I picked up a Lodge skillet about 4 years ago and hardly ever used it. Everything stuck to it. I followed your instructions in this video and it is virtually non stick. Thanks for the info.

Received a Lodge as a Christmas gift. Sanded it down using 80 and then 150 grit. Followed your seasoning tips using grape seed oil. Fried some taters with it afterwards. Been cooking with it for a couple weeks using olive oil and nothing sticks to it whatsoever. Rooster rockets, hog meat, and fajitas slide right out. Thank you Kent and Shannon. Many blessings to y’all for 2020!

I discovered this process by accident about ten years ago. I've always loved cooking on cast iron...nuthin like it. My boys, who were very young left my best pan outside, it got buried in the snow and I didn't find it till spring. All rusted up, I sanded it smooth as a babies butt and re-seasoned it. Best non stick on the planet, makes omelets Julia Child would be jealous of!

I have a set of lodge cast irons and I was really disappointed with the performance no matter how many rounds of seasoning I did. I did this as a trial run in one of them and it's night and day. Thank you for restoring my love for cast irons!

I think it's great that people are sanding their Lodge pans smooth these days. It's ironic, though, because that preseasoning saved the company. Lodge has been around 100+ years and they used to sell smooth, unseasoned pans. Folks would use them straight away and they would stick or they wouldn't buy at all because the seasoning process was too much a hassle. (Imagine this: I just paid good money for this pan and now I have to spend a day seasoning it?) They struggled in the late 90s and then came up with this preseasoning in 2002. They were the first cast iron company to sell seasoned cast iron. It saved the company and changed the industry. So, I'm not going to complain about it being rough. Honestly, I've had a 10.25 Lodge skillet for 10+ years and never sanded it. Works like a champ and, after years of use, it's smoothed out a lot on its own.

My wife has a cast iron dutch oven that was passed down from her mother who has now passed. This oven was used for jambalaya and gumbo for the last 40 years. When i found it it was gummy, lightly rusted in spots and in poor condition. I found your cast iron videos and completely restored it. She just made a delicious jambalaya in it. Now i am watching your other videos astounded at how riveting it is to learn about cast iron. You are fabulous! thank you

I love his voice. I could listen to him all day, what a beautiful accent. Greetings from the UK 🇬🇧

Mister Kent,good evening to you and your beautiful wife! I say evening because here in Italy it's 23:05. I bought a Lodge cast iron pan and initially intended to smooth it out. I thought we had a sander in that garage of ours. Come to find out we didn't and only had some sanding paper. Then I found out that some people keep the pan like that, without sanding it and eventually,becomes smooth. I tried to do just that. So I seasoned well after cleaning.. so well it got very sticky. I tried hard and food stuck to it. So I went in that garage of mine and took a few sanding papers and started to sand it down really good. It took me probably 45 minutes and it didn't look like it was sanded by a mouse or anything,but it was smoother that before and almost bare metal. My hands got soooo dirty and I washed it really really well with soap,rinsed really really well and then dried it and started seasoning. I seasoned it 4 times and it's a light to dark brown and OH MY GOD,it got sooooo much better,the glossy finish is amazing me! Now all I have to do is cook in it,I'll start with some bacon and deep frying. I was stubborn and tried to do it my way,but Mr. Kent was right! Don't use their seasoning,sanding it down and seasoning yourself is so much better!!! I'm so astounded by the results! Thank you,Mr. Kent Rollins and God bless you and your family. Simona

I have always been disappointed with Lodge cast iron because of the sandpaper like finish. I started watching a plethora of youtube videos (I love being retired!) and here's what I have learned. 1) Listen to Kent - he's right on the money and his methods work! 2) There 2 types of seasoning - to prevent rust and to prevent sticking. Lodge 'preseasons' their products to prevent rust, thus prevent returns due to storage issues. That 'rustproofing' has done its job and should be retired. 3) Sanding or grinding the finish from sandpaper to medium orange peel seems to work best. When a surface is completely smooth, there isn't enough surface for the seasoning to stick to. Leaving texture dramatically increases the surface area for the seasoning you will apply to adhere to. 4) Flax seed oil is outstanding and you end up with a surface ALMOST as nonstick as teflon without the worries. 5) This method also works for carbon steel pans. My current favorite skillet is a Lodge carbon steel that felt like sandpaper when I got it. After 10 minutes of sanding and 3 rounds of baking with flax seed oil, I can flip eggs just like a teflon pan. Love these pans and am no longer afraid of them. Thanks Kent

The part where your beagle is searching the table for scraps in the background, that’s some genuine natural comedy. SUBSCRIBE.

I smoothed my 12" lodge skillet with multiple metal spatulas over 30 years, wish I would have done this! I was 25 when I got that skillet and right now she's my best one ,its truly non-stick, fried eggs just slip and slide in her! I really enjoy your channel! Thank you sir.🤠

I've been using these tips and buying old cast iron at yard sales and Value Village and bringing them back to condition and giving them to friends. I may be a little dull in my pastimes, but I find this fun and rewarding! Thanks!

This guy is good! Sandblasted my lodge skillet and seasoned it the way he said and wow! Eggs slide around nothing sticks! Thanks kent.

Kent, I actually did your process 4 times in the oven. Slick as glass sir. Thank you. Today, bacon and eggs. Then the 10" skillet.

Thank you Rollins family for the videos on cast iron skillets . I have invested in some lodge cast iron in the past and haven't given them all the love they deserved,; I was unaware the, " bed liner feel" , wasn't just rough casting.

I bought a Lodge today,sanded with 80 grit and in the seasoning process right now. Thanks Kent and Shannon for all of these videos!

I bought a new Lodge pan a couple of months ago and did this. I was like I can't believe I'm sanding a brand new cast iron skillet!! I was thinking I screwed up a new pan but oh my word what a difference. I'm glad I followed your video Kent! Thank you!!

I've been using the method you taught about cleaning cast iron ever since I purchased my new lodge stuff couple years ago but it's never been really good. Should've subscribed then. This was excellent information.

Love the beagle!.... he’s snooping around while Daddy making a video😀.... love it!

I need to see a vlog on how to handle the lodge lids with the basting nib. They have been my nemesis! Love your vlogs. Thank you, Shannon, for all of your hard work, especially when you make him look camera ready 😉🤭. That was priceless. But seriously, help us with those lids!

Lodge could solve a lot of arguing between its customers, by making a smooth version and a porous version for people to buy what they want

I 've had my GRANDMOTHER's cast iron frypan for over 50 years! I figure it is at least 80 years old. When I got it, it was very well seasoned ...inside and out! I have used it almost daily ever since I got it and it is a dream! My kids argue over who will inherit it! I have 4 other pieces, but Nana's pan is my favourite!

Thanks Kent. I filled your instructions on a new Lodge 8" and on my Gramas 11" deep skillet. She called it her Chicken pan. She used it constantly but it fell into disrepair after she passed, but I got it when my Mom passed. So I refinished it following your instructions and gave it to my niece for Christmas. She was tickled to get GG's pan. It's ready to go now. I just can't cook anything now in tin and teflon...

Oh my goodness! So easy! I can't wait to get the sander out and get all my lodge smooth. Thanks so much!

Perfect. This is the way. No need to spend hours getting a mirror finish. Smooth it out a little and good to go. Nice video.

This guy is friggin’ awesome. I love cooking. Kents kind of cooking is the next haute cusine.

I have a 3 week old 10.5 lodge thai I didn't sand. Seasoned it 3 times w canola at 450° for a hour and nothing sticks. Eggs slide like they're on ice scrambled included. Use it atleast twice a day and it already is smoother than when new. I love the thing. I'm going to get another one and give it the Cowboy Kent treatment just for fun ecause they sure are pretty when they're smooth and although the one I have now cooks perfectly I dont want to wait for it to get slick and pretty. Another great vid from the cowboy!

Saw that video few months ago and dug out my cast iron skillets...perfection..can't use anything else...from fried eggs to grilled cheese it is absolute perfection

I just bought my first cast iron skillet and it was pre-seasoned and rough. Before watching this video I did season it the same method as him, but I didn’t sand it down. It’s fairly non-stick but now I want to go ahead and sand it down and restart from scratch. Love the videos kent!

Thank you for the great technique Kent! I've been aggravated at my new skillets because they never looked like my grandparents cast iron skillets. I knew that gritting feeling was NOT right. Keep putting out the content because it is appreciated!

To all you doubters....this method WORKS...all it takes is just a little effort, and the return is a GREAT PAN. Thanks Kent!

It's been 40 yrs since I learned about iro skittle use ect. My grandpa taught me the ways of the cast iron. And of course I've forgotten most of it. But came across your channel and relearned something's. Hope to watch more of your videos. Thank you sir

Love you Kent Rollins. You're one of my favorite personalities on the interwebs, and I always learn something.

I used a hand held orbital sander with 80 grit, made short work of the roughness on my Lodge pan but leaves a "tooth" for the seasoning to adhere to. Use organic Avocado oil and can fry an egg on them.

I did this last night to reseason my skillet and its better than any of my other skillets now! The cowboy knows what he's talking about

Bought a cast iron wok and followed your instructions! I did 6 coats over a weekend and this sucker is now virtually non stick. Keep up the good work!

Interestingly, over here (in Australia) that type of sander is called a "cat"

after watching maybe a dozen videos about people taking a wire wheel to their new pans and stripping them with lye and nonsense like that I just figured I'd take some rough sandpaper to my skillets with just a foam sanding block since they had some high spots and rust on them(they'd been sittin a while, never used)... just about got em re-seasoned now and they're 1000x better, feels pretty darn smooth to me.

I did this to a 12" lodge skillet I had for a while. Never had a good seasoning, food always sicked, and it recently got a little bit of minor surface rust. I did Kent's trick here, cleaned it with vinegar, re-seasoned, and wow that pan is truly awesome now. I steam clean and re-season after every use just like Kent says.

Thanks Ken, I live in the UK and got a cast iron skillet. I seasoned it properly and couldn't work out why it wasn't shiny like the ones in the videos. Now I understand, it's rough and needs sanding first! Thank you sir

I must be the luckiest man in the world. My lodge skillet worked right of the box. Just a quick wash with soap and water, dried with a cloth . Popped in some lard after warming it for 10 minutes on medium heat my spuds, sausages and eggs cooked up just fine with no sticking. Been working fine since then

I did as you recommended to my pan, It really makes a big difference. Thank you

Bless you sir. I've been eating off and using cast iron for my entire life. My Grandma, mom and I have always used it. You have taught me how to keep and care for my inherited Wagnerware and AB&C cast skillets, and Dutch Ovens. It is also much more healthful than Teflon which deposits harmful chemicals in everybody who uses it. Keep up the great work and recipes. Thank you!

Absolute legend for sharing that with us! My new pan had no seasoning and was like sandpaper due to the sand casting method. Tried this and it works just as stated. Awesome!!

This is the best method for new cast iron or stuff that you buy used and is rough. Thanks for the vid Kent. Takes care of my Kent video addiction for a couple of days LOL.

Thanks Kent and Shannon, I will give this a shot on my lodge grill pan. I had no idea that's why it was rough like that.

Thabk you for making this video. My wife and I had pretty much given up on the cast iron skillets we bought when we were still dating after a quite a few attempts to reseason. I decided last week to give this a try and it's worked extremely well so far. Definitely noticing that the black color comes back more when I cook in the pan than when I was oiling and baking it, and that there's some give and take with cleaning/reseasoning after cooking that's making the finish more consistent. Just in case anyone is worried about splotchiness at the start like I got, it does vanish over about 10 uses.

Thank you Kent. I'm finally settled in my career and can afford to replace everything I own with cast iron. All of my pieces are rough. I'm dying to start cooking. I've been watching your videos for over a year now and now I'm trusting you for all of my care for my cookware.

Ok, so I just received my first Lodge skillet, I ordered the 3.5 inch one, as I hate buying things that I won't eventually use. Surface was so rough, to small for my sander to get in there so I had to hand sand it, it smoother tna it was but not perfect. Seasoned it only twice. Cooked a couple of eggs in there this morning, perfect! It's going to be great for an English muffin egg and bacon sandwich, yum yum.

I got lucky and found a skillet that was pretty well-seasoned when I bought it, but I still gave it a few more coatings for a black patina. Then I just used it and used it and it's super slick at the 2-month mark

Great video! I've got a handful of lodge cookware and a few days ago, after owning my first lodge 8" skillet for almost 7yrs, I sanded it all the way to smooth beautiful bare cast iron...220 grit. I applied a generous layer of olive oil, baked it at 375 for an hour and repeated again. I wasn't happy with the results at all as the oil formed a bunch of islands all over the surface so I had a polka dot skillet. Yesterday I sanded it down again, this time with 120 grit and I buffed the oil on in very light layers and baked at 450F for 30min, took it out, wiped on another layer, put it back in the oven and repeated 4 times...she's a beaut now! Gorgeous bronze color - for my other lodge gear, I'll probably save a ton of time and use the method here presented.

I love this guy and the video. He is a genuine person ( not a celebrity chef), great tips, but my favourite part was; his reaction to make up, at the end.

So glad I watched your video because I was going to get me a Lodge cast iron skillet thinking it was already seasoned and I would of cooked my first meal in it without knowing what I'm doing..Thanks

Kent that’s the way I did mine after watching and listening to young. Thanks. God Bless you and Shannon. Until the next one my friend.

I had a lodge skillet a roommate left behind when they moved out. The thing was horrible to cook out of. I don’t think it was even cared for properly. I followed these instructions exactly to start over and now it’s amazing! It’s on bacon frying and vegetable sautéing duty until it builds of a good seasoning. I’ve only used it a handful of times and it’s already starting to get a nice black finish. Thanks!

When my grandma needed to have her cast iron refinished/ re-seasoned, she would give it to the grandkids for the sandbox. She had two or three pans of each size, so a couple months in the sand was no problem. When it was time to re do the ones she was using, she would trade with the boys in the sandbox and get on with the seasoning. Worked great.

I believe all of this as good advice. Before I knew better I went straight to cooking with my Lodge cast iron and the first 4-5 meals out of it did have that metallic taste. But 2 years later, now it’s a lovely non stick pan!

Thank you Mr. Rollins! I bought two brand new Lodge skillets today. I followed your instructions and they came out beautiful! As slick as one of the $200 cast iron skillets. I fried up some bacon first then some fried eggs. My goodness, those were some of the best eggs I’ve ever had. God bless you and thank you for the videos.

I just restored my first skillet I found in an antique fair. It was all rust brought ‘er back to life thank you Mr. Rollins You videos are fantastic!

Absolutely nothing gives a better sear crust then a cast iron skillet, love mine! Thank you for posting

Hey Kent ans Shan, love the chanell! I followed this video exactly today for my old hand me down 12" that likely has never been seasoned correctly. I used it tonight and WOW! its great. Thanks for all you do!

Production value is improving. Nicely done.

I absolutely LOVE this show with Kent and his pups!❤

I just bought a LODGE yesterday and wondered about the rough texture.....thanks very much Kent.....from Canada 👍🇨🇦😷

Even the metal is rough in the recent Lodge I bought so I had to smooth it up a bit too. Now I will re-season and make these pans usable.

I love the beagle looking for food on the table. I had three at one time. They are the worst - and the best at the same time. Good video. Will be seasoning my lodge pans properly. I have been disappointed that at US made product is so subpar compared to the French stuff.

You sir are a gem!! Did everything you mentioned and I’ve got a fine looking cast iron thanks to you. Thank you so much!

I love watching old cowboy cook. He’s got some mighty good tips.

I love the sour face as the makeup was going on, haha. Thanks for all the help and advice with the cast iron! I just got my first cast iron griddle for camping. With your help the griddle is impressing me, and the food's impressing everyone else. Thanks again!

Thank you Kent. I recently lost my older brother and he left behind some cast iron that I took. I am looking forward to using it after I get it seasoned properly.

I had no idea why everything was sticking to my Lodge skillet. I can’t wait to fix it right up! Thank you so much for the helpful video.

Thanks for the advice! I used to get the pan smoking so often before seasoning it... I had no idea that I was over doing it.

I appreciate your instructions on cast iron. I was always afraid of it. I recently bit the bullet and bought my first lodge skillet. The first time I cooked in it, the egg came right out. Then, it began sticking like crazy. THEN, I found you videos. Lucky me! I WILL have a great skillet with no Teflon. Soon.

Good tip. Really liked the beagle in the background getting up on the table looking for something!😂

Happy to see you using flaxseed oil. I"ve been using it as you have, for initial seasoning and it works extremely well. I use a very thin coat and do it six times. One hour at 500 then two hour to cool down. Then I warm it before applying the next coat, put it in and raise the tempt to 500 and leave it.

A couple years ago I purchased a Lodge pizza "stone" for my wife. The rough finish was fine for that application and it has been great. So last week I decided to buy a cast skillet. I watched a review from 4 years ago I picked the stargazer. At the time it was $88. It's now well over $100. The lodge in the review was $20, todat it's $20. Definitely worth a small amount of work. Thanks for the instructive content.

Thanks for the video Ken. I live in the UK and been using LeCreseut cast iron which is enamel coated. Recently moved to raw cast iron as the enameled stuff isn't great after a few years. Just purchased 2 Lodge skillets, thanks to Amazon actually reasonably priced in the UK. tried your sanding method today and completed 2 coats of seasoning. So far so good.

I've got a Wagner Ware pan that I bought new in 1975, that was polished shiny at the factory, and took a kind of long process to get fully seasoned, but eventually became a spectacular pan. I've got two Lodge pans that I polished really smooth myself with an angle grinder and a stripping wheel, and they also took a while to get well seasoned, but now perform beautifully. And I've got a few Lodge pans that I simply added a couple more layers of additional seasoning to before first use, and they also perform beautifully, and get better with each use. Cast iron is very forgiving of trial and error. You almost can't go wrong with it.

Thanks Kent. I just bought a Le Creuset coated-cast iron skillet, at the same time I bought a Lodge number 10 Dutch Oven (first venture into cast iron cookware). I didn't understand why the skillet was so smooth and shiny compared to the rough and shiny Lodge. I did some research and found your vid, among many others. I decided to try your method, I went out and bought a cheap, small, orbital sander and took the surface down to remove the rough texture. I then used your seasoning technique, I did it seven times, and tonight I am currently cooking a Venison stew (first meal after). Looking forward to the result.

Making these tweaks to my Lodge has been a game changer. I am now a cast iron believer

Thank you Kent!! I was ready to donate away my first Lodge cast iron piece... a griddle. My "spidey sense" told me there was a solution and here you are with it! Thank you!

This is GOLD! I've been struggling for years, but no longer!

I have watched this a couple times before and never noticed the Beag in the background looing for something to taste on the table.... Love it.

Just watched a lodge how it's made video.. they found a new customer for life and this is the icing on that cake..

Thanks Kent and Shannon, this is very good information. I've got several pieces of Lodge still boxed from Christmas that needs this treatment. Soon as I get off my duff I'll get it taken care of. Getting old is the pits. Thanks again for another great video. Stan

as a yankee, i find this man highly informative

I used to collect cast iron cookware I think you've helped me regain the passion

Kent you are my cast iron God, i did buy the Lodge round griddle. Now i have use my sanding machine and the pan is in it's third round in the owen. Just after two times in the owen it was so much better then it was new. Greetings from Iceland !!!

Never thought about mild sanding, I used sandblasting with sugar as blasting medium, like you wanted the seasoning from Lodge gone, just not to bare metal. Thanks for another great idea.

Kent, thanks for the help. Bought a circular sander with the proper grit pads today. It may just be my oven, but I've been waiting about 2 hours for the pan to get to room temp before the second treatment. I'm furloughed so I've got nothing else to do 🤣

Bought a cheap non pre-seasoned iron skillet. returned it after stinking up the house trying to season it. Bought a pre-seasoned skillet, and sanded it exactly as this cowboy genius advised and now I have my favorite pan for cooking.

I am new to Cast Iron. Falon from Moss Family TV sent me to your channel to learn more about cast iron. My mother just bought me a pioneer woman cast iron skillet and I wasn't sure how to clean it or re season it. Thank you for these very educational videos and not making it seem difficult to have cast iron.

I've found that sugar blasting the surface after sanding gives your polymerized oils a really good grip. My cast iron never flakes.

Yesterday I bought the Lodge 10 inch and it was completely smooth on the bottom and internally. I used it on my Cusimax infrared counter top stovetop and it heated up fast and nothing stuck to it. I oiled after I washed and dried it and placed it in a bag all night and it just sucked up that oil. I know, no more soap from hereon. It is darker today than when I brought it home. That pre-seasoning is beautiful then you build it and build it. I am so happy with my Lodge, I really hesitated. The 12 inch was only $20.00. How can that be? IT was at Meijer and Walmart--same prices. Actually, I think Meijer was a dollar higher--that's where I bought mine. Since the sides are straight, I thought the 10 inch was sufficient. I really wanted that 12 inch but it was too heavy for me. It was awesome looking, beautiful piece of art.

I finally got a 3 piece cast iron cookware set and as learn how to season them l know they will last years. Thank you for the video. I always learn something new.

Perfomed this tonight WOW! Thanks! What a difference, can't wait to cook with them.

Thank you for the great video! I've got a 20 year old lodge pan that has always been a pain in the behind. Everything sticks to it. I've stripped it and re-seasoned it multiple times. Nothing has helped. I just got done hitting it with my orbital sander - 2x 60 grit disks, 1x 100 grit, 1x 150 grit. Not quite perfectly smooth, but much, much smoother. It's getting its first coat of seasoning now! Fingers crossed! We need to replace our nonstick and I really hope this makes the cast iron usable!

Kent I did this with with one of my lodge skillets. I’ve got some old Wagner and griswald. After sanding the lodge it’s my go to skillet.

Just wanted to thank you I'm an older lady selling my house and I packed away all my cookware after a little bit I couldn't live without my cast iron pan! I went and bought a Mainstay brand large cast iron from Walmart and it has the same rough pebbled finish. I followed your instructions, I sanded it down with my mouse, seasoned it three or four times and I just fried an over easy egg without sticking! Thank you so much!

I thought I had just bought a bad pan. Bought it a few years ago and I didn’t enjoy cooking with it, hard to cook, hard to clean, everything stuck to it so I put it in the back of the shelf. But recently I’ve been working with it again and your videos have been so helpful!