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There is only one conspiracy theory I believe in, it’s /reddit/r/castiron is a troll site created to make people believe ‘seasoning’ is really a thing. After s

There is only one conspiracy theory I believe in, it’s /reddit/r/castiron is a troll site created to make people believe ‘seasoning’ is really a thing. After spending a few weeks trying, I’ve had multiple people tell me they got theirs ‘seasoned’ after three or four months. Don’t let yourself be sucked in.

icelancer 5y ago
Yeah, it's very largely BS. If you cook enough bacon and high-fat foods in it over time.... sure. But people who say you can easily cook eggs in it or everything else "after its seasoned" are just not to be listened to. Use a nonstick. EDIT: Or carbon steel I guess. Even then, meh. Remember that the vast majority of professional chefs use nonstick skillets specifically for eggs both at home and in their workplace.
- justusthane 5y ago
  But you can, and I do. I cook everything in cast iron and nothing sticks. That said, one thing I have come to realize over the past couple of decades of cooking with cast iron is that seasoning is less some mystical ritual that is performed one time, and more a result of proper use and care of the pan over time. But yes, there is lots of ritualized BS (“Don’t wash it”, “Never use dish soap”, “Only season it using flax oil in the oven at 200 degrees for four hours”, etc etc etc).
- jimmaswell 5y ago
  I ground down a pan and started over on it this year. This is all it took to get it perfect: -In the very beginning, bake it in an oven with a very thin layer of crisco two times -Only use it for eggs for a while, letting the butter turn into seasoning with higher heat as it cools. Find the right preheating ranges by experiment. Now it's maintenance-free and nonstick.
smoyer 5y ago
I cook the family breakfast on a cast iron skillet every Dadurday. I like the taste of butter with eggs and use about a 1/2 teaspoon per pan full. It's about the same for pancakes if there's oil in the batter. My best advice is to never wash the pan ...just wipe it down with a paper towel.
- tristor 5y ago
  > My best advice is to never wash the pan ...just wipe it down with a paper towel. Eww... You can and should wash your cast iron pans. Dish soap is no longer made with lye or other harsh chemicals, just use a bit of Dawn and a blue scrub pad (same you'd use on nonstick) and properly clean it, make sure it's very dry afterwards and put a very thin layer of oil. Also don't use paper towels on cast iron unless it's a smooth bottom pan, the modern style cast iron will cause shreds of paper to get embedded in the pan which will burn and get nasty (also paper towels are bleached and that's nasty).
drivers99 5y ago
Seems to be a real thing[1]. I took you literally at first, but I guess you mean you’re looking for a specific result and not seeing it? This article[2] makes a case for using (pure) flax oil and a special procedure. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasoning_(cookware) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasoning_(cookware) [2] https://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/ https://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-t...
tristor 5y ago
That's weird that you believe this, because cast iron was the predominant way of cooking for literally centuries, and it works exactly as described. I have some new pans I've seasoned, and I have some vintage pans I inherited that my grandmother was cooking with for most of her life, and then I cooked with extensively after. Both are effectively nonstick, and I don't need much oil at all to cook with them. Care is also way easier. There is a /lot/ of bullshit myths around cast iron, like that you cannot use soap for instance, or shouldn't scrub it, both of which are totally fine, but the idea of seasoning and what occurs when it's done properly are entirely true. Most people just want to otherthink it. All you need to do with cast iron is use it and care for it properly, the longer and more often you use it, the better it gets.
JimBlackwood 5y ago
It’s definitely a real thing. But some people go nuts and I’ll never understand. Use the right tool for the job and cast iron is definitely not the right choice a lot of the time. Unless you exclusively cook meals where heat control is never needed, I don’t see why you’d only use cast iron.

icelancer 5y ago

Yeah, it's very largely BS. If you cook enough bacon and high-fat foods in it over time.... sure. But people who say you can easily cook eggs in it or everything else "after its seasoned" are just not to be listened to. Use a nonstick. EDIT: Or carbon steel I guess. Even then, meh. Remember that the vast majority of professional chefs use nonstick skillets specifically for eggs both at home and in their workplace.

justusthane 5y ago
But you can, and I do. I cook everything in cast iron and nothing sticks. That said, one thing I have come to realize over the past couple of decades of cooking with cast iron is that seasoning is less some mystical ritual that is performed one time, and more a result of proper use and care of the pan over time. But yes, there is lots of ritualized BS (“Don’t wash it”, “Never use dish soap”, “Only season it using flax oil in the oven at 200 degrees for four hours”, etc etc etc).
jimmaswell 5y ago
I ground down a pan and started over on it this year. This is all it took to get it perfect: -In the very beginning, bake it in an oven with a very thin layer of crisco two times -Only use it for eggs for a while, letting the butter turn into seasoning with higher heat as it cools. Find the right preheating ranges by experiment. Now it's maintenance-free and nonstick.

smoyer 5y ago

I cook the family breakfast on a cast iron skillet every Dadurday. I like the taste of butter with eggs and use about a 1/2 teaspoon per pan full. It's about the same for pancakes if there's oil in the batter. My best advice is to never wash the pan ...just wipe it down with a paper towel.

tristor 5y ago
> My best advice is to never wash the pan ...just wipe it down with a paper towel. Eww... You can and should wash your cast iron pans. Dish soap is no longer made with lye or other harsh chemicals, just use a bit of Dawn and a blue scrub pad (same you'd use on nonstick) and properly clean it, make sure it's very dry afterwards and put a very thin layer of oil. Also don't use paper towels on cast iron unless it's a smooth bottom pan, the modern style cast iron will cause shreds of paper to get embedded in the pan which will burn and get nasty (also paper towels are bleached and that's nasty).

drivers99 5y ago

Seems to be a real thing[1]. I took you literally at first, but I guess you mean you’re looking for a specific result and not seeing it? This article[2] makes a case for using (pure) flax oil and a special procedure. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasoning_(cookware) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasoning_(cookware) [2] https://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/ https://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-t...

tristor 5y ago

That's weird that you believe this, because cast iron was the predominant way of cooking for literally centuries, and it works exactly as described. I have some new pans I've seasoned, and I have some vintage pans I inherited that my grandmother was cooking with for most of her life, and then I cooked with extensively after. Both are effectively nonstick, and I don't need much oil at all to cook with them. Care is also way easier. There is a /lot/ of bullshit myths around cast iron, like that you cannot use soap for instance, or shouldn't scrub it, both of which are totally fine, but the idea of seasoning and what occurs when it's done properly are entirely true. Most people just want to otherthink it. All you need to do with cast iron is use it and care for it properly, the longer and more often you use it, the better it gets.

JimBlackwood 5y ago

It’s definitely a real thing. But some people go nuts and I’ll never understand. Use the right tool for the job and cast iron is definitely not the right choice a lot of the time. Unless you exclusively cook meals where heat control is never needed, I don’t see why you’d only use cast iron.