Seasoning Iron

I’ve used cast iron cookware for years.

I know how to season it. I know how to care for it. My iron pans are nearly non-stick.

But I got caught up in the foo-foo chefs and youtubers that fuss over it, trying some of their methods. The worst had to be Fine Cooking magazine. They tested all different oils to season cast iron and came up with flax seed being the best. Sure looked good in their pictures. So I gave that a whirl.

The other was Cowboy Kent Rollins. His thing was use olive oil.

First off, flax seed oil during the seasoning process smells like ass. And it really didn’t produce a durable seasoning. Where I really saw this was in my carbon steel pan. I could saute onions in butter, and I’d get shiny spots. I’d have to put it on the fire and hit it again with oil. Way too fussy for cast iron.

So this time I went back to what I know.

Crisco. Vegetable shortening. That’s what.

Both those pans have kept that dark finish through all kinds of use. I’ve literally soaped up that carbon steel and the dark finish stays.

So that’s it. Skip the dumb advice and go back to how mom would do it.

As an aside, that cast iron on the top? That was over crusty from years of use. Here’s another secret I found to clean old cast iron.

Start a good pile of coals in the grill. When they are good and grey, shovel the pan full of them, then sit it on top of the pile. Put the lid on and walk away. Hours later, the coals are gone and you are looking at nearly pristine cast iron. Simply scrub with emery paper and some steel wool pads (like SOS or Brillo), dry it up, stick it in the oven to season. Makes it brand new again.