seasoning cast iron
 

My family and i recently built a small cabin on the land we hunt and i was digging around the basement and found a bunch of cast iron cookware that could come in very handy. I was just wondering the best way to season it andany important cooking tips you all might have. I have seen many different opinions on what type of oil/grease to use and was wondering what you all thought.
Thanks!

RE: seasoning cast iron
 

First, I scrub it good and clean. Then I coat all surfaces with a light coating of Crisco shortening. I'll set it in the top rack of the oven (upside down, with foilon the bottom rack to catch any excess coating), set it on about 350, and leave it in there for a little while.

After use, I rinse with warm water, dry with a towel, reapply another thin coating of shortening to the cooking surface, and then store until I need it again.

Mymethod ispretty close to this:

http://www.kitchenemporium.com/info/castiron.html

RE: seasoning cast iron
 

North Texan has it right! Only difference is; once I season the first time with crisco, I don't use crisco again...

After cooking, I half-fill the dutch oven with water and heat, then scrub the pot well with a rag (NEVER USE SOAP IN CAST IRON). Once clean and dry, apply a VERY THIN layer of cooking oil to the inside of pot and you're ready to store.

Here's a great breakfast recipe (or anytime, really) that will feed 8 people out of a 14" dutch oven. It's called "Mountain Man Breakfast." You'll need:

2 lbs. breakfast sausage in a tube
2 lbs. frozen, pre-grated, pre-cooked hash browns (Ore-Ida brand works well)
8 eggs
1 stick butter or margarine
2 cups shredded cheese
*Optional: Onions, peppers, tomatoes, etc.

1) Light approx. 30 charcoal briquettes. Make circle around base of dutch oven with half of them. The other half need to be placed on the dutch oven lid.

2) Brown sausage in dutch oven *with onions/peppers. Should take around 15-20 minutes.

3) Once sausage is browned, add stick of butter and hash browns. *Add tomatoes. Stir with sausage then cover. Should take around another 15-20 minutes.

4) When hash browns are tender -or browned- drizzle raw scrambled eggs on top of hash brown/meat mixture. DO NOT STIR. Sprinkle cheese on top of eggs. Cover and cook for approx. 15-20 more minutes until eggs are done. Yummy!

5) As soon as food is ready, serve up everyone's plates then spoon out the rest onto a spare plate. Immediately half-fill dutch oven with water and place back on heat with charcoal above and below. This will make cleaning a snap. Remember, DON'T USE SOAP!!!

RE: seasoning cast iron
 

Once you use a well seasoned cast iron pan, you will not ever want to use another pan again!! Here is how I season them.
Fill the pan half full of ground pork tallow (ask your butcher if you dont have any, it can be purchased cheap.
Cook over a very hot campfire for a few hours stirring alot and making sure the whole pan gets coated. (I do not use my household stove for this as the tallow gets very very hot and can start a fire)
I then remove from campfire, and let the tallow cool, and become gelled, after emptying the tallow, I rub the rest all over the inside of the pan.
I then remove all the soot off of the outside of the pan.
With use of the pan, it will become more and more seasoned. As others have said, NEVER use soap on the pan.
Hope this helps, and enjoy the cast iron!!!

RE: seasoning cast iron
 

Do you season the outside of the pan as well to get it black??

RE: seasoning cast iron
 

It will get black, don't worry.
But heed the above advice of never using soap of bristle pads. let the oil build up.
AND... know your "smoke points" which is the temp at which oil burns. Use oils/fats that can tolerate a lot of heat: Walnut, Canola, Sunflower, Sesame as examples - stay away from cooking with Olive Oil... tastest great in a salad or at LOW temp but it burns easy.

RE: seasoning cast iron
 

Hey thanks for the advice...i'll definately have to try out that recipe.

RE: seasoning cast iron
 

did you all know that iron is transfered to the food. this is why people today need to take iron supplements, cause we use teflon nowdays.
so cast iron pots are also good for you.

RE: seasoning cast iron
 

I season mine in my BBQ, and let'em smoke!!!



Then the next couple times i use the pan, i cook bacon in it!

DM

RE: seasoning cast iron
 

I have heard that your not supposed to cook w/ tomatoes in cast iron. Is this true?