bottom and outside of the skillet the oil will spread out really well, like normal, but not on the cooking surface or about half way up the sides.
I've melted Crisco, bacon grease and vegetable oil. The oil just won't spread out to give an even thin coat.
Like I described above, the oil beads up and runs off. Just like water on a freshly waxed car hood.

Anybody have an Idea as to what's going on ?


Chubby

[C. Perry Rapier]

Hello Otis, and welcome to WAGS. Thanks for visiting and posting. And I like dutch ovens too.

It sounds to me like you done a good job on that pan. Cause its working the way its supposed to and then some. I would like to say though, that I don't think its a good idea to use a brass brush on cast iron because the brass will discolor the cast iron, and when it does that, you got a lot of extra work to do, to get that discoloring out.

And lastly, I am a big Andy Griffith show fan. SO, is Otis Campbell your real name?
And, do you know what I mean?  :)

[Tom Neitzel]

I would like to say though, that I don't think its a good idea to use a brass brush on cast iron because the brass will discolor the cast iron, and when it does that, you got a lot of extra work to do, to get that discoloring out.

Perry, thanks for pointing this out.  It's the second mention of a brass brush in the past week.  I was going to say something then forgot.  It does give a nice gold/brassy color to the iron that looks nice to a novice, but as you note, it is an undesirable discoloration.  The only way I have been able to easily remove it is in my trusty self-cleaning oven.

Tom

[C. Perry Rapier]

Good morning Tom, the rooster is probably just crowed not too long ago way out there where you are.  ;)

And you're right, before I learned the hard way about that brass brush business. I got that discoloring out of my cast iron with a wire brush, essentially just grinding it off, as thats pretty much what a stiff wire brush does.

[Roger Barfield]

Otis, it sounds like you have it doing what it's supposed to do.  I would just keep using it and as the seasoning builds up it will start to act more normal.  You might try pan frying a potato and let it burn a little.  That seems to help the seasoning get going good.

[Dwayne Henson]

Good to see you over here Otis, welcome to WaGS. Not for sure why oil is beading, I'd try potatoes like Roger suggested or baking some corn bread in it, that might "even" it out.
DC

[Chub]

A)  Thanks for the tip on the brass. I specifically used brass as not to scratch the surface since brass is softer than iron. Would fine steel wool be better?

B) Do ya think that in the past somebody might have taken a war brush on a drill and "smoothed-out" the inside of the skillet, thus making it difficult for the seasoning to adhere to the metal? I've read about that on the idos site. There is a big difference between the inside and outside of the pan.

C)  While working on the skillet restoration it was a Saturday. I had only finished a 1/2 case of Bud, so I was in pretty good shape for the process. Don't recall anything getting messed-up.

D) Growing up my family gave me the nick name of "Chubby" as to prevent any comments with regard to the prestigous TV celebrity.
     Some kids are referred to as "Junior" or "Sonny". They called me "Chubby" cause that best described my physique.  Always had to wear the Husky size Toughskins from Sears with the reinforced knee patches.

Thanks for welcoming me to WAGS


Chubby "Chub" Campbell   (Chub rhymes with CeeDub, my hero!)

[C. Perry Rapier]

Hello Chub, we want to make everybody welcome here, and make them feel welcome. So "Chub" it is.  ;)

And about that brush and what to use. The finer, or lesss abrasive, the material you use to take it off with, the less invasive. I use SS soap pads a bunch, especially after I get a piece down to where its stripped almost all the way down to the bone. On that brass stuff, I used a stiffer brush because I got tired of messin with it. I don't mind workin on somethin, if I can see somethin happenin, BUT, if I can't, then I will go to a bigger hammer.

And I have heard that talk about how you got cast iron so smooth it won't take oil or seasoning. I don't know if I believe that or not. Cast iron is very porous. And when you season a piece, you are actually filling in the holes and putting a new surface on it, that is, if you start from when it was stripped down to the bone (original surface).

My point is, that even if you did take a drill, or whatever, and smooth out the inside of the pan, to where its finer than frog hair, it would appear to me that the piece of cast iron would and still be porous, this the oil would appear to want to settle in those pores.

[Chub]

Perry you are a swell guy.
"Finer than frog hair"--LOL

For those of you not familiar with CeeDub, he is on the RFD channel 379 on Satellite, Wed & Thurs.  Eventhough he is serious, the show ends up  kind of like a Saturday Night Live skit.

http://ceedubs.com/


Chubby Campbell

[Roger Barfield]

B) Do ya think that in the past somebody might have taken a war brush on a drill and "smoothed-out" the inside of the skillet, thus making it difficult for the seasoning to adhere to the metal? I've read about that on the idos site. There is a big difference between the inside and outside of the pan.

Chub, don't believe it.  If that's the case, then the old Erie skillets would never season at all.  Some of them and the old gated bottom skillets are so slick that you can almost see yourself in them.  Here is one I cleaned up a few years ago on  our eye candy section.  http://www.wag-society.org/eye_candy.php?id=28  

A soft stainless wire wheel won't hurt the iron.  It's the hard, coarse ones that will leave a mark.  That and sand blasting will hurt the value of a piece.  The older skillets and cookware were ground by the foundry on the inside.  That's why you see the marks going in circles around the inside of the pieces.  It also made the inside smoother than the outside.  

[Chub]

WOW,
That eye_candy site is like--WOW!
You guys know your stuff.

Yes, the inside of the skillet has swirl marks and is smoother like you describe. Thanks for the clarification. Learning about CI is fun.

I'll try to post a picture of the pan and you can tell me about it.

Chubby Campbell

[C. Perry Rapier]

Hey Chub. I must make a confession. At first, when you first mentioned that "ceedub" was your hero, I immediately thought that "ceedub" was some kind of rapper, you know, like P Dog Daddy, or Snoop Dog Daddy, or Reel Big Pyle, you get the idea. So I'm thinkin to myself, "well, maybe he likes rap music, if thats what he likes, to each his own".

Then, when you put the link on, I thought there ain't no use me checkin out that site, because I don't like rap music anyway", but then I got to thinkin, I do that sometimes, "why would this guy bring up rap music"? SO, I thought, "well, I'll check it out, what the hey"? AND THEN, I could not believe it. It hit me, I knew that I had heard of this guy before, along with dutch ovens, not rap music.  :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[ TRUE STORY

[Sandy Glenn]

some kind of rapper, you know, like P Dog Daddy, or Snoop Dog Daddy, or Reel Big Pyle

[smiley=hysterical.gif] [smiley=hysterical.gif] [smiley=hysterical.gif] [smiley=hysterical.gif]

[Dwayne Henson]

Otis, like i warned you on the IDOS site, be careful. It starts with a few users and then that Cast Iron starts multiplying and the next thing you're wondering if the house is going to start sinking. ;D

[Chub]

Yea DC, I remember you telling me that. It's happening.
 Been accumulating an average if one CI piece per month over the past year.
Just picked up a Lodge 8" dutch oven and made CeeDubs apple crisp cobbler with cinnamon candy. Yummy!



Perry,
You Skilletheads may learn something from us Dutchies!


Chub

[C. Perry Rapier]

Perry,
You Skilletheads may learn something from us Dutchies!


Chub

Hello Chub, I'm always looking to learn something new. A "skillethead" huh? Sounds good to me.  ;)  

OH, Chub, and while you're teachin me, don't waste your time teachin me how to s t r e t c h the truth. I already know how to do that.  ;D

OH, one more thing, and the dutch ovens, I just got one, working on the second. We're talkin about gross, right? SEE THE LINE ABOVE.

[Chub]

Sorry Perry but I didn't get the joke above?.    :-?

All I meant was that you learned about CeeDub from a dutchie, and the skilletheads on this site might learn other fun stuff too.
I would not imply that I would teach you anything about CI since I am a novice at this hobby, but have a lot of enthusiasm.
I would be interested to know of your dutch ovens. Post a picture.

I'm now on the prowl for my first Griswold. Perhaps ya'll might remember a few years ago when you went through this phase of your CI career.
Some of the pictures that I see in this site are amazing!

Friday I'm going to an Amish barn auction to check out the cast iron.



Tally ho!

Chub Campbell

[C. Perry Rapier]

Hello Chub, I just meant that if you "dutchies" could teach us anything that would be fine with me.  :) I know you all over there are always cooking something good, so whatever you can teach us/me, we/I are willing to learn.

And when I said I only have one dutch oven, a gross, which is 144, is a bunch, and remember, I told you I would stretch the truth.  ;D

I do have a few though.