Seasoning Cast Iron Pans

[JCKelly]

Now & again I still use the little iron frying pan that Mom gave me in '65. Guess I must have re-seasoned it one or more times since. Using whatever grease or oil was handy in the kitchen. Know it did a god job frying up an available porcupine on one distant shoot. Grisly little thing, but he was meat

 

[billcaster]

A word of caution…If you buy a used piece of cast, test it for lead. A lot of bullet casters use cast for melting lead or pouring ingots.

 

[Are. M.]

One thing I found is anything tomato cooked in cast iron can remove the seasoning. Re-seasoning a skillet now after having done that.

I cook Israeli breakfast (shakshuka) once a week in my cast iron. It's about a 45 minute ordeal of sauteeing veggies and poaching eggs in tomato sauce, and I haven't had to reseason mine. I even leave it in there to cool down before I transfer it to a different container. How long have you been working on the season of that pan/pot?

 

[kje54]

I cook Israeli breakfast (shakshuka) once a week in my cast iron. It's about a 45 minute ordeal of sauteeing veggies and poaching eggs in tomato sauce, and I haven't had to reseason mine. I even leave it in there to cool down before I transfer it to a different container. How long have you been working on the season of that pan/pot?

It's a Lodge that I've reseasoned twice in a 5 year period, I don't really like Lodge, too rough, not smooth like the older ones. The first few times I cooked with tomato sauce no problem but the last couple of times it removed the seasoning on the lower half of the inside wall. I rarely cook with tomato anything, not a big fan of tomatoes. Everything I've read concerning cooking tomato products in cast iron says don't do it, too acidic.
Now I have cooked chopped tomatoes with other things in my smooth 12" vintage cast iron skillet without any problems.

 

[jrdavis]

you gotta watch todays bacon it has a lot of sugar in it that sticks to the bottom of the pan ; I scrape it with a flat wooden spatula to get it out , then wipe the pan and while its still hot rub the excess grease around so just a thin coat is on the bottom and leave it on the hot burner to cool down, I tried using the modern oils but found the flake off as you cook...what the old timers used was lard and still works just fine today. if you look at a lot of the old stuff it's a lot thinner than the lodge we get today, so I've taken to using my flap sander and cleaning out the inside till its smooth and re-season with lard and cook a lot of bacon. i like to use my gas grill to season out side because of the smoke problem (my wife don't complain that way)...

 

[Kmcmichael]

One can do it outside quickly by spreading a thin coat of oil. I use grape seed or other high temp oil. I then get it hot and let it smoke. When it stops spread another coat on. Keep it up until you feel done or bored.
I use steel pans for stovetop and cast iron for the oven. I often ruin the finish on the steel With wine or lemon juice. I have gone to using stainless pan for dishes with wine sauce Ie Chicken Marsala or Chicken piccata.

I use lots of bacon grease in cooking instead of butter or olive oil and did season with it at one time but don’t believe it is as durable on carbon steel pans as the higher temp oils.

 

[Rifleman1776]

A word of caution…If you buy a used piece of cast, test it for lead. A lot of bullet casters use cast for melting lead or pouring ingots.

Good point. I use some old cast iron for melting lead and keep them in shop separate from cooking utensils. When their time comes to discard I will break up with hammer.

 

[Billy Boy]

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

My grandma (born in1895), seasoned her cast iron pans by boiling potato peelings in them for about an hour. Pan nearly full, gentle boil. It formed a sort of darkened, hard, mineral like coating, worked for her lifetime and most of mine. Never use much soap, don‘t let it sit in the sink, can wipe it out when cools down to ‘warm’. Heat it up to cooking temp gradually.

 

[Ricochet]

I switched from Flaxseed to avocado oil in mine and it seems to be working. I used bacon grease for years, don't know why I switched to be honest, I think I will go back to it, sure sounds better than Avocado oil for our crowd!! I had cataract surgery to replace the lenses in my eyes and went back in for a check up last week. My doctor told me to start taking Flaxseed oil once a day to help with moisturizing my eyes.