Seasoning a cast iron pan

Rosyrain

Rosyrain

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I have seriously considered buying a cast iron pan, but have very limited knowledge of how to season them. I know you are supposed to give them an oil rub and put it in the oven, but could someone give me some more specific directions?
 
You can get them already pre-seasoned, which will save you the time, bother and hassle of seasoning IT YOURSELF.

That's what I do when I want a cast iron pot or pan! :wink:
 
I have two cast iron pans, my small one seems to be seasoned reasonably well, but the big one doesn't want to cooperate! Most people recommend flaxseed oil or bacon grease. You put a super thin coating on the pan and turn it upside down on a cookie sheet and bake it for about 45 minutes. Then you allow it to cool. You can do this multiple times to build up a good coating. The problem with my large one is that food keeps getting stuck in it and I have to scrub it with hot water so I can never build up a good coating.
I'll be keeping an eye on this thread to hear what others do!
 
When I was getting them unseasoned, just frying stuff in them eventually turned them black. Supposedly, shortening is the best thing to use on them.

But every now & then, rust would try to find it's way back into the cookware. What that happens, I just scour out the rust, re-grease the pan with a little bit of shortening, put it in a moderate temp oven and let it sit in there for a few days, and it is perfectly seasoned again!:wink:
 
Shermie said:
When I was getting them unseasoned, just frying stuff in them eventually turned them black. Supposedly, shortening is the best thing to use on them.

But every now & then, rust would try to find it's way back into the cookware. What that happens, I just scour out the rust, re-grease the pan with a little bit of shortening, put it in a moderate temp oven and let it sit in there for a few days, and it is perfectly seasoned again!:wink:
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When you say a few days does that mean you continuously heat and cool them? How many times? I'd love to get my large one seasoned properly, I even cook bacon in it all the time and that doesn't do it!
 
I let it stay in the oven for about four or five days.

It depends on how long that you had it. Sadly, it doesn't happen overnight. It takes a while. That is why I won't ever buy cast iron cookware unseasoned ever again! Because it takes too long to season it. :eek:
 
Shermie said:
I let it stay in the oven for about four or five days.

It depends on how long that you had it. Sadly, it doesn't happen overnight. It takes a while. That is why I won't ever buy cast iron cookware unseasoned ever again! Because it takes too long to season it. :eek:
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I think @juliaintheclouds was asking if the oven was on for that length of time which i suspect is not the case.
 
It WAS, but on low heat for that length of time. You don't want it higher than that, because if or when that happens, the grease will break up, burn off, curl up into little pieces and expose the "raw" metal!

He or she would have no other choice but to scrape that all off and START ALL OVER AGAIN!! That would not be a good thing! It would make someone mad!! :eek: :eek: :eek:
 
Sounds like a complicated process! I would be afraid of ruining my pan if I did it wrong. I guess people have been doing it for centuries though. I would really like to get a cast iron pan because you can get nutrients from it, but I do not want to cause myself too much work.
 
Why not just get one pre-seasone one. It's save you the time, fuss & bother of doing it yourself! :eek:

Mod Edit: caps removed
 
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Seems like you guys might have missed a step, yes you season by adding some sort of oil, there are many you can choose from and then heating, either in an oven or on the range, it don't matter and no I don't think it takes days of heating. Anyways AFTER you heat them, let it cool and then wipe them out with a paper towel, store them in a paper bag. the reason you wipe them out is if there is to much oil left the oil can taint, it can also attract bugs and even fungi. You bag them because you do not want anything airborne settling on the oiled pan. Before you cook food, heat again lightly and give it a wipe. It might be dark colored, wipe it again and re oil before you use it if need be. I think the smaller fry pans are the best as the season the fastest, I believe that is because they are smaller and heat more evenly when you use them. Try the bigger skillets on a camping fire, they do well, as does the heavy cast iron dutch ovens.
 
Shermie said:
Why not just get one pre-seasone one. It's save you the time, fuss & bother of doing it yourself! :eek:

Mod Edit: caps removed
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If I ever buy another one I will buy pre-seasoned, but for now I'm trying to make it work with what I have. I was watching a survivalist show the other day about a guy who lives in the woods and his house burned down. He managed to salvage his cast iron pan and scrubbed it out with some salt and water. Then he threw a chunk of pork fat in it and heated it up and it looked perfectly seasoned. I was so jealous! With all the modern conveniences I have he's doing a better job than me :/
 
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