re-seasoning cast iron

[Aaron Coffee]

2 questions:
My DO has some spots that the seasoning seems to be coming off. How do I re-season it. Would it be better to remove the old seasoning and start from scratch? If so how? What my have caused this?
OK that was four questions. I thought I had read this info someplace but can't find it now.
Thanks

[mb82]

I try and scrape the old seasoning with balled up AL foil just to remove any loose seasoning. I don't know why it happens, normally for me it is from a lack of use I just reseason the same as when you first seasoned.

[HossHoffer]

I've done both. If I buy a pan from the thrift store I usually take it back down to bare metal with the bead blaster. I just get the willies thinking about all the hands that have been on it and all the kids sneezing. I know that burning it out would be just as effective but since I have access to three bead blasters I just take it down. If I get one from someone I trust more then I just re-season it. No use wasting a good seasoning.

Hoss

[Joanne]

2 questions:
My DO has some spots that the seasoning seems to be coming off. How do I re-season it. Would it be better to remove the old seasoning and start from scratch? If so how? What my have caused this?
OK that was four questions. I thought I had read this info someplace but can't find it now.
Thanks

Hi Aaron,

I do quite a bit of DO cooking, but I don't always follow the "rules". I think most DO folks worry too much about seasoning. If you get a reasonably good base seasoning on the oven and cook regularly in it, the seasoning pretty well takes care of itself.

Here's my thoughts on the your particular oven.

I believe that most spotting comes from two causes. The oven wasn't really clean when it was seasoned. Or, the oil was put on too heavily and it didn't carbonize on the cast iron properly.

It the spotting isn't too bad, just keep cooking in the pot. Each time you are done cooking, clean it with hot water, heat it back up, and wipe it with a LIGHT coat of oil.

If the seasoning is coming off in large spots or if there are a lot of them, then you can throw the oven in the BBQ at full throttle for a couple of hours. This will normally burn off all the seasoning. Then go ahead and reseason.

That's my 02¢ worth.

Joanne

[Atlanta_hoo]

First off, I do not claim to be an expert on cast iron, but I do dabble with it from time to time (and have reseasoned some pretty sad pans in my day).

The best way I have discovered to remove old seasoning is Red Devil Lye (usually found alongside Drano and other such clog busters). I take one 5 gallon bucket and put a few teaspoons of lye in the bottom. I then fill the bucket with 1-3 gallons of COLD water (be careful with lye, as it does not like hot water and is extemely caustic, so avoid skin/eye contact during this process). I use a wire coat hanger to hook around the cast iron and place it in the bucket so that it is covered by the lye solution. Time is your ally from this time forward. Simply let the cast iron sit in the solution and the lye will cut through the grease and prevent the iron from rusting. After the piece has satisfactorily sat for a time, use the coat hanger to pull it out of the solution. Thoroughly rinse the iron off with a garden hose. Any stubborn seasoning can be taken off with steel wool. Any rust can be taken off with a mixture of playsand and cooking oil scrubbed with steel wool. If this is an antique piece this method takes less toll than sand blasting.

Flaking seasoning is usually caused by using the incorrect heat/oil.
A liquid cooking oil which is burned on tends to flake off or be brittle. My preferred method for seasoning is to heat the cast iron to about 275-300 degrees in an oven or on a backyard grill. Use criso or any other vegatable shortning (DO NOT USE LARD) to wipe onto the heated cast iron with some paper towels (make sure the hot oil does not work its way toward your hand as it will burn.) Repeat this process every half hour to forty five minutes until you reach the deired coloring. It helps to have a fire poker to help flip the cast iron.

The best way to keep the seasoning in good shape thereafter is to ensure that you cook some items that help retain the seasoning. I have found that cooking cornbread or biscuits in the cast iron tend to help keep the seasoning in tip-top shape. Another great method is to deep fry using peanut oil once a year. Ground beef should be avoided as it really tends to stick to cast iron and leave carbon deposits in my experience.

I hope this is helpful. It is a way to go about things, but certainly not the only method. I have heard of folks using oven cleaner to strip their cast iron, but I have yet to try that particular method.