Seasoning Cast Iron Pans

[One Eyed Blacksmith]

I, am sure this has been talked about before. I, could not find it. Looked on the net, for this. Did not see any thing I would trust. How do you season your things. Thanks, Every One

 

[tenngun]

A new frying pan I like to buythree pounds of bacon. Put some butter in the pan and fry a pound, cooked it keeps well
Remove the bacon and let pot cook. Reheat and fry second pound, let cool and repeat.
After third pound pour off the fat an strain or filter it. So you get a good collection of clean bacon grease
Clean the pan in water only, no soap. You may have to fill pot with water and boil to deglaze the bottom
After clean dry and heat pot and dip a rag or paper towel in your clean grease and wipe down hot pot, let cool
When ever you use it clean and regressed or oil.
After some time lard, olive oil,vegetables oil, ghee, coconut oil, lard,tallow,canola oil all can be used to reoil i after cooking.
Wine deglazed a hot pot well
But always oil after cleaning

 

[Black Powder Guy]

On unseasoned heat the cast iron to 500-550 degrees F, then wipe a high temp veg oil on the piece, reheat the piece. Then do a last wipe on it. On one you just used. Clean it out then wipe it with high temp veg oil. Or do what tenngun said. lol

 

[Gun Tramp]

I found ten pages on the subject here; search "seasoning cast iron."

 

[Loyalist Dave]

This video is short but to the point, and the host isn't wrong about how to do seasoning.
Restoring Rusty Cast Iron and Seasoning Cast Iron

LD

 

[Kansas Jake]

My daughter has been recently buying and restoring old cast iron dry pans. After the cleaning process she seasons them. Her process works so well I took a couple that I had been using and had her do them. After the cleaning process she heats them on the stove with canola or another high temp oil on the stove top and as soon as it is quite warm she wipes the excess oil and then bakes in a 450 degree oven for 45 minutes. Takes them out and wipes them with oil again and back in the oven. She repeats this 3-4 times. After she is done you can fry an egg with just a spritz of cooking oil and wipe it out with a cloth or paper towel.

 

[Brokennock]

If I have anything stuck to mine I scrub with a clean rag, a tiny amount of hot water, and coarse salt as an abrasive.

Seasoning is basically just carbon from super heating the fats/oils for an extended period. Beeswax works too. I preheat on the stove top and apply my fat and beeswax then put the item in the oven at 450 degrees until it looks dry. Plan on quite a bit of smoke.

 

[rafterob]

Having come from the restaurant business I had access to deep fryers. I would put my pan(s) in the deep fryer for 30 minutes. Worked like a charm. Maybe talk to your friendly, local, independently owned restaurant and see if they would do you a favor?

 

[mushka]

When I get a piece of iron ware I wash it in hot water, never use soap on cast iron, then cook bacon in it for the grease. I'll wipe the grease all over the inside then fry potatoes. The spuds tend to clean up residues. Dump the spuds, wipe the piece, I'm done. This works for me.
I'm told the new stuff is ready to cook with right out of the box but I don't know if it's true. I only get and use old used stuff.

 

[TFoley]

A new frying pan I like to buythree pounds of bacon.

Three POUNDS of bacon?

Do you have your own bacon mine?

The only time I've ever seen three pounds of bacon in one place is in a food store, and even then, we had to pay to go and look at it.

 

[tom_in_vt]

A million different ways. I’d follow the techniques quoted above. I personally use flax seed oil.

 

[Rifleman1776]

My way for decades.....when needed, I would scrub pan completely and let dry. Then rub with white lard and leave a chunk inside. Place pan in oven at 350 degrees for a few hours. With with paper towel and use. Be cautious to not overheat when cooking. Burning food inside pan will require a repeat of the process.

 

[Davey Boy]

I have two cast iron lots on the porch outside

Getting rusted and I need to do something to stop that

What is the way so I don't harm it?

 

[William Lincoln]

The key issue is that the older ones often were smoother to start with. Some being
sold now have rough surfaces compared to older ware. You have to close the pores in the
iron--or diminish the effect of them. Before non-stick pans, the cast iron was finished
very smooth to reduce sticking. Today cheap pans are going to stick because they are
sandpaper rough compared to pans from the 40's and 50's.

 

[Brokennock]

A million different ways. I’d follow the techniques quoted above. I personally use flax seed oil.

You do know that flaxseed oil is just relabeled furniture polish, right.
Flaxseed and linseed are the same thing.

 

[SOLANCO]

When I get a piece of iron ware I wash it in hot water, never use soap on cast iron, then cook bacon in it for the grease. I'll wipe the grease all over the inside then fry potatoes. The spuds tend to clean up residues. Dump the spuds, wipe the piece, I'm done. This works for me.
I'm told the new stuff is ready to cook with right out of the box but I don't know if it's true. I only get and use old used stuff.

I found it necessary to further season a "pre-seasoned" pan from Lodge.

 

[SOLANCO]

You do know that flaxseed oil is just relabeled furniture polish, right.
Flaxseed and linseed are the same thing.

True but it is not toxic. There are precautions about drinking a lot of it.

 

[pilot]

Flax seed oil is the best. Calling it furniture polish is like calling Ivermectin Horse dewormer.

 

[Caniborrowsomeammo]

My wife has her crappy non-stick pans, I use cast iron.
When I get my pans I fry bacon in them and run the drippings up the sides. When the bacon is done I reserve the drippings and eat the bacon. When I use the pan again, I put a spoonful of drippings in the hot pan and cook whatever, Every time you use the pan it will become more "nonstick". Takes time, but well worth it to be able to get that char on a nice pan-fried steak or pork chop.
I tried to save some time and used a nonstick pan of the wife's once or twice, the eggs turned out a mess.

 

[Brokennock]

Flax seed oil is the best. Calling it furniture polish is like calling Ivermectin Horse dewormer.

The best for what?