How to season an iron skillet

[tyler811]

I remember my grandma using lard to season hers.


https://www.eatthis.com/season-cast-...paign=msn-feed

[RockyMtnMarty]

Use Crisco....dont use animal fat based lard. Crisco works great. Also, you can heat the coated pan in your closed gas BBQ outside vs indoor oven...if you have one.

[Bama Rambler]

I agree with most of the things at that link. I recommend setting the oven to 500ºF though. You want the oil to polymerize so you want it hot! Also regular vegetable oil is great to season them with. While Safflower or flax-seed is great as well you really don't need to use that expensive oil unless you just happen to have it on hand. I agree about doing it more than once, and if it's a new pan, I recommend at least three times.

What I really cringe at, are the places that say to season cast iron at 350ºF. That just makes a sticky mess of it!

There's also a lot of misinformation about cleaning them. Don't believe the naysayers to soap. Soap isn't going to hurt properly seasoned cast iron one little bit. There is also a lot of people who say you shouldn't cook acidic foods in them. That's completely not true. Tomato's, etc. (acidic foods) aren't going to hurt properly seasoned cast iron.

Did you note the common theme there? 'Properly Seasoned'. Keep your cast iron properly seasoned and there's not much that will hurt it.

[Cowracer]

Originally Posted by RockyMtnMarty

Use Crisco....dont use animal fat based lard. Crisco works great. Also, you can heat the coated pan in your closed gas BBQ outside vs indoor oven...if you have one.

Crisco is ok, but flaxseed oil is the absolute best for seasoning cast iron. Just kinda pricey...

Tim

[NJKris]

I'm a crisco guy. Wait, that didn't sound right, lol. And I season on my gas grill at home. As long as you go above the smoke point for your chosen seasoning agent, you're good. Do you really want to go down the rabbit hole? I know you do....https://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=39242.0

[TitanMike]

Never used lard but usually fried bacon in my new cast iron cookware for first use. Poured out grease and then put it in oven at 425-450 for a while.

With mine the seasoning just got better with time.

Only use canola or olive oil when oils needed and butter when appropriate. Hate and never use PAM.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by NJKris

I'm a crisco guy. Wait, that didn't sound right, lol. And I season on my gas grill at home. As long as you go above the smoke point for your chosen seasoning agent, you're good. Do you really want to go down the rabbit hole? I know you do....https://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=39242.0

As Rush Limbaugh once said "never use Crisco, it's shortening". [emoji4]

[ppine]

The newer ones in the last 5-8 years come pre-seasoned whatever that means. All cast iron can benefit from hot temperature in an oven and then oiling them up. I like olive oil. The best thing for all cast iron is to use it. If it gets wet, dry it off.

I have a pile of Dutch ovens for outdoor use. The oldest one is from 1938 that my great uncle from Wyoming gave me. He was a cook in the Army. It has been on many trips and was once rescued from the bottom of the John Day River in OR by dragging the oven and lid on a rope across the river.

[SittingElf]

I have a lot of cast iron, as well as carbon steel woks and pans. I have experimented with many ways to season, and discovered Crisbee Pucks which are the cat's meow for seasoning Cast and Carbon Steel.

I have used Flax Seed oil in the past, but have had the experience of flaking over time. (Common). Don't particularly like finding old oil flakes in my food.

Crisco is a reasonable option and I've used it in the past.

Health experts caution against using animal fat or lard for INITIAL seasoning. If not done exactly correctly, the base can become rancid and also potentially cause bacterial growth. No problem with a properly seasoned pan, but not for initial seasoning.

Seasoning is all about polymerization.

Check out Crisbee products at: http://crisbee.org

[ppine]

There is a lot of folklore about cast iron. Once it gets used awhile it will show a black glaze and nothing sticks to it. Many people will tell you never to use soap and water to clean them. Once they are seasoned, soap and water gets them clean, you just have to be careful to dry them off.

I know plenty of people that have cast iron and never use it. They seem to think it is mysterious. Actually it is very forgiving. One guy collects cast iron, and has a fancy fireplace, but he has never used any of it. Get out and cook something.

[dward51]

Flaxseed oil is the best - and do a lot of coats. You can find flaxseed oil at any GNC or other health food store.

Quoted from America's Test Kitchen:

"The more unsaturated the oil, the more readily it will oxidize and polymerize. We have found that flaxseed oil, which oxidizes and polymerizes faster than other vegetable oils, forms a particularly durable seasoning. But cheaper oils such as sunflower and soybean are also highly unsaturated and work fine."

And get one of these chain mail type scrubbers for cleaning stubborn stuff off the case iron (NEVER USE SOAP - JUST WATER). Like $9 at Amazon.

[NJKris]

I cannot promote those chainmail scrubbers enough that dward pictured. Really does a super job on my iron.

[russhd1997]

I have a Blackstone grill which needs to be seasoned too. It came pre seasoned with instructions that it needs to be seasoned before first use. I seasoned mine with vegetable oil because that's what I had on hand. I performed the seasoning procedure three times before I cooked on it which made the surface nice and black which is what you want. The first thing that I cooked on it was a pound of bacon and then it was on to pancakes which amazingly didn't stick.

Clean up is real easy. While the pan or grill is real hot douse it with just enough water so that it boils and then wipe it down. The boiling water lifts the cooked on stuff off. After that while it's still hot wipe it down. I use a piece of paper towel and push that down and move it around with a spatula. After it cools rub it with some vegetable oil if needed to prevent rust.

[Dave Lyon]

I use Crisco shortening. Every couple of weeks I put two or three pans in my Green Egg when done cooking and use the residual heat to season them. Works well.

I've read that flaxseed oil is good, but, never used it.

[ppine]

There must 100 right answers. Do not mistreat cast iron by throwing it around or letting it get wet and stay wet. Otherwise it will out live you and your whole family.