Cooking & Culinary Tips : How to Season a Cast Iron Skillet

[Gardeninggirl1107]

Thanks for your reply. Good, I'm glad ants aren't attracted to the oil. Here in So. Calif near the beach we get ants whenever it rains, so I'm always trying to avoid conditions that would encourage them. I got a new cast iron pan for a gift, and will be using your method for seasoning it. Thanks again.

[Gardeninggirl1107]

While storing cast iron with even a bit of oil on the surface, won't it attract ants or bugs? That has me concerned.

[JDLOCKON]

@Gardeninggirl1107 no I don't know any bugs that eat oil. unless your putting sugar in cast iron there won't be any bugs. But if you already have a bug problem and store you pots and pans near food regardless of what you have on them bugs will crawl over them to get to the food. But as for bugs seeking out greased cast iron they don't.

[maplebanks]

when puting it in oven ,its best to put it in upside down for better results.

[MOTACJ]

Are you using soap? I heard that was a no-no for my cast iron skillet... Is it okay?

[japierce15]

@MOTACJ If you use soap, you rinse off the seasoning. But since he is seasoning anyway, it doesn't matter. I do use soap every once in a while, but mostly i just take the hot pan and hit it with fresh water from the faucet and lightly scrub with stainless mesh pad -- shouldn't be much sticking anyway. Then put it back on the stove fire to dry the excess water, add a dash of oil and wipe it around. Then i put it on the lowest possible flame i can for a while to let the oil soak in.

[MOTACJ]

@japierce15 Thank you very much!

[spyrothedragonfly123]

You Rock ! LOVE your videos !!

[IsabellAngela]

canola grows here a lot - beautiful yellow fields, natural - good stuff

[bloozedaddy]

lard is healthier than canola oil LOL Lard is natural pork fat....canola is...well...we don't know what the hell it is....rapeseed something or other.....made by a corporate chemist.

[rougn]

You dont need to season your pan when you first buy it....you need to season it after 10-20 years of using it. Yes those pans last that long they are amazing to cook with

[cneesen]

Hey man. I can tell that you love your craft. I have a set of 4 different skillets and am trying to learn as much as I can. Thank you for the tip!

[phychmasher]

Man, this guy sucks. I see in his Bio it mentions that he started as a dish washer. Kinda funny they don't mention anything else, huh? He's still a dish washer. 

[marjdlg]

When it goes in the oven, isn't it supposed to be upside down? so that the film of oil doesn't get too thick

[1LSUredneck]

Cask Iron?

[magagro2000]

very nice! tnx for the tips

[nickpilarski]

Thank you!!!

[Stormclouds777]

If my cast iron skillet has rust in it, is it ruined? Or is there a way to save it?

[MyBFFisaPitador]

@Stormclouds777 Remove the rust and reseason it

[poida84]

@Stormclouds777 always ways to save it.

[flydaddyA]

A skillet is seasoned to keep it from rusting. The amount of fat used is negligible. It will not saturate whatever you're cooking. Over time the skillet will become more non stick. Never wash your skillet with soap. IF you have food stuck to it, use oil and kosher salt to remove it, this will not destroy the seasoning. Before you store your skillet wipe it with a small bit of oil to keep it from rusting.

[freeheretic111]

@flydaddyA

Thanks for your post. After each use, I actually wash mine with a mild kitchen soap and a non-abrasive scouring pad. Afterwards, I dry it off and rub some oil onto the skillet where I used the soap and pad. Then I put it on a burner at a moderate low heat setting for a few minutes.

[freeheretic111]

Thank you for the presentation. It was very good.

BTW, to add to my other post about oils, be sure to get one that fits the type of cooking you are doing.

[epocs]

i think it was just attempted/ failed humor about how Lard in general was always used in the "olden" days. its not literally "healthier" per se to season a pan with canola/veg oil... your more likely to have it in your kitchen than a glop of animal fat lying around the fridge :P

[buchik87]

How often do we need to season it? OR it should be seasoned before the first use and no more after? thank you for this information

[pi3dr]

well you should never use soap, EVER, and if you do, reseason it

[teejers01]

buchik87.. technically it only needs to be "seasoned" prior to the first use. Using it over and over will essentially continue to season it. If it ever gets rusty or cruddy, it can be stripped with soap and a scrubber and reseasoned from square one. If this happened to my cast iron I would have a heart attack, though. Lots of years of use has made mine "slick as a mambo band" as Alton Brown says.

[Fonzi79]

I don't understand if you use oil instead of lard on the skillet that it would be healthier? How would that be healthier?

[Superpiper123]

it is healthier because lard is just straight animal fat, whereas canola oil is from a plant (i.e. corn) and is lower in cholesterol

[svtcontour]

and to add to that (the fact that lard is less processed or maybe not even processed at all), its more stable at high heats and less likely to produce free radicals and stuff.

I always tell people that you can exercise and keep lard and saturated fats from killing you but its hard to exercise cancer away. No processed oils for me! :)

[freeheretic111]

while no fats are good for you (beyond a tiny amounted needed) there are different types of fats such as mono- and poly-.

Lard is a very bad fat. Olive oil is healthier. Do a web search for cooking oil types.

[EatTheWeeds]

Lard is molecularly very close to olive oil. It is actually a good fat, and far better for seasoning than canola oil.

[silvike]

Only problem with olive oil is that it burns and turns your kitchen into a smokey mess if you try to fry or cook something on a high temperature. But for other types of cooking, sure, olive oil is great! =)

[demonrockgod]

@freeheretic111  Uh well it is not as healthy as Olive oil but it does have some healthy qualities. It really is not as bad as it has been deemed in the past.