grill pan help

J

JeffreyL

Member
I am new to cast iron, my mom picked this up at a garage sale for me and i have a few questions about it. I dont have an e-tank or lye bath so i use 50/50 vinegar and water and it seems to take seasoning off when scrubbing with a SS brush. I am in the process of cleaning up this grill pan, my questions is, does anyone know who made this? i cant find any markings, probably an import for a big box store brand? also whats the purpose of the enamel handle and coating the outer rim, rust protection? can i remove the enamel and just season the entire thing?
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Probably an import. The enamel, if ceramic, would be very hard to remove or worse. It was put on for looks, protection and cleaning ease. Might as well like it, season the cooking surface and bottom and cook on.

Hilditch
 
thanks for the info, these things are a pain to clean with all the grooves, might season it, and try it a few times then give it away. never used a grill pan before, never found a need for one, whats the big advantage, other than the obvious of not cooking directly in grease
 
The advantage of cooking in the grease is more flavor. That is why food fried in a skillet on on a griddle tastes better than food cooked on a bbq, not counting the smoke flavor. Those ridges won’t hold the meat off the grease, just leave pretty? lines. I'm not a fan of these pans.

Hilditch
 
Yeah with "proper" direct-heat grilling on a grill, the juices dripping off the meat vaporize when they hit the heat source below then rise up and "flavorize" the meat (as opposed to undesirable flare-ups and burning). I don't know if these grill skillets produce the same effect.

But, though grease obviously adds flavor, I don't know if sitting in the grease makes as much difference as above it, as far as grease content goes. I remember reading Consumer Reports tests of the George Foreman grill. They concluded the same amount of grease was removed from the meat using a flat grill as the ridged one, i.e. they both ended up with the same grease content.

On the other hand, caramelization (with seared steaks, technically it's a Maillard reaction) definitely improves flavor. You can get that with a grill pan, but it's much easier with a flat iron, especially when targeting rarer temps.
 
W. Hilditch said:
The advantage of cooking in the grease is more flavor. That is why food fried in a skillet on on a griddle tastes better than food cooked on a bbq, not counting the smoke flavor.

Hilditch
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That would be a matter of personal preference as well as what is being cooked and what spices or marinade may be used. You'll never convince me that a fried steak tastes better because it's cooked in grease compared to a steak cooked on a grill. Some things I like done either way. It just depends on what my mouth is in the mood for at the time.
 
I have one of this type pan. I've used it a number of times with chicken breasts hamburgers. It dose a ok job but it is a royal pain in the rear to clean after. And most likely to be sent down the road. I found it cheap and thought I'd give it a try for awhile, but not thinking it's worth the effort to use.

Jeffrey if the scrapers do don't fit try a tile grout brush. This kind of works and makes a bit of a mess in the sink. That's what I came up with but still a pain.
 

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Steve, thanks for the tip, im kinda thinking it may go down the road eventually too. never had a use for it this far.
 
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