Cast Iron Seasoning

How do you guys season your cast iron? I have a shitty Lodge skillet and eggs always stick to it. How to season it so I can make myself delicious chicken period breakfast?

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sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/
cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/5820-the-ultimate-way-to-season-cast-iron
youtube.com/watch?v=46nRKacPWPs
seriouseats.com/2016/09/how-to-clean-maintain-cast-iron-pan-skillet-cookware.html
youtube.com/watch?v=JZmJu3FuE3E
youtube.com/watch?v=fZmNyOCzpC8
youtu.be/n4o_HbZvCMM
youtube.com/watch?v=NHA4MSMKKoA&t=0s
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You need to salt it before you oil it.
Most people don't do this and thus never season their skillet properly.

Cook a shitton of bacon in it

Pitting much?

Whats the point of the salt?

Salt is an abrasive cleaner that you can use to clean dirty CI cookware without harming the seasoning like soap could so it's commonly recommended for cleaning dirty cast iron.

But the idea that you must salt it before you oil it is pure nonsense. The salt has nothing whatsoever with the seasoning process. Seasoning is the polymerization of fat into a hard coating. That requires only two things: a food-safe fat and heat.

Yeah, I'm aware of it's use for cleaning the pan, the idea that you could use it to season the pan was what I was asking about.

I've been using Crisco to season my pan and eggs still stick. Maybe it's because of the grainy surface of Lodge skillets. Gotta either pay 150~ for one of the new smooth ones or hit up antique sales and hope you get lucky with a vintage one.

Grainy surface doesn't matter one bit.

The two problems that I've encountered most often when helping friends with their CI is either they used too much oil/fat when seasoning, and/or they didn't heat it up high enough during the seasoning process.

What does the inside of your pan feel like when you touch it with your fingers? It should feel rock-hard and slippery. If it feels soft, sticky, or oily then you have the aforementioned problem.

>Gotta pay 150~
>or hope you get lucky
Sand it smooth yourself. Are you a fucking retard?

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

Organic flaxseed oil.

I like to cook a throwaway batch of hot Italian sausage to christen new cast iron anyway...

But the organic flaxseed oil is the tits.

Just a reminder that soap will not damage a properly seasoned pan and leaving old oil in a pan after juat wiping it down is gross and disgusting

I tried to season my copper fry pan but I have this same issue. Tips?

Don't have the tools.


What temperature do you recommend to use? It feels rough, not quite slippery or oily. I'm in the process of getting a couple of layers on it right now. Using 350 heat and wiping off all of the fat before putting it in the oven.
I've read mixed reviews on flaxseed. Some swear by it and others say its flaky and not as long-lasting as something like Crisco. I'm going to try to make Crisco work first before I move to other fats because plenty of people have had success with it so I'm hopeful that I'll figure it out.

Thanks

Buy the tools so when you fuck it up again you can fix it again.

Like any relationship, the best way is to just stop caring. Don't soak it, put it in a dishwasher, or use really soapy water. But don't priss it up and worry about having to salt/oil/low heat dry every time. You can cook acidic tomato sauce in it if you're doing a quick poached eggs in red sauce, just don't make hours-long sunday gravy in the thing.

Leave it out on the stove for a few days if you can't be bothered. Just quick rinse and use your cast-iron suicide brush to get the gunk off, and use. Yeah, sometimes you should oil it, or wipe with salt if it's getting gunky. But who cares.

After time, you'll start to notice that it's a lot more black and slick instead of that faded grey, through no effort of your own other than cooking on it. That is the key.

good advice. It was actually starting to get non-stick after a couple of days of using it but the seasoning didn't look even to me so I overthought it and assumed I did something wrong and needed to reseason it. After reseasoning it, it seemed to have lost the non-stick feel that it had accumulated before. So, after I finish this multiple layer seasoning I'll stop caring about the appearance and just use it.

i got a 30 year one from my dad and shit always sticks to it. unless your're a god at heat management shits going to stick to it. They're great for searing and frying (i.e., if it's not floating it's not frying). I wouldn't stress about pancakes not being able slide off your fish and potato seasoned pan.

When I first got my cast iron pan I always had a problem with eggs and things sticking. I must've reseasoned my pan 4 or 5 times before I finally realized what was going on.

First off, you absolutely need some sort of fat to cover the pan when you're cooking. When I cook my eggs (2 of them, plus sausage), I use half a tablespoon of butter. I put it on medium heat and let it the butter melt. When its melted I make sure to tilt the pan back and forth to get the butter to cover the whole surface.

Then I let it sit on the heat.

...

nice dubs

nice thread

>muh gmo free skillet seasoned with organic harmonized flaxseed oil

>believing in psuedo cooking science of yesteryear
>Not just using the dishwasher like the modern man

The salt draws moisture out of the metal.
You put about a half inch in the skillet and heat it up as hot as possible.
Clean it out and then oil the pan.

Is it weird that I actually made corned beef hash and eggs this morning?

As to seasoning my cast iron, I rub it liberally with a high smoke point oil, heat the oven to 500 degrees, and put the pan in upside down. About twenty minutes is usually sufficient.

That's just the primer though. The real seasoning happens over time as you use the pan. As has been mentioned, always cook with a liberal amount of oil/butter. My eggs literally slide right out of the pan now.

is that a lodge? I have one of those silicone holders they come with and the thing gets too hot to hold on to when I cook. Plus I noticed it melted a bit.

get one like this. it's basically an over mitt just for the handle.

the one I've got has lasted me 2+ years.

Is it a mistake to rinse the pan out with warm water? I tried to do so the other day on my pan and I noticed some of the shinys were gone from the surface.

completely unnecessary.

1) cast iron doesn't absorb moisture
2) even if it did, the act of heating it up would remove the moisture without the need for salt.

>What temperature do you recommend to use?

Any temp will work so long as it is higher than the smoke point of the oil you are using.

Never an issue.
Do it right or don't bother.

This. I do a lot of drunk cooking and used to burn the shit outta my hand all the time when I first started using cast iron because I was so used to a regular pan that wouldn't scald the ever living fuck outta you when you cooked with it. Those little cloth bastards are a life saver and are the only reason I don't have 3rd degree burns all over my hands. Yes, I'm an idiot. I have accepted this. But god bless cast iron. Gonna season my home and camping cast iron skillets tonight tonight actually.

...

drunk cooking is based but dangerous

Cooks Illustrated has an excellent foolproof way to season CI, it takes damn near all day: cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/5820-the-ultimate-way-to-season-cast-iron

I concur. When I lived back home I'd cook a shitload for my parents and buddies when they'd come over. A lot of fish too since salmon is was so affordable. I was always outside bullshitting and drinking while using the cast iron on the grill when it was nice outside and I must have done that shit a dozen times. Or pulling it out of the oven or something. Retarded.

>now i can drunk cook all the time and keep the use of my hands

Captcha
>Woodburn St

It may not be pretty, but works just as fine without all the """seasoning""" work

Mmmmm.... iron oxide.

Is it possible to season a pan in an apartment without setting off the smoke alarms

Sure. You don't need very much oil at all. THIN layer. Shouldn't smoke appreciably.

Mine hasn't set off the alarms yet. It smokes very little, if at all. Turn on the fan over your stove (if you have one) or open some windows. Maybe some of the excess oil is dripping onto the heating element? Put a piece of aluminum foil under your pan to catch any drippings. Also, maybe sure it's turned upside down. Maybe you're just cooking your oil in the pan if you have it right side up? Not sure, just a couple possible remedies depending on what you're doing.

Lodge are shitty pans these days, and have been since the 80s. get a wire brush and a flap wheel and polish all the rough stuff off the inside of the pan. the bottom should feel like glass. Then reseason and it'll be about as good as you can get it.

or buy a Chinese one off amazon, because the Chinese still know how to cast a proper iron mould and get a smooth surface, unlike us.

ITT: people who think iron is a type of wood

I like to think I know what tf I'm talking about when it comes to my cast iron pans.

>youtube.com/watch?v=46nRKacPWPs
based Martha Stewart, use a solid shortening to season so it doesn't get oily at 350 degrees for at least an hour.

>seriouseats.com/2016/09/how-to-clean-maintain-cast-iron-pan-skillet-cookware.html
contrary to popular belief soap doesn't harm cast iron

>youtube.com/watch?v=JZmJu3FuE3E
if you still don't buy it then just use jewish kosher salt method

finally just buy a lodge 12in for about $30, you can find these at literally any Shart Mart

>youtube.com/watch?v=fZmNyOCzpC8
if you want a polished cast iron (makes it non stick) you'll have to get a stargazer 10.5 in for about $80 plush shipping

although you can just polish a lodge pan at home, or look for a half decent Chinese manufacturer.

THAT THERE IS SOME DAMN FINE CORNED BEEF HASH user.

care to share recipe? my ratios are always fucked.

link me one of these smooth Chinese pans you speak off

out of curiosity did you also splash a bit of whiskey while cooking while drunk?

It takes time to get a real seasoning on your pan. Sure, you can season it in the oven with fat, but the best thing to do is cook food in it.

I wouldn't suggest eggs right now if you're having that much trouble. Cook sausage, bacon, steak, burgers, stuff with a higher fat content. Fry chicken, make stir fry, find excuses to cook with fat, and over time your seasoning will improve.

Use is the best thing. The reason you see fifty year old pans with slippery black season all over the surface is because of years and years of use.

When you finish cooking, wipe out the crusty shit with a soft pad or brush and water, heat it up again to evaporate the water, grease it again with a small amount of oil, and you're done. I recently started using mine again after getting discouraged and little by little the seasoning has improved. I cooked some cornbread in it the other night and it didn't stick at all.

good advice but

>Use is the best thing. The reason you see fifty year old pans with slippery black season all over the surface is because of years and years of use.
They actually used to make em like that. I think the costs of smoothing out the bottom outweigh the benefits for Lodge so they don't do it.

www.amazon.com/Enameled-Cast-Skillet-Island-Spice/dp/B01BU2V85M

>wa la

>enamel coated
ughhhhhh.......

It's just more cost-effective to mass produce them in molds than forge them for real and grind them smooth. A shame that I missed out on my grandma's skillet but someone else got it after her house burned.

Anyway, I've had a lot of trial and error getting my Lodge pan the way I want it but it's finally starting to look right and above all cook the right way.

This is literally basic cooking 101 oh my god

>forge them

>cast iron

niggauwat.jpg

>The salt draws moisture out of the metal.

kys

About 6-8 oz. of Corned Beef, diced. (I made it the day before in my crock pot.)
1 medium bell pepper, diced.
1 small onion, diced.
2 small potatoes, diced.
1 clove of garlic, minced.
Salt and fresh ground pepper.

>Veeky Forums still doesn't know how to season cast iron.

You're a fucking idiot, Son.

>cast

>forged

>not two different metalworking methods

m8

not really mate. when i used a non-stick pan, I didn't have to wait nearly as long for the pan to heat up as I did for cast-iron.

Possibly. I happen to be a whiskey/bourbon drinker. Do I know you seƱor?

Seasoning is actually not a thin layer of oil, it's a thin layer of polymerized oil, a key distinction. In a properly seasoned cast iron pan, one that has been rubbed with oil and heated repeatedly, the oil has already broken down into a plastic-like substance that has bonded to the surface of the metal. This is what gives well-seasoned cast iron its non-stick properties, and as the material is no longer actually an oil, the surfactants in dish soap should not affect it. Go ahead and soap it up and scrub it out.

The one thing you shouldn't do? Let it soak in the sink. Try to minimize the time it takes from when you start cleaning to when you dry and re-season your pan. If that means letting it sit on the stovetop until dinner is done, so be it.

Science, FTW.

>strip completely in camp fire or oven cleaning cycle
>clean throughly with soap and water, maybe abrasive spronge
>light coat of cold pressed un-processed flax seed oil
>upside down in oven to 500 degrees for 3 hours
>cool 12 hours
>repeat 5+ times or until happy with results

>although you can just polish a lodge pan at home, or look for a half decent Chinese manufacturer.
second time this is mentioned in this thread, do you by any chance know any Chinese manufacturer that makes smooth pans?

No fucking shit

and you need to use more butter too

>How do you guys season your cast iron?

Just fry up stuff in the pan like bacon, corned beef hash, Spam, etc. and wipe it clean with a paper towel, do NOT wash it (I haven't washed my cast iron pan in years).

No need for elaborate "seasoning" procedures.

You don't even rinse it off with some water?

checked

nice post

Use more oil when cooking your eggs. You need more than a spray of oil from a can.

>I haven't washed my cast iron pan in years).

What about all the food bits?

disgusting pig

Don't cook eggs in it for a little while and just stick to cooking bacon and meats with shitloads of fat. After about 5-10 times of this, start cooking eggs again. They should cook just fine without sticking. Just gotta build up that seasoning

>wipe it clean with a papper towel

what part of that sentence did you not understand?

The best advice I have heard and will pass on is just use the dang thing. I have a flat pan I struggled with and it is just now starting to come around. Also the washing it with heat, oil and salt helped a lot.

I'm actually seasoning a cast iron today. It's an old vintage pan, was really gunked up with crud so I used some oven cleaner (with lye) to remove it. Going to be trying out flax seed oil for seasoning.

I have a similar vintage pan with original seasoning, so it'll be interesting to compare.

I beg to differ

w-what happened

Except when those oils break down and fucking go rancid in your pan. Nothing like the smell of rotting meat to add some flavor to your food.

i think if you use it frequently you'd be fine.

What oils going rancid in the pan? Did you miss the part where you wipe the pan clean?

>house burned down
>skillet remained stronk

Best oil/temperature? I have a lodge that never really got a good season on it and wanted to strip and re-season it, but I've only got olive, canola, peanut, and avocado oil around.

For the next 2 weeks:

Place pan over a low burner, after 3 minutes place 3 strips bacon in pan. Let cook (this will take some time due to the low heat, but it will render the fat without burning)
After bacon is cooked, pull and place on paper towels to drain.
Swish bacon fat around pan, coating the sides also. Pour out fat.
Add 1 Tbls of cooking oil, raise burner to medium
Just before pan is going to start to smoke add in 1 Tbls butter, swish oils to coat evenly.
Break 2 eggs into pan, flip soon for over easy
Repeat every day for two weeks.

Pan will be in good shape by then.

Then go out and get yourself a de Buyer Mineral Fry Pan, and forget all about cast iron.

youtu.be/n4o_HbZvCMM

English:

youtube.com/watch?v=NHA4MSMKKoA&t=0s

or you can just season your pan.

Excellent point you made there.

But with my method you are eating out of it every day, while building up the non-stick base.

I bought a Weber Q the other day. What's a good way to season and maintain the grill? Should I use spray oil or just lots of fatty meats?

>I bought a Weber Q the other day. What's a good way to season and maintain the grill? Should I use spray oil or just lots of fatty meats?

Not much you can do...the grate is porcelain coated cast iron. Don't bang it around, be gentle with utensils so as not to chip it. It will never really season as straight cast iron does. Just grease it up after it gets hot, I'd use just straight cooking oil. I usually dip half an onion in the oil, use that to apply to the grate.

If it's a new lodge seasoning it won't do shit until you take a few flap discs and a palm sander to the cooking surface

Why don't you people use Carbon Steel like real cooks do?

If you cook something acidic and it breaks down this coating and it gets into your food, is this a bad thing?

Wish I had a before picture, this pan had a good quarter inch of gunk the bottom and eighth inch inside.

Stripped it down to bare iron with oven cleaner.

Six coats of flax seed oil.

And now it looks great.

And the bottom

meme seed oil

I guess I'll find out. But things tend to become memes for a reason yo.

>cookware with rivets

I have had a lodge for a couple years, is sanding/grinding down then re-seasoning worth the effort?

Nope. The rough finish doesn't matter one bit. People complaining about it are fucking up their seasoning in some other way.

In my experience it's nearly always one of two problems:

1) they apply too much oil/fat
and/or
2) they don't cook it long or hot enough after application.

Nigger please be baiting. Washing castiron in the dishwasher is like the worst fucking thing you can do. You are basically poisoning yourself with the iron.

>animu on a food and cooking board