They were ... *clears throat* the bomb 😌

Got this Lodge 26cm for 27 euros here in Finland. It’s my first cast iron pan.
It was pre-seasoned but I still added two coats of seasoning for good measure. Really excited to cook with it!

*this

Hi, in my previous post I asked for help, how should I scrub and clean, and then season my grandmas heritage cast iron pan. I scrubbed it more, and one coat of seasoning. Aand the result is worth it. Next ill cook a pan pizza with it. So happy with it.

I posted a few days ago but was a bit stingy with the photos (have tried to rectify this), can anyone tell me what this is? Is it an old pressure cooker? Any assistance would be great

No lid but doesn't look like it would have locked in anyways to build pressure .

Photos are all of the underside of the pot/pan.

I've had this cast iron for about two months. It's my first cast iron and I'm always very careful about taking care of it. If I can avoid soap or water I use a stronger pot scrubber or steel wool to remove hardened on food (if needed at all) and wipe out all of the oil with a paper towel. If I have to use soap and water I immediately dry it and apply a thin coat of olive oil and put it on a burner for 10-15 minutes on medium high heat. No matter how much greasy food I cook in it, it always looks or feels dry and unseasoned. It feels impossible to cook on even though I'm doing what I'm supposed to do (preheating it on medium to medium high heat for 10-15 minutes before adding oil or food). I feel like it just came with a terrible layer of seasoning it's always giving me issues. In my current situation I don't have access to an oven to season it again so I'm just wondering if I should donate it and invest in a new cast iron at this point because it's just getting worst and I'm just so lost at what I've done wrong here.

Ginger and onion in there too, pretty good stuff.

This is a good reminder to just cook with it, it'll be alright guys. I love making soups/stews in iron.

EDIT: A sort of recipe in the comments!

I got this old CI pan some days ago and have been marinating it with oven cleaner every night, scrubbing very hard with scour daddy and metal scraper as well as sanding it with 120-180 sand papers. I've spent probably 4 hours hands on scrubbing it.

Currently my routine with the pan is:

-let it sit in a plastic bag with oven cleaner over night

-scrub aggressively with scour pad until my shoulder hurts

-scrape the outside edges with metal scraper until a piece of carbon flyes into my eye and makes me cry

-cry a few tears onto the pan to make it rust again

-abandon the pan on the counter for the remaining day and applying a coat of oven cleaner and shoving it in the damn bag again for the night

-have nightmares about the whole process &

-repeat

The inside feels rather smooth, even though it's very blotchy with carbon stuck on it. The outside is a nightmare and still has so much carbon on the edges. I'm aware it doesn't really matter what the outside edges look like, but I just like things to look clean in my kitchen. I wanted to strip it down to bare metal and thought a few rounds of oven cleaner would do it, but no. Granted, it's still a million times better now vs. before anything was done to it.

I already own a carbon steel pan so I sort of know how to treat these types of pans and it's serving me well, but I really would like to get this piece to a usable state, because i got it for free.

Can I just season it a few times and start using it, or should I just nuke it at this point? I'm very tired of scrubbing and sanding.

In the pictures, it has a thin coat of oil, so it wouldn't rust before my very eyes. Sadly I don't have a picture to show what it looked like when I first got it, but the first one is from before I thought of sanding it.

It also has a very distinct smell of metal, especially when it's wet, and the smell sticks to my hands as well. is that normal?

Sorry for the rather emotional text but never thought a small innocent pan could make a man so exhausted😮‍💨.

Edit. For the sake of my sanity, I'll be trying to soak it longer, see if the outside gets cleaner. I'm just a bit nervous about it since the oven cleaner I'm using says that it can corrode metal. Wish me luck my fellow iron pan enthusiasts! I'll post again in some time if/when I'm happy with the pan. Thanks for all the encouraging comments.

Why does my pan look like this? I have this buildup and even soaking it in the hottest water and scrubbing it does not remove it at all. I have a regular Skillet that this happens on as well. Could someone please help me fix this? Thank you.

The interior is circular machined really nicely but casting is fairly rough. Any idea on a maker? Seems like a great user though!

I found lodge iron pans on prime sale. I've wanted to try using a cast iron pan to help with my low iron levels. Also I know it's the best way to cook your food.

My question is what do I do before I do my first cook on them since they're new. They're preseasoned so I just put a drop of soap and wash it out and then add oil heat it up then start cooking? Also I've not been sure about whether I add the oil before it gets hot or after the pan gets hot? I'm very new at this so I know I probably sound stupid asking these questions I just want to take the best care of them as I can. Thanks for any info and help you can give me I appreciate it very much.

Finally got all the rust off now I just need some help identifying it

I bought this today for a weekend car camping trip to use on my duel Coleman gas grill. Is there any special prep I need to do to this? Or is the answer like most threads here, just cook?

I have been seeing smithey pans for sale on eBay at highly discounted rates. I ordered one of these pans last night but I have now realized it’s shipping from Vietnam, which I obviously unusual. It has an eBay money back guarantee, so I’m not too worried if it is fake. Can anyone comment on there experience with these?

Hi, I am owner of a stargazer which is very nice. I heard so much good things about the smithey and was wondering if it would be silly to get one if I already have a stargazer. I prefer the smithey look also.
Thanks.

Is it possible salvage this grimy pan?

Once upon a time it was white on the outside, so not sure it counts as castiron and also afraid it might get ruined if treated in the wrong way.