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Dutch Oven issues

Posted on 1/28/13 at 3:10 pm
Posted by alajones
Huntsvegas
Member since Oct 2005
34451 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 3:10 pm
I've got a Lodge Dutch Oven that I have had for a few years and now everything tastes like metal. Is there some other way to season it besides coating it in oil and heating it up in the oven?

I use soap and water sometimes. I know you aren't supposed to, but I do. I just don't think things get clean without soap and hot water. I also have a cast iron skillet that I clean and season the same way but have never had any issues with it.

Anyone have advice here? I'm about to retire it for good. Which would be a shame because I have figured out many things to do with it. They just keep coming out tasting like metal.
Posted by CBLSU316
Far Right of Left
Member since Jun 2008
11391 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 3:11 pm to
Sounds like it needs a real good "seasoning"........apply good coat of oil.......maybe stick in oven and then repeat.
Posted by ProjectP2294
South St. Louis city
Member since May 2007
70093 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 3:13 pm to
This thread title on the OT would make for a completely different thread.

On topic though, I can't think of a way to season it other than the traditional way.

My question is why do you use soap and water knowing that this is a possibility?
Posted by Degas
2187645493 posts
Member since Jul 2010
11385 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 3:14 pm to
quote:

I use soap. I know you aren't supposed to, but I do


Then why are you asking?
Posted by alajones
Huntsvegas
Member since Oct 2005
34451 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 3:15 pm to
I usually just use kosher salt, oil and a paper towel. But if I've got caked on chili, I have to resort to soap and water sometimes.
Posted by Degas
2187645493 posts
Member since Jul 2010
11385 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 3:20 pm to
quote:

But if I've got caked on chili, I have to resort to soap
No you don't, and you've even said so.

Immediately after use while it's still hot, grab a towel or washcloth and rinse it under water. The heat from the cast iron should loosen up any debris you're trying to remove. Dry, then put back on the stove top or into the oven to remove any remaining moisture. It's permissible and encouraged to coat with a touch of oil.
Posted by alajones
Huntsvegas
Member since Oct 2005
34451 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 3:26 pm to
quote:

Dry, then put back on the stove top or into the oven to remove any remaining moisture. It's permissible and encouraged to coat with a touch of oil.
I always do this before putting it away.

It just doesn't seem like you are really cleaning something without soap and hot water. I mean, if you piss on your floor and then wipe it up with a paper towel, it didn't get clean. But the piss is gone.

But I guess the only answer can be that I'm scrubbing the seasoning off.


Posted by Cajunate
Louisiana
Member since Aug 2012
3325 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 3:28 pm to
Try seasoning using this method in the link below.

LINK /
Posted by Politiceaux
Member since Feb 2009
17654 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 3:32 pm to
quote:

It just doesn't seem like you are really cleaning something without soap and hot water. I mean, if you piss on your floor and then wipe it up with a paper towel, it didn't get clean. But the piss is gone.
Does your floor have a 400 degree surface temperature that kills any bacteria? Mine didn't come with that option.
This post was edited on 1/28/13 at 3:33 pm
Posted by Lloyd Christmas
Baton Rouge
Member since Aug 2005
4283 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 3:37 pm to
quote:

everything tastes like metal


you cooking a lot of tomato based dishes?
Posted by alajones
Huntsvegas
Member since Oct 2005
34451 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 3:45 pm to
The chili actually came out pretty well.

My gumbo tasted like metal and so did my chicken and rice the other night.

Chili has tomatoes obviously, but it just seems wrong not to cook chili in a dutch oven.
Posted by hungryone
river parishes
Member since Sep 2010
11987 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 4:07 pm to
Get an enameled cast iron dutch oven (Lodge makes a line, as do Tramontina, Le Creuset, and Staub) and you can forget all the fuss about seasoning. Enameled CI is easier to keep clean, won't rust, and has all the advantages of CI. No more metallic taste when cooking acid foods when you use enameled CI.

The Lodge and Tramontina enameled CI can be bought at WalMart for under $50. LC and Staub are higher end, but widely available at department stores, Sur La Table, etc.
Posted by MeridianDog
Home on the range
Member since Nov 2010
14157 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 4:13 pm to
Tomato picks up a bad metallic taste in cast iron. That's why I never allow it in my cast iron pots and skillets.

Could be some other acidic food, since all acids will leach out a metalic taste form Iron.

Edited to say

I should read the string first. Others have already shared this.

Sorry

This post was edited on 1/28/13 at 4:15 pm
Posted by MeridianDog
Home on the range
Member since Nov 2010
14157 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 4:15 pm to
Your Chili with tomatoes is probably the reason everything else tastes like metal.

Reseason the pot and do not put tomatoes into it.

Tomatoes aren't required in Chili - you just like them in your chili. If you put tomatoes in your chili, you need to cook it in something else - not cast iron.

sorry
This post was edited on 1/28/13 at 4:18 pm
Posted by KosmoCramer
Member since Dec 2007
76488 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 4:46 pm to
So you:

A) Use soap to clean a non-enamel dutch oven.

B) Cook acidic things(tomatoes, in chili no less) in it.


And you wonder what the issue is.




This post was edited on 1/28/13 at 4:46 pm
Posted by Fap-n-Nap
Member since Aug 2012
2747 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 4:50 pm to
Using a little soap doesn't hurt a thing. I've got a dozen or so cast iron pots and skillets I'll put up against anybody's.
Posted by KosmoCramer
Member since Dec 2007
76488 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 4:53 pm to
If you scrub cast iron with dish soup, and then simmer tomato based food, that's what happens.

There's a reason they instruct you not to. A little soap now and then doesn't hurt it, but repeated use, not being seasoned regularly, and cooking acidic foods isn't a good combination if you don't like the taste of iron.
Posted by brmach
Member since Aug 2012
769 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 5:38 pm to
quote:

But if I've got caked on chili, I have to resort to soap


No you don't, and you've even said so.

Immediately after use while it's still hot, grab a towel or washcloth and rinse it under water. The heat from the cast iron should loosen up any debris you're trying to remove. Dry, then put back on the stove top or into the oven to remove any remaining moisture. It's permissible and encouraged to coat with a touch of oil.


+1,000,000

For the life of me, I can't figure out why people want to use cast iron and then treat it like teflon.
Posted by Cajunate
Louisiana
Member since Aug 2012
3325 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 5:42 pm to
Those stiff bristled brushes Lodge sells work real well scrubbing under running water usually with no soap. If a cast iron pot lookes the least bit funny after washing I wipe with a lil oil and heat up or heat and wipe with oil.
Posted by AlmaDawg
Slow Hell
Member since Sep 2012
3222 posts
Posted on 1/28/13 at 5:48 pm to
"Fire cure" the pot. LINK

Clean well with vinegar, heat it on the stove, coat it all over in shortening, place it on a cookie sheet in the oven at 400. Let it roll for a while, then turn the heat off and leave in the oven to cool.

That should work getting rid of the metal taste, I think.
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