Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
How I've always seasoned cast iron is like this--nothing organic or coconut involved
1--grease it good with old fashioned Crisco shortening (inside only)
2--put it in a 200-250 oven & forget it for a few hours
3--let cool, wipe out old grease, then repeat steps 1 & 2 until it looks/feels the way you want it.
After you wash it or have any water left on it, let it sit it on a low burner a minute or two until dry. It doesn't hurt to wipe it out with a dab of Crisco when it's dry to keep it well seasoned. This is how I've kept my 100 yr old cast iron for the last 30 years I've had it.
I've never heard of seasoning a skillet on high heat or upside down.
200-250 sounds way too low.
Every website I visited suggested very high heat and/or upside down.
I did everything that was recommended and stuff STILL sticks to it.
I'm thinking of having it professionally seasoned.
Are you using soap to clean your cast iron? If so, stop. That's stripping the seasoning. Just a quick rinse and dry will do. Even though the cast iron is seasoned, I will still use oil or butter for making eggs, potatoes, etc.
Isn't there a pretty good chance that will leave some food residue on the pan? WHich will provide a great place for bacteria to grow, and get on the next food I cook, and poison the heck out of me next time I use it?
And even if the bacteria are killed by the heat the next time I use the pan... might they leave residue of their own, that can be dangerous, even after heat? Botulism, for example, is a bacteria (extreme example), that I believe cooking heat can't completely eliminate.
I cannot recall what temp we used when we initially seasoned each of our Lodge cast iron skillets (we have two different sizes), but I do know that we used shortening. I will have to ask my husband about the temp and length of time as he is the seasoning pro in the family.
I know that you are looking for initial seasoning suggestions, but after each use we always wipe the inside surface with canola oil after cleaning/wiping dry and then store it away until next time. Works like a charm!
Isn't there a pretty good chance that will leave some food residue on the pan? WHich will provide a great place for bacteria to grow, and get on the next food I cook, and poison the heck out of me next time I use it?
And even if the bacteria are killed by the heat the next time I use the pan... might they leave residue of their own, that can be dangerous, even after heat? Botulism, for example, is a bacteria (extreme example), that I believe cooking heat can't completely eliminate.
I leave my skillet on the burner to cremate any remaining tidbits then scrub it with salt, wipe it out and add a little oil. I've never heard of a health issue related to cooking with cast iron. Botulism is mainly from canned foods not being prepared properly, I think it can be killed by high heat.
I love cooking in cast iron! However, when seasoning or re-seasoning, I use vegetable oil. I think the flaxseed is your problem. Also, I only turn the oven on 325 degrees. I'm guessing the 500 is too hot for the flaxseed and is, in essence, cooking if off.
Yes, you are burning off your oil/grease. Clean it, wipe it with vegetable oil, put it ON the stove and turn on burner. Leave only until it starts smoking. Turn off burner but leave the pan on it to cool down. Wipe it again with the paper towel with oil on it that you used previously. This is how I do mine. I do use water to clean mine sometimes but mostly it just need to be wiped out. No food poisoning here and I've been using my cast iron for 30 years. It does also depend on the pan. Not all cast iron is the same.
Yes, you are burning off your oil/grease. Clean it, wipe it with vegetable oil, put it ON the stove and turn on burner. Leave only until it starts smoking. Turn off burner but leave the pan on it to cool down. Wipe it again with the paper towel with oil on it that you used previously. This is how I do mine. I do use water to clean mine sometimes but mostly it just need to be wiped out. No food poisoning here and I've been using my cast iron for 30 years. It does also depend on the pan. Not all cast iron is the same.
So is that how you initially season it?
Do you do this just once or multiple times.
Here's just a couple of the articles i had come across....
Ok, here's what's going on.
First off, I had a caphlon cast iron pan that was great for a year or two. Then it got too nasty and just needed re-seasoning. Went through the process twice (including putting it through my oven's cleaning cycle to get down to the bare cast iron) and couldn't get it back to a non-stick surface. Got frustrated enough that I picked up a brand new Lodge pre-seasoned skillet. I got it from amazon and on the amazon reviews I read where people got their new skillet and before using it they seasoned it further themselves. So this is what I did as well. Took it out of the box and did the following...
1) Wiped a THIN layer of organic flaxseed oil on top and bottom of skillet.
2) Put in cool oven, upside down
3) Turned oven to 500 degrees and baked for 1 hour after reaching temp.
4) Let completely cool in oven for several hours
5) Repeated 4 more times.
Excited to give it the ultimate test this morning, I heated the cast iron on my gas stove top this morning on medium heat for several minutes. Added a bunch of ghee, completely coating the skillet. Dropped in 3 eggs (planning on making over-medium fried eggs) and waiting a few minutes for the eggs to partially cook. Went to flip them with my spatula and they were completely stuck to the pan and had to be scraped off making a complete mess.
What gives?! Why am i having so much trouble?!
In my many years of cast iron experience you never use anything but Vegetable Oil to season the pan.
Also, do a search for "Lodge Logic" cast iron and follow the directions there.
It could be the quality of pan you have as well, I only use Lodge Logic cast iron.
My 90 year old mother only used cast iron skillets. She greased them with lard or shortening. Oil gets gummy. She or I should say, we, used to wash them just like all the other dishes - hot soapy water. Never had any issues with them losing their non-stick quality. We would put it on the gas stove to dry along with a dab of lard or shortening. Wipe off any excess.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
