1- The Irreplaceable Cast Iron Pans 2: Seasoning cast iron pans and skillets - Cleaning cast iron cookware 3- -- 133- 134: Seasoning, Using, and Caring For Cast Iron Pans and Cast Iron Skillets 135- -- 154- There is a trick to maintaining cast iron cookware and that trick is 155: known as "seasoning" or "curing." Your food will never stick to the 156- bottom of the skillet or pot and the iron will not rust if it is 157- properly seasoned. Plus the cast iron cookware cleans up easily as 158: well. Seasoning or curing cast iron cookware means filling the pores 159- and voids in the metal with grease of some sort, which subsequently -- 163- If the cast iron pan was not seasoned properly or a portion of the 164: seasoning wore off and food sticks to the surface or there is rust, 165: then it should be properly cleaned and re-seasoned. Seasoning a cast 166- iron pan is a natural way of creating non-stick cookware. And, like you -- 179- 180: Definition of Seasoning: To season a cast iron pan means to create a 181- slick and glassy coating by baking on multiple thin coats of oil. This -- 191- NOTE: Use vegetable oils (canola, sunflower, etc.), shortening (like 192: Crisco shortening) or lard for seasoning your cast iron pans. I 193- recently experimented and found out that food-grade coconut oil/butter -- 197- Also check out the Q&A's web pages below: Techniques for Restoring and 198: Seasoning 199- Old Cast Iron Pans and Cast Iron Skillets. -- 205- process several times is recommended as it will help create a stronger 206: "seasoning" bond. I usually do this process 3 to 4 times. NOTE: 207: Seasoning cast iron pans does generate smoke similar to cooking in a 208- dirty oven. -- 210- The oil fills the cavities and becomes entrenched in them, as well as 211: rounding off the peaks. By seasoning a new pan, the cooking surface 212- develops a nonstick quality because the formerly jagged and pitted -- 233- Remember - Every time you cook in your cast iron frying pan, you are 234: actually seasoning it again by filling in the microscopic pores and 235- valleys that are part of the cast iron surface. The more you cook, the -- 262- Neutral Food-Grade Oils - Use vegetable oils (canola, sunflower, etc.), 263: shortening (like Crisco shortening) or lard for seasoning your cast 264- iron pans. I recently experimented and found out that food-grade -- 307- from the surface which will then be found floating around. Water breaks 308: down the seasoning and can cause your cast iron to rust. 309- -- 328- Never store food in the cast iron pan as the acid in the food will 329: breakdown the seasoning and take on a metallic flavor. 330- -- 332- scour the rusty areas with steel wool, until all traces of rust are 333: gone. Wash, dry, and repeat seasoning process. 334- 335- Goo or Guck in Pan - If too much oil or shortening is applied to a cast 336: iron pan in the seasoning process, it will pool and "gum up" when the 337- pan is heated. In this case, the goo can be scraped off and some more -- 341- oven by using a foiled-lined baking sheet or aluminum foil to catch the 342: grease. Seasoning at higher temperatures, approaching the smoking 343- point, of the oil used will result in darker seasoned coatings in less -- 346- 347: Techniques for Restoring and Seasoning 348- Old Cast Iron Pans and Cast Iron Skillets: -- 350- Please check out my Q&A pages below on the many different techniques on 351: restoring and seasoning cast iron pans. Hopefully the following topics 352- will help to answer your many cast iron questions: -- 376- Sanding Cast Iron Pots 377: Self-Cleaning Oven for Cleaning & Seasoning 378-