Seasoning my skillet not going as planned

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Caslon, have you got any fat that is solid at room temp? Lard, bacon grease, crisco?

Just some microwave bacon. Seriously, could I microwave or heat some of that and use the drippings from that? I don't need much.
My skillet is in the cleaning cycle as we speak. I turned on the Heater/AC/Air cleaner fan as I'm starting to smell the happening. lol

When it's complete and cooled down, then I have to weed thru the many methods suggested to season it. I will probably follow the WAGS site suggestions.
 
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I use bacon grease to season my CI. If you can get some grease, dip a paper towel in it and wipe that on the pan. Then heat the crap out of it for a bit, take it out of the oven, and wipe it with a dry paper towel.
 
Thanks. This time I'm going to be wary of how much I oil the pan for seasoning. I have a feeling a used a tad too much the first try, causing shiny pooled areas that looked like I had melted sugar on it or something. I'm still wondering what the hell happened there.
 
OK, 4 hours later I opened the oven door and the pan looks all rusty and crusty.
Just what I wanted, it means it's pretty well cleaned.

Where from here? Some sites have ppl using a drill attachment and wire wheel.
I have one of those, but its in storage a ways away.

Other sites mention getting the rust off with sandpaper. ?

What's the procedure from here? I don't want to scrub off the skillet using water, do I? Oil and coarse salt? Alcohol and coarse salt and scour pad?

I went to the store and bought some Crisco for the seasoning part.
 
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I used rubbing alcohol and coarse salt and a wire scrubber. It cleaned up well on the outside. Using salt and scour and alcohol on the inside, repeated scrubbing just kept bringing up more dirty residue. I gave up after awhile.

I'd have to sandblast it or use lye to get 40 years of use off. It looks ok tho.

It's in the oven until it reaches 450F, at which point I will remove it and let it cool barely to touch, then coat it thinly with melted Crisco and bake it at 400F for 30 minutes. This is all according to WAGS site.
 
Caslon said:
I'd have to sandblast it or use lye to get 40 years of use off. It looks ok tho.

If you want to clean 40 years of crud off....Get down to the pure bare metal....and then re-season.... Then go and read up on the use of Lye Buckets...For serious cleaning of old iron it is the only method I use...Also have a clear understanding of the dangers of using a Caustic like Lye...It will burn your skin...In your eyes... it could cause blindness.

Caslon said:
This time I'm going to be wary of how much I oil the pan for seasoning. I have a feeling a used a tad too much the first try, causing shiny pooled areas

Exactly! ...A Thin coat can not be over emphasized..When you have your thin coat on....Go back and wipe it off one more time....Then late afternoon or evening put it into a 350*-400* oven for an hour or so...Turn the oven off...Go to bed, and For-get-about-it till morning. Allowing it to cool completely in the oven...I normally do this twice..sometimes three times....Your pan now has it's initial seasoning, and is ready to cook with.
HTH.

Have Fun & Enjoy!
 
Yes, unfortunately time is your friend with seasoning cast iron... you need to leave it be whether you use the EZ OFF or lye method, and even electrolysis requires a half day or more. I do not have a self-cleaning oven, but I know most on the WAGS forum don't use that method since some have had pieces crack in two (or know of people who that happened to). There is a suspicion that the more contemporary, machine ground pieces are thicker and can withstand the process better, so I know I would avoid it for anything made over 60 years ago.

I use a stainless steel scrubber to help clean it off completely, then just towel dry as quickly as possible before popping it in the oven to dry 100%. If you are having trouble getting the rest of the gunk off with a wire brush or equivalent, then you need to re-strip it, it's just not done.

The lye method is REALLY easy. Put the piece in, let it sit for days, pull it out, rinse and MAYBE scrub it a little. Everything comes off nicely. And there are stories of collectors forgetting about CI trivets or something in the lye for over a year, the lye won't hurt it a bit.

And yes, the final bit of advise, wiping the piece off until it looks like you removed all the oil/PAM/Crisco is KEY. I have had to start again when I got a splotchy design on my pans, thinking I had wiped it down well. Terrycloth towel (I picked up a pack of 18 in the Walmart auto department for $4 or something) will do the job because it really soaks up the excess.

Patience is key, and trust me, I know how badly you want to see that gorgeous black surface just staring at you, begging for use. It's worth doing it right :)
 
Guys, I went to season the pan once more before I went to bed. I meant to turn off the oven and let it cool before I went to bed. It went for 400F for hours. The pan ended up with little black spots of carbonized Crisco, evenly dotted at the bottom of the pan. I just now coated it again and it's in the oven again. I hope I didn't blow it. I'm not starting over again, lol. A lump of cast iron not worth it.
Please tell me I didn't blow it.

I'll know when I go to cook chicken again. I like to lightly sear chicken legs on the stovetop (with some Pappy's Seasoning) and then put the skillet in the oven to cook. What I noticed recently is that the chicken was sticking to the skillet when I was browning it. That is due to my carelessly using soap to clean out the pan. That's why I decided to clean and re-season it.
 
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Guys, I went to season the pan once more before I went to bed. I meant to turn off the oven and let it cool before I went to bed. It went for 400F for hours. The pan ended up with little black spots of carbonized Crisco, evenly dotted at the bottom of the pan. I just now coated it again and it's in the oven again. I hope I didn't blow it. I'm not starting over again, lol. A lump of cast iron not worth it.
Please tell me I didn't blow it.

I'll know when I go to cook chicken again. I like to lightly sear chicken legs on the stovetop (with some Pappy's Seasoning) and then put the skillet in the oven to cook. What I noticed recently is that the chicken was sticking to the skillet when I was browning it. That is due to my carelessly using soap to clean out the pan. That's why I decided to clean and re-season it.



Did you season it right side up or up side down?
 
It was right side up during those hours at 400F. The important thing is that the pours of the cast iron get filled, right? I'm guessing that over time, those areas between the black carbonized dots will fill in. Please tell me so, lol.

I'm not starting this process over, it takes too much electricity, for a lump of iron :)
 
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Yes over time and good use those areas will fill in.

Biggest boo boo was having it right side up, not upside down, and did you use a terrycloth to wipe it down or a paper towel? I know it's probably more trouble than it's worth to you to re-do it npow, but just in case you feel like trying again sometime you can have all the knowledge you need to get what you want the first time. :)

Again, ask questions on the WAGS forums, they've tried ALL the methods out there and while there may be some variation on people's personal preferences, the overall advice is the same.
 
I'm ok with this pan now, I suppose. Before the 2nd 400F over bake goof, I added a little Crisco in the pan and fried an egg. It cooked and slid out of the pan beautifully. I am supposing it should do the same now, now that I over baked the seasoning process. Right now I am re-seasoning it for curiosity sake. 400F. In an hour I'll let it cool on its own in the oven.

I may cook some chicken tonight and see if it doesn't stick as much during the browning. That's what got this endeavor started (foolishly using soap to clean the pan).
 
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