cast iron seasoning

[dougeee]

Hey guys, anybody have a secret for seasonin' cast iron? Mine is to fill about half full of cookin' oil,then pretty much fill with sliced potatoes.Set it on the campfire and let 'er go.Try not to let it flame up(mine usually does).Don't let it get hot enough to warp.Cook it down 'til the potatoes are ashes.After it's done clean 'er up and it comes out coal black and good'n slick.What's your recipe?Fun to do at winter camps.

 

[Joe Yanta]

Well, thats not too far off from what I do. I just cook french fries in it for about a week.

Joe

 

[dougeee]

I wonder what the potatoes have to do with it?Would another vegetable work?

 

[oomcurt]

About five or so years ago I bought a new cast iron frying pan. All I did was coat the inside of the pan, including the walls with a vegetable oil, place the pan in the oven, if I recall correctly it was at 350 degrees, let it in there for a couple of hours. Oh, one thing more..place the pan upside down on the oven rack. No, you aren't going to start a fire or be driven out by smoke...just don't drown the pan with oil.. a nice even coating. If you are worried about making a mess you can place a pan on the bottom rack to catch any oil that does drip. After a couple of hours of cooking the pan, and the oven has cooled, remove pan.

 

[Wefarmasmidgen]

Red Elk, who sold lots of cast iron, told us about using beeswax! It works like a charm. Instead of oil of some sort, use beeswax - put over a slow fire and let set for sevaral hours. It lasts longer, and never goes rancid for any reason.

*********
Soaring Spirit
Don't take life so seriously, it isn't permanent

 

[chipper]

Constantly heating and cooling of oil sinks into the pores in cast Iron making it non-stick.

Don't use dish soap on the pan, it will favor the pan with a soap taste.

Use only natural animal fat if you can. Olive oil, corn oil and the like eventually turn to linoleum like substance. That's where linoleum came from originaly, it was from heating Linseed oil. Corn oil and olive oil will eventually do something very simular.

Allways dry the pan with heat and apply oil. The pan will soak it up for next time.

Regards
Wounded Knee

 

[dougeee]

Thanks Loyd,Now that's somethin' I never heard before :shocked2:

 

[Claude Mathis]

Here's what "Lodge Manufacturing", one of Americas oldest cast iron cookware companies, has to say about seasoning.
[url] http://www.lodgemfg.com/useandcare.asp[/url]

 

Use only natural animal fat if you can. Olive oil, corn oil and the like eventually turn to linoleum like substance.

I disagree. It is the "coating" that vegetable oil leaves on the metal that makes it non-stick. This can not be obtained with animal fat. That's why the manufacturers suggest using solid shortening, not animal fat, to season their cast iron. Since you only have to season your pot every so often, there is no build up.

Olive oil has been used on pots and firearms for generations and it does not turn to anything like linoleum. It makes a great lube for shooting patches as well.

 

[oomcurt]

Er..."season your pot every so often" ? I dunno..I've been using my cast iron frypan for over five years now on a daily basis and have yet to "reseason" it. Never have put soap anywheres near it and have never even used anything to scrub it out. Matter of fact, I haven't even used a cloth to clean it. When I am finished using it I use hot water to rinse it, dump the water out and add some oil, spread that around with a paper napkin and she is good to go. If you rinse with hot water immediately after removing the food (I guess I am a little lucky here because our water is dang hot) you get a sort of boiling action..dump that out and the the pan sort of dries itself...then I just add the oil and put pan back in the oven to store it.

 

First cast iron pots I seasoned, I followed the instructions that came with the pot. Clean off the coating that it came with new, washing real good. Preheat cast iron and put a small amount of oil or lard (crisco) on it. Place in an oven for 2-3 hours. Then take it out and wipe any excess grease off and let it cool slowly. Repeat only reduce oven time to 1 hour. The only problem is the wife was not happy when she came home to a house full of a smoke haze and all of the smoke alarms in the house had the batteries removed to silence them :shake:
Anyway, the last few cast iron pots I purchased new, I tried something different. I first cleaned off the wax/parafin coating and then heated them in the gas BBQ grill. Placed crisco on them and placed them back in the grill for about 30-35 minutes. Took them out and wiped them down and reapplied crisco and heated again. Took only a couple of times and they gained a nice black patina and good slick seasoning that has proven to be virtually non-stick. It also was much better on the marital relationship. :redface: The BBQ method is what I will use from now on. Also frying foods in your cast iron the first few times it is used does wonders in the process.

Later,
CW Grizz

 

Er..."season your pot every so often" ? I dunno..I've been using my cast iron frypan for over five years now on a daily basis and have yet to "reseason" it.

I know I've had at least two incidence where the pot was allowed to boil dry and it burned the inside so badly that I had to reseason the pot. It happens.

 

[dwarvenchef]

At least once a year my wife burns my Grizwald pans, I'm used to seasoning em. I would fry a pound of bacon long and slow, brush out the solids left behind. For the next week I will make crilled cheese sandwiches or just fry one side of toast in olive oil, wipe out loose oil when finnished. After a week or so I would run it under hot water from the tap to remove any solids and dry off. Place the pan upside down in the oven at 300 for 1 hour. Remove from oven wipe off any thing not hardened and reseason with crisco, let cool and it's good to go till she burns it again.

 

[ShortBus]

I can tell ya what not to do. Don't put your new giant griddle on all four burner of your wifes new fancy stove.

The heat rolls out from under the back right where the digital brain is.... or was.

"honey isn't that getting a little hot?"

"quiet woman I know what I'm doing"... Beep... Beep... Beep...

"honey what does error code 25 mean?"

"uhhhhh...."

turns out it means "help me my brain has melted"

that was one expensive griddle.

:haha:

 

[dougeee]

:grin: Good one ShortBus,that's why I do my seasonin' over a campfire.Of course I have three acres on the side of a mountain.That helps :grin:

 

[Trina]

Oh no, Im sure the wife was VERY unahappy, dont you just hate those kinds of lessons :winking:



I use the BBQ to season my cast iron, I dont like the smoke in the house :nono: I think the first cast iron I got from lodge years ago said something about frying potatoes in it, I didnt have much luck with it myself... Its kinda interesting to see how many different ways there are for seasoning your cast iron.

 

[BS]

Oh no, Im sure the wife was VERY unahappy, dont you just hate those kinds of lessons :winking:



I use the BBQ to season my cast iron, I dont like the smoke in the house :nono: I think the first cast iron I got from lodge years ago said something about frying potatoes in it, I didnt have much luck with it myself... Its kinda interesting to see how many different ways there are for seasoning your cast iron.

I'm with COOKIE, I do mine in the 'grill' :thumbsup:

A friend cooked the 'wax' off, inside! :shocked2: Smoked Up the house! :rotf: