Just Wondering

M

MDFraley

Member
Don't think I've seen a definitive answer here to this question so I'll just ask....Is it more beneficial to leave the (outside) crud on an old skillet and just re-do the inside and put a good seasoning on it?
When I look at some of the finds I've come across I see years of built-up cooking on the outside of them but the insides look to be relative clean. I've often felt like leaving that outer crud in place just to say this skillet has been around. I just collect these things and that has always led me to restoring them to like-new condition but I picked one up over the weekend (pre 1930's)that has that vintage look I thought would be more attractive left as is.
Thanks in advance
 
Sometimes I wonder if folks know/knew there are two sides to a skillet or pan. The inside and the outside; and both need washing.

Beyond that, I can’t prove it but I feel a CI vessel with significant side wall seasoning cooks better than without. The seasoning can act as an insulator allowing the walls to heat up more and radiate heat back to the food. It will also hold the heat longer buffered from the air.

For display: Patina can be beautiful or ugly, but usually makes a statement. If you think yours looks good that is what counts. Seldom is real patina criticized. More often admired. I’m not a big fan of 100 YO items that look brand new.

Hilditch
 
W. Hilditch said:
For display: Patina can be beautiful or ugly, but usually makes a statement. If you think yours looks good that is what counts. Seldom is real patina criticized. More often admired. I’m not a big fan of 100 YO items that look brand new.

Hilditch
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This is an interesting, and valid, point. Especially so to me, as I'm in the midst of cleaning up what was a nasty 3 notch Lodge #5. It's taken a week with lots of Easy Off, electrolysis and scraping with a putty knife to show improvements, but not yet CLEAN (I'm working on it for a friend who's a 20-something, and needs an iron skillet for her first apartment).

Hilditch really makes me wonder about the cooking effect of that buildup on the sides of a skillet. I don't have enough experience to offer an opinion.

I'm still very much learning about CI collectors' preferences, so no thoughts to offer there. I don't like looking at 1/8" of somebody's nasty crud on the walls of a skillet..YMMV. I think my opinion there is based on my mom's CI skillets which were nice and black, without being cruddy. Somewhere, I read that it's "suboptimal" to cook on someone else's seasoning, and I sure don't want to cook on caked-on mess...BUT, I know that that several other collector arenas highly value "all original, untouched".

Interesting question, and I'm curious where the discussion will go!
Steve
 
A cruddy, caked on mess looks like a cruddy, caked on mess to me. I don't care how much history it has or how many "stories" it can tell. The exterior of well seasoned piece of cast iron doesn't need to look like it's never been cleaned and I don't buy into the theory that a caked on mess on the outside makes it cook better on the inside. Just my .02, YMMV.
 
If we are to accept that a thick buildup of seasoning impacts heat loss, then we must also accept that it impacts heat gain. If we want our pans to gain heat energy and transmit it to our food in order to cook it, then it doesn't follow that we want some thick crust on either side of it impeding that process. What we need, and all we should really want, is a thin but durable layer of carbonized, polymerized fat providing a corrosion-resistant, reasonably non-stick surface.
 
Doug, what you said is true for convection, like in an oven. However here we are dealing with conduction on the stove top, not convection. So, as long as the bottom of a skillet is clean, seasoning on the sides will aid in the conduction process.

Hilditch
 
I think at the end of the day cooking is sometimes about dealing with what you're given to work with, and it's just not worth getting sucked down another rabbit hole of pseudo-scientific back-and-forth to justify what amounts to personal preference. I'll let the last sentence of my previous comment stand as that.
 
The scientific facts and what a human can actually notice are 2 different things. I have a hard time believing crud on the side of a pan will ever show a noticeable difference. I like patina on things. I dont consider crud on a pan "patina" Its unwashed food basically. Someones elses to boot. Its got to go
 
I know Michael has cleaned and re-seasoned enough pans to know the difference between crud and a truly well seasoned pan. Due to the lack of a picture and the fact he says it is pleasing to the eye I'm guessing it's not so much crud as it is a nice seasoning layer. If that is the case, I see no reason to strip it off. If you like it and feel comfortable eating from it then keep it the way it is. It's your pan you can do whatever you want with it.
 
In my original post I put brackets around the word (outside) to not confuse anyone but the replies keep referring to the inside of the skillet and the patina of which it has "some". If it were rusted I wouldn't think twice about a complete restore. Unfortunately I left the skillet at my daughters and can't post a pic at this time. I do plan on restoring the (inside) only and that can be done quiet easily which will remove any past patina with any cooked on food particles.
The skillet appears to have been used at a hunting/fishing camp over an open grated fire and or wood stove. It is virtually clean on the bottom and easily identifiable. It just appeared to me as keeping its past as part of its history and not as an old ugly skillet.
Anyway....I thank each and every one of you for your comments and input. As I get older I hope my appearance will keep as well as this skillet has.
 
I thought it was very clear that we were talking about the outside of the pan. Sometimes, rarely, I will come across a pan that I think I can not improve on the outside seasoning layer. Since I sell pans, I strip and season every piece but I have come across pans that really didn't appear to need it done on the outside. I recall reading a post by Steve Stephens that said that he didn't think every piece needed to be completely stripped and I understand what he meant by that.
 
MD,
Maybe I should of added a bit more to my post, I had picked up two from the same estate sale and the insides had heavy build up and the outside of both stuck with uneven large build up. To my eyes it wasn't very appetizing to look at if cooking out of them and I seen the top of the stove in that house. I myself just start over with them and it kinda makes it mine in a way.

I see your point tho, if a nice smooth even deep black color why not keep adding too it. I always wipe the outside of mine and smooth around and blend it in after I use them and it seems to keep them even looking. ( I'm a bit of a OCD clean freak)
 
Personally my favorite thing about cast iron is taking something that is 100+ years old and mostly forgotten about as being useable and making it like new. While I love the look and usefulness of a well seasoned piece, my favorite stage of reconditioning is when the pan is cleaned to bare metal and looks similar to what I think it looked in the store 100 years ago when it was originally sold. Its almost like the pan gets a do over. Car restoration guys don't usually like to leave rust or dented body panels on cars they are redoing so why should your pan. Although with that in mind I have seen an older truck that was painted custom to look like it was rusty and old even though it was completely redone. I say do what you like, for you, not for anyone else.
 
Comment: I agree with both Steven and Scott, when it needs to be cleaned, it needs to be cleaned! Crud and rust are not patina. However, I have some pieces of CI which I think of as patinated; they are black, they don't rust, they are not shiny or "crusty." In my opinion, that is patina. I have refused to sell at least one piece when I realized it would go straight into an e-tank. I think destroying original good finish is just wrong.
 
This is a funny thread. :)
As someone mentioned, I doubt the amount of groad on a pan is going to impact the cooking of anything. Also, why cook w/ 50 years of someone else's nasty leftovers?
Rust on the other hand may be useful in getting some iron in the blood.
 
Mike Green said:
This is a funny thread. :)
As someone mentioned, I doubt the amount of groad on a pan is going to impact the cooking of anything. Also, why cook w/ 50 years of someone else's nasty leftovers?
Rust on the other hand may be useful in getting some iron in the blood.
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Not sure I understand the "rust" comment??? Thought I was clear in that there is "NO" rust on the pan in reference. I specifically stated that if there had been rust I would not have given second thought about a total restoration.
As far as the "outside crud" it has long been carbonized with all those years of heat applied. I prefer to eat my food cooked on the inside of my cast iron and rarely pay much attention on what's been cooked on the outside.
With all the differing answers and comments this thread has received my mind is made up....the inside will be cleaned and re-seasoned to my standards and the outside will remain as is and be humbly displayed along side my other collection pieces.
Thanks again everyone and I promise not to post any future "funny" threads.
 
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