Cast Iron Skillets. You dig them?

[Fire Me Boy!]

For seasoning, I still haven't done this, but according to Cook's Illustrated, this is the ultimate way to season a cast iron pan. It'll take some time, but you'll be rewarded.

From a recent edition of Cooks Illustrated (please pardon any typos - I had to re-type it from the magazine):

For years we've seasoned cast iron cookware in the test kitchen by placing it over medium heat and wiping out the pan with coats of vegetable oil until its surface turns dark and shiny. When a pan starts to look patchy, we simply repeat the process. But when we heard about a new method that creates a slick surface so indestructible that touch-ups are almost never necessary, we were intrigued. Developed by blogger Sheryl Canter, the approach calls for treating the pan with multiple coats of flaxseed oil between hour-long stints in the oven.

We carried out Canter's approach on new, unseasoned cast iron skillets and compared them with pans treated with vegetable oil - and the results amazed us. The flaxseed oil so effectively bonded to the skillets, forming a sheer, stick-resistant veneer, that even a run through our commercial dishwasher with a squirt of degreaser left them totally unscathed. But the vegetable oil-treated skillets showed rusty spots and patchiness when they emerged from the dishwasher, requiring reseasoning before use.

Why did the new treatment work so well? Flaxseed oil is the food-grade equivalent of linseed oil, used by artists to give their paintings a hard, polished finish, and it boasts six times the amount of omega-3 fatty acids as vegetable oil. Over prolonged exposure to high heat, these fatty acids combine to form a strong, solid matrix that polymerizes to the pan's surface.

Although lengthy, seasoning with flaxseed oil is a mainly hands-off undertaking. We highly recommend the treatment:

1. Warm an unseasoned pan (either new or stripped of seasoning*) for 15 minutes in a 200-degree oven to open its pores.

2. Remove the pan from the oven. Place 1 tablespoon flaxseed oil in the pan and, using tongs, rub the oil into the surface with paper towels. With fresh paper towels, thoroughly wipe out the pan to remove excess oil.

3. Place the oiled pan upside down in a cold oven, then set the oven to its maximum baking temperature. Once the oven reaches its maximum temperature, heat the pan for one hour. Turn off the oven; cool the pan in the oven for at least two hours.

4. Repeat the process five more times or until the pan develops a dark, semi-matte surface.

*To strip a cast iron pan of seasoning, spray it with oven cleaner, wait 30 minutes, wash with soapy water, and thoroughly wipe with paper towels.

[Ming the Merciless]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

For seasoning, I still haven't done this, but according to Cook's Illustrated, this is the ultimate way to season a cast iron pan. It'll take some time, but you'll be rewarded.

From a recent edition of Cooks Illustrated (please pardon any typos - I had to re-type it from the magazine):

trip out.....my cast irons are seasoned the old fashioned way.....I may have to try this...thanks for posting..

would flax seed have any different flavor or odor than veg oil?

[RJ]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

For seasoning, I still haven't done this, but according to Cook's Illustrated, this is the ultimate way to season a cast iron pan. It'll take some time, but you'll be rewarded.

From a recent edition of Cooks Illustrated (please pardon any typos - I had to re-type it from the magazine)

*To strip a cast iron pan of seasoning, spray it with oven cleaner, wait 30 minutes, wash with soapy water, and thoroughly wipe with paper towels. :

I am highly skeptical of the bolded section. I don't like the idea of cleaning a skillet with Easy Off.

Originally Posted by RJ

I am highly skeptical of the bolded section. I don't like the idea of cleaning a skillet with Easy Off.

You can use lacquer thinner if you want.

[RJ]

Originally Posted by Phobia

You can use lacquer thinner if you want.

That's for the martinis.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by RJ

I am highly skeptical of the bolded section. I don't like the idea of cleaning a skillet with Easy Off.

Always trust in the Cook's Illustrated, my friend.

[mnchiefsguy]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

Always trust in the Cook's Illustrated, my friend.

So do you endorse the easy-off method for getting a cast iron skillet ready for re-seasoning then?

I have read that the skillet should sit for 24 hours with the oven cleaner on it. I am thinking of just sticking with 30 minutes though.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by mnchiefsguy

So do you endorse the easy-off method for getting a cast iron skillet ready for re-seasoning then?

I have read that the skillet should sit for 24 hours with the oven cleaner on it. I am thinking of just sticking with 30 minutes though.

I've never tried it, though I do plan to. That said, I'm a longtime subscriber to CI, and I've tried many of their methods and recipes, and have never even once been led astray.

[mnchiefsguy]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

For seasoning, I still haven't done this, but according to Cook's Illustrated, this is the ultimate way to season a cast iron pan. It'll take some time, but you'll be rewarded.

From a recent edition of Cooks Illustrated (please pardon any typos - I had to re-type it from the magazine):

Looks like you only need 1 tablespoon per seasoning session, so five to six tablespoons per pan, so I should have enough flaxseed oil.

Getting ready to strip my first skillet. Will post some pics of the process. Wish me luck guys!

[sd4chiefs]

I am hitting my head with a cast iron skillet right now. God the Chiefs suck.

[sd4chiefs]

[jet62]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

For seasoning, I still haven't done this, but according to Cook's Illustrated, this is the ultimate way to season a cast iron pan. It'll take some time, but you'll be rewarded.

From a recent edition of Cooks Illustrated (please pardon any typos - I had to re-type it from the magazine):

I am on round four of the above method. The only thing I did different is put my pan in the oven while self cleaning. When finished the thing looked like I had sand blasted it. Right now I can't believe how great it looks. A hard shinny glass like finish. I can't wait to try it out. Two more rounds to go.

[mnchiefsguy]

Originally Posted by jet62

I am on round four of the above method. The only thing I did different is put my pan in the oven while self cleaning. When finished the thing looked like I had sand blasted it. Right now I can't believe how great it looks. A hard shinny glass like finish. I can't wait to try it out. Two more rounds to go.

Awesome! After one coat, my pan feels very smooth, can't wait to do another round tomorrow night.

Did you use your pan at all between rounds? Or are you waiting till all of the seasoning is done? I am trying to wait till I get the pan all the way done, but I am anxious to try it out as well.

[jet62]

Originally Posted by mnchiefsguy

Awesome! After one coat, my pan feels very smooth, can't wait to do another round tomorrow night.

Did you use your pan at all between rounds? Or are you waiting till all of the seasoning is done? I am trying to wait till I get the pan all the way done, but I am anxious to try it out as well.

I didn't use it between rounds. It's hard not to though. I noticed where some of the oil dripped in the oven onto the porcelain oven bottom, it made the same shinny coating. I need new grates for my grill and I am thinking about doing this to them too. The Weber porcelain coated ones. The things always rust out in a few years. Maybe this will prevent that.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by Fried Meat Ball!

For seasoning, I still haven't done this, but according to Cook's Illustrated, this is the ultimate way to season a cast iron pan. It'll take some time, but you'll be rewarded.

From a recent edition of Cooks Illustrated (please pardon any typos - I had to re-type it from the magazine):

Bumping 'cause if I don't go to jail first, I'm going to need this. Soon-to-be ex-Mrs. FMB! washed my favorite cast iron skillet. Just a little soap in the sponge totally wrecked my 15-years of seasoning.