Seasoning Cast Iron (pic heavy)

[lub0]

Ok quick update, the pot has now spent three times in the oeven with each time getting blacker and blacker. I reckon just one more coat of lard will make it a nice uniform jet black coating like red's and the OP's. Will post pic later.

mrcharly I've always read/been told that a good non-stick cast iron surface is one that is as smooth as possible!?!?

Here's what it looks like after 3 times in the oven with each time being 2 hour at gas mark 8. Why dosn't it look uniform black like British Red's one does? Am I too high a tempreture or using too much lard? I message the lard by hand and think I may be using too much.

 

[British Red]

Either the oil is too thick or you aren't putting it upside down mate (causing pooling)

Get the oven hot, put the oil on as thin as you possibly can - like gloss paint.

If using lard or solid fat, heat the pot first so that it melts as you put it on. It must go on in liquid state. If it pools, wipe out with kitchen towel.

Too much fat is my diagnosis!

 

[nunzionuk]

seasoning it will smooth out the roughness of it, its like waxing a car, you will smooth out the scratches.

 

[nunzionuk]

hi Red, thanks for a pictorial post, I was wandering where did you buy your dutch oven and potjie as I haven't got any and looking to buy my very first dutch oven, do you have a link, seller or a name of a shop, would be appreciated, cheers the interceptor boy.

I got mine from Ronnie Sunshine.. http://www.ronniesunshines.com/

 

[lub0]

Either the oil is too thick or you aren't putting it upside down mate (causing pooling)

Get the oven hot, put the oil on as thin as you possibly can - like gloss paint.

If using lard or solid fat, heat the pot first so that it melts as you put it on. It must go on in liquid state. If it pools, wipe out with kitchen towel.

Too much fat is my diagnosis!

I am sitting it upside down and you are right, I'm using too much lard. I do heat the pan up before rubbing the lard in to it. Damm, should I sand it down and do it all again or is this harmless?

 

[lou1661]

The only dutch ovens/potjies have used were in Southern Africa and the brand was "best duty" off the top of my head its the same brand that unbeaten tracks and woodlore used to stock.
The only UK stockist i can find is http://www.mopanitrading.co.uk/potjies-and-cast-iron-pots-sussex-hampshire-online/cat_34.html
I have no connection with the seller apart from buying some really good Biltong fom them.
I will be placing an order soon.

cheers
Louis.

 

[British Red]

I am sitting it upside down and you are right, I'm using too much lard. I do heat the pan up before rubbing the lard in to it. Damm, should I sand it down and do it all again or is this harmless?

If its hard lumps, just sand down the bottom and have another go

 

[JimmyT]

I successfully re-furbished an ancient cast iron 'pannkakslagg' which is a special Swedish frying pan for pancakes.
There were years of built-up crud around the outside.
I left it in a plastic bucket of caustic soda for a week and it all lifted off quite easily with a bit of wire wool scrubbing.

For seasoning I read various tips on the net as to what to use - the yanks use Crisco - some kind of vegetable fat but the most interesting one I read was to use food grade linseed oil which one can maybe pick up in health food shops. Linseed oil should provide a very tough coating when dried.
Couldn't source any out here so just went with cooking oil.

 

[Hoodoo]

Very nice work Red. Nice looking pot.

Just be careful of cast iron dust if your going to be sanding one...

Yep - a breathing mask is the way to go!


You can get el cheapo sanders (like mine) from B&Q - they don't cost more than ten quid.

Red

You also have to worry about your eyes. I have ground and welded cast iron and wore goggles with vaseline smeared on the edges to trap the dust. Better than having your corneas scraped.

My favorite way to season cast iron and woks is to pop popcorn in them. Works a treat.

 

[lub0]

I successfully re-furbished an ancient cast iron 'pannkakslagg' which is a special Swedish frying pan for pancakes.
There were years of built-up crud around the outside.
I left it in a plastic bucket of caustic soda for a week and it all lifted off quite easily with a bit of wire wool scrubbing.

For seasoning I read various tips on the net as to what to use - the yanks use Crisco - some kind of vegetable fat but the most interesting one I read was to use food grade linseed oil which one can maybe pick up in health food shops. Linseed oil should provide a very tough coating when dried.
Couldn't source any out here so just went with cooking oil.

Yes I read about linseed oil, too. The food grade version goes under the name of flaxseed oil and can indeed be purchased from health shops though it is rather expensive.

 

[British Red]

Sunflower oil is a good high temperature oil - works fine when I use it - cheap too

 

[spandit]

I use beef dripping in my cast iron frying pan. Once I've cooked something in it, quick scrub with hot water, dry, then melt some dripping in it - paint with a basting brush then leave on the hob for 3 minutes with the lid on. The beauty is that if by any chance stuff does start to stick, you can just burn it off on the BBQ as previously mentioned (my casserole lid went in the woodburner!)

 

[santaman2000]

I've used any and all of the following to season my C.I:
-corn oil
-vegetable oil
-bacon fat
-Crisco (which is just a brand name for hydrogenated vegetable oil)

All have worked well for me. I've also known others who have use peanut oil. As red said, if the uneven seasoning creates lumps, you'll need to get them off. Otherwise ignore it and continue seasoning; it will even ot over time (as it will if you simply use the C.I. to fry fatty foods such as bacon or to fry fish in oils. Time used is the best seasoning method of all. Also when cleaning your C.I, if you need to scrub, just use salt for a scrubbing medium. It disolves and actually adds to the seasoning.

 

[mrcharly]

I have had a few cast iron pots and in daily use an Aluminium pot. None of them mirror finish, all with the 'orange peel' finish.

There is less of a tendency for food to stick and burn on them than any of the standard catering stainless pans.

I think the orange peel finish helps prevent this.

 

[lub0]

Lub0, I have bad news for you. Smoothing the base was the wrong thing to do and will increase the tendency of things to stick.

That orange-peel finish on the cast iron (and on cast Aluminium) seems to work almost like a teflon non-stick coating.

Right you are too (unfortunately).

It seems my pan, while seasoned ok, is still sticking due to me smoothing it too far with the angle grinder (flopper disk). I thought the smoother the better???

 

[Huon]

There can be other reasons why things stick to cast iron. Are you remembering to heat the pan a bit before putting any oil in to cook and then heating the oil before you put any food in?

Cheers!

Huon

Right you are too (unfortunately).

It seems my pan, while seasoned ok, is still sticking due to me smoothing it too far with the angle grinder (flopper disk). I thought the smoother the better???

 

[British Red]

Mine are silky smooth and stick far less than when rough. As huon says, you do need to cook with oil and to get the oil warmed up first (at least for frying or where meat is in direct contact). Its a bit like using a steel (rather than non stick) frying pan. Lubrication is all.

I have restored pans from the 1800s and 1700s and all those years of use fill in all the little "pores" in the iron (rough structure) and the pan gets progressively more slippery. I certainly get better results with a much smoother pan.

It is a different cooking technique and needs a bit of practice - stick with it

 

[Huon]

Mine are silky smooth and stick far less than when rough. As huon says, you do need to cook with oil and to get the oil warmed up first (at least for frying or where meat is in direct contact). Its a bit like using a steel (rather than non stick) frying pan. Lubrication is all.

I have restored pans from the 1800s and 1700s and all those years of use fill in all the little "pores" in the iron (rough structure) and the pan gets progressively more slippery. I certainly get better results with a much smoother pan.

It is a different cooking technique and needs a bit of practice - stick with it

This topic always brings Hannibal Lecter to mind. He seemed to get it right when he said this:

Cast Iron Skillet - by Hannibal Lector

“Do you have a black iron skillet? You are a southern mountain girl, I can’t imagine you would not. Put it on the kitchen table. Turn on the overhead lights.
Look into the skillet, Clarice. Lean over it and look down. If this were your mother’s skillet, and it well may be, it would hold among its molecules the vibrations of all the conversations ever held in its presence. All the exchanges, the petty irritations, the deadly revelations, the flat announcements of disaster, the grunts and poetry of love.

Sit down at the table, Clarice. Look into the skillet. If it is well cured, it’s a black pool, isn’t it? It’s like looking down a well. Your detailed reflection is not at the bottom, but you loom there, don’t you? The light behind you, there you are in a blackface, with a corona like your hair on fire.

We are elaborations of carbon, Clarice. You and the skillet and Daddy dead in the ground, cold as the skillet. It’s all still there. Listen.”

— Hannibal Lector sends a letter to Clarice Starling in “Hannibal” by Thomas Harris

 

[Huon]

Oh, and BR has it nailed when he says cooking with cast iron needs practice. I think you need to learn your pot/pan and heat source far more than you would with modern equivalents. Once you do you'll probably never look back. Personally I loath non-stick and would far rather cook with cast iron for most things.

Cheers!

Huon

 

[British Red]

Indeed!

This 1700s piece still cooks well

This old skillet has that lovely silky finish!


Skillet 1 by British Red, on Flickr

Red