New cast iron skillet

Crisco and an oven.

There are several methods, this just one.


Emeril L, how to season a cast iron skillet

From the comments on that link:

quote:

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I followed Emeril instructions, however, I seasoned with bacon fat and Emeril's Essence.

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Is that a thing? Why would you season the cast iron with spice in it?

Serious Eats says they are "fans of unsaturated cooking fats, like vegetable, canola, and corn oil, for seasoning our pans. Not only do we always have them on hand, but they work well and are easier to spread than saturated fats, like shortening or lard. There's no need to go out and buy any special oils just for seasoning!*"

* For the record, we've found that the often-suggested flaxseed oil produces a fast layer of seasoning, but it has a tendency to flake off with use. We don't recommend it.
LINK

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Cooks Ill. liked the flaxseed approach and showed one pan seasoned with it and another done with vegetable oil. They even ran them through a dishwasher for abuse. The flaxseed pan was black and shiny with seasoning intact; the veg oil pan looked like they just found it in the dump.

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Many swear by bacon grease or lard, but I've read that animal fats are not ideal for it.

As one person said, ask 5 people and you'll get 6 answers.