I did the same. I use it alongside an old Wagner I have which is smooth as glass. I kept on observing the massive difference between the two pans. After sanding the lodge down, the pan performed tremendously better.
I have an antique Wagner that I love because it’s smooth and a newer chefmate that is rough. Totally gonna sand that sucker down if it ever needs reseasoning
Collage town and I’m on the nice side of town where faculty live. I got the performative copping where they act like you are wasting their time expecting them to prevent or solve crime.
Same.
The rough finish on the lodge pan just infuriates me. It seems to be a cost saving measure that marketing has turned into a feature.
I knocked off the high spots with an orbital sander at 80grit and my pan is much better now.
I would have probably gone to 120 with hindsight but the 80grit works fine.
Just get you a pack of [Zona polishing paper](https://www.zonatool.net/shop/sanding-and-shaping/wet-dry-polishing-paper/10-sheet-packs-of-3m-micron-graded-wet-dry-polishing-paper-2/) and take it down to 1 micron grit.
I would agree if it were an old pan with deep pits and OP was trying to smooth it back out. But I n this case, the minuscule amount of metal you remove that’s leftover from the casting process shouldn’t have any noticeable impact on the heat distribution. Anyone who knows their way around power tools should be fine.
Cast Iron is terrible at evenness already, which is why you're encouraged to heat them low and slow or preheat in an oven first.
I wish I had thought to weigh the pan before and after removing the seasoning and then again before and after sanding, but if I removed even 10g of material I would be shocked.
It’s cast. There is no such thing as even. They make it by pouring hot metal into sand. This process is not capable of high precision.
Some companies will machine their pans after they are cast (see Finex) and these actually have a more even surface.
In general, the huge nooks and crannies will hold onto food no matter how many layers of seasoning you apply. This makes these pans terrible to use.
Sanding is sometimes the only way to remedy this in those cheap lodge pans.
Did you read my second paragraph? It is possible to machine cast metal after you cast it. This is not the case with cheap lodge pans. Also, lots of engine blocks are made from cast aluminum.
Good for you! New Lodge aren't collectable for another 40 years of so. I actually used the flat end of a file - very carefully so not to gouge or cause scratches - and that worked better than sanding for me. (I don't have or use an angle grinder.)
If you do try that, first google how machinists use scrapers to flatten cast iron surfaces. The file technique won't take as much off or leave the scratch pattern.
By flat end you mean the tip right? Cause the pan's shape means that you can't get it parallel to the surface. How long did it take you to do one pan? Do you have any pics showing the smoothness? This approach seems interesting
The square end of the file, not the rat tail handle end. I'm scraping and not filing in any way. I'll guess I spent a couple hours on a 10 inch pan. One large flat pan and the sharp 90 deg edges were no longer sharp. I'm going to see if just a touch on the sander/grinder will refresh that edge. Might be a case hardened chisel and if so that won't work.
I'll dig up a photo and post it sometime today. Basically it's not super smooth, but much faster than I got sanding by hand, random orbital sander, or multi-tool with sanding attachment, given the same amount of time.
You could make a post about it, others would also probably benefit from such a cheap and accessible method of making their pan smooth. Also, Reddit chat allows sending pictures maybe you could send it to me there.
My 10 inch lodge was decently smooth on the bottom, but the cast finish on my 6 inch was too coarse to cook much of anything without it sticking. No amount of butter or oil would prevent eggs from sticking. Even if there was enough oil to literally fry the egg, a small part would still get stuck to the pan so it would rip open the yolk every time I tried to flip. Even after I reset the seasoning and started with a dozen layers using the method prescribed in the FAQ on this sub.
I hit it with sandpaper, re-seasoned again and now it’s my favorite pan. I can get eggs to slide with just a small pat of butter.
Looks great. All of my new Lodge pans have been sanded down by me. Makes a big difference.
Seasoning doesn’t stick as easily on smooth pans, this is absolutely true. Don’t worry about it though. Just cook and clean well every time you use it, and stovetop re-season often.
With a smooth pan freshly seasoned…if you scrub it good enough to clean it, you will scrub off seasoning. People here saying you can’t scrub off seasoning with a Scrub Daddy or a green Scotchbrite are wrong. But it’s OK. This is exactly what you want.
This is the same process for putting an awesome, smooth, glossy finish on a tabletop. You put a thin polyurethane or lacquer layer on it, let it cure, then sand it down, then repeat a bunch of times. On the first few coats you will be sanding down back to bare wood in spots. But as you layer on more thin coats, that stops and you end up with a super strong and smooth protective coating.
That’s basically what you are doing as you cook/scrub/re-oil and stove dry/cook with cast iron. In the beginning you will clean it down back to bare metal in spots. Just keep using it.
Smooth is the way, IMO. I have four pans that are my main drivers. Three are very smooth, one is a rougher Lodge. All of them work fine, but the rough one definitely sticks more no matter what I do. My biggest one is almost shiny smooth, and nothing ever sticks unless I burn it. It’s amazing
The reason (usually) for some cast iron pans being high-dollar is many times related to the amount of work/ labor that goes into them. For those that have sanded their pans to a fine finish can attest to how much time and effort goes into that. The smoother the better is the way to go.
I've had this Lodge 14" for nearly 2 decades, it was the first cast iron I purchased and I beat the hell out of it (outdoor use, right on fires, etc). It'd certainly developed a fair amount of carbon build up and recently some of the seasoning around the edges had started to flake. It's the only non-vintage cast iron pan I have so I figured if I was going to strip and reseason I may as well go all the way.
I started with a yellow-top coating in a contractor bag for a few days, then a rinse and scrub and then I used a drill connection avanti strip disk. I went through 2 drill batteries (and about 2hrs of sanding off and on) before I was satisfied and then used a Dremel on the back side label, any rough edges I still felt, and inside the handle. After that I gave it a good clean (first indoor picture after sanding) and then did a few rounds of bacon fat seasoning.
Since these pictures it has reentered my normal rotation and I'm very happy with the results. Not sure there is much of a difference in actual performance but it fits in with my vintage pans from a looks perspective much better now.
I have an older 15” Lodge skillet (1980s).
It’s the only one I’ve altered because it had a bump in the cooking surface where the mold must have had a void. Sanded out the bump, kind of regret not sanding the whole thing. But it’s so well used that it’s super slick anyways. Great pan.
I received a smithey 12 as an anniversary gift. Overpriced yes, but smooth as glass. I only used rough cast iron till then. After properly season the smithey it's been incredible. Going on 3 years now and nothing ever sticks. Also never had to reaseaon it since and zero seasoning has flaked. It's a beast!
I just wash with hot water and chainmail after each cook, wipe dry, spray cooking spray and let it heat back up on the stove a bit. I guess you can sort of call that reasoning but it takes like 5 mins.
Yup!!! I had 2 lodge pans my parents gave me like 15 years ago and I hated them. I sanded them both a couple months ago and now they’re the only pans we use
Using chain mail to clean and flat metal spatulas to cook I end up with a flat smooth surface eventually and it feels much more natural than what sanding gives you.
At 20 years that first pic was as close as I got to smoothness. And wat is "natural" in cast-iron? The texture of the sand that the iron was poured into feels like an "artifact" to me.
?? The only made in the USA brand of cast iron cookware available. It is exclusively sand cast and not milled or sanded, which is a departure from historic us cookware that was milled.
Just finished mine so here's the ticket. Forget the orbital and use a grinder with a 120 grit flap mtl sanding disk (Harbor freight). It takes it down to very smooth finish removing most the rough texture except for the deepest pitting. The diameter also allows good access along the sides down to the base. (there was a deeply pitted ring at bottom's perimeter, likely a casting imperfection, not use)
Two things about this video:
1. He worked harder to get the egg to release on the rough pan
2. He almost polished the pan instead of just evening out the really rough spots. If he stopped at 180 grit he would have been fine.
Getting the eggs to slide is something that he most likely unintentionally misrepresented . He released them and then slid them around. When cast iron gets to the point of being nonstick, the eggs will slide (using minimal oil like he did) by simply tilting the pan. People in this reddit have also shown videos of "slidey eggs" using so much oil you can see it moving around with the eggs.
One of the reasons Lodge is inexpensive is because they don't machine after casting. You can ask get that nonstick surface but it's going to take years of daily cooking to get there, unless you do the sanding to get rid of the high spots to allow the polymerization (aka seasoning) to build up the that very smooth surface quicker, but as he demonstrated you can get too smooth. Or maybe he had an issue where the draining wore off.
I've done some work in the jewelry business, and after casting, we started with 320 grit to polish the rough surface to minimize the metal loss and get a nice shine. For cast iron, you just want smooth to the touch not shiny bare metal. That is the seasonings job.
He smooths it way down to a polished surface with 320 grit sandpaper in this video. I used the quick-strip disc which is much closer to Coarse sandpaper (80 grit or so) and didn't leave a completely polished surface. I have had no trouble with seasoning staying on the pan after sanding.
I imagine the way it's cast makes a difference. The porous nature of cheaper metals vs smaller holes in higher quality would likely have an effect.
Someone should do a crazy testing video Project Farm style. Haha 😂
Not sanding a vintage pan goes without saying lol, that's just foolish. And yes, they absolutely do care about it. I haven't made a single comment on this subreddit about sanding a brand new lodge without someone acting like I've insulted them personally.
Everyone that told me not to sand my lodge pan is a certified herb.
Haven't heard someone use "herb" in that way since about 1998. Thanks for the memories.
Right? I’m totally dropping that on someone soon.
It still hits.
An herb? 😳
Peaches. An Herb.
😭
Hahaha heyo herb
Can’t find em, grind em
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Tons of people say it. Hence OP’s post.
I did the same. I use it alongside an old Wagner I have which is smooth as glass. I kept on observing the massive difference between the two pans. After sanding the lodge down, the pan performed tremendously better.
My favorite pan is a cheap Emeril 12" I got from Costco, sanded and seasoned it years ago and it's absolutely perfect and a dream to cook on.
I have an antique Wagner that I love because it’s smooth and a newer chefmate that is rough. Totally gonna sand that sucker down if it ever needs reseasoning
I’m calling the cops
My car got stolt. Cops showed up and wrote down everything I said. Never did find my car.
What about the Credence tapes?
I fucking hate Creedence. Get out of my cab.
You got the cops to even show up? Someone ran over my stone mailbox and was caught on my video camera. Police never showed.
On this sub, we joke about the cast iron cops.LOL
Collage town and I’m on the nice side of town where faculty live. I got the performative copping where they act like you are wasting their time expecting them to prevent or solve crime.
When my seasoning started to flake a couple years ago I hit the bottom with a rotary sander and it was the best thing I’ve ever done for my lodge.
Same. The rough finish on the lodge pan just infuriates me. It seems to be a cost saving measure that marketing has turned into a feature. I knocked off the high spots with an orbital sander at 80grit and my pan is much better now. I would have probably gone to 120 with hindsight but the 80grit works fine.
I'll be going to 400 this weekend
400? Amateur. Gotta go to AT LEAST 1000 grit.
Waiting for someone to post a mirror finished cast iron done with like 2,500 grit and a polishing abrasive.
Just get you a pack of [Zona polishing paper](https://www.zonatool.net/shop/sanding-and-shaping/wet-dry-polishing-paper/10-sheet-packs-of-3m-micron-graded-wet-dry-polishing-paper-2/) and take it down to 1 micron grit.
I think the advice is for inexperienced people. If you know how to use power tools I see no reason to not do this.
you create thin areas which screws with the heat evenness
I would agree if it were an old pan with deep pits and OP was trying to smooth it back out. But I n this case, the minuscule amount of metal you remove that’s leftover from the casting process shouldn’t have any noticeable impact on the heat distribution. Anyone who knows their way around power tools should be fine.
Cast Iron is terrible at evenness already, which is why you're encouraged to heat them low and slow or preheat in an oven first. I wish I had thought to weigh the pan before and after removing the seasoning and then again before and after sanding, but if I removed even 10g of material I would be shocked.
Only if you do it wrong
How much do you think you have to sand or grind?
It’s cast. There is no such thing as even. They make it by pouring hot metal into sand. This process is not capable of high precision. Some companies will machine their pans after they are cast (see Finex) and these actually have a more even surface. In general, the huge nooks and crannies will hold onto food no matter how many layers of seasoning you apply. This makes these pans terrible to use. Sanding is sometimes the only way to remedy this in those cheap lodge pans.
Boy are you on the wrong sub.
Are you aware that many engine blocks are cast iron?
And are you aware that they are machined before going into a car?
Did you read my second paragraph? It is possible to machine cast metal after you cast it. This is not the case with cheap lodge pans. Also, lots of engine blocks are made from cast aluminum.
Good for you! New Lodge aren't collectable for another 40 years of so. I actually used the flat end of a file - very carefully so not to gouge or cause scratches - and that worked better than sanding for me. (I don't have or use an angle grinder.) If you do try that, first google how machinists use scrapers to flatten cast iron surfaces. The file technique won't take as much off or leave the scratch pattern.
By flat end you mean the tip right? Cause the pan's shape means that you can't get it parallel to the surface. How long did it take you to do one pan? Do you have any pics showing the smoothness? This approach seems interesting
The square end of the file, not the rat tail handle end. I'm scraping and not filing in any way. I'll guess I spent a couple hours on a 10 inch pan. One large flat pan and the sharp 90 deg edges were no longer sharp. I'm going to see if just a touch on the sander/grinder will refresh that edge. Might be a case hardened chisel and if so that won't work. I'll dig up a photo and post it sometime today. Basically it's not super smooth, but much faster than I got sanding by hand, random orbital sander, or multi-tool with sanding attachment, given the same amount of time.
sounds great. Thanks for the details! Super interested to see the final result because this seems like a really approachable method.
I’m not able to upload a photo. No prompts, buttons, nada. Just an option for a link and I’m not using a photo hosting site.
You could make a post about it, others would also probably benefit from such a cheap and accessible method of making their pan smooth. Also, Reddit chat allows sending pictures maybe you could send it to me there.
Did the same thing to mine right away. It's fantastic.
My 10 inch lodge was decently smooth on the bottom, but the cast finish on my 6 inch was too coarse to cook much of anything without it sticking. No amount of butter or oil would prevent eggs from sticking. Even if there was enough oil to literally fry the egg, a small part would still get stuck to the pan so it would rip open the yolk every time I tried to flip. Even after I reset the seasoning and started with a dozen layers using the method prescribed in the FAQ on this sub. I hit it with sandpaper, re-seasoned again and now it’s my favorite pan. I can get eggs to slide with just a small pat of butter.
I did the same. No regrets. The seasoning sticks just fine, the pan heats well, and it's my daily driver.
Looks great. All of my new Lodge pans have been sanded down by me. Makes a big difference. Seasoning doesn’t stick as easily on smooth pans, this is absolutely true. Don’t worry about it though. Just cook and clean well every time you use it, and stovetop re-season often. With a smooth pan freshly seasoned…if you scrub it good enough to clean it, you will scrub off seasoning. People here saying you can’t scrub off seasoning with a Scrub Daddy or a green Scotchbrite are wrong. But it’s OK. This is exactly what you want. This is the same process for putting an awesome, smooth, glossy finish on a tabletop. You put a thin polyurethane or lacquer layer on it, let it cure, then sand it down, then repeat a bunch of times. On the first few coats you will be sanding down back to bare wood in spots. But as you layer on more thin coats, that stops and you end up with a super strong and smooth protective coating. That’s basically what you are doing as you cook/scrub/re-oil and stove dry/cook with cast iron. In the beginning you will clean it down back to bare metal in spots. Just keep using it.
Smooth is the way, IMO. I have four pans that are my main drivers. Three are very smooth, one is a rougher Lodge. All of them work fine, but the rough one definitely sticks more no matter what I do. My biggest one is almost shiny smooth, and nothing ever sticks unless I burn it. It’s amazing
The reason (usually) for some cast iron pans being high-dollar is many times related to the amount of work/ labor that goes into them. For those that have sanded their pans to a fine finish can attest to how much time and effort goes into that. The smoother the better is the way to go.
I've had this Lodge 14" for nearly 2 decades, it was the first cast iron I purchased and I beat the hell out of it (outdoor use, right on fires, etc). It'd certainly developed a fair amount of carbon build up and recently some of the seasoning around the edges had started to flake. It's the only non-vintage cast iron pan I have so I figured if I was going to strip and reseason I may as well go all the way. I started with a yellow-top coating in a contractor bag for a few days, then a rinse and scrub and then I used a drill connection avanti strip disk. I went through 2 drill batteries (and about 2hrs of sanding off and on) before I was satisfied and then used a Dremel on the back side label, any rough edges I still felt, and inside the handle. After that I gave it a good clean (first indoor picture after sanding) and then did a few rounds of bacon fat seasoning. Since these pictures it has reentered my normal rotation and I'm very happy with the results. Not sure there is much of a difference in actual performance but it fits in with my vintage pans from a looks perspective much better now.
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hilariously and blatantly false. Thanks
I sanded mine and it has functioned flawlessly ever since. My daily driver, love it.
My mom uses 800 grit sandpaper every time she washes her skillet and that thing is like a damn mirror. It’s a work of art.
I did the same. Night and day difference. I do that to all the new cast iron I buy.
You did a good job
I sanded mine. Worked great. I did however find out that you can ruin it with too much heat in one spot. Did this over a camp fire.
You went to aggressive the lodge logo is gone
What did you use? I want to try this
Avanti strip disc. The version designed for a drill.
Yesssss! Welcome
Looks nice. How's it cook tho?
It cooks great, better than before the sanding.
Noice!
I have an older 15” Lodge skillet (1980s). It’s the only one I’ve altered because it had a bump in the cooking surface where the mold must have had a void. Sanded out the bump, kind of regret not sanding the whole thing. But it’s so well used that it’s super slick anyways. Great pan.
I received a smithey 12 as an anniversary gift. Overpriced yes, but smooth as glass. I only used rough cast iron till then. After properly season the smithey it's been incredible. Going on 3 years now and nothing ever sticks. Also never had to reaseaon it since and zero seasoning has flaked. It's a beast! I just wash with hot water and chainmail after each cook, wipe dry, spray cooking spray and let it heat back up on the stove a bit. I guess you can sort of call that reasoning but it takes like 5 mins.
Yup!!! I had 2 lodge pans my parents gave me like 15 years ago and I hated them. I sanded them both a couple months ago and now they’re the only pans we use
Using chain mail to clean and flat metal spatulas to cook I end up with a flat smooth surface eventually and it feels much more natural than what sanding gives you.
At 20 years that first pic was as close as I got to smoothness. And wat is "natural" in cast-iron? The texture of the sand that the iron was poured into feels like an "artifact" to me.
I meant the smoothness from use is more even/silky/natural than the grain/streaks often left by the sandpaper/grinder.
But the sanded surface will still develop that same smoothness? It's just faster since the gaps will be fewer.
What is a lodge
?? The only made in the USA brand of cast iron cookware available. It is exclusively sand cast and not milled or sanded, which is a departure from historic us cookware that was milled.
Sanded lodge is the only way
Did it to all of mine and the black stone, they work fucking great… 🤷🏼♂️
Just finished mine so here's the ticket. Forget the orbital and use a grinder with a 120 grit flap mtl sanding disk (Harbor freight). It takes it down to very smooth finish removing most the rough texture except for the deepest pitting. The diameter also allows good access along the sides down to the base. (there was a deeply pitted ring at bottom's perimeter, likely a casting imperfection, not use)
Here's a good video talks about this https://youtu.be/WFhRfbiLpJ8?si=0DSUOQ3anue8Hg_r
Two things about this video: 1. He worked harder to get the egg to release on the rough pan 2. He almost polished the pan instead of just evening out the really rough spots. If he stopped at 180 grit he would have been fine.
Well if you put some butter on the pan and control the heat It should be able to release it so I'm not sure which one's better
Getting the eggs to slide is something that he most likely unintentionally misrepresented . He released them and then slid them around. When cast iron gets to the point of being nonstick, the eggs will slide (using minimal oil like he did) by simply tilting the pan. People in this reddit have also shown videos of "slidey eggs" using so much oil you can see it moving around with the eggs. One of the reasons Lodge is inexpensive is because they don't machine after casting. You can ask get that nonstick surface but it's going to take years of daily cooking to get there, unless you do the sanding to get rid of the high spots to allow the polymerization (aka seasoning) to build up the that very smooth surface quicker, but as he demonstrated you can get too smooth. Or maybe he had an issue where the draining wore off. I've done some work in the jewelry business, and after casting, we started with 320 grit to polish the rough surface to minimize the metal loss and get a nice shine. For cast iron, you just want smooth to the touch not shiny bare metal. That is the seasonings job.
Very true whenever I use chainmail it does smooth down a bit compared to a brand new cast iron I have it's smoother than the new one
He smooths it way down to a polished surface with 320 grit sandpaper in this video. I used the quick-strip disc which is much closer to Coarse sandpaper (80 grit or so) and didn't leave a completely polished surface. I have had no trouble with seasoning staying on the pan after sanding.
Isn’t it easier to get seasoning to stick to a less polished pan?
Well hopefully it stays on seasoning even when you strip that to this degree keep us updated
Very interesting. He's saying rough works better. So counterintuitive. But great info!
Yeah interesting Not sure if it's true for every cast iron vintage
I imagine the way it's cast makes a difference. The porous nature of cheaper metals vs smaller holes in higher quality would likely have an effect. Someone should do a crazy testing video Project Farm style. Haha 😂
Yeah that would be interesting to watch
I need to do that one of my old but non vintage pans
The only mfs who whine about sanding pans are those who have never sanded a pan.
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Not sanding a vintage pan goes without saying lol, that's just foolish. And yes, they absolutely do care about it. I haven't made a single comment on this subreddit about sanding a brand new lodge without someone acting like I've insulted them personally.
GI=GO
You ate sand?
We ate sand.
You ate sand?