how to season an iron skillet????

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I am slowly switching all my cookware over to iron (as we get the money or find good buys) I have a small iron skillet that I make cornbread in that I seasoned long ago and it is fine. But the large skillet I bought more recently isn't working out as well...

I've lost my steps on how to properly season it and I must have done something wrong. Could someone please send them to me again???

THANKS!!!!

-- Suzy Lowry Geno (slgt@yahoo.com), March 09, 2000

Answers

The official directions are to coat the cast iron inside and out with a thin coating of shortening and baking it in the oven for an hour. I personally have had much better luck when I follow up that technique by frying something in deep fat in the skillet for the next several times that I use it. I fry potatoes, Indian fry bread, hushpuppies, fish, etc. The cast iron you get now seems harder to season than the pieces I got when I first started keeping house in the late '70's. You might be able to get some nice cast iron pieces in garage sales. People here sell their cast iron often, I guess because it isn't microwaveable.

-- Green (ratdogs10@yahoo.com), March 09, 2000.

Hi, Suzy My Wagner pan says to scour thoroughly, then coat with cooking oil (I have had good results with using cold-pressed peanut oil), heat in 300 degree oven for 1 hour, remove excess oil. Reseason as necessary. Hope this helps! Jean

-- Jean (schiszik@tbcnet.com), March 09, 2000.

Hi,

Just a warning for all the cast iron lovers out there, me included. Only buy American Made cast iron. A lot of other countries melt down old engin blocks to make cast iron ware with, and there are lots of things in old car motors that a person would not want in the food.

Lots of luck with the pans.

Beth (NC)

-- Beth (NC) (craig@icu2.net), March 09, 2000.


I know that you are not supposed to wash your pans in soapy water, but I do it anyway, so I tend to lose my seasoning alot. I have found that if I coat my pans thinly with veggie shortening, and setting them on the wood stove for a day or so, it goes a long way towards keeping my cast iron happy. Saves on electricity, too.

-- Leann Banta (thelionandlamb@hotmail.com), March 09, 2000.

My parents think it is hysterical that when I was growing up, I hated "those yukky gross heavy black pans" my mom had. Now, I also use them and love them! I do wash with a little soapy water when I have cooked something highly seasoned, or smelly like fish, as otherwise the next thing seems to pick up the taste, too. Good luck at finding them at sales, I have had pretty good luck. Also found an old waffle iron, but haven't used it. Jan

-- Jan B (Janice12@aol.com), March 09, 2000.


Suzy,

Talked to my ggrandmother (99 yrs young), she said to put about 1/2" of water in the skillet with a little soap and boil it good. This is how she cleans hers. She said that if you've lost the seasoning completely, that you can bake it with a light coating of oil on the inside and outside. But for a better seasoning, she said to do it in an open fire. (We did this this past fall, so far I've not managed to unseason any of them.) She also said that if you have a piece of castiron that is rusted to use "creek sand" and water to scrub it good, then boil it out on the stovetop with soap and water, then finally season it in the oven/open fire. One last thing she said to do, everytime you season it, when you put your oil in the skillet, add a little salt. When your done with the seasoning, wipe the salt out.

Hope this helps,

Janette

-- me (me@me.com), March 10, 2000.


We use a good grade of olive oil to season our castiron, frying pans and dutch ovens. Since food will absorb some of the flavor from your seasoning pick an oil that you think has a good taste.

-- Rich (pntbeldyk@wirefire.com), March 14, 2000.

Once you have your pans seasoned good you can almost not worry about them.Lord knows I dont and they still work great. I went through a couple of hundred dollars worth of those none stick pans.Then I swallowed my pride (I made fun of my mothers cast iron pans) and went to tag sales.I got the good old pans for almost nothing !Came home and in the fire they went ,I haven't killed one yet!I still can't pass up a cast iron pan at a good price , my kids will get them for wedding presents.Good cooking!

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), March 14, 2000.

I season my cast iron with vegetable shortening. Thin coating of oil and in the oven she goes for a couple of hours. Also helps if I use it as a 'deep fryer', leaving the oil in between cookings. Unless I get some really bad stuff in my cast iron, I simply heat the cast iron up until it's real hot, just short of smoking, and pour some warm water in. All the food particles loosen, I rinse with fresh water, and towel out the moisture. I made the mistake of loaning out one of my cast iron skillets once, the lady brought it back clean. She said she'd had the hardest time getting it clean...all the way to the iron (after years of a hard seasoning).

-- phil briggs (phillipbriggs@thenett.com), March 14, 2000.

I have my grandmothers cast iron. I love to use it. I learned by her to season them with lard,inside and out, and bake in a 400deg. oven,for 1 and half houres, and let cool in oven . then wipe out and store.

-- Dan Richards (drichards@hotmail.com), May 13, 2001.


We've bought cast iron skillets at garage sales, sometimes in awful condition. We stick 'em in the self-cleaning oven and burn off all the old seasoning. They emerge clean, but probably rusty.

I prefer not to season them in the oven, but to simply put them on the stove burner and heat them until very hot--then wipe them with a paper towel, wet with olive oil. Any cooking oil or fat will work, but olive oil seems to work best. As the excess oil begins to break up and coat the skillet unevenly, wipe again with the paper towel, adding more oil as needed. Several coatings using this procedure will produce a good cooking surface. The surface should be black, smooth, and have a low lustre.

We never wash cast iron with soap or detergent, just with hot water. A "Tuffy" pad will remove any stubborn food residue. After nearly every use, we set the cleaned skillets on the stove burner, heat them, and use paper towel to wipe on a light coating of olive oil.

Cooking anything that holds oil in contact with the hot skillet also helps the surface. Pancakes or crepes, cornbread, etc. are excellent skillet seasoners. Of course, you'll be forced to eat the results, but maybe the sacrifice will be bearable.

-- J. C. Adamson (muser@ecentral.com), May 03, 2002.


To clean one that is very dirty or rusty Dad had his sandblasted before seasoning.

-- Tom (Calfarm@msn.com), May 06, 2002.

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