Oils for seasoning Cast Iron

[rotuts]

I could not find the thread I wanted for this pic.  someone asked about beef or pork fat .

 

here is a table that appeared in the Jan 17 CI  :

 

 

Im sure this info is elsewhere on the internet , but its been pulled together nicely here.

[andiesenji]

I don't know where they got their figures for flaxseed oil but that polyunsaturated percentage is really high, considering there is only 19% Oleic acid.

Rice bran oil, which I have been using in recent years because of the high smoke point, has 38% Oleic acid, and that component is an important "drying factor" that promotes polymerization with heat.

 

When a friend got one of the high output burners and a new wok last year, the vendor recommended he use rice bran oil and even gave him a small bottle to begin seasoning the wok.

It's not cheat put I have found a little goes a long way.  I use it in my baking a lot - in yeast breads where I want a fine, even crumb and this oil contributes to the quality I want.

 

[TicTac]

I used both Rice Bran and Sunflower oil on my recent Black Iron (Carbon Steel) MB pan and they worked well.

 

However I did not like the actual frying method (with salt and potato skins) to season but much preferred the warming in a 200 degree oven, applying a ever so fine layer of oil, wiping it off, and returning the pan to the 200 degree oven, cranking it to 550 - leaving it for 2hours, then turning off and letting it cool down in the warm oven - left the best results hands down.

Edited December 25, 2016 by TicTac (log)

[kayb]

I didn't think there was any way to season cast iron except with bacon grease. At least that's all I ever knew to be used when I was a kid.

[Norm Matthews]

My son gave me a forged steel pan for Christmas.  He said it was impossible to wrap it without telling what it was so he gave it to me early and I spent three days seasoning it with flax seed oil and am impressed with how hard and durable is the seasoning.  Much better, in my opinion than any other liquid or solid fat I have used on cast iron. 

[Norm Matthews]

I found it in the pharmacy section at a grocery store and it is expensive relative to other oils. It was a little over $20 for a pint.

[Anna N]

24 minutes ago, TicTac said:

I used both Rice Bran and Sunflower oil on my recent Black Iron (Carbon Steel) MB pan and they worked well.

 

However I did not like the actual frying method (with salt and potato skins) to season but much preferred the warming in a 200 degree oven, applying a ever so fine layer of oil, wiping it off, and returning the pan to the 200 degree oven, cranking it to 550 - leaving it for 2hours, then turning off and letting it cool down in the warm oven - left the best results hands down.

 

Did you do this once or many times? If the latter, how many?  Thanks. 

[Norm Matthews]

I am not Tic Tac but the directions I got with the AUS-ION pan I have said to apply a very thin coat to a warm pan then place it upside down in a 480 degree oven for an hour and a half, then let it cool down in the oven for two hours and to repeat this process 6 times.

[Anna N]

1 minute ago, Norm Matthews said:

I am not Tic Tac but the directions I got with the AUS-ION pan I have said to apply a very thin coat to a warm pan then place it upside down in a 480 degree oven for an hour and a half, then let it cool down in the oven for two hours and to repeat this process 6 times.

Thanks. Did you do the potato skin thing?  

[TicTac]

I have done it once with the potato skins and once in the oven, though I did it at a higher temp and longer than what Norm suggests.

 

I also applied a thin coat of sunflower oil once it cooled off and  subsequently wiped it off.

[Norm Matthews]

41 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Thanks. Did you do the potato skin thing?  

 

I'd never heard of the potato skin before today.

 

[Anna N]

Just now, Norm Matthews said:

 

I'd never heard of the potato skin before today.

 

 Yes I am wondering about the science behind it.   It certainly isn't intuitive to me.  

[andiesenji]

1 hour ago, kayb said:

I didn't think there was any way to season cast iron except with bacon grease. At least that's all I ever knew to be used when I was a kid.

For many years I used lard (home rendered) and it worked great for me.

However, for the past couple of decades I have friends who are Muslim, Jewish or vegan and out of respect for them, totally cleaned my cast iron and re-seasoned them with oils that have a vegetable base.  Except for my antique griddle, which I still grease with bacon skin - one of the reasons I buy slab bacon from time to time.  

That griddle has a surface that looks like black porcelain. And I only use it for my own food.

 

Edited December 25, 2016 by andiesenji (log)

[TicTac]

The concept is that the potatoes might absorb/assist with any remaining grease / protective coating left on from the production process - I believe.

[Anna N]

10 minutes ago, TicTac said:

The concept is that the potatoes might absorb/assist with any remaining grease / protective coating left on from the production process - I believe.

 Perhaps it is just me but it all sounds incredibly complicated when it needn't be.  Guess I will do my own thing as I only have myself to please.   I can fry an egg in my tiny black steel pan and slide it out onto a plate with no difficulty so I'm fairly certain I'm doing something right.  I do it stove top with grapeseed or safflower oil. Heat, very thin coat of oil. Rinse and repeat multiple times. 

[rotuts]

Ive been fortunate to do some woodworking.

 

you want to put the finish on thick, because well  less to do later ?

 

nope.  thin.   even thiner than that.  repeat. and repeat 

 

 

 

 

 

[andiesenji]

2 hours ago, rotuts said:

Ive been fortunate to do some woodworking.

 

you want to put the finish on thick, because well  less to do later ?

 

nope.  thin.   even thiner than that.  repeat. and repeat 

 

 

 

 

 

Exactly, rotuts!  I used to make my own frames for my artworks, often with exotic woods - my clients were willing to pay - and the very thin varnish would require at least 24 hours of drying time, sometimes more, especially for some the woods with variable porosity.  Zebra wood is notorious for that, and some woods resist varnish that is too thick - in the '70s, when Koa wood was still legal, I would sometimes have to do 8 applications of varnish to get that depth of clear finish that best enhanced the red color.

With my cast iron, the "newer" stuff that did not have a ground finish, often took a dozen or more applications to get a smooth coating of seasoning.

Edited December 25, 2016 by andiesenji (log)

[rotuts]

Yar

 

zebra wood.  difficult to work with.  Oily !

[andiesenji]

4 hours ago, rotuts said:

Yar

 

zebra wood.  difficult to work with.  Oily !

I had some African ironwood and carved a "bowl" from it. I actually wore out an inshave carving the hollow.

I had never understood when people told me that Africans COOKED in ironwood vessels, heating rocks in a fire and dropping them into the vessel to heat stews. I don't know to this day how the hell they hollowed the pieces of a log out enough to make a cooking pot. That stuff is HARD - similar in fact to cast iron...  

 

[rotuts]

decided to do a little research  .  its from the 'Net , so keep that in mind :

 

 

Flaxseed oil

 

 

rice bran oil

 

 

Sunflower Oil

 

 

[Anna N]

I know I should take this much more seriously but I can't help but ask in terms of raising healthy black steel and/or cast-iron pans which one offers the best nutritional value?

[rotuts]

nice

 

consider :     best nutritional value / Dollar  :  BNV/D

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

nice

 

consider :     best nutritional value / Dollar  :  BNV/D

I was fortunate enough to receive two of the Argentinian pans for Christmas. I seasoned  them in my own peculiar way.  Grapeseed oil that was spread on and then practically removed and heated and cooled over and over again but not at the high heats recommended.  There are two sentiment beings in this house both with serious breathing issues and smoke is just unacceptable.   I am cooking my breakfast and one of them this morning and so far it appears to be remarkably nonstick.  

[rotuts]

on Induction ?

[Anna N]

12 minutes ago, rotuts said:

on Induction ?

Yes. That's all I have.