Chemistry of Cast-Iron Seasoning (2010)

You really shouldn't buy a special oil just got seasoning your cast iron and carbon steel. It's not necessary. Pick an oil with a high smoke point, a neutral taste, and plenty of easy availability. That's often peanut. Avocado is great if you're fancy. Keep a squirt bottle of oil on hand and make sure you're using enough. Using soap to clean your pans will make maintaining your seasoning easier, as you use less effort to clean them. See this…

I saw this post a few years ago. Having read her other two posts on seasoning cast iron, I came to the conclusion that she was just making the science up as she went along. In "Perfect Popovers" [1] she advises Avocado Oil for its high smoke point, out of fear that letting the oil smoke will release carcinogenic free radicals into your food. Then in this "Science-Based How-To" (three weeks later) she switches to flaxseed oil and suddenly isn't…

Fascinating, but I'm not going to do it. I respect the people who take this kind of care of their equipment, but I have an alternative that works quite well for me: cook your food in an adequate amount of fat. If it sticks, you don't have enough fat in the pan. When you're done, wipe the pan clean. If food is stuck hard, scrape it out, using steel wool if necessary. Cast iron is amazingly robust and develops a…

I just cook on it everyday, olive or cooking oil, never scrape it clean, just wash with hot water. Same way my grandma did. Nothing sticks. Maybe this is overcomplicating things.