5 ms·

Season it with flaxseed oil and you won't need the fat.

by gtvwill 5y ago

wiether 5y ago
Isn't flaxseed oil... fat ?
- klyrs 5y ago
  100% fat
- etrautmann 5y ago
  You have to bring it above smoke point until it polymerizes into a hard layer that stays on the pan and makes it anti stick
  - amluto 5y ago
    If you actually take flax oil and heat it, you end up with a very attractive layer that is neither hard nor nonstick.
- kbutler 5y ago
  The point is to have the pan well-seasoned, which requires fat but doesn't add (significant?) fat to your food, then it doesn't take as much fat to keep the food from sticking. Some users claim flaxseed oil is the ideal oil for seasoning cast iron, as it is a drying oil w/ a high smoke point. https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/5820-the-ultimate-way-to-season-cast-iron https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/5820-the-ultimate-w... Others claim the "drying oil" is an incorrect theory, and that the polymerized oil from a drying oil is a coating that would flake off, rather than the desired bonding with the cast iron.
  - joe_guy 5y ago
    At least in woodworking, curing oils that don't have metallic driers added to them, take about a month to cure. 100% Tung oil, and (not boiled) linseed oil are the ones I'm aware of. I have no information using them on cast iron.
    - joe_guy 5y ago
      But perhaps the pans temperature matters.
    - mauvehaus 5y ago
      Point of order: linseed oil is flax oil. The flax plant is where we get the fibers that become linen. Linen seed -> linseed. There are a couple other drying oils, but my understanding is that they're more used in oil painting than wood finishing [0]. Also note that modern boiled linseed oil is not the same as the historic product, which as I understand it, was made by boiling linseed oil with white lead. The modern stuff is partially polymerized by heating it in the absence of oxygen. Disclaimer: I am not a chemist or finish chemistry expert. I'm just a woodworker who sometimes reads about this stuff. Bob Flexner is an excellent author for anybody interested in further reading. [0] http://www.cad-red.com/mt2/oil.html http://www.cad-red.com/mt2/oil.html
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
KozmoNau7 5y ago
Been there, tried that. It's based on faulty observations and conclusions, and results in a fragile seasoning that flakes off easily. Matfer Bourgeat and De Buyer both recommend frying up a batch of potato peels in plenty of oil and too much salt, until the peels are very dark. Doesn't matter which kind of oil, salt or potatoes. Move them around and scrub them on the pan with your spatula while frying. When done, clean the pan with hot water. Then just use the pan. The only things you really shouldn't do are soaking it or putting it in the dishwasher. Simmering acidic foods like tomato sauce is not great, but also not the end of the world. The biggest contributing factor to make food not stick is to properly preheat the pan and not be afraid of oil/butter.
- p1necone 5y ago
  > The biggest contributing factor to make food not stick is to properly preheat the pan and not be afraid of oil/butter. Yep, even a standard stainless steel pan will not stick to much if you get it up to temp beforehand and use some fat.
- denton-scratch 5y ago
  I have successfully seasoned two cast iron pans with flax oil. That was 6 layers, baked on, and it was 15 years ago. The seasoning is still solid, doesn't flake, and is pretty much non-stick. If your flax oil seasoning is flaking, I think you are probably using too much oil - after oiling and before baking, you need to wipe off as much oil as you can; the pan shouldn't glisten at all. I also have a De Buyer carbon-steel pan, which I tried to season the same way; total failure. I had to strip off the failed seasoning. I now just use it with fat, clean it with hot water and detergent, and dry it carefully. All is good.
  - KozmoNau7 5y ago
    Please don't assume that I don't know what I'm doing, that's very impolite. I seasoned the pan exactly as recommended: Very clean pan, stripped of previous seasoning, super thin layers of oil, barely visible on the surface, heat for 1 hour, cool for 1 hour, then repeat oil and heat/cool. And I used high-quality fresh flaxseed oil, not some old oxidized stuff. It's a complete waste of time, when frying up some potato peels takes ~15 minutes and gives a sturdier result. It may not be as pretty or uniform, but it works, and how cast iron/carbon steel pans are prepared in every professional kitchen I know of. They don't have time to faff about, seasoning pans doesn't pay the bills. Cooking does.
wnissen 5y ago
I tried that, multiple very thin coats, and it all flaked off down to bare metal. Flaxseed is too hard. Regular old canola oil works great. I make scrambled eggs in mine when we go camping. I got a nice, food-grade flaxseed oil. The other myth is that the pebbly surface is non-stick. I used to work at a casting plant, that's the natural finish from sandcasting. That doesn't mean it's functional. Sanding down the casting surface to a smooth working surface takes less than an hour and lasts a lifetime.
gorgoiler 5y ago
This isn’t seasoning. This is painting on a layer of polymerised oil. You may get good results but it’s a different technique to fully saturating the iron with liquid oil. Heating while you do it makes a convection pattern that hinders the process. Air drying for a few days between coats works better but, again, traditional seasoning by regularly oiling (using) the pan is more trad for iron / steel. For oak though, drying oils that produce a polymerised surface make a fantastic finish. Add thistle oil, sunflower oil and soya oil to your flaxseed (linseed) oil, or just buy this: https://osmouk.com/product/uv-protection-oil/ https://osmouk.com/product/uv-protection-oil/
- wiz21c 5y ago
  Is this polymerisation thing a proven fact ? Is this chemically right ? I saw that quite often but nobody ever sounded like a chemist, so I'm a little scared of burning oil in my cookware...

Season it with flaxseed oil and you won't need the fat.

wiether 5y ago

Isn't flaxseed oil... fat ?

klyrs 5y ago
100% fat
etrautmann 5y ago
You have to bring it above smoke point until it polymerizes into a hard layer that stays on the pan and makes it anti stick
- amluto 5y ago
  If you actually take flax oil and heat it, you end up with a very attractive layer that is neither hard nor nonstick.
kbutler 5y ago
The point is to have the pan well-seasoned, which requires fat but doesn't add (significant?) fat to your food, then it doesn't take as much fat to keep the food from sticking. Some users claim flaxseed oil is the ideal oil for seasoning cast iron, as it is a drying oil w/ a high smoke point. https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/5820-the-ultimate-way-to-season-cast-iron https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/5820-the-ultimate-w... Others claim the "drying oil" is an incorrect theory, and that the polymerized oil from a drying oil is a coating that would flake off, rather than the desired bonding with the cast iron.
- joe_guy 5y ago
  At least in woodworking, curing oils that don't have metallic driers added to them, take about a month to cure. 100% Tung oil, and (not boiled) linseed oil are the ones I'm aware of. I have no information using them on cast iron.
  - joe_guy 5y ago
    But perhaps the pans temperature matters.
  - mauvehaus 5y ago
    Point of order: linseed oil is flax oil. The flax plant is where we get the fibers that become linen. Linen seed -> linseed. There are a couple other drying oils, but my understanding is that they're more used in oil painting than wood finishing [0]. Also note that modern boiled linseed oil is not the same as the historic product, which as I understand it, was made by boiling linseed oil with white lead. The modern stuff is partially polymerized by heating it in the absence of oxygen. Disclaimer: I am not a chemist or finish chemistry expert. I'm just a woodworker who sometimes reads about this stuff. Bob Flexner is an excellent author for anybody interested in further reading. [0] http://www.cad-red.com/mt2/oil.html http://www.cad-red.com/mt2/oil.html
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

KozmoNau7 5y ago

Been there, tried that. It's based on faulty observations and conclusions, and results in a fragile seasoning that flakes off easily. Matfer Bourgeat and De Buyer both recommend frying up a batch of potato peels in plenty of oil and too much salt, until the peels are very dark. Doesn't matter which kind of oil, salt or potatoes. Move them around and scrub them on the pan with your spatula while frying. When done, clean the pan with hot water. Then just use the pan. The only things you really shouldn't do are soaking it or putting it in the dishwasher. Simmering acidic foods like tomato sauce is not great, but also not the end of the world. The biggest contributing factor to make food not stick is to properly preheat the pan and not be afraid of oil/butter.

p1necone 5y ago
> The biggest contributing factor to make food not stick is to properly preheat the pan and not be afraid of oil/butter. Yep, even a standard stainless steel pan will not stick to much if you get it up to temp beforehand and use some fat.
denton-scratch 5y ago
I have successfully seasoned two cast iron pans with flax oil. That was 6 layers, baked on, and it was 15 years ago. The seasoning is still solid, doesn't flake, and is pretty much non-stick. If your flax oil seasoning is flaking, I think you are probably using too much oil - after oiling and before baking, you need to wipe off as much oil as you can; the pan shouldn't glisten at all. I also have a De Buyer carbon-steel pan, which I tried to season the same way; total failure. I had to strip off the failed seasoning. I now just use it with fat, clean it with hot water and detergent, and dry it carefully. All is good.
- KozmoNau7 5y ago
  Please don't assume that I don't know what I'm doing, that's very impolite. I seasoned the pan exactly as recommended: Very clean pan, stripped of previous seasoning, super thin layers of oil, barely visible on the surface, heat for 1 hour, cool for 1 hour, then repeat oil and heat/cool. And I used high-quality fresh flaxseed oil, not some old oxidized stuff. It's a complete waste of time, when frying up some potato peels takes ~15 minutes and gives a sturdier result. It may not be as pretty or uniform, but it works, and how cast iron/carbon steel pans are prepared in every professional kitchen I know of. They don't have time to faff about, seasoning pans doesn't pay the bills. Cooking does.

wnissen 5y ago

I tried that, multiple very thin coats, and it all flaked off down to bare metal. Flaxseed is too hard. Regular old canola oil works great. I make scrambled eggs in mine when we go camping. I got a nice, food-grade flaxseed oil. The other myth is that the pebbly surface is non-stick. I used to work at a casting plant, that's the natural finish from sandcasting. That doesn't mean it's functional. Sanding down the casting surface to a smooth working surface takes less than an hour and lasts a lifetime.

gorgoiler 5y ago

This isn’t seasoning. This is painting on a layer of polymerised oil. You may get good results but it’s a different technique to fully saturating the iron with liquid oil. Heating while you do it makes a convection pattern that hinders the process. Air drying for a few days between coats works better but, again, traditional seasoning by regularly oiling (using) the pan is more trad for iron / steel. For oak though, drying oils that produce a polymerised surface make a fantastic finish. Add thistle oil, sunflower oil and soya oil to your flaxseed (linseed) oil, or just buy this: https://osmouk.com/product/uv-protection-oil/ https://osmouk.com/product/uv-protection-oil/

wiz21c 5y ago
Is this polymerisation thing a proven fact ? Is this chemically right ? I saw that quite often but nobody ever sounded like a chemist, so I'm a little scared of burning oil in my cookware...