I actually have recipes (about 700) and cooking notes on my phone that I can access anytime.
Here is my note on seasoning cast iron (I prefer to cook on cast iron or carbon steel):
How Do I Season My Cast Iron
To season, first you scrub off the shipping grease and any bit of metal filings left over from the manufacturing process. Do this with hot water and a sponge. Then follow the instructions that come with the pan for proper seasoning or research your own desired method. Some people recommend cooking the peels of potatoes in heaps of salt and oil in the pan. For some, it involves heating the pan with salt. For most people, though, seasoning simply requires heating the pan in a 500-degree F oven for an hour or so after rubbing a few drops of high-temperature resistant oil into it. Repeat this process a few times and youll be good to go.
Here’s what I did step by step:
1. I put the pan upside down on a jelly roll pan lined with aluminum foil. This was to get the beeswax off. I turned the oven to 250 degrees for 20 min. then wiped off the beeswax with a paper towel. I put it back in the oven for about 5-8 minutes more then wiped the pan with the paper towel again.
2. I washed the pan by hand in warm soapy dish water.
3. I covered the pan with Crisco shortening (solid Crisco that comes in a can). I didn’t have flaxseed oil as most people had recommended so I went with what I did have. I covered the entire inside and outside of the pan with Crisco using a paper towel. I put it back on the jelly roll pan, without the aluminum foil. I baked it at 400 degrees for an hour then let it sit in the oven until it was completely cold, then I did this process all over again once more. It came out with a nice, black patina on the bottom of the pan.
4. I took it out of the oven and applied Olive oil all over the inside with a paper towel.
2) This process is a little lengthy, but well worth the effortespecially since re-seasoning pans is a giant pain.
1) Obtain flaxseed oil, either from Amazon (which we’ve linked to) or in the vitamins and supplements section of your grocery store.
2) Make sure your pan is either new or stripped of its seasoning (if you leave the pan in your oven during a self-cleaning cycle, this will do the trick).
3) Heat the pan in an oven at 200°F for 15 minutes to open up the pores in the pan itself.
4) Remove the pan from the oven and add 1 Tbsp. of flaxseed oil to the pan, then rub the oil thoroughly into the pan using tongs and a paper towel.
5) The pan should be cool enough to touch at this point; if so, then completely remove the oil from the pan by rubbing it dry with clean paper towels. If it’s still too hot to touch, wait a few minutes, then rub the pan dry. The pan should be completely matte again, with no sign of glistening oil.
6) Place the pan face-down in a cool oven, then set the oven to 500°F (or whatever your highest setting is) and bake for one hour.
7) Turn off the oven and allow the pan to cool for two hours while still in the oven.
8) Repeat the process five more times, or until the pan develops a dark, semi-matte surface.
Cambria from The Kitchn states that this method took her over 18 hours from start to finish, but left her with a pan that had an excellent preliminary seasoning; as she continued to cook with the new surface, she found that not only did the pan become even more nonstick with each use, but that it was an absolute snap to clean.
I don’t know about these multiple mentions of Flaxseed Oil. Grape-seed Oil was the high temp oil I was taught to use in Army Cook AIT 48 years ago and no, I never use soap. I use a plastic scruber and water, heat it and oil it again. I admit to salt on occasion. I wipe it with a bit of towel after it has cooled.