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Cast iron and steel cookware are wonderful, durable, and ubiquitous. Steel bakeware and cast iron of all types should be seasoned to create a safe and non-stick cooking surface. I will show you how to season your cookware in a normal oven.
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Signing UpStep 1Clean and dry your cookware
The first step is to clean off the cookware.
Normally I wouldn't use soap on cast iron (gross right?!) but would instead clean it with hot water and a coarse steel scrubber. Before we start seasoning though, we have to be sure to remove whatever the ages may have deposited on the cookware.
A steel baking pan requires less time in the oven, but must also be cleaned of any rust or stuck on stuff. Scrub the pan in soapy hot water with rough steel wool or (for really tough rust) sand it with wet/dry sandpaper.
Whether washing or sanding, the surface should feel smooth as cloth when clean. If the surface is severely pitted then sanding should help.
On cast iron I use a coarse steel scrubber under hot running water.
It's not good to let cast iron soak in dishwater as the soap and perfume oils can mingle in the porous surface and make your food taste all soapy. Lemon juice and tomatoes are acidic foods, and will strip away your non stick surface.
You don't have to remove every bit of black carbon, but if your pan has a bad soapy flavor, you probably should. The perfume oils from dish soap can soak in to the carbon layer like nasty water into a sponge.
To dry I use a towel and then I put into a 400 degree oven for maybe 10 minutes while it preheats. The pans should be REALLY DRY before the next step.
NEVER PUT HOT CAST IRON INTO WATER! IT CAN CRACK!
A note on hygiene and cast iron cookery: Always rinse your pan out before use, scrub if necessary. Don't use soap. Heat your pan to a high temperature before you start cooking, and then back it down to the desired heat. It doesn't take more than a minute, and will be as clean as you ever wanted.
Normally I wouldn't use soap on cast iron (gross right?!) but would instead clean it with hot water and a coarse steel scrubber. Before we start seasoning though, we have to be sure to remove whatever the ages may have deposited on the cookware.
A steel baking pan requires less time in the oven, but must also be cleaned of any rust or stuck on stuff. Scrub the pan in soapy hot water with rough steel wool or (for really tough rust) sand it with wet/dry sandpaper.
Whether washing or sanding, the surface should feel smooth as cloth when clean. If the surface is severely pitted then sanding should help.
On cast iron I use a coarse steel scrubber under hot running water.
It's not good to let cast iron soak in dishwater as the soap and perfume oils can mingle in the porous surface and make your food taste all soapy. Lemon juice and tomatoes are acidic foods, and will strip away your non stick surface.
You don't have to remove every bit of black carbon, but if your pan has a bad soapy flavor, you probably should. The perfume oils from dish soap can soak in to the carbon layer like nasty water into a sponge.
To dry I use a towel and then I put into a 400 degree oven for maybe 10 minutes while it preheats. The pans should be REALLY DRY before the next step.
NEVER PUT HOT CAST IRON INTO WATER! IT CAN CRACK!
A note on hygiene and cast iron cookery: Always rinse your pan out before use, scrub if necessary. Don't use soap. Heat your pan to a high temperature before you start cooking, and then back it down to the desired heat. It doesn't take more than a minute, and will be as clean as you ever wanted.
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I'm curious about one thing -- why the need for high heat and multiple coatings? I've always seasoned my cast iron at about 350 degrees (baking it for several hours), using just one coating of oil. Doesn't your method burn (rather than bake) the oil, and won't that result in an undesirable flavor being subsequently imparted to the food being cooked?