i need to re-season two cast iron pans

[NMDemDist2]

help??

i have scrubbed them smooth with steel wool and comet, now what?

[bearfan454]

1. Smear some oil or Crisco on them really good and then

bake them. That's what I do.

[NMDemDist2]

6. dang Bear, that just sounds too easy LOL n/t

[Stinky The Clown]

2. Start with vegetable oil

Reseasoning is an identical process to that first seasoning you did many years ago. You did season it many years ago, didn't you?:)

Heat the oven to about 250 degrees. While its heating, put a small amount of oil into the pan and spread it with a paper towel. You'll need enough oil to get the entire interior coated lightly. Now put the pan into the oven and let it go for a while ... maybe an hour or so.

Take it out of the oven. It has probably smoked a good bit and is now nice and hot. Put some salt in it (Kosher salt is best, but any salt will really do). Using a paper towel, scrub the pan with the salt as the only abrasive. The salt and the paper towel will pretty quickly turn dark gray to black - essentially a dirty metallic color.

Now here's where my method differs from the "textbooks". Add some oil back to that sludge that used to be salt, smear it around the pan and put it back into the oven. This time, let it go just until the pan is good and hot again .... maybe 15 or 20 minutes.

Remove it this last time and wipe it clean. No need to scrub. Just remove the sludge with a paper towel. Re-oil the pan while still warm, allow it to cool, and put it away. Its done.

If used and cleaned properly, you should never have to reseason a black iron pan. Never clean it with soap and water. Just use salt and a paper towel or cloth. In extreme cases, use salt and a non-scratch (blue color) scrubbie. Once to pan is well seasoned, you actually can use water in it, but never, ever use soap or scouring powder. If you have stuck food (let's say some sausage fond from making breakfast sausage), take the food from the pan and remove as much grease as you can by pouring it out and then wiping with a paper towel. While the pan is still warm to hot, allow water to run from the tap into the pan and use a brush to remove the stuck stuff, This will usually get the hard stuff off pretty easily. If it is really, really stuck, use a plastic scraper. If that fails, forget it and store as normal. It will eventually cook off.

Using the pan is a good way to keep it seasoned. If you're not washing it, as you should *not* be doing, some carbonized residue will always remain. That carbonized residue is **not** leftover food. It is, in actual fact, carbon. And that's what gets into the pores of cast iron and seasons it. It is to be encouraged, not removed. (By the way, even if it *were* food, nothing pathogenically bad can survive when the pan gets hot.)

So ... season it now, that gets you started. The real key is effective use and care.

[NMDemDist2]

3. these were grammy's pans and are close to 60 years old

so no I didn't season them when I got them :)

hubby got to them with soap and they started sticking so I wanted to get them working again

thanks!

[politicat]

4. My mother and grandmother both said to use a solid fat, not liquid.

I don't use cast iron since Mr. Pcat has hemochromotosis, and the additional iron would be bad for him, but we're in family conference call anyway... (sigh... SIGH.... SIGH!!!! and are we surprised I'm surfing DU?) so I just asked since they both use cast iron exclusively.

They say that veg oil makes for sticky cast iron and to use solid shortening, though grannie says *shudder* lard or bacon grease is best.

Bake them in the oven at 250 for at least 3 hours, or until they're shiny and black and to do this regularly, even if not technically in need of it.

They also say to never, ever, ever ever ever (getting the idea yet?) use soap on them again. The surface temps will get high enough that nothing's going to survive anyway.

Pcat

[NMDemDist2]

5. thatnks Pcat, that sounds great

now where did I put that can of crisco?

[Stinky The Clown]

7. John Asskroft stole it (n/t)

[NashVegas]

13. you rang?

:D

[yellowdogintexas]

8. another good thing, once you get the first seasoning done

is to use them exclusively for frying things like french fries, chicken, or anything else that requires deeper fat layer. Then follow the salt scrub regimin described above. You want it to look black and slick.

I acquired one once that had rusted, and my ex took it to the place he worked and put it in the bead blaster they used for cleaning propellors, and got all the bad stuff out of it, then I seasoned it. Worked great.

[NMDemDist2]

9. dang, it's not working. I couldn't find the crisco so I used canola

and it's building up a ridge of brown icky instead of getting smooth and glassy

:wtf:

[Stinky The Clown]

10. Did you coat it with the oil or fill it with the oil?

[NMDemDist2]

11. heavy coat n/t

[Stinky The Clown]

12. Sounds like you may be there, actually

It won't be smooth and glassy for a while. That comes with use. Just scrub out the sludge with salt and see how it goes. All the first seasoning effort can be expected to do is start the coating. The smooth and glassy part cones from use. It is, literally, a build-up of carbon (from food) on the surface of the metal. Almost like a coating of teflon. The first seasoning just forms the base for that to build on, by sealing the smallest pores in the cast iron.

[NMDemDist2]

14. ok, I am used to them being built up since they are so old

i'll give it a try and be careful what I cook in it for the firs few....

thanks H2S

[Stinky The Clown]

15. Be prepared for stuff to stick for a while

Maybe even to stick badly. But don't give up and whatever you do .... NO scouring powder or soap. Clean the pan while still warm (not rewarmed) if possible, Use salt as an abrasive for the harder to remove stuff. And use the pan a lot. It could take many uses to get it going good.

And cook fatty foods at first. They leave more of the good stuff embedded in the pores of the metal. Breakfast sausage is a great seasoner. Bacon, too. No eggs for a while. Avoid pork chops as they're actually quite lean. Steak would be good. Just get the pan pretty hot and let the steak sear for a bit before you even try to turn it. It may catch at first, but as it sears it is likely to break loose.

[NMDemDist2]

16. okey doke

BTW I saw a pic of Sparkly in the lounge with a gentleman, would that gentleman have been you?

[Stinky The Clown]

17. No, that wasn't us. My wife's name is Sparkly with a "Y". Here are

pics she posted of us in the Clark forum.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=235&topic_id=143#166

[NMDemDist2]

18. ahhh nice pics (tell her I LOVE the hat )

:bounce:

[NMDemDist2]

19. i fried up some 85% lean hamburger tonight and it did excellently

the thing was in bad shape, this is the best it's performed in months :bounce:

[DemExpat]

20. What a bunch of Pros in here! I am going to re-sesason my old

cast iron skillet I have from my Mom.....

:bounce:

DemEx

[NMDemDist2]

21. when they are good, there is nothing better :) n/t

[BamaGirl]

22. I used olive oil to season my cast iron

and I use it when I clean it too. Haven't had any problems other than my husband frying an egg in my skillet and leaving it overnight. x( That was not fun to clean.

My grandmother swears by Crisco for seasoning. I just couldn't bring myself to use it lol.