Cast Iron

[nels824]

What is the best way to clean and season a cast iron pan?

[Ralph Wiggum]

Scour the heck out of it to clean it. Then, coat it in olive oil and flip it upside down over a charcoal grill. Cover the grill and let it burn itself out. Repeat the seasoning step if you wish.

I tried this with a pan I was never happy with a few months ago and it turned out awesome.

Then, never, never use soap on it (unless you want to reseason). I usually give it a quick rinse under water while it's hot and then wipe it down with a paper towel.

[eyemaster]

You can also coat them with oil and then put in the oven for a while to season it. I agree with not using soap of any kind, I rinse with hot water and then wipe them dry. They are great if seasoned correctly.

[Juneau4]

Put in weiner roasting fire-the cast iron may get cherry red but won't hurt the pan any- steel wool all the crud out-coat liberally with oil and bake in oven at 350 for about an hour. Wipe out pan with paper towel. never wash in soap and water.

[Ralph Wiggum]

I've never gotten a good season in the oven. Maybe it depends on the pan, but the grill trick did wonders for me.

[Juneau4]

I've never tried the grill, I,m sure it works fine. Heat is heat.

[fishwater]

We always use coconut oil, takes heat better than olive oil and isn't terrible like soy or canola oil.

[lovebigbluegills]

I seasoned my pans on a grill, as Ralph mentioned. After I wash them out with hot water and a paper towel, I'll spray them with pam.

[frogtosser]

I put mine in the oven at 250 for an hour coated with melted crisco. I want to try the coconut oil though.

[Steve Foss]

We always use dishsoap and water to wash up seasoned cast-iron cookwear. The key is to be gentle and not rub hard, and then dry immediately. Once dry, we spray them with Pam or equivalent and wipe them out so the oil remains as a thin film. If there's stuck-on stuff, we soak the pot until it comes off easily.

We've never lost seasoning on any of our cast iron this way.

The problem with not washing cast iron, we've found, is that what you fix in it next time tends to taste a bit like what you fixed in it last time. We don't want EVERYTHING to taste like fish, after all.