If you’ve heard old mountain women talking about seasoning beans, you’ll know they mean to add pig fat. That’s the same idea with seasoning cast iron. Solid fat is rubbed into the metal to produce a stick proof-barrier and to add actual flavor to foods cooked.
Traditionally solid fat was just that—solid pig fat. Many a cast iron pan has been seasoned with fatback or bacon grease. Today, more cooks use vegetable shortening (Crisco etc.). Actually, lots of cooks try to use vegetable oil on cast iron which is a mistake. Oil clogs up the metal pores and also tends to run during the seasoning process. Do not use oil—even good, expensive oil. Stick with solid animal fat or vegetable shortening.
If you have a new cast iron pan, wash it quickly. Most new pans come with a light coating of wax for protection. It’s hardly noticeable; however, that coating will prevent the seasoning from sinking in. Dunk a new pan in water and lightly wipe to remove any factory coatings.
Rub fat or shortening all over the dry cast iron piece (new or old). Do not put it on thick. Coat the surface but lightly. If you put too much shortening on the pan, the extra will drip in the oven and make a mess. This mess cleans up pretty easily, but oven cleaning is still not fun.
Turn the oven to 250 degrees F and put the cast iron in the oven. Let the pots/pans bake for a couple of hours up to four hours. Temperature and time can be varied. The general idea is to slow bake the cast iron for a fairly good length of time.
The pan is seasoned once it’s baked, but a single seasoning is not likely to do the trick. Most pans need to be seasoned a few times in the beginning and then when they begin to stick.
Cooking with a Cast Iron Pan
If possible deep fat cook the first few times after seasoning a cast iron pan. This is a great time to make home cut French fries, chicken, or crab cakes. Cooking with lots of oil to start with helps protect and build the surface.
One thing to avoid initially when cooking with new cast iron is tomatoes. The acid can break down the seasoning.
Once a cast iron pan is broken in, most anything can be cooked and will not stick. A really good finish is just as stick proof as Teflon.