I'm about to purchase a cast iron skillet and I'm reading you need to season the surface with an oil to build up a non stick. How did you guys go about doing this for the first time? And what type of oil did you use?
Vegetable oil I believe
>>7856847
If you're buying, for example, a Lodge cast iron skillet in the U.S., then it will come pre-seasoned. When people say you need to season it, they are misinformed. But there is still a grain of truth. You want to kind of "nurture" the seasoning, and cook foods that will improve it over time. Any kind of frying will do the trick.
I have two skillets. One I use outdoors on the grill, and the other indoors. For the indoor skillet, I scrape out any food with a spatula, and wipe it clean with a paper towel. For the outdoors one, I turn it upside down and burn out any remaining grease or food.
The indoor one looks brand new and cooks OK. The outdoor one looks like pic related. I do, of course, sometimes use the outdoor skillet on my stove, and it cooks like a dream.
>>7856954
So what you're saying is cook foods that are fatty such as bacon to progressively build up the seasoning?
>>7856966
Not the other anon, but yes. fatty/oily foods will help build a good seasoning. You'll want to avoid acidic foods as it can eat at the seasoning, though some people will still do it anyways, just dont leave it in there and you'll be golden. Do not over oil, and properly heat the pan before using.
Also, if you do have to wash your pan out with water and a light soap, make sure to properly season and heat it afterwards as to prevent rusting.
>>7856966
>So what you're saying is cook foods that are fatty such as bacon to progressively build up the seasoning?
I'd go a step further and say that making a modern cast iron actually truly nonstick is impossible. They're just not the same smooth quality of years past. To use it after the twice baked seasoning process, is to use it frequently and fry in it to keep the oil coating persistent. It should get good "enough" with age and reuse, but will never be useful enough as a nonstick for non-frying applications. The really great reason to have one of these is even heating with the thick bottom such as when moving cold items into the hot oil, great browning. The dark color assists browning when making things like fried green tomatoes, okra or chicken fried steak.
>>7856978
How exactly does that work after cleaning the pan? How long do you heat the pan in oil?
>>7856982
Eh, as a Lodge owner, I can state that the newer cast irons when properly cared for and properly heated, are infact nonstick. I have yet to have scrambled eggs that I didn't intentionally set out to make.
>>7856985
You'll want to dry it off, heat it a bit, apply a very very thin layer of oil with a paper towel, and stick it in the oven (upside down, with something under to catch any drips) for a (methods vary) set amount of time at high heat, high enough to bind the thin layer of oil to the pan (google it, you'll find better science there than from /ck/). It will smoke. Prepare for this to take possibly hours at most.
Yea i agree with anon. I've been cooking with a set of Lodge pans daily for the past two years and if done right, it is pretty damn non stick. I've managed to make tamagoyaki on them before with zero sticking issues.
The pre-seasoning on Lodge is not enough at all. Before i even use them, i throw on another 5-8 layers of seasoning to get it started. But what makes the biggest impact is the daily maintenence.
After cooking, i immediately douse the pan in water and scrub it down with a brush. No need for soap if you do it hot because everything will just fall off. After which i'll dry the pan, and spray a thin layer of oil on it. I always have a spray can of canola oil for seasoning my pans. Then i heat it up on the largest hob till it just starts to smoke. Thats where i turn off the heat to let it cool down.
This is how to do it:
http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/
It works great. Although cooking a throw-away batch of hot Italian sausage works great, too, and smells great.
Flaxseed oil will go rancid rapidly, even kept in the fridge. But it's worth the money.
>>7857012
Flaxseed is probably the best oil for seasoning. Other candidates may include real butter, coconut, vegetable, avocado, sunflower, etcetc. If you're broke, use what you have. It'll work. Just make sure to maintain the seasoning with cooking, and the pan should be fine.
>>7857015
Any food-safe cooking fat or oil will work. All of them.
Butter is not a good choice because it contains milk solids. But clarified butter would be OK.
Since we're talking about iron cast pans, what kinds of foods do you enjoy cooking the most? I'm eager to try cooking pork steaks on it.
>>7857024
Beef steaks, chicken, fish, potatoes, eggs, bacon of course, cornbread is classic, pizza, breadsticks, quesadillas, the possibilities are endless and the limit is your imagination. Really, just think of cast iron as your workhorse of the kitchen.
A good rare steak, season and oil, 30 seconds on high each side on a scorching hot skillet, then under the broiler on high 2mins each side. (Times will depend on thickness of the cut, and bone-in are best left for the grill imo.) Let rest. Meanwhile, sautee onions, mushrooms, and peppers, maybe deglaze, maybe a sauce from the leftover juices too. Fry some eggs to finish, over easy of course. Some good steak and eggs right there.
>I scrape out any food with a spatula, and wipe it clean with a paper towel.
That's what puts me of buying one, doesn't sound good.
>>7856954
>>7856847
I read somewhere, if a fair head virgin pisses on it , it should last forever
>>7858238
That's what you do with barbecues though.
>>7856847
the cheaper ones tend to not be as smooth, sand it a little before doing anything with it. I heated grapeseed oil in mine once or twice and then just kept cooking with it, seems to be fairly non stick now.
>>7857044
>then under the broiler on high 2mins
what is the point of this?
Cast iron owner here.
The more you worry about the seasoning the shittier your pan will be.
People of yesteryear did not treat them the same way as your current fad follower.
Beat the shit out of it and just don't use any degreaser on it and you'd be fine.
>>7858238
How so? Please explain why this may be bad.
Obviously you dont want to cook certain things immediately after other things, but not cleaning a cast iron (besides scraping crap out) is perfectly fine and sanitary. I've yet to get sick from a cast iron, after owning mine for over half a year now.
>>7858595
nailed it bro
do a seasoning from the WEB
cook bacon in it
wipe out with paper towel
if you think seasoning is wearing awa, cook more bacon
>>7857012
do you think generations of southern housewives used flaxseed oil in the skillets they passed down from mother to child for decades? no, they used lard and butter and shortening and margarine.
>>7858502
Stovetop on highest heat is for searing, broiler is for cooking to the correct temp.
Again, method and times depend on thickness.
Just use carbon steel. It's lighter but you can still get the steak crust.. Newer cast iron pans are a pain in the ass. Who cares if it's pre-seasoned when the surface has not been sanded down making it sticky as hell.
>>7858615
Mine is newer and not sticky, you must have been seasoning wrong.
Carbon steel is nice though. Just use the tool for the job, everything has a purpose.
>>7858605
in that case shouldn't you use normal oven heat rather than the broiler?
>>7858602
Shallow frying 6 batches of plantain one after the other seemed to work on mine.
I often fry plantain and sausages in mine though I also boil brats and dry fry tomatoes which affects the seasoning but I tend to clean it with boiling water and slap a little oil on it and it is fine.
The only issue I ever had was a curry in my dutch oven that I can't get the scent out of with my regular cleaning but I don't care that much so I think after a couple of other uses it'll be alright
>>7857012
Thanks for that link anon. I bought a used iron cast pan and it's been sticking, though most of it comes off quite easily if I soak it in water. My seasoning was good enough to not let it rust at all, but not good enough to make it non-stick. Looks like the time I was seasoning it for was much too short.
Luckily flaxseed oil is really cheap in here so I'll try that method.
I'm just not sure how to evenly scrub the old seasoning off my pan.
>>7858642
I use the broiler to preheat the pan, so it's already on and going full blast by the time the pan is out and both sides are seared.
>>7858662
I do not recommend soaking in water. If something is really tough to remove, I'd sooner heat the pan with water/salt and scrub it that way, rather than soaking, as interior rusting is also just as bad (if not worse) than exterior rusting.
>>7858672
Hmm, heating the pan with water is what I did initially, which removed most of the leftovers from the steak I was making on it, I poured it out but there was still a bit left, so I boiled it again and left it overnight. Cleaned it in the morning.
I guess you're right, next time I won't leave it for the night. Thanks for the info.
>>7858597
I never said it would be detrimental to your health, it just doesn't seem nice to me. If I went to my friends house to eat and saw him scraping food out of a pan and then wiping it with a paper towel before he offered to cook me a nice meal I would be put off.
Not saying it's not a normal way to treat cast iron because I've heard it a lot here. It's just not for me.
>>7859495
That's why they generally don't show you the kitchen at a restaurant
>>7856847
Just heat it up over the stove after you use it and wipe it with oil.
Heat it till its smoking and wipe it down with your favorite oil or grease.
>>7859495
You clean cast iron by wiping it clean and throwing it on the stove to burn away bacteria.
I seasoned my skillet with canola oil lastnight in the oven on 350 for about an hour. I didn't clean the pan or anything but it appears to be a little sticky. Did I fuck up my seasoning process?
>>7859821
Nope. Thats stickiness is normal. If im using it again in a day or two, i'll just cook in it. Any longer, i'll give it a quick rinse and scrub before cooking in it.
>>7859856
So basically if you haven't used your skillet in a few days you might want to reseason it. I was confused as to why it was sticky but if it's normal that's good.
>>7857015
Flaxseed sucks, you need to do 50 layers and baby it forever or it will strip and flake immediately. Use crisco or peanut oil.
>>7859887
If you arent gonna use it, u dont have to constantly reseason it. Season it only after cooks.
What i meant is to give it a quick rinse if it has been awhile since you last used it. Im personally a little effy about the idea of cooking with residual oil being there for so long.
>>7860119
I'm just gonna rinse off the gummy oil and cook up a batch of bacon
>>7859856
>>7859887
>. Thats stickiness is normal
Hell no. Common? Yes. Correct? No.
The stickiness is as sign you didn't do it right. Either you put on too much oil or the temperature was too low.
The idea is to polymerize the oil into a hard layer. That requires heating the oil above its smoke point. You can look up the smoke points of various oils easily online. Make sure you are baking the pan at a temperature ABOVE that, otherwise it will just get sticky instead of being hard, slick, and non-stick.
>>7860137
Do you suggest I wash the pan and reseason it? Im using canola oil and I believe the smoke point is 420?
>>7860159
There's no need to wash it unless you have a really thick sticky layer in there; assuming it's not very thick just put it back in the oven at the correct temperature.
>>7860160
The eye test tells me it's not that thick it's just sticky.
>>7857030
How does one go about making pizza in a cast iron skillet?
>>7860166
Use it just like a "pizza stone". Put the skillet in the oven while it is pre-heating. Make your pizza as normal, then put it in the skillet when you bake it.
>>7857012
That lady has no idea what she's talking about. Don't try to put your pseudoscience bullshit on me
>>7856847
Just buy a pre-seasoned one and don't destroy it. It's not going to be very non-stick until you've used/cleaned it a couple dozen times. Obviously, no soap, just clean it with hot water and a brush.
>>7860169
Why not just buy one of these and bake it in the oven?
>>7860162
So just put it back in the oven at a higher temperature.
Expect a little bit of smoke. That's OK. If it's smokes a lot then your layer was too thick.
>>7860178
You can if you want; there's no point in using an iron pan for those. They're designed to bake directly on the rack in the oven.
Personally I don't really care for frozen pizza. It doesn't taste very good compared to freshly made.
>>7860183
I agree with you there. Any food that I prepare myself automatically tastes better to me for some reason.
Except when I fuck up and it tastes like shit and I have wine for dinner instead.
>>7860179
That's probably what I did wrong. I set the heat to 350 and it wasn't hot enough to polymerize.
>>7856847
A light layer of Crisco or vegetable oil, then wipe it off with a paper towel and put in overn at 500f
Do this three times.
