• confusedbytheBasics@lemmy.worldEnglish
    814·
    11 months ago

    First of all a properly seasoned cast iron pan can and should be washed with modern dishwashing liquid. If the seasoning comes off with 'hand friendly ’ soap it was garbage seasoning anyway.

    Second, this looks perfectly ready for seasoning. Nothing wrong with that. Just get the outdoor grill going grab some short chain oil and get to work.

    • lolrightythen@lemmy.world
      33·
      11 months ago

      Short chain oil!? At first I thought you were bs’ing about seasoning a pan with gear oil.

      That sent me down a novel rabbit hole. Thanks for your input!

  • Wilzax@lemmy.world
    63·
    11 months ago

    coat that sucker with avocado oil and bring it up to 200°C for a few minutes. Allow it to cool, repeat until the sides don’t hold any oil, then switch to crisco solid shortening for a few rounds.

  • prime_number_314159@lemmy.world
    49·
    11 months ago

    There’s a lot of answers here, but I don’t think anyone said the magic words. To reseason cast iron, you need an oil high in poly-unsaturated fatty acids. Those are the kind that can chain together, and form a good polymer coating.

    The thing that trips me up most about this subject is that 140 years ago, pork fat was very good for seasoning cast iron. Today, it isn’t, because the composition of the fat has changed significantly.

    The best seasoning coats will be thin, not appear or feel oily, give the pan a dark color slightly more glossy than an eggshell, and resist mild detergents, metal spatulas, and heat high enough to sear a steak on. If you have a layer of loose stuff in the pan, that’s just a layer of gunk, and is probably adding some weird flavors to anything you cook.

    • Dojan@lemmy.world
      15·
      11 months ago

      The thing that trips me up most about this subject is that 140 years ago, pork fat was very good for seasoning cast iron. Today, it isn’t, because the composition of the fat has changed significantly.

      That sounds very interesting! Is it because of the way pigs are raised now compared to back then? They eat way fewer babies now, I bet.

      • prime_number_314159@lemmy.world
        3·
        11 months ago

        I don’t know what causes the difference, I just compared the first nutrition breakdown of rendered pork fat I could find to a recent USDA publication. I’m under the impression that we mostly grow different breeds of pork, on bigger farms, using a more consistent food blend, so pretty much everything has changed in that time.

      • menemen@lemmy.ml
        1·
        11 months ago

        Don’t know of the given info about the pans is correct. But animals nowadays are defintly way more “optimized” than they used to be. Both genetically and the stuff they eat.

    • barsoap@lemm.ee
      6·
      11 months ago

      To reseason cast iron, you need an oil high in poly-unsaturated fatty acids.

      In other words: Linseed.

      Though I wouldn’t go so far as to say “need”. Linseed works much better, builds a nicer patina very quickly, but pretty much any fat works. In practice mine is getting seasoned with olive oil because that’s what I have standing around in the kitchen.

      Proper technique is much more important in practice: First and foremost heat empty, then add oil and fry, then clean, ideally without degreasing (boiling water and a spatula do wonders), then (if necessary) add a drop of oil and try to rub it off with kitchen tissue, then put back on the stove to dry and maybe polymerise a little. Always have that thin layer of oil otherwise the pan is going to rust.

      You can have a perfect patina, if you don’t heat up the pan before putting stuff in there things are still going to stick. You can have practically no patina, if you bring up just a single thin layer of any fat up to its smoke point and after that add oil (so the thing isn’t completely dry) things aren’t going to stick.

  • RealFknNito@lemmy.worldEnglish
    222·
    11 months ago

    The amount of disgusting freaks that don’t know you need to wash this and reapply the seasoning with oil in the oven is insane to me.

    • Holyhandgrenade@lemmy.world
      81·
      11 months ago

      Dude, you’re not supposed to scrape off the seasoning every time you wash the pan. I reapply a bit of oil maybe once or twice a year. I normally just wash it some soap and water after cooking.

      • Blackrook7@lemmy.world
        2·
        11 months ago

        I don’t use soap, I just use a bit of hot water with the kitchen faucet sprayer and I have a flat metal spatula to scrape off any stuck on bits… wipe with paper towel and that’s it.

        • Holyhandgrenade@lemmy.world
          1·
          11 months ago

          That’s perfectly fine, I use soap because I eat meat and my gf is vegetarian so I don’t want to leave any grease. Also I find soap just makes it a bit easier to clean.

      • AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world
        9·
        11 months ago

        I think they meant the guy that seasoned his pan like 200(?) times before cooking in it on Reddit. That thing was SHINY when he was done

      • Anticorp@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        11 months ago

        I didn’t go that crazy, but I did use an orbital sander on a cheap Lodge cast iron pan, and it’s much more non-stick now.

        • Death_Equity@lemmy.world
          3·
          11 months ago

          The smoother the surface you start with, the smaller the surface texture that the seasoning needs to smooth out, the harder it is for food to grip the surface.

          I am tempted to 1200 grit random orbit a pan and see how good life can be.

          • cuicuit@lemmy.world
            3·
            11 months ago

            Just get a carbon steel pan instead and save yourself some trouble. Once seasoned it is much more non stick than cast iron and It also is lighter so easier to handle.

            • bluewing@lemm.ee
              1·
              11 months ago

              Why not both? Besides, you can’t make home made baked beans or a good stew or bake bread, cakes or pies in a plain high carbon steel pot.

              If you push me to it. I will be happy with just my plain high carbon steel wok and cast iron dutch oven.

          • Anticorp@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            11 months ago

            I think the max I used was 600, possibly 800, and it made a huge difference. If you use 1200 then that’ll be one sexy pan!

  • EnderMB@lemmy.world
    7·
    11 months ago

    I love my cast iron pan, but I really cannot get the perfect sheen that everyone else seems to get. The bottom of mine is non-stick now, and I season regularly, but the sides always seem to chip away eventually. Once the chipping starts, I have no idea how to stop other than to strip it entirely and start again.

  • TexasDrunk@lemmy.world
    3·
    11 months ago

    I’ve got one that I need someone to do this to so I can start over. It’s older than I am and was poorly taken care of for several years before I got it.

    The cast iron I bought for myself is all in good condition. That one means a lot because of where it comes from but I don’t have the patience to scrape all that shit off. I wish someone would do it for me so I could enjoy the pan my grandaddy cooked me bacon in.

    • bluewing@lemm.ee
      1·
      11 months ago

      Wet/dry sandpaper is fast and will easily get you down to the fresh bare metal again. Then you simply re-season and start cooking that delicious bacon in it again. A rainy Saturday afternoon will easily get it done.

    • Empyreus@lemmy.world
      1·
      11 months ago

      Follow guides on using the yellow lid can of oven cleaner in a trash bag. Works perfectly fine and reduces the scraping to almost nothing.