Cast iron bacon and eggs

I do almost all my cooking at home in cast iron. Some of my pots were old when i was a little kid. Never been soaped, at least since I started cooking with them at about 10 years of age. They are greased and heated after every cleaning. Lard tallow or olive oil only, never have used veggy or corn oil in em. Every thing I cook in them browns and cooks great exceprt bacon and eggs. Both stick. I do bacon over a low fire and grease the pan before adding it, I have to move it fast and turn often or it sticks, eggs stick no matter what. Scrambled eggs do ok if I chase them all the time. Fried or sunny side up just cant be done. Any one else have this problem? It never happens with any thing else I cook in them.

Yeah, and I learned it's the sugars in the bacon that does it.
The sugar caramelizes and stays sticky

When I cook eggs in Iron I add more bacon fat,,if they float they can't stick,,, then I "splash" cook the tops,,never been able to turn an egg it didn't end up scrambled. You just wave/splash the bacon fat over the eggs without turning them..

Yeah, and I learned it's the sugars in the bacon that does it.

The sugar caramelizes and stays sticky

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HUH!

Learned something new today! I just thought sometimes they work, and sometimes not... I probably got it to work when I did enough bacon to have a good layer of fat so they'd float.

LD

Another part of the lesson (which I learned here) was to buy bacon from a independent butcher shop if possible,
They tend to take care/pride in the brine and smoking differently then the mass produced, packaged factory stuff in a typical grocery,,
I do that and I can get eggs "over easy" every time

My old cast iron frying pan, used at home, is my favorite cooking utensil by far. Bacon and eggs only minimally stick and the remains fall off easily after the pan is cool. I can hardly stand to eat eggs that are cooked in a moder frying pan. :barf: BTW, my bacon is Covered Wagon brand. Costs less than the other brands, is greasy (yummy) and much better eating. I save the excess grease for cooking other things.

R.M. Felts Ivor,Va Great bacon hams smoked meats they are on line !!

I've never had a problem with bacon sticking in my old cast iron Wagner. Maybe I'm just lucky! I make,cure and smoke all of my own bacon and other meats regularly and don't over do the sugars used, so that has to help.

Rick

Ready for the smoker!


Smoking sausage.

The sugars in the cure makes sense as the cause. Buying dry smoked bacon is always boiled a bit befor I fry it and never have that trouble. Just made some this evening but had a big wad of grease in the bottom and turned a lot. A little salt in a dry pan I can drop burger patties in with out a stick, don't want to add salt to bacon :haha:

Protein can bond with iron making your food stick.
(try cooking on stainless steel, the same thing happens.)
Boiling first, precooks the bacon and changes the protein structure.
A large amount of hot oil added to the pan fills the porous voids on the surface, this combined with escaping steam from the food will prevent sticking.

Sugar doesn't explain why eggs stick!

Just a side story about seasoning.
I got a new steel Wok once and could never get it to season properly and prevent food from sticking.So I turned it into a popcorn popper for a year.
Woks make great popcorn poppers. I never cleaned it just wiped it out with a paper towel. After a year it seasoned up beautifully!
I then used the same technique on a cast iron fry pan and it also seasoned up beautifully. I should also add that the type/brand of oil you use makes a big difference, some oils will gumm up and turn your pan into a mess.
I use olive oil for popcorn.

YEP. - Fwiw, a Tablespoon of olive oil will STOP butter from burning. = GREAT AID to cooking.

yours, satx

Vomir le Chien said:

When I cook eggs in Iron I add more bacon fat,,if they float they can't stick,,, then I "splash" cook the tops,,never been able to turn an egg it didn't end up scrambled. You just wave/splash the bacon fat over the eggs without turning them..

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that's called 'blindfolded' eggs.

myself I use the lid of my deep skillet to fry eggs on, just pour'spoon a bit of grease on the heated lid then crack 'em on it. does good 4 me.

Boiling first, precooks the bacon and changes the protein structure.

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THANKS! :grin:

Makes sense now that you point it out...probably the same for sausage with natural casings and explains a lot about what my grandma did when she cooked.

Funny thing you mentioned the Wok, and you also mentioned Eggs... Woks do great scrambled eggs. I think the high heat concentrated at the very middle, plus the puddle of oil in the center, causes the egg to float and cook quickly.

LD

In camp, I use thick cut bacon from a local butcher and cook it slowly in a big cast iron skillet above the edge of the fire. Over the flame gets too hot. It cooks too fast and sticks. Once the bacon is done, I set the skillet over the flame to get the grease a little hotter. Then I pull the skillet off, set it on a stump, and crack the eggs into the pan. Basting the eggs with the hot grease seems to work fine and they don't stick. Nothin' so good as well-lubed eggs with biscuits.

Over the flame gets too hot

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Yep!
cooking over flames is a mistake I see a lot of people make. Being able to tell temperature by holding your hand over the coals is a skill worth developing, unless one likes burnt food and hard to clean pans.

Yup,Flames to broil, coals to boil.
Learning to cook on a wood fire is a practiced/learned skill.
Heck, just learning to "Bake" in a dutch "oven" takes practice.

necchi said:

Yup,Flames to broil, coals to boil.
Learning to cook on a wood fire is a practiced/learned skill.
Heck, just learning to "Bake" in a dutch "oven" takes practice.

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You forgot the part about it being so much fun! :thumbsup:

Gentlemen, I can offer no help in solving your sticking problem. I have three cast iron skillets of different sizes and I use them all of the time. I also have a Dutch Oven that is used less frequently but I seldom have any sticking problems with any of them. When I first get any cast iron pot, pan, skillet, etc. I thoroughly scrub it to get out any undesirable goo or creatures. Then I put in a few ounces of plain old cooking oil, use a wadded paper towel to spread the oil all over the inside of the pan, and then put the pot, pan or what have you in the oven at around 350 deg. for about an hour. I rinse the hot pan with tap water, thoroughly dry it and repeat until the inside looks right to me. After that, I just cook with it. To clean it, I just wipe it out with a handfull of paper towels until it is clean and appears dry. It will have a black and very smooth surface and will have a bit of an oil shine to it with nothing stuck or burned on. Once it is thoroughly cooled, I will put it away until I need it again. I have no sticking problems. Wish I could be of more help. :idunno:

My opinion...

The classic iron skillet was make to cook on a cookstove. Now a spider, that's different it's made to cook over coals or a fire.

An open fire may be too hot for bacon and eggs. For eggs some butter really helps a lot. Also with eggs you need to let them develop a good skin on the bottom before you disturb them. Bacon will stick every time on a too hot skillet.

Olive oil is better than nothing but that's about it IMHO. It smokes at a low temp and is not near as good as plain old butter. Now butter can smoke too, you just got to watch the temp.

Eggs cooked in lard or bacon fat while good are just too greasy for me.