Korean Job Discussion Forums

[lion]

OK, this is a long shot...

...anyone seen one for sale anywhere (in Seoul)?

I'm sick of Teflon. Can't scrape the pan. And those designer stainless steel ones look like they'd be impractical to keep clean. I want the good ol' permanently-oiled cast-iron frypan of my past.

[parkhelens]

I saw a Le Creuset store at the Yeoju outlets (in the city of Yeoju, an hour south of Seoul). Just to give you a bit of warning, things are still pretty expensive there, but if you get really desperate....

http://www.premiumoutlets.co.kr/

(site works best in IE, not firefox...ugh.)

Also, for anyone who is thinking of going down there to do some shopping, I found it ridiculously expensive. Yeah, yeah, that's because there are a lot of hoity toity stores there, but there are a couple of "midlevel" stores there too, like "nine west" and it was still 50% more expensive to buy shoes there than at a nine west store in america. Also, there aren't very many stores. It took me exactly 30 minutes to look around.

[skindleshanks]

Here's a site that sells most of the Lodge line at reasonable prices (more than the states,cheaper than in Canada.)
www.stanley.co.kr

Most of the Lodge line comes preseasoned, which is a plus.

I bought a reversible grill from them a month ago and was pretty happy with it. (although I set off the smoke alarm in my building when I tried to grill steaks for the first time.)

[Lis]

Great site! I'm all for cast iron, too. Thanks for sharing.

[matthews_world]

[flummuxt]

Hey thanks, skindleshanks. I'd been wanting a cast iron frying pan, too.

My folks had some wonderful old pans that had been passed down for generations. So they were seasoned great.

I suspect many people do not know how to season new pans. I had trouble over the years. But a while ago I bought a set and got them seasoned right. They weren't anything fancy: Three pans for $15: a 12, 8 and 6 inch pan. Now that beef is relatively reasonably priced, I sure would like a cast iron pan to cook it in.

First tip: If they say preseasoned, do not wash them out before using, despite what some websites advise. Follow the instructions with the pan. I think I cooked up some hamburger first.

The most important thing is don't use soap and water on cast iron. In fact, don't even use water at first, or at least very much. Scrape it off with a metal spatula, wipe it out with a paper towel. If you need to, get it hot, put a tablespoon of water or so in, let it sizzle, then scrape with the spatula.

After about a month of this, then you can soak it, if necessary, but only briefly. Dry over heat, add a few drops of oil, wipe with paper towel.

Try cooking a variety of things, including pancakes and mashed up pinto beans (refried beans), if you can find them. I did; helped with the seasoning. You need to get stuff kinda burned into the metal.

However, I happened across an interesting tip on the web: The best way to season a cast iron pan is to hold it over burning hardwood with just a thin coating of oil on the pan. Then bake. The soot gets bonded to the metal, giving it a great seasoning.

Think about it: In the old days, say Colonial America or rural Mexico, they probably didn't wash their cast iron a lot, and they probably cooked over wood. That's how they got them seasoned so they could cook anything in them.

After a month or two, my pans were seasoned so good I could cook omelets in them and have them slide out as well or better than worn teflon. Afterwards, I would just wipe them out with a towel.

You could brown things much better, and the heat is much more even than an aluminum Teflon pan. And one cast iron pan can literally last 100 years. Just do a little research on the Web.

Now here's a tip for your Teflon pans: If you get a new one, treat them sorta like cast iron: don't wash them with soap, just wipe them out with a paper towel. They will last a lot longer.

And of course, if you get a Teflon pan too hot, it will reduce the quality of the coating. Some say they also release a dangerous gas when you do this.

Say, what is this strange coating on the pans here? Is it just a sort of decorative Teflon?

[lion]

@flummuxt:

My GF was looking at me like I was nuts when I was trying to tell her about the whole never-using-soap thing, so thanks for your exhaustive post. (Am I a heretic if I say a little soap on a very well-oiled pan is no big deal?)

@skindleshanks:

You rock! Thanks so much for the URL. I've placed an order for a 30cm pan, reduced to 32k @ the moment for those of you who haven't had a look. (And the 26cm pan is only 21k!)

[flummuxt]

You ever see a griddle in a diner, one of those big long things where the short order cook fries everything from hamburgers to cheese steaks to pancakes?

When he wants to clean it, the cook just squirts a little water on the hot griddle or grill, it sizzles, and he then promptly scrapes it off with his spatula.

I don't think they ever wash it down with soap.

if your pan is really messed up from, say, burning on some cornbread or something, then you need to let it soak for a while. But no soap.

the heat sterilizes it.

[skindleshanks]

I have to admit, I'm having a bit of trouble maintaining the seasoning on my (vintage) cast iron crepe pan and (new preseasoned) reversible grill. Part of the problem is that I'm getting too much oil buildup, especially around the edges. My reversible grill also has burn patterns from the flame when I have flipped it over. Any tips?

Funny, I just remembered how, when I was a teenager, I thought I'd impress my mom by returning her grandmother's cast iron pan to it's original shine. I spent about an hour with the steel wool and took of about 10 years of conditioning before i gave up. My mom was really nice about it--she gently told me never to do that again!

[skindleshanks]

Now I'm curious: Does anyone know where one can find a decent carbon steel wok?

[karoly]

For most of your iron needs: get off at Dongdaemoon exit 9. Up the stairs, walk straight for about 150 m. The first street you come to is where all the motorcycle delivery guys park, turn left. 50 m in there is a narrow alley, turn right. Walk thru for about 100 m. This area is where alot of restaurant/cooking devices are made.

If they don't have it ask, and they'll make it or know where you can find one; I would just make sure the iron isn't from an old nuclear reactor.

NOTE: one of these areas/services exist in most every town.

[lion]

yeeha! showed up yesterday!

[pavement burns]

I love my cast iron pans!

However, regarding that griddle that supposedly never gets cleaned?

http://www.doriandrake.com/images/product_images/food/american_range/Griddle%20Sn%20action%20copy.jpg

These things usually get ground down with a big chunk of pumice stone and scaled with grease cutter (and a paint scraper) every night at closing time to meet health inspection.

http://www.pallmall.com.au/Images/PM014HR.jpg

However in a restaurant do you really want food cooked on a grill that hasn't been scraped for twelve hours? Or more?

http://www.clean-supply.com/images/medium/C519_MED.jpg

A few items useful for re-seasoning projects?

[sojourner1]

Is there an iron cookware set that can be used as an oven over a fire to bake cakes and lasagna? I know before everyone in western countries got ovens, they must had used such a cookware set over a fire to bake breads.

Might you set a pan inside a large iron dutch oven?

[skindleshanks]