Cast Iron Skillet: How to Season and Protect Your Cast Iron

go back to Israel!

Unbelievable!! One really CAN find anything on the internet! In looking for all my pots and pans for Thanksgiving, I found my cast iron skillets that I'd shoved away because I just didn't know how to season them. NOW I DO!! Thanks!!!

After I'm done with that I do the rest of what you said for the seasoning

The only issue I have with this is, you use soap to clean off the coating. I have never used soap on my cast iron cookware. When it comes time to season them I build a fire with them in the middle of it. Once I see that the coating and grime is off I let them burn for another 15 minutes for good measure. Then I have a bucket of warm water ready. I dip them in the water until cooled after that I rinse them again. and put them on the stove, turn the burner on to dry them.

your never supposed to use soap when you wash a cast Iron skillet Rita, Hot water and a coarse pad is all you should use, most professional chefs swear by this rule. the reason being Iron is very porous and certain spices/ foods and even soap can remain in the skillet for months and months after it was initially introduced. thus soapy tasting food

I use soap without problems - but what ever works for you is great. ~Rita

You said no to olive oil but what about vegi oil?
Also can I use bacon grease? I wouldn't mind that taste to anything I cook in my cast iron :)
Also have a question when I wash my pan with liquid dish soap and then I place it with vegi oil on the stove top and let it heat up when I go to wipe out the excess oil there is alot of black in the oil. Its not flakes but its like the coating or something coming off. Is this normal? Im concerned that I am eating this stuff when I cook. Is it bad for me?

You can use canola veg oil, solid veg shortening, lard or bacon grease. I like a neutral oil. Lodge Co. uses a soy based oil for their pans. Bacon grease will impart a flavor. Rinse and completely dry on stove for a minute, then smear on a thin coating of fat. The black stuff may be carbonized oil. BTW there's a debate about whether you should clean with just hot water or soap. I use soap without problems. You'll just have to use a little more elbow grease with only hot water. ~Rita

I season the outside too - it keeps it from rusting.

Great video! One tip I would like to share with people who don't want to use paper towels is, I keep a small amount of lard in a container in the fridge, and in the container is a scrap of an old t-shirt. I use this little piece of cloth to rub the fat on my cast iron. It works great, and the cloth can be used over and over before it needs to be washed. To wash it, I simply soak it in a sink full of dishes with soapy water, when I done washing dishes, into the washer it goes. No muss, no fuss.