Seasoning - dealing with smell

[AwesomeOpossum74]

Yet more seasoning questions ...

I have been using Crisco vegetable oil to maintain the seasoning on my CI cookware. Works great for maintenance.

After the rejuvenation of my dutch oven, during the first seasoning for 1hr at 450f, there was a definite fishy odor emanating from the oven. I assume it was burning off what may have been left of old cooking on the dutch oven. On the second seasoning, that odor no longer presents, but the smell of cooking oil is still heavy in the air for hours.

In order to reduce the heavy oil smell, should I try a different type of oil? Canola, olive? Different brand?

 

[Andy M.]

I associate the fishy odor with canola oil. That's why I don't use it any longer.

Any oil with a high smoke point will do the trick. I use corn oil as it's cheap and neutral.

 

[cookwewill]

Some types of oil definitely have this weird smell to them, sometimes it even depends on the brand and I had to stop using some because of this. Personally I dont care much but my wife has a very fine nose so I have to use the brands and types she approves

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I agree that some oils definitely give off odors. I also like to use corn oil, and sometimes use sunflower oil. I never use canola, or olive oils. Olive oil has a low smoke point, making it a poor choice for seasoning cast iron, or carbon steel. Canola comes from the rapeseed plant, and is toxic in its unprocessed state. It has to be refined to make it safe to eat. It's a controversial oil. I don't trust it, though many state that it's perfectly safe, and indeed, a healthy oil.

I also won't use Crisco. From 1911, when it was introduced, their advertising campaigns led everyone to believe that Crisco was a healthier alternative to lard, and that lard was so unhealthy. It was touted as pure vegetable oil. Everyone knows that veggies are healthy, right? In fact, Crisco was a hydrogenated cottonseed oil, made from seeds, not vegetables. But cottonseed oil was controversial at the time. The hydrogenation of the oil made it semi-solid, and was the same process used to turn cottonseed oil into soap. Hydrogenation of oils creates trans-fats, which proved to be much more harmful to the body than lard. The company was forced to modify the product as it was losing sales heavily. Now Crisco is made using Canola, hydrogenated palm seed, and soy bean oils, It no longer uses cottonseed oil. It still contains trans-fats, though in small enough quantities per serving to be allowed by the FDA to state 0 trans-fats on the label

So for me, for high temp cooking applications, I will stick with sunflower. corn, safflower, or peanut oil.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[WhateverYouWant]

I use canola and never noticed the issue. I'm guessing you are using too much oil to season, and all of it is not polymerizing as it should, leaving some oil behind which can burn/smell.

 

[taxlady]

I agree that some oils definitely give off odors. I also like to use corn oil, and sometimes use sunflower oil. I never use canola, or olive oils. Olive oil has a low smoke point, making it a poor choice for seasoning cast iron, or carbon steel. Canola comes from the rapeseed plant, and is toxic in its unprocessed state. It has to be refined to make it safe to eat. It's a controversial oil. I don't trust it, though many state that it's perfectly safe, and indeed, a healthy oil.
<snip>

I'm not suggesting the use of EVOO for seasoning cast iron or anything else. But, how hot does one get the pan when seasoning it? What is considered a "low smoke point"?

According to Wikipedia (and what I have read and heard elsewhere) EVOO's smoke point is 190–215 °C (374–419 °F).

190–215 °C (374–419 °F)

 

[Bitser]

A chef pal suggested seasoning cast iron with flax oil, which has a high smoke point. Found a small bottle at the local market. Used it on an antique waffle iron I found in a shed and cleaned up.

At 450°F for an hour, it has a smell, but is not fishy.

 

[karadekoolaid]

Wow! That´s a beautiful waffle iron!

 

[AwesomeOpossum74]

I did another seasoning, again with veg oil, and the fishy smell was gone. So I suspect it was something temporary. Might even have been something in the oven, even though we don't even eat fish.

I also don't think I'm over-oiling, as I try to wipe up any excess, and when it finishes, it is dry.

As far as the heavy oil smell, I guess I'll just have to do it when most of us will be out of the house, and crack some windows.

 

[skilletlicker]

A chef pal suggested seasoning cast iron with flax oil, which has a high smoke point. Found a small bottle at the local market. Used it on an antique waffle iron I found in a shed and cleaned up.
At 450°F for an hour, it has a smell, but is not fishy.

Never tried it on pans. Sixty years ago did a great job loosening up little league baseball gloves though. Called linseed oil then and got it from the hardware store.

 

[taxlady]

Never tried it on pans. Sixty years ago did a great job loosening up little league baseball gloves though. Called linseed oil then and got it from the hardware store.

Nope, not the same as canola. Linseed oil comes from flax (Linum usitatissimum) seeds. Canola oil comes from rapeseeds. The reason it isn't just called rapeseed oil is that it is made from rapeseed cultivars with a much lower level of erucic acid. Rapeseed is a brassica.

 

[dragnlaw]

taxy, I think we've been over this on another thread somewhere, LOL.
Rapeseed is not called rapeseed oil because of the connotation of the word. My understanding is that Canola is a word derived from Canada and Oil. (who mentioned Canola Oil?)

Flaxseed Oil and Linseed Oil are both derived from the same seed, but again it is my understanding, they are processed differently.

 

[taxlady]

taxy, I think we've been over this on another thread somewhere, LOL.
Rapeseed is not called rapeseed oil because of the connotation of the word. My understanding is that Canola is a word derived from Canada and Oil. (who mentioned Canola Oil?)

Flaxseed Oil and Linseed Oil are both derived from the same seed, but again it is my understanding, they are processed differently.

Yes, they changed the name rapeseed oil to canola, when they started selling the oil from the rapeseed cultivars with low etrucic acid. This was believed to be less harmful to consume. I vaguely remember reading that the marketing people thought that a new name would be more popular. But, there are rules about what can be called canola oil. It has to contain less than 2% etrucic acid and some other stuff. That's the difference, not how it's processed. It can be processed for food use or for industrial use, but it's still canola, if it fulfills the conditions for being canola.

 

[dragnlaw]

I think you are still mixing up canola and flax.
Earlier posts were talking about flax oils not canola.

 

[taxlady]

I think you are still mixing up canola and flax.
Earlier posts were talking about flax oils not canola.

You are right. I thought SL was writing about canola oil. But, it was a reply to a post about flax seed oil. Oops. It was earlier in the thread that someone thought that canola oil was just specially refined rapeseed oil.