Well, what I do is liberally coat the inside of the skillet with corn oil leaving just enough oil in the pan where I can roll it around. I coat the outside of the skillet with a very light coat of oil using a paper towel in order to prevent rusting. Put the cold skillet in a cold oven and turn it on to 185-200 degrees. Every couple of hours I check on it and use the oil in the bottom of the skillet to recoat the sides. After about 8 hours I turn off the oven and allow the skillets to cool down with the oven. Tomorrow before I put the ham on I'll wipe any excess oil out of the inside of the pans and they'll be ready for the cornbread baking. They'll still look oiled until they've been used several times and then they develop the (for lack of a better word) patina of a well seasoned skillet.
When you're trying to season your cast-iron how high are you setting the oven temp? I've never experienced gummy but have heard a too high temp can be the culprit.
You nailed it!!! Thank you! I was following instructions that said 300.
Thanks for helping me out! Happy New Year!
I know what you mean about the "patina." I took care of a friend's house while she was recuperating from a stillbirth and she had pans like that.
It was not the time nor place to ask her how she did it.