The day I realized I'd been seasoning my cast iron wrong for 11 years

So I've got this cast iron skillet from my grandma, used it for over a decade, and I was convinced I was a pro at seasoning it. I'd slather on vegetable oil, crank the oven to 500, and let it smoke up the whole house for an hour. Last month my buddy who actually does competitions on the side saw me doing it and just started laughing. He said, 'You're burning the oil before it even bonds, man. Use flaxseed oil and go lower temp, like 400.' I tried his way once and the difference was unreal - my eggs literally slide around now instead of sticking like cement. How did I go 11 years thinking smoking oil was the right move? Has anyone else cooked wrong for way too long and only found out by accident?

2 comments

2 Comments

ross.jason4d ago

The whole "smoking means it's working" thing is such a common trap, I did the same for years. In my experience, that smoke is actually the oil breaking down into carbon, not bonding to the pan like you want. Flaxseed at lower heat changed my whole approach too, now my skillet looks more like glass than a campfire.

lindaw294d ago

Does anyone else feel personally attacked by their own past seasoning attempts? @ross.jason you're making me rethink my whole smoky pan era, my old skillet definitely looked more like I was trying to summon a demon than cook dinner.