Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire How to season a cast iron skillet?

The way I do it never lasts. I have a nice cast iron Dutch oven but my 4 or 5 skillet collection needs some help. Does anyone have a foolproof method from cleaning, to oil type, to the number of times into the oven?

Make a pan of cornbread.

Grab some Pop Corn and get comfortable.....there's no shortage of self proclaimed experts on the fire'.

Stripped clean, apply very thin coats of flaxseed oil. Place pan upside down in oven for 45 minutes at 450. Let cool off without opening door. Do this 5-7 times.

Including you?

I see this beat to death often. We cook in a cast iron skillet 2-3 times a day every day. Never "officially" seasoned, other than cook lots of bacon initially. To clean we simply add a little water to the still hot pan and use a plastic scraper to get anything stuck. Wipe out with a paper towel. That's it. Never put soap in it and never oil it, but it rarely sits for more than 12 hours without cooking something.

One method is to scrub with dry salt, rinse, immediately oil, and then we do a session in our gas grill or oven.

After use, we do a quick but light wash with just a trace of detergent on a sponge, rinse in hot water, dry with a paper towel, followed by a rub with peanut oil on a paper towel. I too hear good things about flax or lard, but we don't keep any of that handy. I do not care for the Crisco vegetable oils as I find them a bit gummy.

It's not really rocket science. My biggest head ache comes from bacon etc cured with lots of sugar.

We do lots of stir fries, fajitas, and steak searing if our grill is not available. Of course the traditional bacon, sausage, and eggs.

Another vote for flaxseed oil.

This will be a fun one

You have to add to the season with each use. After initial seasoning, you have to add to it each time you cook. Wash it lightly with hot water and a brush (no soap, of course), then rinse with cool water. Then wipe. Now apply about a quarter teaspoon of bacon grease to a paper towel and wipe the whole cooking surface down with it. Now onto the stove at max flame for a little over two minutes, till it starts to smoke. Now take it off. Do this every time and you will not lose season.

We use cast almost every day also, most of the newer stuff comes already seasoned. Most people ruin the seasoning when the clean them wrong. I have 6 different skillets & 7 dutch ovens & 2 griddles, they all get used. Did a pan of corn bread today, my Aunt Betty's favorite recipe.

Dick

I use coconut oil.

I just cook in 'em. Don't wash it unless you have to.If you wash it, grease and keep cooking. If bacon or whatever sticks to it scrape it out wipe it out and use it again. My mother in law never owned cast iron and wouldn't use it and my wife had never used it until she was 30. I do most of our cooking using cast iron and i use it most days.

Dick, eggs and bacon every morning and chicken/fish/beef every night, along with vegetables cooked in the grease. Does it get any better? About the only time a steak gets grilled is when there's too many to cook in a few skillets.

Beats the heck out of politics.

All you really have to do is just use it . The more you use the better it gets . If you want it to look pretty ( I sell around 100-200 a year ) thin coat of Crisco at 450-500 degrees in the oven . Keep reapplying until it looks right . Make sure the skillet is upside down in the oven.

Nope...I ain't saying a word even though I have a pile of CI and have zero problems with any of it.

Dick eggs and bacon? Lol.

dick, eggs and bacon?

Never tried seasoning one with that combo 😄

Lmao

Gawd are we kin