Can anyone tell me the easiest way to "season" a new cast iron skillet?

Question

I just bought a set of three new cast iron skillets and this is my first time having my own I need to know how to grease them up?

Answer 1

I have been doing this for year. Tried all of the fancy schmancy ways. I used mostly cast iron for cooking. A new pan needs to be washed to remove residue from manufacturing before you cook in it. Yes HOT SOAPY WATER. Put it over a medium high flame on the stove to dry it. Once the water evaporates turn off the flame. Pour in some olive oil and spread it completely around the entire inside of the pan with a paper towel. Wipe out any excess. It isn't necessary to season the outside of the pan. If you do it smokes and can catch fire when you cook with it. This tradition has been passed down in my family for more than 80 years. Each time you use the pan do the same thing. If you see rust you didn't cover all areas with oil. Some rust might show after you dry the pan on the stove but the oil removes it and re-seasons it. If something burns on scour to your hearts delight until it is clean, dry it and re oil. In time it develops a nice finish. I am still using my grandmothers Wagner that is over 80 years old. The only drawback is that given the age it has thinned a little more in the middle from wear. Enjoy, because cast iron cooking adds iron to your diet without extra supplements. Olive oil is much better for you than animal fat or other oils. This procedure is almost as good as nonstick cookware.

Answer 2

To season a cast iron skillet means to protect it from rusting and to lay down a coat to prevent the cast iron from imparting a metallic taste to food. This isn't the easiest but it is the best way to do this job perfectly. Lightly coat the piece with vegetable oil, this works better than animal fat. Let dry until tacky to touch, this requires 2 to 4 days. Heat oven to 500 degrees (yep 500) and place the pan in the oven for one hour. Open windows, turn on kitchen fan as there is going to be lots of smoke and this is what you want as you are carbonizing the oil. This put a very hard coat on the pan that protect the pan from rust and the food from metal. It also resist hard scrubbing during any cleaning of burnt on food. The pan will now last forever.

All the other answers will only partially coat the pan and you will be seasoning it continually through use for many many months. My way works the first time. Other answerers suggested to never wash cast iron with soap and water, that is because with there method of seasoning you do not get the really hard coat and washing will harm it. With my method you wash with soap and water and scrub and not remove the carbonized coating. Also the the cast iron will not get any better as you use it because it is perfect the first time. I've been doing this for fifty years. Oh, the only way to successfully remove the coating is to throw it in the campfire and heat it to about 800 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.

Answer 3

The idea is to fill in the crevices that occur naturally in cast iron - and the best way to fill the crevices is with burned oil or grease.

Seasoning is a process by which a layer of animal fat or vegetable oil is applied and cooked onto cast iron or carbon steel cookware. The seasoning layer protects the cookware from rusting, provides a non-stick surface for cooking, and prevents food from interacting with the iron of the pan. Almost all cast iron cookware is seasoned. Well-seasoned cast iron cookware will have a very smooth black surface.

If it is not pre-seasoned, new cast iron is often shipped with a coating to prevent rust. This coating is typically food-grade wax or mineral oil. The coating must be removed before the pan is seasoned or used. To remove the protective coating, cast iron can be thoroughly scrubbed using light dish soap and steel wool pads. If the surface is "natural" (unpolished), it may also be useful to use a wire brush. Some cooks will also rub the surface of the pan with kosher salt to smooth it.

Modern cast iron pieces typically do not have the smooth surface finish of some antiques such as older Wagner and Griswold cookware. However, since cast iron is easily sanded, the same finish may be obtained by the consumer before initial seasoning. The lack of peaks and valleys on the smoothed surface enhances the non-stick properties of cast iron cookware.

Once cleaned, cookware can then be seasoned. There are several techniques for seasoning cast iron - these vary based on the smoke point of the oil or fat used.

Fats and oils typically used for seasoning include lard, hydrogenated cooking oils such as Crisco, and palm or coconut oil (in general, oils that are high in saturated fats).

Technique 1
Simply wipe the cleaned cast iron with a good oil or fat and use it for frying and roasting, particularly high fat foods, like bacon. The oil or fat will impregnate the cast iron and gradually convert into a seasoning over time. Rendering animal fat in a new pan will have the same effect.

Technique 2
First, heat the cookware until water quickly boils when splashed onto its surface.
Next, using a rag, wipe a thin coat of lard or oil onto the surface of the cookware.
Finally, place the cookware upside-down in a moderately hot oven (220°C, 425°F) for 1-2 hours. It is a good idea to place a layer of aluminum foil under the cookware to catch drips of excess oil.
Let the pan cool in the oven. After a few iterations of this procedure, the cookware should have a black sheen and be ready for cooking.
A new cast iron pan will not be 100% seasoned after a single treatment. It takes repeated use for the pan to develop a seasoned, non-stick surface.

If too much oil or shortening is applied to a pan in the seasoning process, it will pool and gum up when the pan is heated. In this case, the goo can be scraped off and some more grease rubbed over the spot, or the pan can be re-scrubbed and reseasoned. Heating the pan upside-down may help prevent gumming, but will be more likely to drip grease into your oven unless protected by a foil-lined baking sheet. Seasoning at higher temperatures approaching the smoking point of the oil used will result in darker seasoned coatings in less time that aren't sticky or gummy.

Answer 4

You season a cast iron pan by rubbing it with a relatively thin coat of neutral oil (I stress a light coat of oil).

NOTE: Use vegetable oils (canola, sunflower, etc.), shortening (like Crisco shortening) or lard for seasoning your cast iron pans. I recently experimented and found out that food-grade coconut oil/butter also works great.

Place the cast iron pan, upside down, in the oven, with a sheet of aluminum foil on the bottom to catch any drips. Heat the pan for 30 to 60 minutes in a 300 to 500 degree oven. Once done, let the pan cool to room temperature. Repeating this process several times is recommended as it will help create a stronger "seasoning" bond.

The oil fills the cavities and becomes entrenched in them, as well as rounding off the peaks. By seasoning a new pan, the cooking surface develops a nonstick quality because the formerly jagged and pitted surface becomes smooth. Also, because the pores are permeated with oil, water cannot seep in and create rust that would give food an off-flavor.

Your ironware will be slightly discolored at this stage, but a couple of frying jobs will help complete the cure, and turn the iron into the rich, black color that is the sign of a well-seasoned, well-used skillet or pot.

Never put cold liquid into a very hot cast iron pan or oven. They will crack on the spot!

Be careful when cooking with your cast-iron pots on an electric range, because the burners create hot spots that can warp cast iron or even cause it to crack. Be sure to preheat the iron very slowly when using an electric range and keep the settings to medium or even medium-low.

Important:
Unless you use your cast-iron pans daily, they should be washed briefly with a little soapy water and then rinsed and thoroughly dried in order to rid them of excess surface oil. If you do not do this, the surplus oil will become rancid within a couple of days.

Remember - Every time you cook in your cast-iron pan, you are actually seasoning it again by filling in the microscopic pores and valleys that are part of the cast-iron surface. The more you cook, the smoother the surface becomes!

I hope this was beneficial to you,Good Luck!!! :)

Answer 5

If your pans are black, they are pre-seasoned by the manufacturer, and are ready to use. If they are grey/silver in color, they must be seasoned.

Do NOT use mineral oil or cooking spray or butter. Not to be snotty about some of these answers, but these things are reaalllly bad ideas. Mineral oil is not something you want in your food. The alcohol in Pam will dry the pan out. And butter will just smoke and burn.

Use veg oil, shortening, canola, bacon grease, or lard.

Coat the pan in oil and heat, either on stovetop or inside oven. Heat low to med heat for a few hours.

Never touch soap to it again. Just scrub with hot water and put back on stove or in oven to dry, so rust does not form. Don't wash the pan till it has cooled or it can warp.

Just cook as you normally would, and the oils/fats from your foods will help the seasoning process each time you cook.

Answer 6

Lightly grease the pan inside and out and the handle with Mineral Oil (not olive oil, not canola oil etc)
Put it in the oven at 300º for 45 minutes. Remove and let it cool to comfortable in the hand then wash under hot water, scrubbing with a non-soap brush
Repeat two more times.
Finally, very lightly rub with a thin layer of mineral oil and put it away. Handled correctly from that point on, you may never need to season it again.
Never use abrasive, or soap or detergent on Cast Iron and it will last you forever.
(PS> if you have an Asian market near you, look for and buy a bamboo Wok Brush for cleaning your cast iron pan. They are fantastic and last for years)

Answer 7

The only way I have ever done it is to make a pound of bacon in it very slowly.
Then I throw the bacon and wipe out the pan.
My sister says she would put oil in the pan and bake in the oven at 150 for a few hours, then wipe it out and store with paper towlels between them.

Answer 8

Use meat grease, NOT vegetable oil. Coat your skillet and put it in the oven at about 300 degrees F for 20 minutes. Let it cool and do it twice more. Never clean your skillet with soap. It's best to wipe when warm, not hot, and for any hard spots, use salt to clean it. If your stupid loved one (ahem) washes with soap and it starts to rust (just saying), you alway can reseason it.

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And it wasn't the end of the world. Thank you. :)

Answer 9

Rub them down with oil, inside and out, bake in low oven (about 300) until oil drys. Done if it starts smoking, a little. You can repeat this anytime it needs it. And you can wash it with soap and water, just re-season, and always dry on the stove top. turn on the heat and shut off just as all the water cooks away. Oh, and if eggs burn in it, don't soak the pan. Let the eggs dry out and they will come right out.

Answer 10

David H, seriously. aside from that excerpt you provided from your camping book, everything i have ever read on cast iron says never never never wash with soap. it ruins the seasoning. it may not have ruined yours but it is the overwhelming consensus with every cookware expert and cast iron manufacturer. lodge logic and emeril cast iron explicitly tells you never to wash with soap after cooking.

Also I think this poor girl with her skillets is not going to build a white hot campfire to season her pans. she needs something she can do in her kitchen.