I suspect it needs a good cleaning....or perhaps it's already seasoned.

One suggestion, which I have not tried but sounds sensible, is to put the pan in the oven and run the oven through a self cleaning cycle. Then season the pan.

Jim

I always scrub my new (old) cast irons with a steel wool pad to remove anything on them since I don't know what folks may have used to season them.

Then after a good rinse and thorough dry, I coat them with a thin layer of bacon fat and out in a heated 200 degree oven where they stay for a couple of hours.

Remove with an oven mitt and give a good wipe. For a new pan that needed lots of scrubbing, I give it a second shot in the oven with more bacon fat.

Sue

I think it needs a good stripping before seasoning too!

I've used EZ-Off when taking the crud off an old pot I didn't want to risk warping which might be a risk with the high heat of the self-clean oven cycle.

I've refinished a number of vintage cast iron pans using the self-cleaning oven method. I highly recommend it.

Ann

If you keep using it for cooking, it will be seasoned at some point naturally.

dcarch

Since I don't have a self-cleaning oven, I use a good strong commercial oven cleaner, sprayed all over the pan, put the pan down in a plastic bag, and sit outside in the sun for a couple of days. Scrub the pan well with a wire brush or steel wool pad then examine the pan closely to see if there are patches of the old finish remaining. If yes, repeat the spray/plastic bag/sit outside/scrubbing procedure again as needed.

When you get down to the bare metal of the pan, it will be a gray color - not black. I always use shortening or lard to season my CI pans. Bacon grease seasons well, but has salts and a distinctive bacon odor so I do not use it. You will want to season the outside of the pan also, so once you have seasoned the inside, turn the pan over and rub shortening all over the outside and handle, bake it upside down on a sheet of heavy duty foil in a low oven at 200F-300F for an hour or more.

Teresa

I use the "self cleaning oven" method to clean cruddy second hand cast iron, works great!!

Then, I wipe with a little bacon grease or oil, heat, let cool, then wipe with clean paper towell.

Then, I only use the pan for oily, fatty type stuff for a while. Frying bacon, cooking eggs in a generous amount of butter. After a while of this type of use, you can tell it gets a glossy sheen and is seasoned, and ready for other types of cooking.

The self-cleaning oven cycle is great for removing all the old crud; it will NOT, however, season the pot. What it does is remove all the old seasoning and gives you a fresh raw iron surface to begin the seasoning process again.

You can of course season it by using it just for fatty stuff (bacon, frying fish) but you can do a better and faster job by following some of the hints in the thread at the link.

Pay attention to what Dan says in the thread; he's a retired chemist and a cast iron aficionado. Some important points: you have to get the pot to near the smoke point of the seasoning oil. You can't do that in anything but a hot oven (450 or so) or in an outdoor gas grill. From a chemical standpoint, you're causing polymerization of the oil. (FWIW, I have a book on cookware by Pierre Franey. He seasons his cast iron at around 450 as well.)

I find I get the best results with grapeseed oil. I place a thin coat on the inside of the pan, then put the pan upside down in a hot gas grill. The resulting seasoning is almost glassy and not at all sticky.

Here is a link that might be useful: cast iron seasoning thread

love2weed:
This was brought up a few times in the last year or so.

After you self clean or however you get it cleaned,
wipe it out good with an Oiled paper towel.

Put a light coating of veg.corn oil on the Skillet.
Taking most of the oil off with the paper towel.
Put it in a hot oven 425 - 450, until it carbonizes.
I do this about 3 times, using a very light coating of oil,
each time.
I get a dark hard finish on the inside.

It can be washed with dish detergent. No metal scouring !!!

I do all my Pizza Pans this way too.
Lou

How long should I leave it in the oven?

At a high temp (450F) leave it for about an hour. At a lower temp (300F or so) leave it for a couple of hours or so.

love2weed:
Sorry,I didn't see your Thread.

I leave it in the oven, at the high temp for about 20 minutes,
then recoat with oil. ( very light )
I do this 3 times.
There are other ways to season but this works for me.
- - - - - - - - - -- - -
When I had the Pizzeria, I did 50 Pizza pans at a time.
Put them in the oven for about 2 hours.

Dough never stuck, until my Wife and SIL decided to surprise me and
cleaned all the pans with Steel Wool, until they were,
nice and shiny.
Lou

love2weed, I agree that the pan should be cleaned well first, then seasoned. I don't have a self cleaning oven, so that's out, but I have used spray on oven cleaner, put the pan in a garbage bag and left it overnight.

Then you have a clean pan and you can start from scratch with seasoning. I also use shortening to season cast iron, some oils seem to get rancid to me. I rub all over, inside and out and put the pan in the oven upside down with foil under it to catch any drips.

350 for a couple of hours (maybe 3 or 4 if I forget), or 400 for an hour or so will start it off nicely. The very best seasoning method I've found is making french fries. Heat the oil hot enough to fry the potatoes and make a couple of batches. That oil soaks right in and in a couple of uses, you have a very nicely seasoned pan.

I love cast iron, I have a set of skillets that I got in 1974 and they are nearly as slick as teflon. I'm still working on that old yard sale pan I got a couple of years ago, a Griswold "chicken fryer", but it's coming along...

Annie

loves2weed:

Oil will get rancid if it is not done right (at high temp )

and if you use too much Oil.

Lou

WOW!, the self cleaning cycle really baked off a bunch of crud. There was a bunch of residue left at the bottom of my oven. I've seasoned it one time. I think I may have to do it a couple of more times, but the difference is amazing. Great tip!!

Loves2weed:
I knew you could do it !!! Let us know if it cooks Ok.

Seasoning it 2 more times would be a lot better.
Very light coat of oil, high temp.
Lou

Can you use olive oil?

Silly question here - how do you clean the pan after you have properly seasoned it so the seasoned finish stays?

I rinse the pan out with water and do not use soap, but I do use a soft scrubber if there is anything stuck on it. Then I dry it, rub a bit of oil on it, and put it on the burner for a couple of minutes to make sure it is completely dry.

I searched for this thread because it has the link to the cookware forum discussing on seasoning cast iron, and I need to season a new griddle that I just bought.

Lars

This post was edited by publickman on Fri, Sep 27, 13 at 17:42

The oil you use to season the pan with is important. I get the best results with grapeseed oil. Also, you have to heat the oiled pan to a point close to the smoke point of the oil--I season pans at around 450 or higher. (The oil has to polymerize.)

Once fully seasoned, the pan can withstand a little soap, but most of the time it'll clean up fine with just hot water and maybe a little gentle scrubbing from a plastic pad. Steel wool, though, will definitely remove the seasoning.

It needs a complete cleaning. EZ Off scares me and straight ammonia does the trick just as well.

Put it in a plastic bag with ammonia-soaked rags, newspapers or paper towels. Let sit outdoors overnight then bring in and clean.

This is the method I use for my stove grates since the manufacture says not to use steel wool. Makes cleaning a snap!

My favorite pan is an old cast iron skillet that I got in 1974 as a wedding gift. It's nicely seasoned, I can fry eggs and they don't stick, nearly 40 years of use has made it as slick as Teflon!

I just wash mine. I even use soap sometimes, if it needs it, and a plastic scrubber. AS Lars mentioned, steel wool will take off your seasoning, as well as copper scrubbers or Brillo pads. Don't ask me how I know, I have reseasoned a dutch oven a couple of times now when other people cleaned my pans. (sigh)

Annie