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Cast Iron Skillet Seasoning


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Okay this may be a long shot on here, but I have two cast iron skillets. I haven't used them a whole lot but am starting to more. I am going to clean and season them well. I'm doing some research and there are a lot of different oils/fats that can and have been used.They are about the same size so I might try two different oils to see what works best. Does anyone here have any experience with this? Any tips about what you prefer to use?

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If you are re-seasoning, you want to wash with soap to get all the crap and oils off.

Dry completely. Re season with olive or veg oil and bake. I forget the temp and how long, but all the info is on the Lodge cookware site.

We use them exclusively now and will never go back to that non stick garbage.

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If you are re-seasoning, you want to wash with soap to get all the crap and oils off.

Dry completely. Re season with olive or veg oil and bake. I forget the temp and how long, but all the info is on the Lodge cookware site.

We use them exclusively now and will never go back to that non stick garbage.

This simple cook ware to care for my mom has some that are older or just aas old as her.

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I grew up using lard to season, but I don't think it matters too much most any cooking oil works. 2 hours at 350 degrees will season 'em just fine. Using it is the best seasoning, tho, really...especially bacon...gets that flavor in there plus you get bacon. ;)

This bacon and eggs after the first seasoning is the way to go.

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Get a nice stiff plastic brush to clean it with.

While it is still warm, scrape off all the left over shnitz and run hot water in it. Scrub with the stiff plastic brush to get the rest of the crud off. Dry with paper towels and pour about a quarter sized blob of veg/olive oil in the middle and distribute it all over the pan with paper towel. Done.

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there are many ways to season cast iron.

It all depends on what was cooked in it, what you are planning on cooking in it, and how dirty/rusty it is.

Simple cleaning: When done cooking, and the pan is still warm(not so hot that you burn yourself), wipe out all the excess oil/food particles with a paper towel, and you are done. This would be for foods fried in oils.

Heavy cleaning: Use hot, soapy water, scrub with steel wool or some other really abrasive pad. Rinse well. Dry. Place on stove, and heat it up until all the water is gone, but if you leave it too long, you'll burn the pan and have to start over. Remove the pan from heat, put cooking oil on a paper towel, and apply a light coating to all surfaces. Let cool.

Super Heavy cleaning(aka, OMG!! WTF did you do to my cast iron!!!): Soak in the hottest, soapiest water for as long as you can(overnight usually works). Rinse, dry, and put in oven at 280-320 degrees for about 20-30 minutes. Then apply a coating of oil and place back in oven for another 30 minutes. Re-apply oil and do in oven again for 30 more minutes. Turn off oven, and let cool. Use a dry paper towel to remove any excess oil.

One note about oils, some oils can turn rancid over time(some longer than others). For long term storage of cast iron we don't use often(like the specialty corn-bread pan), I prefer corn or canola oil. For my frequent use pans (dutch oven, and frying skillets) I use olive oil.

Remember, a light coat of oil will go a long way to saving your cast iron.

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I need to get mine back out, I used to cook chicken with it, ribbed pan so it was grill like, but it made the house so smokey. Is that normal, or becasue I hadn't seasoned it correctly?

Look at the oil used, and the smoke temperature. Different oils smoke at different temps, olive oil has a low smoke temp, and peanut oil has a much higher smoke temp.

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Yup, oils and heat are the culprit with smoke. Sesame, Sunflower, some varieties of Canola (labeled as super high heat) oil all have a high smoke point. Avacado oil is the highest I know of.

Soy and Safflower are medium heat oils, good for sauteing and baking. Corn, Olive, Coconut all are lower to mid-heat oils, good for light sauteing and sauces where you want the flavor of the oil to be integral to the dish.

The low smoke point oils like Wheat Germ and Flax Oil are nutritious and taste good, but they'll smoke fast....usually better for sauces or taken directly.

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Ahhh, I never thought about the oil, that makes perfect sense.

MAX, no outside vent, wish I would've but we didn't want to do it when we put in the new microwave/vent. We do have cathedral ceilings in the kitchen/dining that are seperated by 1 half wall, not to cieling, so that helps and normally never an issue.

I will have to bust that back out and see about makimg some burger sammichs on it this weekend. May try to reseaon it tonight for SandG, it's been 3 years or so.

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I read this, seems like a pretty good write up.

I’ve read dozens of Web pages on how to season cast iron, and there is no consensus in the advice. Some say vegetable oils leave a sticky surface and to only use lard. Some say animal fat gives a surface that is too soft and to only use vegetable oils. Some say corn oil is the only fat to use, or Crisco, or olive oil. Some recommend bacon drippings since lard is no longer readily available. Some say you must use a saturated fat – that is, a fat that is solid at room temperature, whether it’s animal or vegetable (palm oil, coconut oil, Crisco, lard). Some say never use butter. Some say butter is fine. Some swear by Pam (spray-on canola oil with additives). Some say the additives in Pam leave a residue at high temperatures and pure canola oil is best. Some say it doesn’t matter what oil you use.

They are all wrong. It does matter what oil you use, and the oil that gives the best results is not in this list. So what is it? Here are some hints: What oil do artists mix with pigment for a high quality oil paint that dries hard and glassy on the canvas? What oil is commonly used by woodturners to give their sculptures a protective, soft-sheen finish? It’s the same oil. Now what is the food-grade equivalent of this oil?

The oil used by artists and woodturners is linseed oil. The food-grade equivalent is called flaxseed oil. This oil is ideal for seasoning cast iron for the same reason it’s an ideal base for oil paint and wood finishes. It’s a “drying oil”, which means it can transform into a hard, tough film. This doesn’t happen through “drying” in the sense of losing moisture through evaporation. The term is actually a misnomer. The transformation is through a chemical process called “polymerization”.

The seasoning on cast iron is formed by fat polymerization, fat polymerization is maximized with a drying oil, and flaxseed oil is the only drying oil that’s edible. From that I deduced that flaxseed oil would be the ideal oil for seasoning cast iron.

As a reality check of this theory, I googled “season cast iron with flaxseed oil” to see what came up. The very first hit is a page written by a guy who seasons his cast iron cookware with linseed oil from the hardware store because it gives the hardest surface of anything he’s tried. (I’m not sure how safe that is; I don’t recommend it.) Below that were several sites selling traditional cast iron cookware from China, which they advertise as being “preseasoned with high quality flax oil”. I don’t know whether they really use food-grade flaxseed oil (which is expensive) or linseed oil from a hardware store. What’s significant is the claim. Seasoning with high quality flaxseed oil is something to brag about.

http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/

So has anyone used flaxseed oil? I also came across this page for smoking points on diffferent oils.

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Q-A/SmokePointOil.htm

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http://www.amazon.com/Flaxseed-Oil-16-474-Liquid/dp/B00068S5G2

http://www.puritan.com/flaxseed-linseed-oil-080/organic-flaxseed-oil-006420

Maybe some health food stores, major groceries, health food type groceries, possibly WalGreens, even possibly WalMart pharmacy. Maybe even Target. Many places will only have the capsule supplements, but some will have the quart of liquid.

edit: checking stores on line for local shelf stock.

Most Walgreens have at least one brand of 8oz bottle. (I kinda looked and did not find it.)

CVS did not

Target did not

Walmart shows what looks like a cooking brand in some stores.

Olivado Natural Nutrition: Omega Plus Balanced 3, 6, 9 Oil, 8.45 fl oz

Edited by ReconRat
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Thanks guys, I just cooked some chicken in it I had marinating for a day and wow, turned out so perfect. I re-oiled and warmed it up and am letting it sit. Going to use it for some steak this weekend, then do a heavy cleaning and start over with a full season.

Like the OMG WTF did I do style clean, steel wool everything. Or I may just say F it because it's cooking good. I just worry I have some marinade on it now, although, I like it, so might add some flavor.

And the smoke was minimal, cooked at medium instead of med-high. Thanks for the tips.

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