Doesn’t seem particularly futzy to me. Or no more so than when you’re handwashing things that have to be hand-dried as you go. The washing part goes fast (things hardly ever stick to a seasoned pan): a couple seconds under the hot water faucet, hit the stubborn parts with the washpad if necessary, then stick it on the burner. Turn burner on. The water evaporates. Pour a little grapeseed oil on it. After a few seconds, grab a paper towel and mop up any excess oil.
Compare it to washing out a stainless steel frying pan. (things do more often stick to them, in my experience). Squirt in some Dawn, hot water, scrub, rinse. Repeat for the sticky bits. Stash it in the drain rack to dry or hand-dry it with your kitchen towel.
I’m using pricey “virgin” flaxseed oil, around ten bucks for eight ounces, but only consume an ounce per pan. Come to think of it, is flax available in deep-fryer economy-of-scale jugs? This brand, International Collections, holds up.
The key, as you emphasize, is to use a THIN layer of oil and repeat the process several times before first using the pan.
The first few times I seasoned a pan from scratch I had somewhat disappointing results after cooking with them a while. I now think the reason is that I was leaving too much oil on the pan when seasoning. It wasn’t drippy or gloopy or anything, but it was still kind of glistening when I would put the pan in the oven to heat.
Now when I season, I apply oil generously to make sure it gets in all the nooks and crannies, but then I wipe it down vigorously with a cloth as though I’m trying to remove all the oil. The pan looks fairly dry when I put it in the oven, but there is actually still a very thin layer of oil that gets baked on. Repeat 5+ times to build it up. This has produced great results for me.
I had iron skillets, my girlfriend had iron skillets, and for awhile it seemed like a good portion of mine were redundant. So I packed them into a box in the basement where they stayed, 2013-2019. Considerably longer than a week or two.
Decided in March that it would actually be useful to have that deep dutch-oven / deepfat fryer 10" pan up here. Nothing disgusting about it that I could discern. The many-years-old oil coating didn’t turn into something rancid and awful (nor did it pick up clots of dust) (admittedly, it WAS in a pasteboard box). Ran it under hot water for 10 seconds or two, stuck it on the burner to dry, then gave it a fresh oiling and commenced to cook in it.
My oven says not to leave cookware in the oven during a self-clean cycle. Why is it OK to do this with cast iron?
This sounds to me like the myth of putting a second coat of wax on your car. What benefit can there be to spreading more oil and heating again after you’ve already done it once? I think after the first time you’re just smearing around what’s already there.
FWIW, when I need something abrasive to get stuck on bits out of the cast iron fry pan, I sprinkle in a handful of kosher salt and about a tablespoon of oil-- usually peanut oil. Scrub gently but vigorously with nylon brush or paper towel. Then rinse with water, dry, smear on more oil. Heat on top of stove, in oven, or not.
Well, no oven maker is going to tell you to leave cookware in there. There’s just too much potential for liability issues there. Apparently, according to posts above, there is the chance that it can crack. I’ve never had an issue, though. (And I use it for cleaning out cast iron grill equipment, too. If it’s too cruddy, though, it will smoke up the house a bit, so get that vent going and open your windows). If you’re worried or have an heirloom piece of cast iron, use the oven cleaner method mentioned above by Kyrie Eleison.
You’re heating the oil to a point where it polymerizes and carbonizes. The pan is not “wet” with oil when you’re done seasoning. You’re creating a hard, hyrdophobic coating with the oil. Sciency info here. When I do it, I notice the first couple coats come up a little bit splotchy, but by the third or fourth coat I can start seeing an even hardened surface form on the cooking surface.
It’s pretty clear to see what’s going on when you have a cast iron pan that has gone through the oven clean cycle. It’s not a black cast iron color at that point. It’s a dull gunmetal gray. After coating it in oil and having it season a couple times, it becomes the familiar full-black cast iron color.
Yes for the salt/oil bit. Works perfectly.
My DIL was having trouble with a skillet. I would season it for her and few days later she would bring it back to me. I asked her how she was cleaning it. No soaking, no dishwasher. I just couldn’t understand why she kept having trouble. Finally I figured out she was cooking things with tomatoes in it. Any acidic food will take the season right off. You then have to re-season it.
Leave it. And the seasoning is a very light black. I have better luck with bacon grease.
Try some bacon grease, fry until is just starts to smoke, let cool, wipe. Repeat.
When i wash I pour boiling water in, let sit, then use a soft brush. I then wipe, put on fire until dry add a little bit of grease, and wipe that around.
Yeah, I think some people are misunderstanding just how thin that coat of oil is. To be honest, I’m not sure if it’s absolutely necessary for maintenance, but it’s what I do out of habit. Just like you say: pour a bit in the pan, and then wipe it all out with a towel of some sort. It’s just enough to give it a little bit of a sheen.
I only oil mine when the finish looks damaged. Which is pretty much only when my daughter abuses the pan. It doesn’t need to be oiled every time you use it.
Not necessarily true, alas. I had a wonderful vintage Griswold that I think my grandmother used to use, with the old-style bottom. It was a thing of beauty, smooth and light (not like the heavy, cheap Lodge pans I’ve acquired since).
One day I dropped it on the floor. It shattered! I was amazed, but apparently old iron can grow brittle.
I miss that old frypan, even though I have a lot of others.
If you need the nuclear option, a small bit of crumpled aluminum foil makes a handy scrubbing aid. Kosher salt is usually plenty.
Seconding that the seasoning is done with the thinnest, most barely-there coating of oil. Whoever upthread said they basically pretend to wipe it totally clean had it right.