Waffling on the Seasoning technique

[pgwilli]

I'm getting ready to season my waffle iron and was wondering if I should concider a different technique?
I usually coat an oven with crisco and put it in the oven, turn it up to 500, leave it for an hour, then let it cool off in the un-opened oven.
Since these things are thinner in places, does this method still work?
Gotta cook Norma breakfast in the morning.

[Dean in Eureka, CA]

Paul,
Crisco and 500 will work fine...
I use a pastry brush on the inside of the waffle iron where are those little hoochie-puckers are.
Just make sure you don't leave too much oil on it before tossing it in the kitchen oven...

[pgwilli]

Too late...good thing I put a 650 cfm fan in when I did the kitchen remodel!
I didn't think of the pastry brush, but I turned and wiped both sides early in the process when the shortening was liquid.
15 minutes to go before I cut the heat, but tomorrow will tell the tale.

On a side note, one of the crazy jobs i've had was as a breakfast cook. The cardinal rule around that kitchen was to Pam the Sh!t out of the (220 electric) waffle iron and reheat it before you came near it with batter.

[halfdome, Danny]

I'm getting ready to season my waffle iron and was wondering if I should concider a different technique?
I usually coat an oven with crisco and put it in the oven, turn it up to 500, leave it for an hour, then let it cool off in the un-opened oven.
Since these things are thinner in places, does this method still work?
Gotta cook Norma breakfast in the morning.

Paul, my new waffle iron has instructions on how to season and your doing fine. I did mine on our round gas BBQ with the lid on. They say to turn it upside down on the grill so I put the waffle inside part up and the Crisco puddled and I'm having some difficulty removing caked on seasoning. Most of it scraped off with an orange peeling tool. I've go them back on the grill waffle side down to melt the excess, hopefully that will work. Jane is out of town this weekend so I can dial it in and not ruin both of our breakfasts Danny

[pgwilli]

Hi Danny,
I'm only seasoning the waffle irons. I haven't had much luck using the gas grill for anything but striping old seasoning and grunge. I just can't control the heat enough, so I either get a gummy weak coating or powder .
I do have the base on the grill right now. The drip trough around it had a few years build up on it, so I'm going for the big burn

[halfdome, Danny]

Paul, I'm almost done with these, I hope Danny

[pgwilli]

Here's where I'm at

(remember when we went out carousing Friday nights??)

[halfdome, Danny]

Here's where I'm at

(remember when we went out carousing Friday nights??)

Paul, are those the heart & star ones? Lookin' good.
I told Jane I was inviting the girls over tonight and she just laughed Those days are gone forever I'm still having fun Danny

[mfkaplan]

I already posted about this but it really works well, is easy on the iron, and almost no scrubbing. I'm using lye to strip my cast iron. This dosen't work on rust. One 16 oz can to 2-5 gallons of water. Takes a few days. You do have to be careful not to get it on your skin. The gunk just washes off, I'm using a power washer to clean to pieces, but a jet of water from a garden hose should work well. The lye dosen't hurt the piece in any way. I've done my skillets, pots, and griddles besides the waffle iron and the stuff is still working. I left one skillet in the solution for a week with no ill effects. The lye is actually environmentally friendly if you delute it when you get rid of it. Extreem heat can warp or crack cast iron. My largest skillet warped on the bottom from putting it in a campfire to clean it.

[Dean in Eureka, CA]

Mary,
The very first DO class I ever took...
The "instructor" took our ovens and tossed 'em in a huge fire, then we... er they seasoned them.
I left early...
My dutch oven, the only one I owned at the time, that I had from my Boy Scout days came out of the fire warped!!!
When the dude lifted my DO out of the fire, it was cherry red on one side...
I knew right then and there it wasn't a good sign...
The lid was the same way...
I brought it home, seasoned it and retired it...
It's actually a kitchen style DO... Buried it in the ground many times back when I was a Boy Scout...

[Geron]

Here's my technique I've use with varying degrees of success for several years.

1. Use Crisco

2 Use Crisco VERY SPARINGLY -- 1 Tablespoon is more than enough for a 12" DO. Use small amounts of Crisco and season more than once if necessary.

3. Make sure the item is placed so that any excess Crisco can drip off during seasoning. i.e. do not allow the Crisco to "Puddle." It WILL gum up.
If the Crisco puddles, you've used too much.

4. I season outside on the grill. My grill did NOT have a thermometer so I bought one from HD and mounted it on the lid. Works like a charm. I season in the neighborhood of 500 F. Season for 1hr. let cool. Season again if not satisfied.

5. Use OFTEN. Using seasons the seasoning.

6. Wash with very hot water (no detergent) and a brush. While still warm from the hot water wipe down with a Crisco saturated rag and wipe excess Crisco off with a paper towel or rag. I keep a small can of Crisco in the refer. just for this purpose.

OH I forgot:
Sometimes I"ll dry mine for just a minute over low heat on the stove before wiping down. Just long enough to dissipate any residual moisture.

Like I said: The FWIW department.
It works for me.

But I'm the
Bunglin' Idiot and Babblin' fool.

[halfdome, Danny]

Okay now what. I've gooped up a new waffle iron. I've tried to melt the yucky pucky puddles off with no luck . Everything else turned out fine. Do I need to do a dye bath or can I just put them in the electric oven and do a self cleaning since the oven need cleaning anyway. Would oven cleaner be an option on just the waffle side? The oven cleaner sounds like it would work Danny

[mfkaplan]

As I said, I'm leary of heating iron to clean it. Another reason I opted for the lye is that I try not to use the self cleaning cycle of my oven more than when its absolutly neccessary. I have parots and have to move them outside because the fumes are poisoous to them. Also it uses a lot of electricity and finally I'm trying to cool the house not heat it up. I'm not an expert, I just know this worked well and except for the caustic proprties of the lye was safe and easy to do. Well deluted lye can go down drains (drian cleaner). As soon as you have rinsed the piece with water, you can touch it with your hands.

Just get a 5 gallon paint bucket. You might attach a wire coat hanger to the pieces so you have an easy way to pull them out with out splashing. Don't put any metal other than iron inthe solution. Put the water in first! I know you want it done so you can use it and this might take a day or two. After cleaning ive the pieces a soak in a vinegar solution. Wash with dish soap. Immediatly put on a hot stove burner till just dry so it won't rust. A soon as cool enough to handle use a pastry brush to put the seasoning on. Wipe down with a paper towel so you don't have puddles. Puddles just jell and won't melt again.

Since I had the lye solution available, I reseasoned all the cast iron cookware I owned. Some of it was really cruddy. It's all smooth and black. I've been using Pam on the pieces that need oiling for use. It seems to work well. Previously I had ony used Pam for baking and my nostick stuff. The nonstick stuff is going to the back of the cupboard where I used to keep the cast iron.

[halfdome, Danny]

Thanks Mary but I don't want to put lye in my septic system it will screw up the good bacteria that cleanse the effluent. I guess I'll get some oven cleaner and wipe (gloves) and toss the dirty towels and rinse it outside. Danny

[mfkaplan]

Oh, I didn't think about septic systems. Sorry! Put the oven cleaner on it, wrap in a plastic bag and just let it set for a few hours or even over night. If you can keep it warm, SUN? works even better.