How long do you season an iron skillet in the oven?

[dolo amber]

I'm guessing till the smoke alarms go off, right? :think:

D'oh! x(

[neuvocat]

1. 1 hour at 350 degrees.

[almostallhere]

2. 30-60 minutes

link here: http://whatscookingamerica.net/Information/CastIronPans.htm

[pk_du]

3. Yes - I'm a mine of totally useless info...my parents would be proud

Here's How:
1. Wash skillet in hot, soapy water. Rinse thoroughly and dry completely.

2. Apply a thin coating of melted shortening (Crisco, for example) or vegetable oil with a solf cloth or paper towel.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place skillet UPSIDE DOWN on top oven rack.

4. Place foil on a cookie sheet and place on bottom rack of oven. This will catch the drippings from the skillet.

5. Bake in oven for one hour.

6. Turn oven off. DO NOT OPEN. Allow skillet to cool down in oven (several hours).

Tips:
Clean skillet after use while still warm with hot water and a plastic scrub brush.
DO NOT put in dishwasher or wash with soap or dishwashing detergent.
Dry cast iron cookware thoroughly after washing, then spray lightly with vegetable oil (Pam, etc.) Wipe dry and store. Never store cookware with lid on; cast iron cookware needs air circulation.
Reseason cookware after cooking beans or acidic foods (such as tomatoes). Frying or cooking foods with fat content helps expedite the seasoning process.
Do not use cast iron cookware for storage of food.

[dolo amber]

4. Hmmm...so perhaps since

I did ALL OF THAT wrong (450 degrees, for starters) I shouldn't be surprised at the outcome, eh? :D

[pk_du]

5. Doh indeed!

...sorry cant help you there :shrug:

[Magrittes Pipe]

Um....

Um....

[yellowdogintexas]

10. oh just make french fries in it for a while, and nothing else

until you get it good and slick. After you use it for fries, then
drain out the oil, wipe it out with the salt, oil it a bit w/a paper towel, then just hang it up.

using it strictly for frying potatoes, in fairly deep fat is a wonderful way to build it up because potatoes have a cleansing property in the oil anyway ..they are the cleanest thing to fry, actually.

by the way, this method also works on a carbon steel wok (the only kind to have in my opinion)


You will know when it is getting seasoned, as it will look slick and shiny and black instead of the industrial gray that they are when they are new.

I have one that I only use for cornbread. It was my mother-in-law's .

[rkc3]

6. As a part of regular cleaning, I like the following approach...

Pour some vegetable oil in the pan after it's been washed and is still warm. Add about a tablespoon of Kosher salt and work the oil/salt mixture into the skillet's surface.

The salt takes some of the stuff you've missed off the skillet and works the oil into the micropores of the skillet.

Quoting Alton Brown - "the skillet looks slicker than an oil change."

[yellowdogintexas]

9. I would amend by just never using cast iron for any acidic food

I find it gets an "Off taste" that I don't like.
Bad for the skillet too.

You can scrub them with salt and then oil them, wipe dry then hang.

Never let them soak in the sink, either.

[mike_c]

7. I just heat the oven to 350 degrees or so....

Oil the skillet real good, put it in the oven, turn off the oven, and leave it overnight.

The key is to expand the pores in the metal (I assume you're talking cast iron) and give the oil time to soak in, then the combined heat and oxygen exposure partially polymerizes the oil, holding the little oil oligomers in the pores. Every subsequent time you cook with grease/fat/oil the process repeats. Of course, NEVER use detergent to wash the pan, unless you re-season afterward. I have a scrubbing brush that I use only for cleaning my seasoned skillets with nothing but HOT water.

Probably more than you wanted to know, huh?

[ooglymoogly]

8. i love my iron skillets

i just keep them shiny on the cook side with olive oil and never let them get scratched up. imo cooking with them is long enough in the heat. the first few times i cook bacon in them. hope somebody more professional comes up with a better solution