How best to season a cast-iron pan? It came pre-seasoned, but as I understand that doesn't mean much

Here's my method, works perfectly every time.

You will need:

- A cast iron pan
- Shortening or lard
- The strongest burner your stove has

1. Wash your pan thoroughly with soap and hot water and set it aside to dry
2. Put your pan on the stove on low heat
3. Add a very small amount of fat to the pan and let it melt
4. As soon as the fat has melted crank your heat as high as it will go
5. When the fat starts smoking remove the pan from the heat and wipe the fat over ever surface of the pan
6. Allow the pan to cool slightly. It should still be warm, but not searingly hot
7. Repeat steps 3 through 6 until your pan is is glossy and black

wrong
seasoning a cast iron pan has nothing to do with seasoning meat, but nice try
close
this is the only person who has any clue what they're talking about

my quick & dirty method:

put enough oil (higher smoke point oil is better) to coat the pan and then some. set it over high heat and let it go (you wouldn't do this if you were using this oil to cook something.) It's ok if the oil smokes a little bit, just don't get it so hot that it catches fire. What you're looking for is for tiny bubbles to form in the oil as it heats. Basically what's happening is the metal is expanding and the tiny pores that were heretofore filled with water or air are now big enough for the hot oil to get in there and replace the water/air. Let it go for a couple minutes, keep looking for those tiny bubbles. Pour the hot oil off into something that won't melt like a tin can, and take a clean rag or paper towel and wipe the fuck out of it. Repeat as necessary. Basically what said. All other advice in this thread is complete fucking bullshit.

peel two potatoes and throw em (the peels) in the pan with some salt and get it hot as fuck

absolutely fucking wrong and retarded

That's for removing the wax from new carbon steel pans.

Go to your organic market and get some flaxseed oil and tip your fedora at your frying pan until it gets a nice sheen.

>but as I understand that doesn't mean much.
As I understand from Lodge, they season 12 times. Put a few drops of high smoke point oils, rub it all around, and put it in the oven

Honestly this.

Flaxseed oil is something like $15 for a tiny bottle, but it's the fastest way to season your cast iron/carbon steel, and you really don't need to use very much. That high smoke point makes a huge difference.

>using anything besides salt and pepper for seasoning
ask me how i know you're a tryhard noobchef

How do you know I'm a tryhard noobchef? Serious answer, please.

I smear oil on it and throw it on the grill cause I dislike smoking up my house

haven't had to do this in a long while because the patina on my skillet is fucking crazy good, only my dutch oven wears thin from lack of fatty applications

l2cook, pleb

Ok, I was pretty sure were a retard, thx for confirming

>Attach pan to ass
>Strip down to underwear
>Streak through Primorsk or Yasna
>Take many rounds of 7.62 and 5.56 to pan in process
>Hijack a UAZ and hitail it to Zharki
>Your pan is now seasoned, good for bashing in skulls of AFKers

>the metal is expanding and the tiny pores that were heretofore filled with water or air are now big enough for the hot oil to get in there and replace the water/air
Bullshit.

Throw that hipster shit away and buy yourself a proper heavy gauge professional non-stick skillet.

Cast iron pans are for jobless cucks who have time to waste "seasoning" a pan just to cook a bit of bacon in it. Poor wageless cucks cant afford to throw a teflon pan away after a few years and just get a new one.

All this seasoning bullshit makes me sick. I hope all of you drop your precious piece cast nigger on the ground and it shatters into pieces.

>trying this hard

>2017
>Still buying cookware that rusts when exposed to water

Like...most cookwear?

Flax seed oil is my personal favorite.

Most? Are you retarded?

Glass, ceramic, enameled, aluminum, stainless steel, and copper cookware do not rust. Only carbon steel and cast iron do.

I seriously hope you aren't using stainless steel knives. Only carbon steel is any decent.

Sand it down then season. It's so much better that way.

Copper has its own maintenance issues. Aluminum is pretty good. Cast iron isn't fucking rocket science to maintain

Agreed. But I wasn't talking about other maintenance issues. I was pointing out that the idea of "most" cookware being able to rust is insane.

I thought you were saying using material that rusts is stupid but I think that given the performance and maintenance it is one of the top three materials. But yes you are correct most pans don't rust. I wasn't the original guy you were talking to BTW.

>I thought you were saying using material that rusts is stupid
Not at all. I simply mentioned what rusts and what doesn't. Nothing more.

>>I think that given the performance and maintenance it is one of the top three materials
Agreed.

Heat it to 450 in the oven for an hour with oil in it, spread oil all over once out, and immediately run under cold faucet water or dip into sink full of cold ass water.

And here I thought nobody was going to die on a cooking forum. Don't do this OP the pan might shatter. Hot metal and cold water don't mix very well. An hour is too long too. Coat with oil bake at 400 until there's too much smoke probably 15 minutes.

>offending the meme
may god have mercy..

Not bullshit. Metal expands when heated, and there are millions of microscopic cracks and surface nuaces that food would otherwise get stuck to.

OP, the whole point why you want the oil to start smoking is because the oil in those tiny surface pores is baking itself dry (similar to the sticky grease you clean from your stove exhaust fan) and will prevent food from sticking in future cooking sessions, only when hot though.
It also seals the pores and prevents thee iron from oxidising and rusting when you clean it after use.
Speaking of cleaning, wipe down the pan with paper towel, there shouldn't be anything sticking to it that requires soap and water again.

There are pores but I bet that the gas expands and the pores contract causing the gas to leave and the oil to penetrate upon cooling. Also I'm pretty sure there is a reaction between the iron and oil breakdown products or else you would be able to season any metal.

Or;

>Buy a quality teflon pan
>Remove packaging, wash with a bit of soap and water
>Rinse and dry
>On the heat, bit of oil
>Cook

I've just saved your hours of your life that would otherwise be wasted trying to burn oil onto a piece of shit metal.

I don't do anything fancy. My pan came pre seasoned, but I screwed when cleaning, so I just seasoned all over again.

All you have to do is set your oven as has high as possible, put some high smoking point oil on your pan, wipe it with a paper towel and put it on the oven for about half an hour.
Repeat those steps about three or four times and you'll have a beautiful iron cast pan.

Honestly, i dont even bother with all that shit. I just took mine home over a year ago.

Put some lard on mine, heat it up and let it cool a bit before wiping it off and then cooked whatever on. The more greasy shit you cook on there the better. And to clean it. Wash it VERY quickly with water and a non scratch scouring pad. Then immediately wipe it off and briefly put it back on the stove on low to dry it off completely so it doesnt rust. Should be fine, desu.

Believe it or not semen is actually a great seasoning agent.

Different tools for different jobs bro.

You can't heat a nonstick pan to the level required for getting a good sear on meat, doing a stir-fry, etc. Nonstick pans are fucking great. But to assert they do the same thing as CI is silly.

Proper seasoning and care of cast iron items is important if you want to use/have the skill to use them.

1. Wash your pan with soap and water. Dry throughly.

2. Set upper oven rack to the middle and lower rack to the bottom. Place a layer of aluminum foil, slightly larger than the item being seasoned on the bottom rack.

3. Preheat oven to 400+ degrees.

4. Coat pan with a layer of oil. Use a paper towel and wipe it on the inside and outside of the pan. (The object is to get oil on it, not give it a bath). Do not oil the handle very much.

5. Place oiled pan, upside down on middle rack of oven and heat for 30-40 minutes. It may smoke a little so ventilate as necessary.

6. Turn off oven. Let it cool completely. Do not touch the pan unless you have a fetish for intense pain and/or skin grafts with nerve damage.

7. Remove completely cool pan from oven and wipe with a clean paper towel.

8. Repeat 2-3 times if the pan is new or it has a grayish color (gray means the iron has not absorbed enough oil to fill the voids and plasticize to a smooth finish)

9. Use the pan as normal, the additional oils from cooking will renew and increase the seasoning on the pan.

10. Wash the pan with water only. If necessary, use a plastic scrubber to remove burnt on food. Do not use soap or metal scrubbers! It will remove the seasoning!

11. Wipe out pan and allow to completely dry before storing.

If rust (oxidation) is evident there was not enough seasoning. Wipe the pan with a damp paper towel, apply a thin coat of oil, and heat, as above to increase seasoning level.

Note: some people advocate the use of animal fats (suet, lard, bacon grease) for seasoning. They will work but will become rancid if not used frequently and will impart unwanted flavors to foods cooked in the pan.

Cast iron, properly seasoned, is nearly non-stick, and can be used for cooking almost anything.

A seasoned pan, properly cared for, will last for decades with little additional care.

Continued..,

Acidic foods, like tomatoes may reduce the seasoning. Wash the pan with water and add a coating of oil. Heat and wipe dry as above.

I have several pans from the 1890-1910 era and they provide excellent cooking surfaces with high heat retention, low sticking, and amazing searing abilities.

Have fun!

>muh sikrit 14 herbs an spices
>shieeeeeet

Wrong.

This is the widely accepted method among cast iron autists: sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/

where do you think the teflon from those pans goes when it wears away

They all work the same way, user. Fat polymerizes. You can sperg out over using sheryl's method if you're too dumb to think for yourself, but the fact is that any food-safe fat works just fine. This isn't complicated or rocket science. It's basic shit your uneducated great-grandma had no trouble doing. Stop making it more complicated than it needs to be.

Who cares where it goes? It's inert.

After reading Canter's blog I realized that her instructions are almost exactly what I posted. I must assume that you wanted me to include all of the chemistry in reference to polymerization and oil types. Information that most readers would not need at this point.

Interestingly, I am also a psychologist (I/O) as well as a Telecommunications Networking and Information Technology professional. As a student I also worked for ten years as a cook, and later, as sous chef, in a restaurant where cast iron and flat iron were the primary methods of meat preparation and proper seasoning was necessary to the job.

The instructions I gave are the method used in my work and at my home. They also closely mirror the instructions for seasoning set forth by the Lodge Corporation that manufactures a large percentage of the cast iron cookware used in the United States today.

Your opinion is your own as is mine. They are like assholes, eveybody has one.

The only difference is that I choose not to wander around with my pants around my ankles.

Bang!

>they all work the same way
>source: my ass

go ahead and half ass it, it will be "quick and dirty" but it's not the best.

Actually, I just realized that my retort was somewhat lacking in accuracy. I was incorrect when I implied that you wander around with your pants around your ankles.

Rather, I should have implied that, unlike yourself, I do not wander around sticking my fingers in other people's assholes.

Precision is key in this case.

yes I realize the methods are similar, most are

her method is far more consistent, especially due to the very thin coats heated evenly in the oven. The cool down helps as well.

>but it's not the best.
It doesn't need to be.

All you're doing is scaring people away by linking them to this huge long description of something that's honestly really fucking simple.

for you maybe. OP wants the best, I posted what is considered by many to be the best. You posted a half ass method. Should I not have posted the best method for others to see that might want to put the effort in?

just say you don't want to put that much effort in and leave it at that.

>OP wants the best, I posted what is considered by many to be the best.
Fair enough.

>>You posted a half ass method.
I didn't post a method at all. All I did was point out that there is no magic behind that method and in the end it's all simple polymerization of fats due to heat. Anyone on this board ought to have taken a basic chemistry class in order to be old enough to post here. Thus we should all realize that the polymerization happens regardless of the exact type of oil being used.

>>just say you don't want to put that much effort in and leave it at that.
Agreed. Because that amount of effort isn't needed. It's superfluous. It's taking something that's actually very simple and taking it to a sperg extreme. On the same level as waxing your car every time you drive it to reduce drag and therefore improve your mileage.

I was assuming you're one of the methods I replied to. So what do you have to disprove her views on different fats other than muh basic khemistry with no source at all?

Once again, the effort isn't needed FOR YOU. Her method doesn't even require much effort.

>put flax seed oil in pan, wipe clean
>put upside in oven
>let it heat up and cool down with the pan in the oven
>repeat a few times

waxing a car once is far more effort, horrible comparison. car detailing is far more extreme autism

>Once again, the effort isn't needed FOR YOU. Her method doesn't even require much effort.

why'd you link to some massive fucking overcomplicated essay if all you're doing is repeating the same basic shit that everyone else already said

Its clearly not the same and It's literally shorter than most blog posts before recipes on soccer mom blogs.

are you this frustrated everywhere you go with a lot of words on the internet? maybe you're just w r o n g and want to keep replying