I’m a data scientist who decided to purge my kitchen of non-stick cookware and plastics. I replaced my non-stick skillet with a cast iron one and rapidly became overwhelmed at the sheer amount of differing opinions and methods there are for cast iron. I found myself wishing for a simple step-by-step guide on how to season and maintain cast iron. Since I couldn’t find one, I decided to make one.
I decided to approach this issue with the same mindset that I approach data analysis at work. My findings on how to season and maintain cast iron, in a simple step by step format, are below in an analysis and typed, as well. The day after completing my analysis, I followed the steps identified and have a beautifully “non-stick” cast iron skillet now.
If you want background on what oil/cleaning tools/cast iron I use, my methods, what triggered this analysis, and my sources, check out the information after the analysis and how-to guide.
How to Season and Maintain Cast Iron: Overall Analysis
How to Pre-Season Cast Iron, Step by Step
- Preheat oven to 200 F.
- Clean the pan with soap and water – this is really the only time (in my opinion) you should use soap on it.
- There are sources around the internet that say you can use soap because it isn’t like the lye of Ye Olden Dayes. My perspective is that even modern, “gentle” dish soaps are designed to cut through oil and grease. So I don’t use them. If you want to, go ahead.
- Loosely hand dry.
- Put pan in 200 F oven for 20 minutes to prepare for oil (and evaporate any remaining moisture.)
- Increase oven temp to 450 F if you are using grapeseed or canola, the top recommended oils. This temp also works for lard and Crisco.
- Oil in circles all over the entirety of the skillet, inside and out.
- Wipe off any excess oil until it looks like you didn’t oil it at all.
- There’s still plenty of oil left on the surface; if you leave too much, you’ll get drips and streaks with that weird crackly pattern.
- Place pan face down in the oven at 450 F for one (1) hour.
- Allow pan to completely cool.
- You can do this in the oven or out of it; it doesn’t seem to matter.
- Repeat from step 4: 2-4 times as necessary. You can go up to 6 times if desired.
How to Clean, Maintain, and Post-Season Cast Iron, Step by Step
- Clean.
- If no residue: Wipe with a paper towel.
- If residue: Hot skillet under hot water with sponge and NO soap to gently clean. (I keep a separate no-soap sponge for this.)
- Hand dry the pan if needed.
- Place pan on stove top on medium until remaining water evaporates, it is just too hot to touch on the inside wall, and heat is entering the handle.
- Rub the pan down with a thin layer of oil, inside and out.
- Leave the pan on the heat until it begins to smoke, then remove from heat.
- Wait a few minutes, then wipe off any excess oil.
Background, Method, Sources
Why cast iron? Great for frying, searing, and certain dishes that can go from stove top and into the oven. The iron is also healthy, particulary for me, as someone who is slightly anemic. And it’s not plastic and not non-stick.
(If you think that those things aren’t something to worry about and are overblown: for the sake of your health, I would recommend learning about them. Go watch Dark Waters and the documentary Plastic Wars . This article is also a good place to start.)
Neither of us had ever used a cast iron pan and there is an insane amount of differing advice on how to season and clean cast iron every single person seems to have a different method of handling cast iron. We struggled for months and tried one set of advice after another, from Sheryl Canter’s flaxseed hypothesis (followed to a T; horrible, sticky, expensive, smells like fish…never again) to family advice to Cowboy Kent Rollins. It seemed like nothing was working and everything was sticking to the pan despite our best efforts.
While scraping and scrubbing yet another evening, I got fed up and thought, I’m a data scientist. I’m going to approach this the way I would when answering a question or solving a problem with data. I figured:
The steps that most people have in common must be the "best" ones to use since - if they're popular across the board- they probably have the highest success rate. All I need to do is identify those steps and I'll have the "best" method to season and maintain cast iron.
My Process
How would I find the most common steps? By reviewing as many sources as I could find, taking copious notes, and then comparing the processes. Over the course of four (4) hours, I did just that:
- I watched/read 16 sources on pre-seasoning, post-seasoning, and cleaning/maintaining cast iron.
- I took notes on each oil recommended and every step of the process. I ended up having six (6) pages of notes, both sides.
- I transferred my notes into different sheets (tables) in Excel.
- I connected to the data in Tableau and conducted an analysis on the sources.
What do I use?
Oil
Grapeseed oil is my first choice, though I use Crisco if I run out.
Cast Iron
This method works on all cast iron…except possibly enameled (though it might. I haven’t tried it.) It honestly doesn’t matter what cast iron skillet you use. If you don’t already have a cast iron skillet or haven’t found a coveted vintage one, Lodge is a great made in the USA entry-level cast iron manufacturer.
We have the 12″ Lodge Blacklock, which is advertised as being triply pre-seasoned – which at the time was $60 and is now $80. It’s not worth it. At all. In fact, the handle is sharp edged and painful, and there’s not really a noticeable weight difference. Get yourself the normal version for $40ish or the original three fry pan set for $57ish instead. Lodge are known for being “gritty,” but they become non-stick when seasoned properly (the pre-seasoning is garbage and basically does nothing. You’ll need to follow the full seasoning process regardless.)
We also have the Field #10, which was a gift and I can attest to being a higher quality than the Lodge. Out of the box the seasoning is incredible. I only added 3 more layers of seasoning when we first received this because it was already smooth as silk.
Cleaning Equipment
Sources
| Video 1 | Helen Rennie | Flaxseed vs Old School Methods |
| Video 2 | Uncle Scott’s Kitchen | Don’t Use Flaxseed Oil! Best Methods and Oils to Season |
| Video 3 | Serious Eats | How to Season Cast Iron Pan |
| Video 4 | Curiosityness | How to Season a Cast Iron Skillet |
| Video 5 | Black Tie Kitchen | How to Season a New Cast Iron Skillet |
| Video 6 | Cowboy Kent Rollins | Quick Start Guide for Cast Iron |
| Video 7 | Cast Iron Cooking | How to Season a Cast Iron Skillet (Wagner) |
| Video 8 | Cast Iron Cooking | How to Clean a Cast Iron Skillet |
| Video 9 | Cook Culture | How to Season Cast Iron and Carbon Steel Cookware |
| Video 10 | Cook Culture | How to clean/maintain your cast iron pans after you cook |
| Video 11 | Cook Culture | Field Cast Iron Pans – Post Seasoning Using Field Tools |
| Video 12 | YOLOfotos | Field Company Cast Iron Skillet |
| Video 13 | Debbie’s Back Porch | Product Review: The Field Skillet and a Really Hard Test Omelette |
| Video 14 | YOLOfotos | Stargazer and Field Skillet Surface Seasoning |
| Blog | Sheryl Canter | Chemistry of Cast Iron Seasoning: A Science-Based How-To |
| Person | Colin | How to season cast iron |
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