I've watched people ruin more pans than I can count. Sticky messes, flaking seasoning, rust. It's not hard. But somehow everyone finds a way to fuck it up.
It's a chunk of iron. It's been cooking food for hundreds of years. Your great-grandmother did this with no problems.
And yet here you are, with a $40 pan that eggs stick to like superglue because you read one blog post, grabbed the wrong oil, and turned your oven to some random temperature.
Seasoning cast iron isn't hard. It's one of the easiest things in cooking. But you have to do it right.
So put down the flaxseed oil and listen.
If you're working with a rusty pan or someone else's failed seasoning attempt, get it down to bare metal first.
Steel wool. Barkeeper's Friend. Elbow grease. Or throw it in a self-cleaning oven cycle — the high heat burns everything off.
You want gray metal. No rust, no sticky patches, no old seasoning. Clean slate.
If your pan is new and pre-seasoned (like a Lodge), skip this. That factory seasoning is thin, but you'll build on top of it.
Wash with soap and water. Yes, soap. The "never use soap" thing is outdated advice from when soap contained lye. Modern dish soap is fine.
This is where most people fuck up.
You want a THIN layer. Microscopic. After you apply the oil, wipe it off with a clean cloth until it looks like there's no oil left. Then wipe it again.
The goal is NOT to coat the pan in oil. The goal is to leave just enough oil molecules to bond with the iron when heated.
I know some guy on the internet said flaxseed is the best. It creates a hard finish, sure. But it also flakes off in sheets after a few months because the polymerization is too brittle. Every serious cast iron person has learned this the hard way.
This is where chemistry happens. You need to heat the oil past its smoke point — that's when polymerization occurs. The oil molecules bond together and to the iron, creating that hard, slick surface.
Put the pan upside down in the oven with a sheet pan underneath to catch drips. Bake for one hour.
Too low (350°F): Oil doesn't polymerize. Stays soft and sticky.
Too high (500°F+): Oil burns off. You get nothing.
One layer is not seasoning. One layer is a start.
Do 3-5 rounds minimum. Each layer builds on the last. The more layers, the more non-stick the surface becomes.
Yes, this takes time. A few hours across a weekend. But you're building something that'll last decades if you don't fuck it up.
Seasoning isn't finished until you use the pan. The best seasoning comes from actually cooking.
For the first few weeks, cook fatty things. Bacon. Sausage. Pan-fried anything with butter or oil.
Avoid acidic foods (tomatoes, citrus, wine sauces) until the seasoning has built up. Acid strips new seasoning.
Your pan should look almost dry after you apply and wipe off the oil. If it looks wet, you used too much. That's going to become a sticky nightmare that never cures.
Low smoke point. Burns before it can polymerize. Your kitchen fills with smoke and you end up with a gummy mess instead of seasoning.
Yeah, it creates a beautiful, hard, shiny finish. For about three months. Then it starts flaking off in sheets because it's too brittle. This myth needs to die.
One round of seasoning is not enough. You need 3-5 layers minimum to build real protection. Be patient.
350°F isn't hot enough. The oil needs to hit its smoke point to polymerize. Go 400-450°F or you're wasting your time.
Cast iron rusts FAST. Like, minutes fast in a humid kitchen. Towel dry immediately, then hit it with heat. Every single time.
Even a little moisture trapped under a lid or in a stack will cause rust overnight. Store completely dry, with a paper towel between stacked pans.
That lye soap warning is from your great-grandmother's era. Modern Dawn won't hurt your seasoning. You know what does? Leaving food crust because you were afraid to wash properly.
You don't need an artisan-forged $300 pan. You don't need vintage Griswold from eBay. You don't need to overthink this.
You need a pan that works. One that's been made the same way for over a hundred years by people who know what they're doing.
Lodge has been making cast iron in the same Tennessee foundry for over 125 years. Their skillets come pre-seasoned — not perfectly, but ready to use out of the box.
Add a few layers of your own seasoning, cook a few pounds of bacon, and you've got a pan that'll outlive you. Your grandkids will be cooking eggs in this thing.
Twenty-five dollars for a pan that lasts forever. Stop overthinking it.
Get the LodgeIf you want something specifically for seasoning maintenance, Crisbee makes a conditioning stick that's idiot-proof. But honestly, a tub of Crisco costs $5 and works just as well.
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That's it.
Thin oil. Right temperature. Multiple layers. Dry it every time. Cook fatty foods. Don't use flaxseed.
It's not complicated. People have been doing this since before your grandparents were born.
The pan isn't precious. It's a chunk of iron. It wants to be non-stick. It wants to cook your food. You just have to stop getting in its way.
Now season the damn pan.