Reseasoning cast iron, flaxseed v. grapeseed oil

[gfweb]

I have used Pam to put a thin layer on my Matfer for seasoning. Five cycles...non stick. 

 

This discussion reminds me of me of all the hocus pocus regarding oiling baseball gloves when I was a kid. Neatsfoot oil was the thing. From the shins of left-handed she-calves  if memory serves. Sold at the sporting goods store in small cans with a dropper top. Worked-in nightly , then the glove was shoved under the mattress with a hard ball in the pocket every night to "set" the pocket. Done reverently. Haven't thought about this in half a century. Lol. 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

6 minutes ago, gfweb said:

I have used Pam to put a thin layer on my Matfer for seasoning. Five cycles...non stick. 

 

This discussion reminds me of me of all the hocus pocus regarding oiling baseball gloves when I was a kid. Neatsfoot oil was the thing. From the shins of left-handed she-calves  if memory serves. Sold at the sporting goods store in small cans with a dropper top. Worked-in nightly , then the glove was shoved under the mattress with a hard ball in the pocket every night to "set" the pocket. Done reverently. Haven't thought about this in half a century. Lol. 

 

 

Oh, I believe I have some neatsfoot oil somewhere!  Can I use that?

 

[gfweb]

1 minute ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Oh, I believe I have some neatsfoot oil somewhere!  Can I use that?

 

For a baseball glove?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 minute ago, gfweb said:

For a baseball glove?

 

It might have originally been for boots.

 

[btbyrd]

For God's sake, just use a culinary oil.

[rotuts]

" boiled linseed oil '   used to be used as a wood finisher.

 

same idea , it would ; dry ' and polymerize and you added many thin layers

 

sometimes there are additives that are toxic if not cured first.

 

i.e. you can use indeed oil for salad bowls but it has to cure.

 

Id not use it for cooking.

[btbyrd]

The flax oil solution isn't to go the furniture-grade boiled linseed route, but to get the refrigerated stuff sold by hippies as a dietary supplement for goop-loving woo-worshipers. It will cost a fortune. It will not do anything special for your cast iron, and a lot of people find that it leaves a brittle layer of seasoning that fails by flaking off in big chunks. It also smells terrible.

 

If you want a drying oil with a low smoke point that has a similar fatty acid profile to flax but isn't totally worthless, walnut oil is the best choice. It has a low smoke point. It polymerizes fast. Like flax, the omega 3 content makes your house smell like burning fish. It seasons no better than anything else I've tried, but it does smell much worse.

 

I don't recommend using either.

 

I do recommend using pretty much any oil that you already have in your kitchen that is designed to be put in your mouth. Not oils for treating your wooden cutting boards. Not drying oils for finishing woodworking projects or mysteriously applying to your gardening tools. Not any product you might have originally purchased to use on boots or a baseball glove. Don't be tempted to use lotion. Vaseline is right out. Likewise for Turtle Wax and anything else that is meant to buff cars to a mirrorlike shine. That includes Armor All. Hair products such as VO5 hot oil treatments are not suitable for seasoning cast iron. Neither is WD-40 or any other industrial lubricant. If you happen to be near a shipyard, do not attempt to season your pans with pitch or tar. Just use an oil you'd normally put in a salad dressing.

[gfweb]

It needs to be food grade and rich in triglycerides (from which come the fatty acids)...so from plants or animals not petroleum.

[paulraphael]

1 hour ago, btbyrd said:

Just use an oil you'd normally put in a salad dressing.

 

Spoken like someone who hasn't sampled my WD-40 vinaigrette.

[rotuts]

personally , I feel animal fats not only do no polymerize , but go rancid.

 

tastes differ .

Edited May 9, 2018 by rotuts (log)

[weedy]

Caron Doucet - Cast Iron Care Bundle 

 

[btbyrd]

My, that's some pricey snake oil.

[kayb]

Wonder if I could cook an egg in my softball glove?

 

[rotuts]

Someone's laughing all the way to the Bank !

[andiesenji]

I have my great grandmother's ERIE griddle (purchased in 1890 before Griswold put their name on them) has only been greased with bacon rind.  About every 15 years I buy a slab of bacon about 4-5 inches wide, cut the bacon off, cut the rind into 2 squares - approximately - heat the griddle and rub the fat side on the griddle until it is well coated then allow it to "cook" a bit longer then turn the burner off and let it cool slowly. I have heavy cast iron grates so it takes a while.

The last time I stripped it and started over was in the early '70s when my stepdaughter put it in the dishwasher!

It is non-stick.  Eggs, flapjacks, crumpets, Eng. muffins, meats, etc., slide right off. 

 

I have used various oils on other cast iron and carbon steel pans.  Forty years ago I used lard or crisco.

Lard was preferred in my grandparent's kitchen.

We used lard to grease steel baking sheets, steel bread pans, muffin tins, etc., in my mom's bakery in the '50s.

Edited May 17, 2018 by andiesenji (log)

[lindag]

1 minute ago, andiesenji said:

I have my great grandmother's ERIE griddle (purchased in 1890 before Griswold put their name on them) has only been greased with bacon rind.  About every 15 years I buy a slab of bacon about 4-5 inches wide, cut the bacon off, cut the rind into 2 squares - approximately - heat the griddle and rub the fat side on the griddle until it is well coated then allow it to "cook" a bit longer then turn the burner off and let it cool slowly. I have heavy cast iron grates so it takes a while.

The last time I stripped it and started over was in the early '70s when my stepdaughter put it in the dishwasher!

It is non-stick.  Eggs, flapjacks, crumpets, Eng. muffins, meats, etc., slide right off. 

Pure magic!

[johnnyd]

I've been battling spots where sugar-based glaze burned onto my cast iron. I'm definitely trying the multi-pass grapeseed cure after a final scrub.

 

Linseed oil has no business being near food, but when cut with turpentine, makes a great outdoor wood finish. We added some pine tar to make a classic Maine deck finish, applied monthly on mahogany wash rails and foredeck.

[weedy]

15 hours ago, rotuts said:

Someone's laughing all the way to the Bank !

works well,  not so pricey that I care.

 

call me a sucker all you want.

 

it WORKS well.

 

and as a result,  I don't need to ask about what oil to use on the internets 

[paulraphael]

It's helpful to scrape cast iron regularly with a metal spatula. I don't see much online about this. If you're cooking at highish temperatures, you're adding more seasoning every time you use the pan. Eventually, it's not a nice thin functional coating anymore; it's a big crusty bunch of gunk. 

 

I find a regular fish spat works well for this. It's springy, so it keeps you from pressing too hard. The end is flat, and a bit sharp but not too sharp. I just give the surface of the pan a working over with it every once in a while during cooking. High spots like where something burned onto the pan usually just scrape right off. 

 

 

[gfweb]

2 minutes ago, paulraphael said:

It's helpful to scrape cast iron regularly with a metal spatula. I don't see much online about this. If you're cooking at highish temperatures, you're adding more seasoning every time you use the pan. Eventually, it's not a nice thin functional coating anymore; it's a big crusty bunch of gunk. 

 

I find a regular fish spat works well for this. It's springy, so it keeps you from pressing too hard. The end is flat, and a bit sharp but not too sharp. I just give the surface of the pan a working over with it every once in a while during cooking. High spots like where something burned onto the pan usually just scrape right off. 

 

 

 

I use one of those 3M green abrasive things on my steel pans after every session to scrape off excess "seasoning". Keeps it slick

[paulraphael]

10 minutes ago, gfweb said:

 

I use one of those 3M green abrasive things on my steel pans after every session to scrape off excess "seasoning". Keeps it slick

 

I imagine that works nicely. A spatula / scraper is still handy if you have any spots of gunk you need to pop off (like from the burned-on sugar you mentioned). The only thing that works reliably poorly is kid gloves. 

[andiesenji]

9 hours ago, paulraphael said:

It's helpful to scrape cast iron regularly with a metal spatula. I don't see much online about this. If you're cooking at highish temperatures, you're adding more seasoning every time you use the pan. Eventually, it's not a nice thin functional coating anymore; it's a big crusty bunch of gunk. 

 

I find a regular fish spat works well for this. It's springy, so it keeps you from pressing too hard. The end is flat, and a bit sharp but not too sharp. I just give the surface of the pan a working over with it every once in a while during cooking. High spots like where something burned onto the pan usually just scrape right off. 

 

 

I use one of these "chain mail" scrubbers.  I bought a couple on ebay several years ago.  They were much cheaper than this.

They are terrific at knocking the bits and bumps off seasoned cast iron.  I use it in skillets to smooth out the sides,  I don't need to use it so much on the cooking surface itself.  It also cleans up the outside, where stuff seems to become fused onto the surface.  

I wear gloves, doubled, when I use this, easier to grip. 

 

I also use it to knock the burnt-on spots on the outside of unglazed ceramic cooking vessels - tagines and cazuelas.

[paulraphael]

Always happy to find new uses for my retired battle armor!