How to season cast iron pans!

This is my worst fear come true. You let someone borrow your beloved cast iron pans. Pans that you PANPER (pamper..panper..sorry). You get the pan back, only to realize that someone ran your cast iron through a dishwasher! It is the thing of nightmares! AUGHHH!

There is nothing to fear, however! Although yes, I would end that kind of negative friendship nearly instantly (there is no need to stand for that kind of abuse in a friendship!), re-seasoning a pan can really be an easy process. As a matter of fact, I make it a point to go back and reseason my cast iron every so often. Granted, I don't scrub it in detergent and start over fresh, but I do run my pans through this process every few weeks.

There are about an many rules on the internet about the proper treatment of cast iron as there are people who use it. However, I can tell you that I use my pans all the time. I probably use them when I could just as easily use a more suited pan, but I can't help it! I'm in love.

But onto the blog for today. I purposely took one of my favorite pans and soaked it in dish soap, scrubbed it with steel wool, and repeated a few more times to simulate dishwasher-esque conditions. And this was the result.

Man is that hideous. But never fear! Getting a pan from this rusty mess into a finished and seasoned pan just takes a little time, patience and most importantly, some shortening!

What you want to do is heat the pan up to medium to medium high heat, grab a paper towel and dunk it in some shortening. After the pan has heated all the way up, just wipe it down with the shortening. Don't glob it on; just wipe it down with a light layer.

It is hard to see in this picture, but you want to let the pan smoke just a little bit. I recommend turning on the fan over the stove. This doesn't produce a lot of smoke, but you don't want to breath smoke when you can avoid it! After it starts to smoke, turn the heat off and slide it off of the heat. Wait for the pan to cool down. Repeat this process a few time!

Just keep heating, oiling, smoking and cooking a few times1

After a few cycles, it starts to look like a pan again!

Getting closer! You're almost there!

And there it is! Just a little elbow grease, some heat and a little bit of lovin' is all it takes to take your cast iron pans from busted to beautiful! And repeat the process every few weeks and anytime you cook with tomatoes or wine. SOME people say you shouldn't cook highly acidic things in your cast iron. I say it depends on how well you've seasoned your pans. After you are done cooking, wait for the pan to cool, wipe it down under some running water and throw it on a low heat to dry off. You will begin to notice that there isn't much that will stick to a well-seasoned cast iron! The only exception is if you REALLY burn something in the pan. Not that I would know...just what I've heard!