re: How to season Cast Iron skillets

Best way to do this is to rub it own with hog lard and put it in a fire, preferably in an outdoor fireplace. The oven method isnt worth a shite. The other method that works good is use an outdoor burner, and put the hog lard in it and just let it cook. The reason the fire method is better is because it seasons the outside too.

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Best way to do this is to rub it own with hog lard and put it in a fire, preferably in an outdoor fireplace. The oven method isnt worth a shite. The other method that works good is use an outdoor burner, and put the hog lard in it and just let it cook. The reason the fire method is better is because it seasons the outside too.

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Oh my god, this may be some of the worst info I've ever read about seasoning cast iron cookware. This would be great method but for the fact that you stand a good chance of warping and/or cracking the cast iron.
I refurbish cast iron as a hobby and I only usually do one coat of seasoning before selling it. I'd venture to say I've seasoned over 100 pieces of cookware easily and I do it all in the oven. The outside gets seasoned just as well as the inside during the process.

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when you need to re-season, rub fat all over the cooking surface and sides and put in oven upside down @ 500 for a few hours

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Hope you don't have a gas oven.

This is assuming you have just stripped down your cast iron to bare iron and just finished washing it.

-Put in the oven upside down and put oven on bake at 200 and let the heat dry it completely. Leave the oven door open during this so the piece doesn't flash rust as bad as if it was closed.
-After it's completely dry close the oven and raise the oven temp in 75 increments every 15 minutes until you get to 425.
-Be careful, but after the 15 mins at 425 take it out. I use a bakers rack but you can set it on some cardboard or whatever. Then use paper towels and coat the hell out of the piece with solid Crisco. Not oil. Coat it excessively and let it get into every pore.
-Use a towel/washcloth (one you don't care about because it will get ruined) wipe down the iron to the point of where you think it's almost dry. It's not because the Crisco has already bonded to the cast iron. You're just wiping off excess.
-Put it back in the oven (still at 425) for 15 mins.
-Take it out and rub the iron excessively again. You're mainly looking for any pooling of excess you didn't get in the first "drying".
-Put back in the oven and set the oven at 500. Let it sit in the 500 oven for 15 mins.
-Shut the oven off after the 15 mins.
-Forget about the cast iron at this point and check on it the next day.
-Repeat if you want to get it darker. But it's more fun to just cook in it at this point and that will darken it as well. Bacon, cornbread, popcorn and sausage are excellent foods for cooking it the cast iron for the purposes of seasoning it.

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I have 3 black iron pots that would say otherwise, but yea you're probably right.

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I didn't say you can't do it. By all means keep doing what you want. It's your cast iron. I'm just saying that a lot of people think cast iron is indestructible. It's not. It will usually crack before it warps. But hey, everyone has their own way it seems and that's cool too

Yeah, about that cleaning part...

HTown, got any tips there?

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HTown, got any tips there?

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I thought about getting into that, but figured I'd just be met with "just sandblast it and rub it in the dirt" or something.
I use electrolysis to clean my cast iron. I used to use lye and a few other methods, but I'll never go back after switching to electrolysis last year.

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Tigertown in ATL

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I emailed ya about your xmas purchases (or plans to purchase) but didn't hear how it went. Were they happy?

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The man knows his stuff. I can attest.

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I don't hear that too often!

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fightin tigers

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Is that surface rust only? Or has it started pitting and/or flaking? If it's just surface rust you can get it fixed up in no time.

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Don't want to resort to sandblasting, but its an option.

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I would avoid using any mechanical way of restoring it. Too much potential to ruin the pot. Unless it's something you really don't care about (I have a Lodge campfire pot out in my garage that I'd sandblast if needed for instance).