One of the new dealers at The Iron Gate Antiques Mall (109 W. Main St.) has a sign posted in their booth about seasoning cast iron. I, as many of the customers and browsers, found this dealer's method of seasoning cast iron, quite comprehensive. I was given permission to post his method on this blog.
* Cast iron is placed in a preheated oven at 200 degrees F and allowed to warm up.
* Once cast iron is at 200 degrees F, a coating of Pam (spray canola oil) is applied to all surfaces of cast iron.
*Cast iron is placed back into over and temp raised to 250 degrees F. Once temperature has been reached, timer is set to 15 minutes.
* After 15 minutes, cast iron is removed, "wiped down," placed back into oven and the temperature raised 50 degrees. This step is to make sure seasoning doesn't pool or run.
*The process is repeated at 300 and 350 degrees. 350 degrees is the final "wipe down."
*Cast iron is continued to be gradually heated up to 500 degrees. At 500 degrees, the cast iron has the last 15 minutes of heat applied. After the time has ended, the oven is shut off and the cast iron is kept in the oven and allowed to cool down to room temperature.
I recently have virtually switched to cooking exclusively with cast iron. No more peeling non-stick surfaces!
Cast iron has been enjoying another surge in popularity. I've had customers share that they enjoy the potential benefits and durability of cast iron cooking.
Florence has a good selection of cast iron in most of its 20 plus antiques stores.
And that's what I learned in an antiques store today!
