Cast Iron Seasoning

[DustyJoe84]

I have inherited my wife's grandfather's cast iron skillets. I used one of them a couple times and it seems to have lost it's seasoning. I have tried to re season using a thin layer of Crisco and heating in my oven but I just can't get it to get that glossy layer that comes from a well seasoned skillet. Should I try multiple rounds of Crisco then heat?

Any tips are appreciated!

 

[chef jimmyj]

Search Cast Iron Pan, for several posts. Here is one to get you started...JJ

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/reseasoning-cast-iron-pan-what-did-i-do-wrong.278598/

 

[Jonok]

If you need to start again, put it through a cleaning cycle
In the oven, and re-season it with flax seed oil. That stuff is bulletproof. (Tastes awful, so season with it but for gods sake, don’t cook with it)

 

[daveomak]

Preheat your oven at 450 for an hour BEFORE you start the oven cleaning cycle... Works mo-betta...

 

[chopsaw]

Any tips are appreciated!

I've followed Daves advice , but have also had good results using info from Kent Rollins . Look him up . I find that the more you cook with it the better it gets .

 

[rc4u]

flaxseed oil only way to go.. and do not cook acidic like tomatoes ect. well may be little but lots and it takes the edge off.. I use my plastic scraper and rinse and wipe good. then wipe flaxseed oil after every use.. its the one oil that does not go rancid like corn or olive or safflower ect.. oh if starting over I wash with very hot water and use sand paper on spots and to make smooth surface{the new ones are kinda grainy and not good must sand} put very good wipe of the flax oil on and then in preheated oven upside down then do not take out when done must cool in oven over time. then do again next day and another for Teflon like surface. oh after cooled last time wipe with flax oil again. it does not make food taste bad.. heck your suppose to drink some every day.. make sure to get food grade when ordering from amazon. i've never seen it in stores.. I have never had flaking problems like some say .. my gues is not prepped right like sanding ect.. you cant season over old stuff. get nice and cast irony looking not black ridges or bumps..

 

[Jonok]

Yup, I’m with you. I have a Le Cruset 14” that lost it’s Teflon integrity, so we had about an hour in the bead blaster to start fresh (really works well, but getting that stuff off is harder than heck)
I also have a couple of 12-14” oldie skillets that are in good shape overall.

I have a 22” that was all “Pebbeley” as has been described.
I clamped it on my rotary table, and went after it with a big carbide fly cutter on my knee mill. You could practically see your eye makeup in the surface when I was done. That one seasoned up as my favorite. Works kinda like those late-night green magic pans where you can fry a Chuck Taylor Hightop with a bed of American cheese, and watch the mess slide out. (Wife won’t let it live in the kitchen as it’s too big, so I have to plan times to use it)

 

[mike243]

The cast iron is supposed to be rough, it helps the carbon stick, I have a lodge that has a slick bottom and I cant keep a slick finish on it,

 

[Jonok]

Nah, this wasn’t jus a poor finish, it had >.05 bumps on it, unlike any of the other pans I have.

When I milled it, is still had casting “pits” in it, but it wasn’t raised at all.

 

[rc4u]

old cast iron is smooth I have several old Griswold's. and Wagner's. no bumps

 

[ponzLL]

I polished a skillet inside to a mirror finish once while marathoning a TV show and had no trouble getting a seasoning to stick. I don't go out of my way to season them though, I just cook with them and let the seasoning happen naturally.

 

[Jonok]

I was that way too.

You might just try a flax oil seasoning out of curiosity. The stuff is bulletproof. I am hard on my cast iron (water and stainless scrubber to get the gunk off while it’s hot), and it just won’t ding.
Even the mother in law putting one in the dishwasher was a non-issue.

 

[bluewhisper]

This is something I wrote back when I had a gig writing science articles:

https://sciencing.com/convert-rz-ra-7454083.html

 

[daveomak]

This is something I wrote back when I had a gig writing science articles:

https://sciencing.com/convert-rz-ra-7454083.html

I love learning stuff I didn't really need to know.... Thanks Alex .... Dave

......

 

[doubles shooter]

When I was first dating my wife many years ago, I came home from work one day to discover she had cleaned my boar's nest of a house. When I heard " I don't know how you use that old frying pan. It took me an hour to clean it". She was proud of herself. It was my Great grandmother's pan. It shined! 100 years of seasoning gone.