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Seasoning Cast Iron Cookware

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RLeeper
RLeeper Posts: 480
in EggHead Forum
I'm in the process of stripping the finish off of my Lodge Dutch oven and griddle for the Mini. What is the best oil to use and how many times do I need to repeat the process? Also need recommendations of temperature and time in the oven. Thanks
Extra Large, Large, and Mini. Tucker, GA
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  • Charlie tuna
    Charlie tuna Posts: 2,191
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    This is how i do mine.  Scrub, or depending on the condition of the CI to be seasoned, wire brush, to remove anything - down to bare metal.  I then rub the entire CI surface with veggie oil, coating the entire surface, inside and outside.  Place the CI in an oven and run the temperature up to 400 degrees for a few minutes, then i shut the oven "off" and leave the CI in the oven to cool all the way down.  When cool, i look the entire surface over to make sure the entire surface is seasoned and shiny!!  If not, it goes again thru the oil and 400 degree oven process.
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  • RLeeper
    RLeeper Posts: 480
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    Thanks. Wow how many gallons is that?!
    Extra Large, Large, and Mini. Tucker, GA
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  • Charlie tuna
    Charlie tuna Posts: 2,191
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    When i cook -- i go overboard usually!  I came across a chili recipe a month ago that said it would fee 12 people?  I started putting that together, and it kept growing and growing -- but when i out it in this pot, it was only half full!!!  I picked this up at a church yard sale for twenty bucks.  This is a "caldron" (sp) and by the looks of it, it has seen a lot of cooking!!
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  • RLeeper
    RLeeper Posts: 480
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    Awesome! Gotta love yard sales. I can't drive past one without stopping.
    Extra Large, Large, and Mini. Tucker, GA
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  • Charlie tuna
    Charlie tuna Posts: 2,191
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    Guy had three nice pieces -- wanted to buy all three -- but i would have had to carry them around the rest of the morning -- kick myself now!!
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  • RLeeper
    RLeeper Posts: 480
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    What were the other pieces?
    Extra Large, Large, and Mini. Tucker, GA
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  • Charlie tuna
    Charlie tuna Posts: 2,191
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    One was a kettle and the other was an elongated roasting pot --- $20.00 apiece.  This stuff was old !
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  • RLeeper
    RLeeper Posts: 480
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    That sucks!
    Extra Large, Large, and Mini. Tucker, GA
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  • BYS1981
    BYS1981 Posts: 2,533
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    cooks illustrated did an article about seasoning and they recommend flax seed oil. I couldn't find any (since then I found it at whole foods), so I used grapeseed oil.
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  • piney
    piney Posts: 1,478
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    I too use flax seed oil I bought mine at GNC Healthfood store. I used an abrasive disc cleaned to a smooth surface, applied a very thin coating of flax seed oil, placed in oven at 500, let bake for 30 min., then let it remain in oven until cool. Repeat process 3 or 4 times.
    Lenoir, N.C.
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  • GaryLange
    GaryLange Posts: 418
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    Here is a good article and explanation of how to season cast iron cookware.

    http://www.wikihow.com/Season-Cast-Iron-Cookware
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  • SmokinDAWG82
    SmokinDAWG82 Posts: 1,705
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    My grandmother and mother always rubbed em down with Crisco and put it in a 400 oven for 30 minutes then turned the oven off until cool. Its always worked for me
    LBGE
    Go Dawgs! - Marietta, GA
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  • RLeeper
    RLeeper Posts: 480
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    Thanks for the advice. I did some research and found that the flaxseed was recommended also. Went to the local farmers market that has everything under sun but they didn't carry it. I bought some grape seed oil to give it a shot. They are in the oven now for round one and hopefully I can get two more in today.
    Extra Large, Large, and Mini. Tucker, GA
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  • yzzi
    yzzi Posts: 1,843
    edited March 2013
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    I've tried doing oils, and even flax seed oil, but I've gone back each time to my tried and true vegetable shortening. I heat the cast iron up for about 20 minutes or so to get it warm then I spread a coat of shortening on. Then I wipe it all off as much as I possibly can so that there's micro thin coating, then I throw it in 400 for a couple hours and then let it cool. I do that 3 or more times before cooking with it.
    Dunedin, FL
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  • GrannyX4
    GrannyX4 Posts: 1,491
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    Shortening is how the OLD pots got to where they are today. Mother, grandmother, and great grandmother all used shortening, bacon fat, or any other rendered fat they had. I still have most of them and was around when I watched them reseason the skillets. Flax seed?!!! ;;)
    Every day is a bonus day and every meal is a banquet in Winter Springs, Fl !
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  • RLeeper
    RLeeper Posts: 480
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    I tried the shortening method when I first got them. Maybe I didn't do enough coats but it didn't last.
    Extra Large, Large, and Mini. Tucker, GA
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  • yzzi
    yzzi Posts: 1,843
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    Could be that the iron wasn't cleaned good prior to seasoning, could be your cooking and cleaning methods or something else. Don't use metal utensils as they'll scratch. Don't use any cleaning agent whatsoever as it'll strip off your seasoning. Shortening is a tried and true method that has proven to last a lifetime with proper care.
    Dunedin, FL
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  • GrannyX4
    GrannyX4 Posts: 1,491
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    Do you mean back in the day great granny used wood or Teflon on the skillets? Not in our house! Funny =))
    Every day is a bonus day and every meal is a banquet in Winter Springs, Fl !
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  • thebtls
    thebtls Posts: 2,300
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    Here is a link to my cast iron cooking primer for reference.  Don't overthink it; cast iron doesn't really call for a lot of care.  Keep On Eggin'

    http://bigtsbge.blogspot.com/2012/09/cast-iron-cooking-primer.html

    Visit my blog, dedicated to my Big Green Egg Recipies at http://www.bigtsbge.blogspot.com You can also follow my posts on FaceBook under the name Keep On Eggin' or the link http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Keep-On-Eggin/198049930216241
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  • yzzi
    yzzi Posts: 1,843
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    GrannyX4 said:

    Do you mean back in the day great granny used wood or Teflon on the skillets? Not in our house! Funny =))

    Huh? Definitely not Teflon, and a metal spatula will ruin any finish if you're scraping with it. Cleaning with a wooden spoon is seasoning friendky. Wooden spoons have been around probably longer than cast iron.
    Dunedin, FL
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  • GrannyX4
    GrannyX4 Posts: 1,491
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    Yzzi, there is or was humor in them thar words. But with that said the pans I have never saw anything but metal until I got them. Great granny and my granny all used metal. My Mom only had one wooden spoon. I have the pans and they have not been reseasoned since I got them 30 years ago. When I was little Mom cleaned them up to get layers of crud off the out side. They were used at the farm in Pennsylvania on a coal stove and were stored for long periods of time unused. Cooked on a coal stove on a farm without indoor plumbing. Don't care to go back but I do love my old cast iron pans. ;;)
    Every day is a bonus day and every meal is a banquet in Winter Springs, Fl !
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  • caliking
    caliking Posts: 18,731
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    The flaxseed oil method works well. When Cooks Illustrated tested the method, I think the seasoning made it through a couple of rounds through a commercial dishwasher.

    #1 LBGE December 2012 • #2 SBGE February  2013 • #3 Mini May 2013
    A happy BGE family in Houston, TX.
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  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
    edited March 2013
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    No problems using metal on the old stuff.  Have a couple of metal flexible fish spatulas that are handy.

    Searching on ebay for a nice vintage set of Ekco Flint Arrowhead utensils. 

    Been known to use a little Dawn when scrubbing.  If it's properly seasoned, Dawn will do no harm to the finish.

    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

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  • yzzi
    yzzi Posts: 1,843
    edited March 2013
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    Granny, you're obviously seasoned with seasoning, more than I am for sure. I use metal utensils all the time as well, but I'm coming from the point of vigorously sautéing something then I'd err on the side of wooden utensils. My wok for instance had a nice seasoning but I use a long metal spatula cause my wooden one is too short in the egg, and the wok looks, well, terribly scratched. I'm just proposing that as a possible reason why the shortening seasoning didn't past, because it's a rare thing for it not to last.

    And where was the farm in PA? I have a feeling I'd be really jealous of your collection.
    Dunedin, FL
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  • GrannyX4
    GrannyX4 Posts: 1,491
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    Yazzi, near Saltsburg in Westmorland county. My collection has dwindled. I gave a pan to each of the kids and I broke one in two when I dropped it on my little toe. ;;)
    Every day is a bonus day and every meal is a banquet in Winter Springs, Fl !
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  • caliking
    caliking Posts: 18,731
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    GrannyX4 said:
    Yazzi, near Saltsburg in Westmorland county. My collection has dwindled. I gave a pan to each of the kids and I broke one in two when I dropped it on my little toe. ;;)
    Wow! that's some little toe you have... I'm afraid to ask how strong the big one is :)


    #1 LBGE December 2012 • #2 SBGE February  2013 • #3 Mini May 2013
    A happy BGE family in Houston, TX.
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  • Bullibe
    Bullibe Posts: 132
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    Charlie tuna said:
    This is how i do mine.  Scrub, or depending on the condition of the CI to be seasoned, wire brush, to remove anything - down to bare metal.  I then rub the entire CI surface with veggie oil, coating the entire surface, inside and outside.  Place the CI in an oven and run the temperature up to 400 degrees for a few minutes, then i shut the oven "off" and leave the CI in the oven to cool all the way down.  When cool, i look the entire surface over to make sure the entire surface is seasoned and shiny!!  If not, it goes again thru the oil and 400 degree oven process.
    I like the 2 cylinder Deere, what is that a 60?
    Redneck Riviera, Gulf Shores, Alabama
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  • Charlie tuna
    Charlie tuna Posts: 2,191
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    That is a 1952 -- 29 horse power --  electric start(modern) -- my newest JD.  I have seven John Deere, dating back to 1934 -- a hand start -- but the same old engine -- two cylinder, 29 HP.  When i was building my house, Lowes sent a big "box truck" to deliver my windows.  The driver got it stuck in the sand and had his truck buried flat down to the axles!!  He was calling his manager to get a tow truck, i told him "wait, i'll pull you out with amy tractor"!  He looked at it and laughed..  I hooked on to the truck with a nylon choker and walked him right out to the street!!!  Store manager called me the next day wanting a picture of the tractor!!
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  • ratcheer
    ratcheer Posts: 189
    edited March 2013
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    I don't fuss too much with my cast iron and it is seasoned to perfection.

    1) Cook with it.
    2) Scrub with hot water. NO detergent.
    3) Coat thinly and evenly with vegetable oil. I use my fingers and "rub it in".
    4) Repeat

    Tim
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