How To Season A Cast Iron Skillet
*If this is your first time at Southern Plate, I recommend clicking here!
Today I am thrilled to bring you a guest blogger who will be speaking on a topic we all need to know about! As a Mechanical Design Engineer, Richard Hall may seem an unlikely choice for a food blogger, but his heritage, common sense know how, and generosity in sharing his knowledge with us make him the perfect choice for a topic of the utmost importance to any Southern cook! Be sure to visit his blog! Thank you, Rich!
Hey all,
It is a pleasure to blog on southernplate.com. Just as Christy has written about her southern heritage, mine is similar. Both sets of my grandparents were sharecroppers in southern Tennessee and North Alabama. I grew up eating fresh southern food out of the garden and barnyard.
Since Christy has all these great southern recipe’s, I thought it might be useful to share how to season a cast iron skillet or other type cast iron cooking vessel. You may ask, what is seasoning and why do I need to season my cast iron skillet? The answer is very simple. Seasoning is making your cast iron non-stick like all the new miracle cookware. And the why is you can buy and maintain a non-stick skillet with nothing more than lard and common sense and it will never wear out. The cast iron skillet can be used to cook on the stovetop, the oven or the grill. A good iron skillet can be passed down as an heirloom if taken care of properly.
It is very simple to do albeit a little messy. What you will need is the cast iron skillet, a box of lard, which can be purchased in your favorite supermarket for less than $2.00, a roll of heavy paper towels and an oven. Just a quick note, the seasoning of a new skillet and the re-seasoning of an existing skillet are the same except for the first step. So lets get started.
Make sure your new skillet has been washed in hot water and mild detergent. This will remove the factory anti-rust coating. For re-seasoning an existing skillet, just make sure to wipe the entire surface with hot water and a clean wash cloth or paper towel (sponges need not apply).
Dry the skillet by heating on the cook top then let it rest and cool. Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees.
Fold the paper towel into a fourth and place a dollop of lard in the skillet. The size is not important, but for a 10” skillet, use about 1/4th of a cup. More can be added as required to cover.
Take the paper towel and coat the interior, the exterior down to the bottom edge and the handle liberally.
I don’t coat the very bottom of the skillet, as any cook surface that it touches will make smoke and just burn off the lard.
Once you have the skillet coated, place it in the oven (at 200 degrees) and set a timer for 3 hours. This low temp will open the cast iron pores up and allow the lard to penetrate as it liquefies.
After the time is up, cut off the oven and let the skillet cool. Once it is cool enough to touch, wipe it down with another paper towel to remove most of the lard and just leave a thin coat on the surfaces.
In another hour or so, wipe it down again.
After this final wipe, the skillet will continue to cool and in about an hour will look like the last picture.
Now you are ready to use the skillet. For the first couple of uses, cook something greasy like bacon or sausage. This will help to heat cycle and re-coat the interior surface which will make the non-stick coating better. Also be aware that it is going to smoke the first couple of uses as it heat cycles and burns off the water trapped in the pores and the excess lard.
To maintain the skillet you will need to wipe the interior every couple of months with bacon grease during a heat cycle or cook something greasy and re-season about every 2 years following the process above.
Also, don’t let food sit in the skillet as this will remove the seasoning.
After each use, wash the skillet out using a very mild soap solution and warm water. NEVER wash in the dishwasher. The reason for using mild soap solution is to keep from removing the seasoning layer.
One other note that I personally do is the drying step after a wash. I will turn the cook top on to high and place the wet skillet on it for about a minute. This will heat the skillet up enough to dry the water and heat cycle the pores. This keeps everything as it should be.
If you choose, you can render your own lard from bacon drippings. If you own a microwave bacon-cooking tray it is very easy. Just cook some bacon and let the drippings cool either in the tray or pour them into a bowl or shallow dish while still hot. Once it has cooled and congealed, you can use it just like the lard as described above. This is perfect for the occasional re-seasoning of your skillet.
I hope this has been helpful and if you have any questions just direct them to Southernplate.com and I’m sure Christy can find me to get the answers.
See you on the Internet, Rich
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P.S. From Christy: This post would no be complete without me sharing one of my all time favorite Southern Plate comments with y’all! Special thanks to Bill Gent for this sweet, horrifying, and hilarious memory!
When I was about 7 or 8 I saw those dirty old skillets and decided I would clean them both real good with SOS pads. My mama would be so proud that I got off all that old black stuff and make-em shiny. I took them outside and used the garden hose since I didn’t wanna make a mess inside. I proudly took them to her when I was finished and proclaimed my good deed. I heard a gasp. She calmly said..”Why thank you honey.. but.. uhh..” I don’t know why I remember it.. maybe it was that horrified gasp that burned it into my memory. ~Bill Gent
Great Cast Iron Recipes to Start You Off!
I’m headed out of town for the weekend to go to a Blogging conference. Y’all have a good one and I’ll see ya when I get back! Gratefully, Christy
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What do you mean by washing with mild soap? Is that regular dish soap?
I never wash my skillets in soapy water. I do use HOT water & a scrapper to clean anything that has run over or stuck on to it. then wipe dry with a paper towel & rub a little oil into it then wipe the excess off.! Love cooking with cast iron!! Makes some of the best biscuits around in a cast iron skillet!
I had to chuckle at the comment by Bill Gent……when I was about 7-8 years old (what IS it about that age?), I made note that my Dad had an old cast iron pot bellied stove in his work shop….I also noted that he had a large can of Kelly green boat paint, so my cousin and I thought we’d “pretty up” that old stove, and set about to paint it (and the floor, too!). We were so pleased with our work! Can’t recall Dad’s response, but, be assured, there were no harsh words for us….my Daddy loved his girl, more than any old stove!! Thanks for the trip down memory lane! Lynn Barry
I always clean my pots/skillets with some veg. oil and kosher salt.
A tbsp. of vegetable oil or crisco oil and 2 tbsp. of kosher salt goes into the pot/skillet. Then use a small wadded up square of paper towel and “scrub” the interior surface, until the skillet is clean. You’ll know it is clean, because the salt will be filthy. Wipe out the salt, and use a clean paper towel to wipe out the oil residue in the pot/skillet.
I do this every time I cook withthemt. Every 3-4 months, I re-season them like I did when I first got them. I have had my cast iron pots and skillets for 20+ years, and they still look new.
One final tip — NEVER put cast iron cookware into the dishwasher!!!
Just wanted to warn people about placing their cast iron in the oven on the self cleaning cycle. My grandmother read this 10-15 years ago and put several of her old cast iron skillets in the oven. When the cycle finished, all of her skillets were broken! Apparently not all ovens are the same.
Thank you for the seasoning tips!
Just got my very first cast iron skillet and need to cure it. Can I use Crisco instead of lard?
I use just enough Crisco to apply a very thin coat. l warm the cast iron before applying the Crisco. Oven is on 400 for a hour, I have the bottom of the skillet up. Put some tin foil on the bottom of oven.
CRISCO AN LARD ARE THE SAME THING CRTSCO MIGHT BE BETTER FOR YOU TO EAT IF YOU MAKING BISCUTS BUT IT IS STILL THE SAME
Lard is rendered animal fat, but Crisco (vegetable shortening) is vegetable oils that have been solidified, usually through a hydrogenation process.
Christy, so is that a yes, we can use Crisco (Vegetable shortening) vice Lard (animal fat)? Does it matter and if I use Crisco are there any changes you would recommend?
Yes Christy, thank you for inviting Rich on for the guest blog. Glad to see we’re defending lard’s reputation! My gramma saved her bacon grease and so do I. A little bit goes a long way.
My skillet is 16 yrs old, and has never seen soap since the first time I cleaned it to start the seasoning process. I might add it is not the greasy crusted monster you may suspect after a statement like that.
It tells me when it needs reseasoned is not a hard process at all. Simply put:
1. preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. while oven is heating, place skillet on a burner over mediem heat and add 1 or 2 cups of water, heat to it just starts to bubble on the bottom.
3.remove from burner, dump that water, cover bottom with hot water from faucet and wipe out with 2 paper towels crumpled togeather being careful not to burn yourself.
4. dry and add 1 teaspoon of bacon grease or favorite lard or cooking agent of the like.
5. wipe entire interior surface and leave a non runny amount inside the skillet.
6. place inside oven for 15 minutes with the heat still on.
7. turn oven off and leave it set overnite.
8.Enjoy your cast iron skillet as it is the best to cook your comfort foods in.
(HELP!) Please! I have a griswold cast irion skillet my mother gave me when i left home.It’s at least 60 yrs old.she’s gone and i’d hate to have to throw it away.I’ve tryed the oven clean cycle to clean (works great).I used the above seasoning method (200% 3hrs) 3 times, also tryed 375 for 1hr.also after would put lard in on stovetop heat up cool down,repeat,tryed beacon fat also. It looks great after but everytime I try to cook something beacon,sausage,hambuger,chicken.Sticks like super glue.like it’s vulconized to pan have to pry it free! Very discouraged at this point.Any suggestions will be greatle appreciated at this point!
My old 9″ cast iron skillet makes the very best Pineapple Upside Down Cake ever. The cake comes out of the pan beautifully and never leaves any cake in the skillet. Just finshed making one I’m taking to a friend’s Easter dinner tomorrow. They request it every year!
That sounds delicious!! I love Pineapple Upside Down cake
[...] it comes from BACON), and you can use it in dressings, to saute vegetables or other meats, or to season your cast iron skillet. When I miss my beloved potato chips, I’ve been known to eat pork rinds, aka chicharones, [...]
My grandmother and mother both used cast iron. I was not sure about it but bought one and once it was seasoned it was the best cooking divice I ever did use. I got to season it again real soon. I have had it for I’ve twenty years! Nothing sticks to it. I promise….( I used the bacon drippings to season it)