Unboxing: $12 Walmart Mainstay Cast Iron Skillet: process of smoothing skillet
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- Опубліковано 10 лют 2025
- Purchased a $12 (in store) / $10 (online) Walmart Main Stays Cast Iron skillet (bottom budget). These skillets are disregarded by most consumers because of the lack of finishing traits. which is also why you can buy one of these cast iron skillets for only $10 online @Walmarts website.
If you have 30 mins of hard work available. Apply this videos steps to a budget skillet and hopefully you will have a great cast iron skillet.
Hey Raheem, got the mainstay yesterday and seasoned it today. One more seasoning in the oven when I get home tonight. I used Canola oil, and the oven to 450 for one hour let it cool and reapplied the canola and seasoned again. Word must have gotten to China about you, so my skillet, although cheap and a mainstay 12", it was pretty smooth. The backside like you said, was plenty rough as were the sides of the inside, but the bottom was uniform but not quite like the old one you showed that you already had. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge about skillets on the video. I feel the old skillet is the fundamental work tool in the American kitchen, my mom did everything with it, and almost every meal, breakfast, lunch and especially supper. Bacon, eggs, corn bread, steaks, fish, pork chops and more... and yes even fried chicken gizzards and making cracklins and don't forget those wonderful gravies she cranked out with dribblings water and flour. She died in February 2007, what a treasure we lost that month. I think of her and love her every day. She was my buddy and my queen! She was a skillet Genius!!! I have a lot of Turkey fat saved up and making a mountain of turkey gravy tomorrow, already made a lot and freezing it, another batch to freeze tomorrow. Come Sunday, well to be honest, my girl, she is 32 now just loves Daddy's turkey gravy as she will Sunday afternoon when she sees what I have for her. Have a good one sir.
Thanks for sharing that and hopefully you can pass down her knowledge in the kitchen down to the next generation.
Ahhhh this younger generation... But We all loved Mom's cooking. I am just glad I was in the kitchen with her. She was at her happiest in the kitchen cooking cleaning washing and loving. @@itsraheem
I just spent some moere and got the lodge one. I cooked some bakon and immediately added some eggs, worked great
That’s great I’m glad that option worked out well for you!
I just got one of those last night, and it was pure hell on the cooking surface. Even though it's factory seasoned, I seasoned it again, twice in the oven. And although it was still rough, I tried to cook some bacon. But it stuck pretty bad. Thanks to your good video, I now know what to do to smooth it up a little. Thanks for the tips, man. Really good stuff.
Yes they come pretty rough. The more you smooth it the better it will be
Cast iron is an addiction. I'm going to order two, doctor them up, season, and give one to my son. My daughter is already a Believer.
literally, I didn't intend on buying this skillet in the first place. But on the other hand this skillet lead to great content. I might make a follow up video using the skillet.
Sweet my friend, very interesting, I'm actually looking for some cast iron cookware now. You're lodge skillet looks awesome, the way my grandma's use to look.
Thanks for this, from a friend in Ontario, Canada.
God bless you.
Yea no problem, if you want a quality skillet out of the box you will have to pay for it. But if you can put in a little work you might be able to spend half the amount on a bottom shelf skillet and just add the finishing touches
Sister and I had a conversation about this on my landline and low and behold, this was in my feed. I think someone's spying on me. lolol
Enjoyed the video. :)
That’s amazing, but also scary how well UA-cam algorithm works
Many think that our Phones listening to us and snitching us out to UA-cam and Facebook is just a conspiracy theory, and it's all a coincidence.
It happens to me far too often to believe it's only a coincidence.
@@TimeSurfer206 It's either that, or the site knows hoe to read your mind (been hearing stories of such things as that as well). lol
:)
@@lylek8933 We aren't the only ones thinking this. There are UA-cam Videos of people actually playing with this.
Nicely done. You've encouraged me to take a flap-disk to my Chinese skillet. Enjoy your 'new' skillet.
the angle grinder is very powerful and makes lite work of any sized skillet. I personally used the angle grinder, but you could also use a smaller orbital sander to complete the job.... now that I think about it the orbital sander might ever work better.
I love my 12" Lodge skillet, but the seasoning is starting to flake. I took good care of it, no soap and seasoned regularly, so I'm going to sand it down and start over. I want to make it as smooth as possible. Thanks man, you gave me the courage to go for it!
Good stuff! I hope it comes out well.
@Official Stuart Copeland correct it worked well for me, but then again I had light surface rust.
Just don’t go TOO smooth, 80 grit is perfect, the seasoning NEEDS something to stick to!!
You did a great job on it . And it will get better
It is definitely getting better over time. I literally made Philly cheese steak on it last night and it didn’t stick
Looking great man ive done that multiple times with cheaper pans and they always turn out nice. Earned a new subscriber today!
thanks, I will create a follow up video on this skillet in due time.
Bought a 12 in mainstays. I did two seasonings with blackstone grill and pan season oil on my induction plate and then cooked a steak (came out fine), then did another seasoning with avocado oil in the oven, then did some bacon on the plate again. The pan looks fine and is cooking well, without any sanding. At first it had a heat ring, but that was more due to heating on my induction rather than the pan itself.I have an older small 8 inch lodge and this mainstays does just as well so far. It's building a decent surface for such a new pan.
Yes, this is just the quick process to get the pans smooth.
Thanks mate. Good hints to make my skillet work properly. Cheers from Australia!
Thanks big guy, hopefully this video gives you the confidence to give bottom shelf skillets a try.
Good video. I'm a lodge man, but I do have a few others in my collection, but the Lodge is so reliable and a true workhorse. Good tips on knocking down the cast surface on a nee preseason pot
Lodge does make a solid dependable workhorse. You can take them outdoors for cooking as well. over the years I try to make cheap affordable skillets perform at the same rate.
Hello Raheem, I love my Cast iron pans, bought a 10" Lodge maybe 20 years ago, can't remember, at Walmart.....over time it's gotten better but always wanted a quality pan, so after watching about 500 videos on youtube about "good" pans, i posted in a local chat group i was wanting to buy old pans....a local man sold me 5, said he didn't know what they're worth, 2 are old Griswold's & 2 are old Wagner's, 2 #8's & 2 # 10's & the 5th pan can't tell who made it but it's also an 8....so i paid him the 50.oo & was THRILLED....soaked 2 in 1/2 & 1/2 white vinegar & water solution then scrubbed them w/ an SOS pad, the other 3 i put into my oven on self cleaning, then scrubbed them after they cooled down w/ SOS pads.....showed them to a cast iron dealer & he said 2 are worth 2oo.oo by themselves & they're all made from 1920 to 1935.....I'm going to give away my old Lodge pan now...
It’s crazy how a little elbow grease goes a long way!
Awesome! Great idea! Thank you very much! If you turn your pan upside down in the oven it will prevent the oil from pooling on the side of the pan and won't be sticky!
Thanks for the advice
Great job👍
Thanks I will drop a review video soon check it out tomorrow.
I like that theres a second handle to make it easier to carry.
yes these skillets are heavy and the second handle makes them easy to carry
@@itsraheem any way we can make them lighter?
I have been using that same skillet for the past 6 months to cook my breakfast. 4 slices of bacon and 2 fried eggs a day. After 6 months of bacon grease in that pan I have trouble lifting my eggs out because they slide all over the pan. For $10 I am very satisfied with it. When I bought it I did not have the extra $15 to pick up a lodge pan.
Yea the skillet honestly works well for the price, and after 6month I just know your skillet is well seasoned. ✊🏾
I just bought a 12" Tramontina from Ollie's for $8.49 with a 15% off coupon. I have a Lodge 10.5" that is smooth as glass. The Tramontina would remove skin from your knuckles if you wanted to try it. But I had seen your video a long time ago and I figured why not try to smooth it. So I hit it with a handheld orbital sander with 80 grit to start. It knocked it down way easier than I thought. Then hit it with 150 grit for a bit. And finished it off with 220 grit. Took less than half an hour to make it mirror shine.
Now I'm 2 coats of seasoning and it's looking really good. A few more cycles through the oven and I think I'll have a great pan for years to come.
I am honestly glad this worked well for you. these cast irons are great tool but some brands just need a little work on the front end.
I just learned 😍 something new, thank you very much!
Glad it was helpful! I will have a followup video coming out soon please stay posted.
LOVE THE TUNES
Thanks i try to add tunes to keep viewers engaged
nice work. Thanks for the vid!
Glad you liked it!
Well done video! Thanks!!
Thanks I hope this video was useful🇺🇸💯
I like this video. I got a lodge 12" that ive had for bout a decade and i cook everyday on it. I always use beef tallow and lard to season and cook so i got smooth like that after bout 6 months. This is a good way to speed it up..I always use lard or tallow to season. All natural, high smoke point and makes a good hard shell on the pan. Also makes food taste extra good..ask Grandma she'll tell ya that lard or tallow is whats up. Save my fat trimmings and render them up in a slow cooker to make tallow..just add fat chunks, a lil water to keep them from browning during render and let go till they liquid. Skim off those cracklins for salads or adding to food and salt them up. Pour liquid through cheese cloth and screen into canning jar or something else you got like a old jelly jar and you got tallow. Lard is so cheap you can just buy Azteca but if you got pork fat....same thing. Keeps in both fridge and freezer for a while
this was actually an informational comment, I used to use Cisco lard on my old skillets. but once I moved I gave all of those skillets away. After a few days of use I have to say I expedited my break in period for this skillet.
Great Video.
Thanks I hope you enjoyed
Great job!! Been 8 months, how it’s lookin’ now?
It actually performs better than my other name brand skillets I should make a video or me using this tonight! And post tomorrow✊🏾
@@itsraheem that would be awesome!!
@@rstumbaugh43 video should drop around 12 cst
How is it for even heat distribution? Some cheaper skillets don't have good heat distribution. Hot/Cold sections.
The heat distribution on this skillet is solid. I personally believe that it has well distribution given its larger size.
most 12" skillets only heat a small section that is over the skillet.
I got one of these and thought people who loved cast iron were nuts. Needing to sand it smooth explains some things.
Yea saddest part is, IF the skillet is smooth the pans are perfect…. But when they are gritty they practically useless.
So I followed another video before I came across this one, can someone explain to me why when I was oiling it and baking it before pre seasoning why it caught on fire 😢😢
A sander with finer grit and some time sanding the cooking surface and it will be smooth and season up like a dream
How much finer should I bring it down to after 120?
But no lie it came out very smooth vs it’s original state
@@itsraheem I went to 400 grit on with one of those little mouse palm sanders, but that may have been an over kill,, though even the NEW lodges are pretty rough so I guess its not a big deal as long as it works :)
what brand was the old pan you showed, that definitely wasnt a cheap walmart brand like ozark/mainstays
It was from Walmart but in a set, I purchased it so long ago sorry
Salaam, Raheem! I got one of the 8" ones, and it only took a few minutes with my Angle Grinder.
Now, if I could just remember how to keep it properly seasoned...
Salaam brother. Once you get a good season it should technically be low maintenance for a few months
Was hoping you'd cook something in it, show us how well that worked. Good info, though!
Coming soon! please stay tuned I will cook something on this skillet this weekend.
You should've shown how to do the sides
I never realized I never really showed the sides maybe next video I will correct that
Nice video. I've done similar to mine thanks.
Thanks for watching! I have been using this skillet for a few days now pushing it and then seeing how easily she cleans up.
Thin layers of oil, my dude. Your oil collecting in the edges already after one seasoning bake. Use 2 lint free rags, one to apply and one to wipe off the excess. When you wipe off, try to actually remove the oil with the dry one. It doesn't take much, you just gotta be patient with the coats.
Thanks, I have learned so much since making this video from reviewing the comments thanks
Nice job!! That 12" seems lighter than a Lodge the way you handle it.
Oh trust me she is very heavy, especially when you have hot food in the skillet😂
Or he’s just a muscle man 💪
🙋♀️ I’d like to see you cook something in the pan besides the usual bacon 🥓 & eggs 🍳, cornbread etc .
Look through my old videos I cooked a whole chicken and a few steaks with it. I love it.
I seasoned my giant lodge like they say on UA-cam but they never said to do it a few times. I know what I'm doing next. Thanks
💯 yes every time you can season the skillet it gets better.
I wish I could use a skillet that big but it’s just too heavy for me! Even my 6” skillet hurts my wrist.
Yes I totally understand these skillets are a lot to handle. Especially when they are hot full of food.
have you looked into carbon steel pans?
Lodge is just as rough now too right out of the box, although it is thicker. My great grandma skillet is smooth. Like he said they just cut cost now. And if u dont have an angle grinder get one. Very handy
Yea they don’t make them the same anymore. But now my mainstay skillets perform very well
Use a small palm orbital sander, it’s easier to use. More easily maneuverable than an angle grinder, plus you only have to use one hand!
@@rickkeeton9246 nice. Yeah those cost less as well
Why is a Lodge pan so rough when their older pans were much smoother? So that the preseasoning that they spray on to the pan will stick. It still needs the care given to this pan and then you will have to season the pan yourself.
I did a horrible job at explaining this in my video. Older cast iron skillet creators like Lodge used to take the time to sand & polish their products before selling. Now manufactures cut out the sanding process to save money. the thought process is that over a few months of use it will smooth out like grandma's old skillets.
Nice review and nice video...however you can get a Lodge 12" skillet for the same price, made in USA. Far better quality.
Please send me the link to a Lodge 12" skillet for under $15, because I will add it to the description of this video. Hopefully after I create a follow up video about this $12 lower quality skillet you might be shocked on the turn out.
$24.99 online at Walmart!
Why not just sand it by hand? I dont think you need to be an expert at all to do this with 60 and 80 grit
Give it a shot by hand but the grinder gets it done in seconds 🤷🏾♂️
I wonder how 4 billion Chinese manage to cook on those without sanding them down ?
Oh you can still use them with the rough casting…. Your eggs will stick on the skillet tho😂. But that being said the finishing touches are well needed for a high quality skillet.
Lowest end skillet. Very low. Lodge is much better
That’s great I hope you liked the video
Great video. Simple and to the point. Just what I was looking for. I have another brand that is an older skillet and is rough. I thought sanding was too easy of an answer. Glad to see someone else has done it. Thanks.
Yes just sand it then wash it, then season the skillet. Mines works so well