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“Seasoning” is the hard, slick layer that makes cast iron resist rust and release food. It is not a coating you buy. It is cooking oil that has been heated past its smoke point until it bonds to the iron as a thin layer of polymerized fat. Every time you cook with oil, you add a little more.
Most cast iron sold today comes pre-seasoned, so you can cook in it right away. You only need to season a pan from scratch if it is new and unseasoned, if you have stripped it, or if it has rust or patchy, sticky spots.
What you need
- Your cast iron pan
- Dish soap and a stiff brush or scrubber
- A neutral, high-smoke-point oil or fat: vegetable oil, canola oil, vegetable shortening, or a commercial seasoning product
- Lint-free cloth or paper towels
- An oven and a sheet of aluminum foil or a baking sheet
Step-by-step oven seasoning
- Clean the pan. Wash it with warm, soapy water and a brush. If there is rust, scrub it off with steel wool until you see bare gray iron.
- Dry it completely. Towel it off, then set it on a burner over low heat for a few minutes to drive out any remaining moisture.
- Oil it thinly, everywhere. Rub a small amount of oil over every surface: inside, outside, and the handle.
- Wipe it off. Using a clean cloth, wipe the pan as if you were trying to remove all the oil. What remains is enough. Too much oil is the most common mistake. It turns sticky and can bead into droplets.
- Bake it upside down. Place the pan upside down on the middle oven rack with foil on the rack below to catch drips. Bake at 450 to 500°F (230 to 260°C) for one hour.
- Let it cool in the oven. Turn the oven off and leave the pan inside until it is cool enough to handle.
- Repeat. Three or four rounds build a durable base layer. One round is enough for touching up a pre-seasoned pan.
Expect some smoke. Turn on your range hood or open a window.
Keeping the seasoning in good shape
- Cook with it often. Frying, searing, and roasting with oil all build seasoning.
- Clean it while warm. Rinse with hot water and scrub with a brush or chain-mail scrubber. A small amount of mild dish soap is fine for modern seasoning.
- Dry immediately. Never let it air-dry or soak in the sink.
- Oil lightly after cleaning. Warm the dry pan for a minute, then wipe in a few drops of oil.
- Avoid the dishwasher. It will strip the seasoning and cause rust.
Troubleshooting
Sticky surface: too much oil was applied, or it was not heated long enough. Bake it again at 450 to 500°F for an hour. If it stays sticky, scrub it and season again with thinner layers.
Flaking black bits: usually carbonized food or a thick layer of old seasoning. Scrub the area and re-season.
Orange rust spots: scrub them off with steel wool, then dry and re-season. Rust on cast iron is almost always fixable.
Food sticking: the pan may need more seasoning, or it was not preheated long enough. Cast iron needs a few minutes on medium heat to come up to temperature evenly.
Bottom line
Seasoning is not fragile or mysterious. Keep the layers thin, keep the pan dry, and cook with it often. A cast iron skillet that is used regularly will only get better with age.
