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
Posted by Christy Jordan
on Feb 5 2009. Filed under Misc, Newsletters.
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[...] How To Season A Cast Iron Skillet | Southern Plate A good article on seasoning cast iron. Most important point, DO NOT wash wish soap and water, don't keep it in water, and dry it immediately so that it does not rust. I usually don't use water at all, just a good rag to wipe it out after using, and a special plastic scrubby thing I got from Pampered Chef to take off anything that might still be sticking. I use salt to scrub it if something did happen to stick, and then do a quick reseasoning. Cast iron gets hot slower than other metals, but heats much more evenly. It's good for all sorts of cooking (though, honestly, I have not been able to fry an egg in it, sadly..I just haven't been able to master that one). It goes from stove top to oven easily. As a little benefit..you get some added iron in your diet Properly seasoned, you can have a mostly maintenance free cook piece that is good for just about every application. Somewhat Muddled Musings (Blog) | Swagbucks-it's how I fund Christmas! [...]
I am blessed with 2 very well used 6 inch skillets. The trick to frying an egg is use plenty of butter or bacon grease and make sure the pan is hot before you put the egg inn.
Frying an egg…yes butter works great even a little cooking oil…I use olive oil….butter sometimes burns…. You know when the pan is ready when water drops or good ol’ spit “dances” on the surface…crack that egg….a little practice it will be perfect every time.
I received a new iron skillet for Christmas this year …. can’t say how much this article cleared up the ‘how do I season my new skillet’ question! Happy new year.
I am so glad you found it too!! You are going to LOVE the skillet!
I just got a new cast iron skillet for Christmas.I haven’t seasoned it yet. But when I do, will it be smooth? It is very rough like sand paper right now.
Tks-Chris
it will be smooth….not to worry
My mother is dying and she told me that she had a dream about her mother’s pineapple upside down cake. I have the recipe but my grandmother always baked it in an iron skillet. To be authentic I went and bought an iron skillet and am seasoning it right now. The recipe calls for butter and brown sugar to be melted in the skillet and then the batter to be poured in and then baked in the oven. Will the sugar and butter hurt the seasoning? Now that I have this iron skillet I am determined to learn to cook with it as I know that it is more healthful.
I have made pineapple upside down cake in my 12″ skillet many times. It always turns out beautifully with no problems. Just makes sure when you are melting the butter to do it slowly.
About eggs, I have found that if you heat the pan well BEFORE you add the butter/oil, the eggs don’t stick.
I am the proud owner of many iron skillets some as old as 1892, all of them are still in use and in perfect condition. I agree with how this website says to season them. I do sometimes use coconut oil instead of lard, but both are fantastic. I do wash my skillets with hot soap water after each use and “re-grease” them with Pam. The trick is to wash them quickly and NEVER let them soak in water. Honestly I want to know the pan I am cooking in is clean and I have never had a problem doing this. If my skillet (or if I find a one at a yardsale or thrift store) is coming into my collection; it is first put in my self cleaning oven for the 3 hour cycle. I remove it the next day (when it is perfectly cooled) and scrub it with a Brillo pad until it is free of rust and then I follow these instructions on curing it. Never ever use power tools, lye or oven cleaner to clean a skillet it will ruin it. Treat them well and they will out last you.
Can you use crisco or better yet olive oil instead of unhealthy lard???..I’m a major fan of extra virgin olive oil!! Thanks
The lard is only used for the seasoning of the pan to create that nonstick surface and protect it. Kind of like the way orange oil is used on wood to protect it. It soaks into the pan but when you’re cooking its not being transferred to your food. It’s the same idea as using a seasoned baking stone. It just makes the surface nonstick.
I bought a tube of Cast Iron Conditioner made to be used for this purpose. It is pure “food grade palm oil”. I think you would want an oil that is least likely to go rancid, but don’t really know if this is an issue. I am just starting to use cast iron also. Bought my pan at a garage sale and now I am wishing that I bought the others they had there for sale. Crisco is pure trans fat (don’t believe the label, they get around the labeling rules by “per serving” tricks) and you don’t want to have anything to do with trans fats. Maybe coconut oil would be good. I know it is really good for you.
I have just recently purchased a “pre-seasoned” cast iron skillet (Lodge) but because of this post, I am do the seasoning steps noted here using some of the beloved bacon fat that I’ve saved (thanks to another SP post) and have it now sitting in the oven at 200 ……. Then I think tomorrow I will figure something out to make in my newly seasoned, pre-seasoned pan.
Thanks for this post. I just bought a cast iron pan *accidentally* It’s from Ikea and has the blue ceramic enamel on the outside. Maybe you know the one? I thought it was ceramic on the inside. Oops. ANYWAY…I have a QUESTION…Why do you coat the outside of the pan and the handle with lard, too? This doesn’t make sense to me, as food only goes on the inside…? Thank you in advance!
In your case you wouldn’t treat the outside because yours is ceramic coated. If it wasn’t coated in ceramic you would then season both inside and outside to protect it from rust and damage.