How to Season a Cast Iron Skillet

Cast iron cookware is very useful has been traditionally used to prepare healthy and fat-free food. It has great heat retention properties. Bare cast iron cookware has been used for ages now. The food prepared in a cast iron skillet is very nutritious. A small amount of iron percolates into the food every time you cook in it. This enhances the taste of the food and makes it healthy too. Food prepared in a this skillet is particularly helpful for people suffering from iron deficiencies, like anemia.

It is necessary to season a cast iron skillet to prevent it from rusting. Seasoning a cast iron pan provides a smooth non-stick effect, which helps you with oil-free, healthy cooking. This is a process similar to the bluing process of steel. In this process, cast iron surface is oxidized by Magnetite (Fe₃O₄) and black iron oxide (Fe₂O₃). Black oxide protects cast iron from corrosion.

Seasoning a Cast Iron Skillet

A brand new cast iron skillet never comes with a non-stick layer on it. Seasoning gives it non-stick properties to a certain extent. This is a simple but skilful process that creates a tough layer of petrified grease on the skillet.

• To begin with, the skillet is cleaned to expose its bare metal.
• Next, a layer of vegetable oil or any form of animal fat is applied on it, and heated (twice) to bind the grease to the skillet.

The quality of the seasoning depends on the type of seasoning one uses, the temperature at which the layer is formed, and how thick the layer of oil/grease was at the time of seasoning the skillet.

Though is is possible to season a skillet, the common opinion of experts is that the best way to season a cast iron skillet is to simply use it, as it has a porous surface.

• Spread a good thin layer of any seasoning (oil/grease) on all sides of the skillet.
• Place the skillet upside down on a baking sheet, and put a metal foil under it to catch the dripping oil/ grease. This helps avoid any unevenness in layering.
• Bake the pan in the oven at 350ºF for about 15 minutes. A substantial amount of grease will get absorbed into the skillet in this duration.
• Get it out of the oven and wipe away any excess seasoning on the skillet with a paper towel.
• Again, bake the skillet for about 40 minutes. Turn off the oven and allow the skillet to cool in there.
• After about two hours, remove the seasoned skillet from the oven.

By seasoning the cast iron frying pan, you can avoid your food from sticking to it. It is a fact that cast iron takes long time to heat up, but once heated, the heat is retained for a long time, and is evenly spread throughout the pan to enable healthy cooking.

Caution: Do not heat a wet seasoned skillet as it may cause it to rust. The process of seasoning makes the skillet more susceptible to damage. Never soak, scrub or scratch the frying pan as it removes its seasoned layers.

If you still don't have a cast iron skillet in your kitchen, it is a good idea to get one for all that it has to offer. In my opinion, it is worth cooking in a seasoned cast iron pan than in any other branded non-stick cookware.