Yeti releases $400 cast iron skillet

Having worked in high end residential construction for 25 years I can guarantee you that there are more than enough people with F-you money to buy a $400 pan in this country.

I can also say that having some restaurant kitchen experience in my past that I am a bit of a foodie and semi-pro chef. I have a Field cast iron pan that cost somewhere around $160 and a Lodge cast iron pan that cost somewhere around $40.. The Field is superior in every way over the Lodge hands down. I could take a palm sander to the Lodge and never achieve the same finish that the Field has. Yes, it does make a difference.

Caveat.. It's hard to explain but if you're usual dinner consists of dinty moore beef stew you probably won't notice a difference. If you have spent time in a working kitchen you will.

The above post referrencing what hunters pay for gear is right on. Sure you can spend $400 for a Sitka or whatever jacket you want or $300 for your Schees or Crispi boots but guys have been shooting deer for decades wearing Carhartts, red plaid jackets and Sorel boots.

$400 for the Yeti? I'd have to see it first in order to judge. It might not be for me but I'm not going to poo-poo it or tell the guy that just spent $130k for his Land Rover Defender for his vacation home what to do with his money.

Axis deer tenderloin on a mushroom puree white wine pan sauce, with pan seared brussel sprouts all cooked on both my Field and my Lodge cast iron pans.

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I don‘t mind paying for yeti quality if there is not equal substitute in quality at less cost that works for my purposes that I know I will be as satisfied with. Personal satisfaction after the purchase is key for me at my age. At 60 I am not trying to impress others or fit in. I’m trying to satisfy myself.
In the case of the yeti cast iron fry pan. There are equal quality selections well below the cost of the yeti.
 
Reviving this thread in hopes to learn, I recently picked up a no brand yard sale skillet for $5 to throw in the camp trailer. It was rougher than all get out so I ground/sanded it smooth enough for my liking, and did 2 rounds of seasoning with Chosen 100% avocado oil for 1 hour at 450°, letting it cool completely in between seasonings. (For context, this is not the first skillet I've sanded. I have a Lodge that I use daily that I've experimented with avocado, canola, Crisco, lard, tallow, oven, stovetop, you name it, and it exhibits similar issues)
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The first cook was sockeye salmon filets, medium heat with oil/butter to get the meat side crispy, then sauteed some onions and garlic, and deglazed it with a bit of broth to turn that into a sauce.

My seasoning on the cooking surface nearly disappeared. It has only a slight bronze hue to it, but mostly looked more like tinted iron as opposed to the deep bronze finish after seasoning. Lodge says on their website they cook their factory seasoning on at way hotter temps than a conventional household oven to carbonize it, not polymerize it as most interweb scientists declare that's what oven seasoning is.

How the hell do I get the seasoning to stay and turn glossy black like the old Wagners I see all over the internet? Does it just take 50 years of use to build that up?
 
Harvey_NW said:
Reviving this thread in hopes to learn, I recently picked up a no brand yard sale skillet for $5 to throw in the camp trailer. It was rougher than all get out so I ground/sanded it smooth enough for my liking, and did 2 rounds of seasoning with Chosen 100% avocado oil for 1 hour at 450°, letting it cool completely in between seasonings. (For context, this is not the first skillet I've sanded. I have a Lodge that I use daily that I've experimented with avocado, canola, Crisco, lard, tallow, oven, stovetop, you name it, and it exhibits similar issues)
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The first cook was sockeye salmon filets, medium heat with oil/butter to get the meat side crispy, then sauteed some onions and garlic, and deglazed it with a bit of broth to turn that into a sauce.

My seasoning on the cooking surface nearly disappeared. It has only a slight bronze hue to it, but mostly looked more like tinted iron as opposed to the deep bronze finish after seasoning. Lodge says on their website they cook their factory seasoning on at way hotter temps than a conventional household oven to carbonize it, not polymerize it as most interweb scientists declare that's what oven seasoning is.

How the hell do I get the seasoning to stay and turn glossy black like the old Wagners I see all over the internet? Does it just take 50 years of use to build that up?
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Sanding and grinding iron with high speed tools can make it so that seasoning is difficult.

I always get the eye twitch when people talk about Sanding or grinding their iron. I've seen so many pieces ruined by it.
 
Jpsmith1 said:
Sanding and grinding iron with high speed tools can make it so that seasoning is difficult.

I always get the eye twitch when people talk about Sanding or grinding their iron. I've seen so many pieces ruined by it.
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I've read that but I didn't take it past 80 grit on the palm sander so it should have plenty of etching to adhere to. I also don't see how it would be any different than a mill finished skillet like a Yeti or Smithey.

It's a $5 skillet, I'll keep experimenting and see if I figure anything out. I'm wondering if I'm not cooking it hot enough at 450° in my oven.
 
Harvey_NW said:
I've read that but I didn't take it past 80 grit on the palm sander so it should have plenty of etching to adhere to. I also don't see how it would be any different than a mill finished skillet like a Yeti or Smithey.

It's a $5 skillet, I'll keep experimenting and see if I figure anything out. I'm wondering if I'm not cooking it hot enough at 450° in my oven.
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Seasoning is just taking your fat past its smoke point and holding it there

I just googled and the smoke point of Avocado oil is over 500° so you may be right. For sure, if the house doesn't stink, you aren't seasoning.

I've seasoned hundreds of pans with crisco. I don't see any need for the fancy 'boutique' types of oils.

As far as the difference, I'm not sure exactly what the difference is. I've found about a dozen pans over the years that were either home ground or wire wheeled by someone trying to "clean em up" and none of them seasoned as nicely as a factory finished pan.

I know the old foundries like eqrly Lodge, Griswold and Wagner used slow, water cooled stones to grind so I wonder if heat has something to do with it.
 
Jpsmith1 said:
I've seasoned hundreds of pans with crisco. I don't see any need for the fancy 'boutique' types of oils.
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I'm in the same boat. Have tried a few of the other "exotic" oils and keep going back to crisco for seasoning. The key is a very light coat IMO. 500 degree oven for an hour then let it cool completely. Then repeat cycle. In my experience anything over 3 cycles of that is probably overkill but two to three is the sweet spot. Then just cook with them.
 
Yooper said:
I'm in the same boat. Have tried a few of the other "exotic" oils and keep going back to crisco for seasoning. The key is a very light coat IMO. 500 degree oven for an hour then let it cool completely. Then repeat cycle. In my experience anything over 3 cycles of that is probably overkill but two to three is the sweet spot. Then just cook with them.
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Super light coat. If it's shiny there's too much oil

I don't see a huge benefit of multiple coats of seasoning.
 
Harvey_NW said:
I've read that but I didn't take it past 80 grit on the palm sander so it should have plenty of etching to adhere to. I also don't see how it would be any different than a mill finished skillet like a Yeti or Smithey.

It's a $5 skillet, I'll keep experimenting and see if I figure anything out. I'm wondering if I'm not cooking it hot enough at 450° in my oven.
Click to expand...

The polymerization of your oil is what forms the seasoning layer and makes the pan non-stick. Sometimes some carbonization can occur which provides the black color. Lodge's explanation of seasoning at super high temps explains how they achieve the deep, dark black. Lighter bronze hues show that polymerization of the oil has occurred, but either wasn't cooked long enough or hot enough for much carbonization. Using an oil with a lower smoke point (like canola/Crisco) will lead to a darker color when seasoning in a home oven, though in my experience still not dark black like a Lodge.

Frankly I wouldn't be concerned about the color very much as long as you still have a layer of seasoning. Look at expensive high-end pans like Finex, Smithey, or Stargazer...they're factory pre-seasoned and all have a much lighter bronze hue than a Lodge so they don't seem to put much value into carbonization of the oil. Years and years of cooking will eventually lead to more and more carbonization as your seasoning layer builds and your pan will darken.

Since this forum loves AI so much, here's the explanation it gives about seasoning and polymerization vs. carbonization:

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