nice typical ST question this - which one to give me the best non-stick hardened finish?
I always thought Castrol R gave the best smell, and boy was it hard to remove when baked on (nice colour too).
On the other hand, you may be wanting to prepare food in your pan, so ignore this advice. 🙂
Castrol R is vegetable based too. Double win.
Use lard! Heat griddle then rub with lard it will smoke a bit but will season the cast iron.
How do people clean theirs? I know you're not supposed to use fairy liquid but I always get burnt scaley bits coming off on my food.
I just wipe mine with a paper towel while its still warm.
Let the carbon build up, it adds character to your cooking.
....or use hot water and a paper towel.
Use oil with a high burning point. Not olive basically. Use Groundnut, Vegetable etc.
You'll find that the real seasoning comes from actually cooking with it. I have a few iron pans, and they are now totaly black and very non-stick but have taken a long time to get there.
It depends what I've cooked in them, but I generally give them a dunk in the washing up bowl, and a *very* light scrub with a soft brush if required, then just dab dry with kitchen paper.
Without a charcoal grill to hand, there's no better way to cook a steak than a black iron pan.
Something like a good quality Rapeseed Oil is good as it has a very high smoking point so will not affect the flavour and adhere to the pan, plus it tastes nicer (and makes your fried eggs scrummier). But it does take a few outings before it's perfect. Scraping it clean is the best way with a hard plastic edged tool and hot water, once it has cooled enough for you to pick it up.
Given the forum this was posted in, can I suggest Finish Line Dry?
thanks guys - just realised I posted in wrong forum :/ I'm guessing I could use muc off to clean it properly ahead of seasoning?
Scrub it with wire wool, wipe over with whatever oil you are using and put it upside down in the oven with a tray underneath to catch any drips of the oil. Bake it at a high temperature for 40 min or so.
That was the advice I got here in the US for seasoning a cast iron pan and it does give a good finish. Repeat as required.
Just bought a griddle pan from a kitchen untensil type place (ProCook?) and that came with a 'how to season' sheet.
As above wipe over with veg oil, but not so it's really dripping in it (it'll just smoke loads) and stick in a hot oven for an hour. Our griddle pan is enamelled on the outside and we stuck it in at 220 deg. C - it was fine and does seem to have given a nice, sealed finish. It recommended doing it several times for the best result.