[Lokibob]

Try this method:
http://www.netwoods.com/Cooking/dutchov1.html

This is for dutch oven, but will work for all cast iron.

[Honesty]

I take a little cooking oil and rub it around the pan with a paper towel. After cooking, I wash pan and put it on the stove to dry. If you use a towel to dry them, they will rust. Hope this helps.

[ken5050]

In Spain, the paella dishes are cleaned by putting a little olive oil in them, then using a split onion to smear the oil around, then wipe with a cloth....

[Cinnamon Girl]

If your mom was using the skillets, they must already be seasoned, otherwise they'd be all rusty. Are you wondering how to keep them? I have an iron skillet and in order to keep it seasoned, after I fry stuff in it, I rinse it in cold water to get the food out, but not the oil, then wipe it with a paper towel and keep it in the cabinet on a paper towel so it doesn't get dusty.

[LasVegasMac]

Depends on what shape (how bad) they are. When I reseason mine I scrub the heck out of them then put a light coat (don't use too much - just enough to coat) of vegetable oil inside and out and put in the oven @ 400 degrees for an hour. When you put them in the oven, put them in upside down. I usually do this process twice.

Check out www.lodge.com.

Cast iron is the only way to cook!

LVM

[MoralSense]

If they are black and shiny, you don't need to do anything. When you cook in them, use butter, shortening, or oil; you'll get used to the quantity needed. Then, when you're done, take the pan to the sink, sprinkle about a tablespoon of salt in it for the scouring and drying effect, and swab it out with an old terry towel, or even with a wad of paper towels. Don't wash them.

There are some things you cannot cook in these pans -- slowly scrambled eggs, for example. Cook only those things which will not make a wet sticky residue.

If they are new, or if they need to be washed because some cooking has spoiled them, once they are washed, set them on a stove, filled with Wesson oil, and heat them very, very slowly for an hour or two. Then wipe them out with a towel. You may have to repeat this treatment to get the effective stick-resistant coating.

Cast iron works great for some foods and poorly for others. You'll just have to learn which is which.

[#1CTYankee]

Coat pans with a coating of peanut oil, wipe off excess with a paper towel. (Do not let puddle)
Bake in oven for 2-3 hrs. @ 350 Degrees.
Shut off smoke detectors and leave house.
When pans cool they should not be tacky. If they are you put on to much oil or it didn't cook long enough.

[beardog]

Greese the skillets with Crisco.Place them in a 450 oven for 15 min. To clean them scrub with Salt and rinse with clear water. Dry them and recote and that is it.

[js1138]

The oven method is good for the first time seasoning. After that the trick is never to ruin it.

To clean a cast iron skillet, boil a bit of plain water in it to loosen burned on food, rinse and let it dry. Rub with a bit of vegetable oil, wipe off excess and heat till it just starts to smoke. Turn off heat and let it cool without wiping.

Never cook anything with acid (vinegar, tomato sause) in it. Cast iron is for cooking with fat. After you brown meat in it, you can make a great gravy by browning some folur in the leftover fat, then adding water a little at a time till it's the right thickness. (Thickening requires bringing the mixture to a boil.) Add seasonings.

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

What kind of shape are they in?

Cast iron is not supposed to be steel wooled and soaped.
If that has been done they will need to be re-seasoned.(probably will want to do this anyway)
Get a stiff bristled handheld brush like you'd use for a wok.

Clean them well and then heat them on the stove top until a drop of water spatters on contact.
Remove from heat an let cool a bit. When cool enough not to burn you, pour a few drops of cooking oil on them, sprinkle with pepper, a little garlic and/or any other favorite spices(no salt)and rub it into the surface well.

Reheat as before.
Remove from heat and put under running water for a bit and brush the residue off. Return to heat until the water evaporates. While still hot, rub a drop of oil into the surface again. Just enough to put a slight sheen on the surface, no excess oil.
Remove from heat and rub them well when cool.(No more oil)

Always preheat them before you cook. Always brush them clean (no soap, no steel wool)under running water (Not soaking in water)and reheat with a drop of oil after you cook.

There are probably many experts on FR in this area as in others, but if none of them show up with better advice this will do. Worked for me for decades.

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

Wow, in the time it took my stumblefingers to type, the place was swarming with FR experts.

What a place this is! :)

[yankeedame]

HOW TO SEASON CAST IRON

1) Rub the interior of the skillet with shortening (not oil. Really lather it on thick.

2)Put the skillet-- shortening and all-- in a pre-heat 325 degree oven

3)Let it "bake" for approx. 1 hr.

4)While not a nasty smell it wouldn't be the world's nicest smell while it's baking.

5)After 1 hr. remove from oven. With paper towels wipe out any left over melted shortening. Allow to cool.

HOW TO CLEAN CAST IRON

1)NEVER put in dishwasher. NEVER allow it to soak.

2)Hand-wash using dish soap, very hot water and a scrub brush.

3)Rinse with very hot water. Dry immediately or else rust might set in

4)Pour a bit of veg. oil onto interior surface. With paper towel wipe the oil all over, till there is a nice,shinny coating of oil. (Don't be skimpy here with the oil. Better too much than too little)

5) Throw the oily papertowel(s) away.

That's it! I know it sounds like a lot but in real life you're only looking at 3 or 4 minutes.

Remember: over time your cast iron skillet should develop a wonderful black color. This is always a mark of a well maintained piece of cast-iron.

(P.S. Never cook things like tomatoes or other high acid foods in cast iron. The food will come out tasting real funky, and the acid from the tomatoes (or whatever) sure won't do the cast iron any good)

[dd5339]

Ok, now I'm even hungrier!

Semper Fi

[Phantom Lord]

I have a lot of cast iron cookware that I use both in the oven, on a gas burner, and in wood and charcoal fires.

Basically, what I do is slather crisco all over every bit of it, and into every crevis there is. Then put into a preheated 350 degree oven for an hour. I then remove them from the oven, and pour all the melted fat out (into a collection jar or can, NOT down the sink). Then place them on a cooling rack to cool down. Thats it. I will also put a light coat of vegetable oil on them after each use for the first few uses. I then periodically will wipe them down with vegetable oil after using them. But after the first couple of uses and oilings you will rarely have to put any oil on them.

And after I use them, I let them fully cool down, I them wash them in hot soapy water, towel dry, and then put on hot stove burner for about 15 seconds to get some heat into them to make sure that ALL of the water from washing them is gone.

And when speaking of cast iron cookware, OLD IS GOLD!

[johniegrad]

What a nice thread. You ask an honest question and get answers. No smart ass comments. Nice change of pace.

[B-Chan]

Any of the oven/onion methods above work fine. Make sure you rinse and wipe the pans thoroughly with water (never use soap!) to get out all food particles and used fats, which will go rancid and rot if not removed. To sterilize the pan, put a little water in it, then put the pan on a burner set to high and allow the water in the pan to boil until the skillet is dry. Remove from heat and store in a cold oven.

An iron skillet holds heat better and more evenly than any alumnum pan ever could. There is no other way to prepare proper cornbread than to bake it in a skillet, and eggs fried in one take on a crispy, delicious flavor that can't be beat. Cook three over easy in bacon-greased skillet, slide 'em out into a tortilla toasted directly over the burner and serve 'em with Tabasco -- Mmmmmm...

[OKSooner]

As long as we're on the subject, does anyone know where to get quality cast iron cookware these days? I'm down to ONE good cast iron skillet. I'd like to have a couple more and a good dutch oven and maybe a few other things. The operative word here being "quality", obviously, rules out the one brand commonly seen in "Large Department Stores". The last QUALITY manufacturer I knew of was a company called Atlanta Stoveworks, which went out of business about 10 years ago.

Whomever makes this "Lodge" stuff ought to be whipped...

[RobFromGa]

Never, ever use detergent on cast iron, and of course NEVER in the dishwasher.

[Arkansawyer]

The one thing that I do differently is to heat the utensil at 350 F overnight or for several hours BEFORE oiling to insure that there is no moisture left in the iron. THEN I oil and leave in the oven to season. Lard is best, but any cooking oil or fat will do. I lightly oil and wipe after cleaning.

[Basil Duke]

After you've seasoned them, wash with warm water after use. Paper towels tend to leave gnarled, tough to remove bits of themselves on the iron, so I'd recommend going to Target or whatever and buying 9 or 10 cheapo cloth wash cloths to do your scrubbing. (Urgent note: DO NOT USE YOUR WIFE'S GOOD KITCHEN TOWELS FOR THIS TASK.)After the wash process, pop the skillet in the oven to dry at 300 degrees or so. Cast iron rusts very quickly, and the moisture from the washing has been known to leave rust spackles in a matter of hours.