My initial cast iron is a set of 4 skillets I inherited from my grandmother, who learned to cook on it. Well over 100 years old, still going strong and still as indestructible as ever 🖤
@@Justme77400 We purchased our cast iron pans new, but don't be afraid to use them on your flat top glass stove. We have a flat top glass stove and use them all the time on it. And, like someone else said, let the pan cool down before cleaning it with either hot or cold water (and a touch of Dawn dishwashing liquid). Then what I do is 1) use a paper towel to dry the pan 2) heat up the stove top 3) Place the pan on the stove to completely dry the pan (approx 2 minutes) 4) Turn off the stove and 5) Pour a small (small) amount of vegetable oil in the pan and work it around with a paper towel until the pan has a thin layer of oil left on it. 6) Let the pan cool and put it away until the next time you need it.
I'm moving soon from a home that's been in the family since 1953. Obviously the basement is full of family treasures (family treasures means that only your own family thinks of them as treasures). Cleaning out my basement, I found my great grand ma's 12 inch covered cast iron skillet. Last saw the light of day probably 50 years ago. Beautiful and completely rusted. I did almost exactly as Joshua recommends, it looks perfect, and have begun using it to cook the best crispy bacon ever. My great grand ma would be proud.
Bacon is best BAKED on a jelly roll pan *(nordic ware) 350° for 20 minutes on one side, flip and 20 more minutes. Use foil and line tge pan with parchement paper. No.mess and you can save the bac9n drippings for peas, beans and other cooking. Happy baking and no splatters.
A little tip for those who have pans that have a rough texture: Paper towels can get shredded on that rough surface so get some 100% cotton kitchen towels. The ones you see in restaurants. They will work much better and won't leave behind a bunch of material like paper towels do.
@@imdefinitelynotparkermeek7923 In my opinion, skip buying towels and just cut a square out of an old ragged cotton clothing instead. Dispose when you're done by wetting with water and throwing it in your compost, if you've got it.
Thank you so much for this tutorial! I restored my grandma's old cast iron pans and they've never looked better! I just wanted to say thanks because your tutorial gave me a piece of my grandmother back and it just means a lot to me.
i did something similar with a pan that belonged to my mom which belonged to her mom. it was sitting around in her shed rusted up. pulled it out and asked her if i could have it and now its sitting in my kitchen with my lodge pan. i dont use flax oil though like the video. i use safflower which is almost like using peanut. it is very high smoke point. i figure if it requires such a high temp before it breaks down (the smoke point) then normal cooking temps are not going to bother my seasoned coating at all. seems to be working pretty well.
WOW this saved me after leaving my entire cast iron skillet collection in my boat, which came untied from my dock and floated downriver! We couldn't find it for 6 months, but when the Coast Guard called us after finding it offshore in the Gulf of Mexico they said all 26 of my prized cast iron skillets were STILL THERE! However they had completely rusted to shit after being exposed to saltwater and sunlight for several months :( I was seconds from throwing them away but they were so heavy my trash bag ripped and they all fell out on the ground. Seeing them all lying there in the grass near my trash can made me really rethink a lot of things, and fortunately for me I ended up finding this video!! Anyways, thanks again. Subbed!
Thank you so much!!! I just got these two cast iron skillets a couple months ago as a wedding present; husband and I used them a few times, but noticed brown stuff (we assumed grease) accumulating; decided to soak in hot water and soap, but the brown stuff kept growing and started to smell like rust; every day I was scrubbing with a sponge, but it wouldn’t come off; gave up, but then saw your video and gave it a try today; they’re like new!!! Couldn’t find flaxseed oil at my grocery store, so used olive oil in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 min., very nice glossy finish, can definitely tell it’ll be nonstick now!!! 👍🏻😊
I use lard, some people use bacon grease, crisco, it's really whatever you prefer. I've found with mine that lard or something similar, doesn't leave a sticky residue like oil does. I don't know why I have this problem with oil, as long as you wipe most back off and leave it in the oven long enough on a high enough temperature that's really not supposed to happen. With me though I find that animal fat is really foolproof. Perfect and beautiful every single time.
I know what you mean. Awesome. He said 500 degrees for an hour though and let cool down naturally in the oven after you turn it off. Just remember, the higher temperature and length of time in gives you a harder, almost indestructible finish that's easy to build on without sticky buildup over time and food seems to float on a layer of air,doesn't seem like it even touches the pan. Love it. ❤️
Yes! Totally loved the video. May I suggest a follow up episode? Cleaning the cast iron after a messy cooking session. Maybe something stuck to the pan. What is the best method to get it clean and how do you know when it is time to re-season the pan? Again I loved how well you you explained the restoration and care of the cast iron pans.
I put the pan under the hottest running water I can for a minute, then pour the water out and cover the bottom with salt. Then I scrub with a metal scouring sponge and it gets anything stuck on off. I can usually get away with doing this for a few months before I have to reseason. I've had my pans for 2 years and they've held up well
I read up on this on Serious Eats - they say to clean it with a scrubber and a little soap even (debunking the myth that soap will ruin your season), and then heat the pan on the stovetop until dry, hit it with a smidgen of oil, and voilà. I've been doing that for months now, and it's beautiful. Haven't needed to re-season at all.
@@AdamKayce This is one of the things that has kept me from trying cast iron- I've heard that you need to give it a light coat of oil after you're done using it and that sounds very messy to me. How do you store it when it's not in use so you don't get oil on whatever it's stored on?
My guy!!!!! My great great great aunt has passed down our cast iron pans from the 1800s. They’ve lasted wars, famine, plagues, terrorism, sexual revolutions and pandemics for over hundreds of years now, but for some reason they couldn’t withstand dawn dish soap. Thanks for the video, now my pans are restored and I will be able to give it to my children for their wedding gift and preserve the rich history of our family’s lineage and crowning accomplishments 🎉
I just followed this tutorial for restoring a thought to be “too far gone” cast iron pan and I can’t believe the results! After just the second seasoning! Wish I could show you the pics! Thank you very much for this easy how-to!!
I purchased my first cast iron skillet about six months ago. I read the instructions on how to use it and I was confused. I came across this video and was like let’s season this thing. I cooked some bacon, eggs, and pancakes on it and it worked! I then remembered we had some cast iron skillets that came with the house we rented. I restored all three skillets and they went from grey to black! I have used them and they did great. Thank you for your tutorial because now I love cast iron!
Awesome to have such a piece of history. Make sure you hold on to it. The mold used on the newer Lodge cast irons is very pitted in comparison and some go as far as grinding/sanding the pans to smooth them out before seasoning.
@@MrNidhog yeah them newer ones are very textured. They supposedly have a break in routine...ill stick to ol cast iron lol. They are my favorite cookware and I enjoy using them
@@MrNidhog the performance of the newer cast iron is just as good though. I love old pans too, I have a bsr, and a couple wagners, but the modern lodge performs just as well and food comes off just as easily as the smoothed out stuff. I also have stargazer cast iron which is modern and smooth and beautiful.. But the lodge performs the same.
Me too, if I can find it. Lol once you figure out the pan and what it needs, you won't forget, and you can look at it and tell if there's something else you need to do
To speed up the rust cleaning process on the back of my skillet, I covered it with paper towels and sprayed full strength vinegar until saturated, waited for about 15 min, wiped off rust (I had to repeat this step once) then scrubbed with baking soda and followed the rest of the steps here. Sharing my method in case you don't have the space or the patience to soak your item, it'll work well if you're dealing with a mild case
I did this for 3 old cast irons my father-in-law found. (Old family cast irons). IT WORKED. It took about a day and a half per pan because I didnt rush the process. Thank-you!
I inherited a rusty set and didn't know what to do with them. I tried cleaning them and gave up but didn't want to throw them out. I'm so happy I found your channel. 💪I'm getting ready to grease up these ole' elbows and get to work! Thank you!
@@befer Yes! I've only cleaned up & seasoned 3 pans out of my set of 6 plus 1 rusty dutch oven. My set is really old. It could be 50 years old, easy. The inside cleaned up beautifully! Nice & smooth. The outer part probably needs to be sanded down smooth. There's a lot of rust damage. It still cleaned up good but it's very rough. The best part is they are useable again!
I forgot to add that before I started the steps from this video, I put my pans in the oven & set it to the highest CLEAN setting, which was 4 hours for my oven. It burned off all the thick gunk & turned it to ash. After I cleaned it off, then I put it in the vinegar solutions, etc.
@@cmcd9213 I’m going to try this out. I THOUGHT I was being smart by seasoning my pans and self cleaning my oven at the same time. I read somewhere to use sesame oil. My house was so smoky and when I woke in the morning to check the pans, all three were completely covered in rust inside and out SMH! I tried to wash one but it didn’t do much. I’m definitely going to try. Thanks for letting me know that I basically burned off the extra. This is definitely seems to be an all day marathon event, but it must be done.
Thanks so much, my new cooktop came with a skillet for bread, pancakes, or tortillas. Noticed some rust appear below when I was cleaning it. Used your method and it came out looking as good as yours. Much appreciated!
Cast iron is great. I remember in the 1970s, we were used to cast iron skillets. My mother bought a new-fangled aluminum, Teflon coated non-stick frying pan. Later, my grandmother became anemic. Thinking there was a link, my grandmother went back to using the cast iron skillets and was then no longer anemic! True story.
There is a link to Teflon coated cook wear. The name of the movie is called Dark Waters, starring. Mark Ruffalo and tells about how bad Teflon actually is especially at high heat. Du Pont was sued millions of dollars for the damage it caused. It caused birth defects in children born whose parents worked in the factory.
If your mom was not getting enough iron from her diet, it’s possible that the trace amounts absorbed from cooking in iron skillets was enough to keep her from having iron-deficiency anemia. Switching to aluminum would have meant no more iron absorbed while cooking, therefore causing an iron deficiency.
@@joseph_p they actually have a cooking tool called an iron fish they give out in poorer countries help fight anemia. It's literally just a fish shaped chunk of iron that you add to the pot when cooking. The trace amounts of iron are enough
To everyone unsure how to use cast iron: - after every use, rinse it in warm water and scrub with a stiff brush or steel scrubber. That's generally enough. - yes, you can use a drop of detergent when washing. I only do this if there's goopy brown hard to rinse off grease. - after the wash, dry the pan with a towel, wipe it with oil and place it over a high flame for a minute. - if you have cooked something moist and are worried you cannot scrub off some of the stuck on residue, you can heat the pan on the stove, turn off the heat and add a tablespoon of salt. Rub the salt all over the pan to lift the residue then wash per above. I haven't had to re-season my pan in years and it is non-stick without the addition of oil when cooking.
I just cooked on it and part of my food must have rub off rust because I tasted metallic as I chewed instead of spitting it out I accidentally swallowed it. I need to re season it. But for now I am wondering is swallowing some rust toxic for my health ? Please reply thank you .
@@deegold3791 if it's only a little bit, you should be fine. Just try to eat as little as possible and make sure you dont cook with it again until you have seasoned it properly
Family here in Texas has passed down and always used cast iron pans. I moved away from them as a younger man with a family for more new exotic whatever pans and now I'm 54. The cast iron pans in our family are like freaking GOLD! family is already fighting over them because they cooked literally hundreds of meals they remember as kids, and now these are so special and work better than modern cookware. The other thing....they hold heat and distribute and retain it better than ANY and I mean ANY modern cookware available - yes please prove me wrong. HA!! So have been seasoning new cast iron to make sure the kids in the family don't get crazy over seasoned cookware. Every kid will have a special pan or comal that Dad seasoned, LOVED, and poured some of his 'spirit' into. And that is what family really cares about.
We got our first pair of cast iron skillets as wedding gifts, completely unseasoned. We seasoned them immediately to a kind-of golden-bronze, and over years of use they're a rich, shiny black. I LOVE cooking in them, they're wonderfully non-stick and take little maintenance aside from just being heavy. We just got a cast-iron dutch oven, and I'm looking forward to using it.
Awesome,right to the point video of how to . I worked in industrial and restaurants and never knew how to take care of a cast iron pan. My grandmother was from down south ( north Carolina) and would wash hers then heat it and rub lard or crisco on it as reheat it then put it away after it cooled.
Get one! They're cheap, they kick ass for cooking many different ways! Best indoor burgers ever (either flat skillet or ridged griddle)! Vent fan helps of course :-)
There's an entire reddit on cast iron. Worth a read. Big take aways from it are 1) use Crisco or similar as flax seed oil can flake off after not much use, 2) cook with it! That'll help it stay non stick and finally 3) 2-5 seasoning passes are good but one guy went all the way to 100. Excessive but wow is that thing mirror finish!
@@DonQuixotec You can also use kosher salt + a damp sponge to scrub if you have stuck-on stuff left in the pan. Otherwise, yeah, just rinse + wipe it and then dry it in the oven before storing. A bit of dish soap apparently won't hurt it if it's properly seasoned but I don't think it's really necessary usually.
Wow!Alot of time and work, but now I gotta try it on my favorite one, and maybe my lodge, cause that thing is so rough you can grate cheese on it. Lol. I know everyone says Griswold is the Cadillac of iron, but I found out accidentally, that bsr is a little lighter and always has the mirror finish without all the work. Something about the way its ground down at the factory I was told. I love me some bsr. If you try one, let me know if you have the same results with only a couple of seasonings compared to other brands. the best ones are old ones from a yard sale or one someone has restored and selling.
Everybody has their own way. If I cook something that isn't greasy, like hamburger helper for instance (don't tell anybody I make hamburger helper in my cast iron)lol. Then I need to have it warm and a little hot water and a dash of dawn. Clean,rinse good, and dry. Then dry on the stove a couple of minutes, and while still a little warm, rub a little lard on it, then wipe it back off or,alternately same result if you Clean with a little oil and coarse salt, finish the same way. If I fry something, just wipe while still warm with a cloth or paper towel, if nothing stuck, that's all I do. Since I didn't use water, I don't have to do the drying step. Since I fried something fatty, I don't have to add oil and wipe off, it's already there. Just make sure you wipe almost all off, or the next time you cook you'll notice a little sticky spot, where the oil settled and dried on its own. I hope this helps, enjoy!
FINALLY someone covers the simplicity of vinegar for this process. Well done sir. I recommend going with the outro “See you next week”..... and then do another video the next week.... Until the end of UA-cam or until you’re picked up by the Food Channel. 👍🏼
One day, I'll have my own vineyard so I can supply my own vinegar operation. Then I'll be able to clean, pickle and brighten up anything AT LITTLE TO NO COST!
When I first got my cast iron I took a weekend and did 5 or so seasoning cycles. And now once a week when I have an off day I give it an oven seasoning while I sharpen my knives and oil the cutting board. Good ritual I highly recommend. After regular cooking it's just a salt rub down and cooking surface oiling and stove seasoning. I've got a glass top so can't crank the heat and takes a little longer
graefx Am reading everyone’s posts - learning a lot - then come to this one ..... and, What? Oil the cutting boards... i think the thought might have gone thru my brain at some point as i looked at them. But never took the thought seriously. U mean people do that. OK - need to know more.....🌸🌳🌸🌳🌸🙋♀️
Just purchased old Wagner Ware 13 1/2 pan. Used your method and Great results - soaked in 50/50 Vinegar/Water for 4 hours and could tell the difference. Just after 1st seasoning, pan was 100% better. Now in for 2nd seasoning and may do a third. Thanks :)
After you do this once, they really don't require much work after that. After Im done using mine, i just wipe it out, wipe a tiny amount of oil onto a paper towel to coat it. And done. easier than washing a regular pan. THis is only if you have a pan thats shot with rust you need to restore.
Got a small one from my grandmothers brother (decades old thing) and last christmas I got a brand new one! Haven't used any other pan since I got that one. Cast iron is the best
I named my cast iron pan "Tina", short for "patina" (of course). I took her from the bare metal about 4 months ago to black and glassy now. I use sunflower oil (just because it's cheap and it's a neutral oil that I cook with anyway), and I clean it using cheap dollar store table salt, oil, and my bamboo spatula. Every once in a while, outside of cooking anything, I'll give her an extra fresh coat and an hour at 450F. I've had this pan since college, but I've been disabled and pretty sick for many years with chronic pain/fatigue, so she was neglected. I'm just starting to get a bit better and get back into the kitchen to cook for myself, in recent months.
Thanks for this video. I have my grandfather’s cast iron frying pan that he bought before he and my grandmother were married, sometime in the early 1920’s so, it’s over 100 years old, or if not, very close. Everything sticks to it, so, I’ve been wanting to re season it. Thanks for the tips!! Going to give it a shot.
I've never used vinegar and baking soda to clean my skillets. I tried it and really like the way it cleaned the six I have. I use my skillets for everything. From baking cakes, baking cornbread to making cobbler and all that's in between. All of my skillets but three, were handed down from my mom and my husband's grandmother. The rest I bought with S&H Green Stamps.
You are so blessed. You can't get a new pan to cook like one another generation has been cooking in for many years. Sometimes never, because the old ones were made with sand molds and had a much smoother grain to begin with. The newer ones you could grate cheese on are made with metal molds.
Organic lard is the best. My great-grandma taught me that, like she did all of the family. I try to remember to put my various pans through a seasoning every few years or so. After cooking with my cast-iron, I clean the pan with a soap-less non-scratch pad, dry over a flame on the stove, then I wipe a very thin layer of coconut oil (it does not rot or go rancid the way seed oils do) in the inside of the pan. That has worked for me for 45+ years of cooking.
You know what’s worse, having roommates who all share the same cookware and don’t clean the pans after using them destroying the cast iron. Thanks for this I was curious how to fix it, I figured it would be a bit different than restoring old rusty tools
I have a milwaukee pack out toolbox for my cast iron set and some kaizen foam inserts for padding and storing of additional knives. I also have a moisture absorber in the box to keep them from rusting. Don't share the good tools with people who can't use them. They deserve cheap play things.
protip when living with other people, stainless steel, the collective can afford it (my tefal ones was like 20quid), i only bought a cast iron after getting my own place
@@natecole3222 Jesus agrees with you! He had a story about using (serving) wine properly, it is the same moral as "do not give pearls to swine!". No harm or sin in being wise with the things precious to you and modest cookware is a noble thing to maintain! All that and I'm not even Christian. Imagine that!
I just want to thank this guy personally since I've not used my cast iron for a while and it got rust on the cooking side. I dont want to throw it away since I love cooking steaks on it or any kind of meat. love that thing so much I don't have the heart to throw it away.
This is great! Thank you for the conciseness! Watched a much longer vid prior to this and the only thing I liked better was that he sprayed the pan with the vinegar mixture (and made sure to spray every 20 min or so to keep it moist) and that saved me having to go out and buy another gallon of vinegar as what I have on hand wouldn't be enough for soaking.
Sorry about that, lol. Saved me alot of vinegar. Sometimes I add some lemon juice like you get at the grocery store, the little plastic yellow container shaped like a lemon
This video was a revelation for me! I've been collecting old thrifted rusty cast iron for years, believing I'll rehab it someday but always being scared to because there's so much conflicting advice about how to do it. Today I followed this video and re-seasoned three old skillets and they turned out GORGEOUS. I'll definitely be continuing the process tomorrow!! Thanks so much for this! :D
Love using cast iron. Got into it just as the pandemic was starting up and it was great to make stuff that tasted like restaurant quality food instead of bland "I guess it's edible" food. It may take a bit to clean and re-season after cooking with it but I usually do that while cleaning the other stuff. Heat it up on the stove, walk away, scrape it clean under running HOT water, back on the burner and wipe dry with paper towel, add oil and wipe excess and walk away again for a bit, coming back to turn off the burner and let it sit and cool before putting it back. Pretty much takes care of itself other than minimal interaction with it
I had pretty much this same experience for almost two years and then i used a pan that was properly seasoned and found out that i shouldn't need to do that, it was quite the process to get to the point where it was seasoned but i think you might want to give it another shot, because once you get it, it's nearly effortless and just as nonstick as a new nonstick pan.
Thank you so much for making this video. My boyfriend surprised me with doing the dishes and (bless his tender heart) washed my cast iron skillet and put it in the dishwasher to get it extra clean lol!
boys reading this: write that down, write that down! my mother taught me everything, including this thankfully. god knows how much money i would've wasted if she didn't teach me to to care for a cast iron.
When I was a kid my mom threw out a cast iron set of pans because they were "too heavy" and she didn't know how to use them without sticking. It was tragic
Her loss is a lot of peoples gains. I used to pick up cast iron skillets at the Goodwill store for literally 50 cents a skillet. Not so much anymore once people caught on.
man i hate cast iron because it takes SO much time and i basically just make pasta and chicken thigh and teh sauce for the chicken thigh sticks all lthe time the sauce is soy sauce,honey and butter
Cast iron is used in alot of Indian food.. im Indian btw .. so we have so many iron stuff here.. but it worth it.. slow cooking is what makes the food tasty here... once you figure out how it works.. u'll love it
@@retro2712 just cook the sauce on low heat and keep stirring. it shouldn't be sticking. maybe add a little hot water or some broth to thin it out, and let it thicken while it cools. I make sauces in my cast iron all the time with no issues.
Dude! So good and so easy! My skillet hasn't been taken care of in 9 years! In the garage, rusted to the point where the Titanic was envious! This process worked brilliantly! Thanks man! Two ridiculous meals in now!
Wow! I thought for sure my wife was crazy to try and restore the skillet, but I had a go at it, and Im floored how well it worked. I later apologized to my wife for doubting her and will continue to work on that... Anyway, thank you for sharing that.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂and now need that also in pubg, I always use throw pan to the enemy and makes me feel dying laughing a lot so satisfying to watch the pan flying into the enemies head 😂😂😂
I’m glad I came across this video my daughter let water get in my new cast iron an it started to rust I didn’t wanna throw it away because it was just bought an my first one ever
I pretty much use cast iron exclusively when I cook. I do have some stainless steel pots for boiling and making more acidic sauces and what not. I really haven't had the need to ever use the couple of non-stick or teflon pans i have. Also... Grapeseed oil is a really good oil to use for seasoning your cast iron! Its right in the middle between canola and flaxseed when it comes to pricing at my local grocery store (King Soopers.. or any other Kroger chain store).
You have "mad" photography skills. Those shots of the finished pan are boy-tea-full. And Yes,. A well seasoned cast iron pan if a beautiful thing to cook with. (or...with which to cook.)
@@Pip-Boy-Broadcast I belong to the church of Kiririn... her cuteness knows know bounds, and her imouto power is high. She opened up freedom for wincest through out the world and her tsundere love is just... But her cooking... her cooking... is crap...
Gotta love a well seasoned CI! I season mine with frying Bacon that I will need, take cooked bacon out, drain rendered fat into a jar, then take paper towel and coat the inside very well, and the outside, too.
Wow, my previous comment was this time last year, and I recently invest in a 10"(#3) LODGE Skillet to compliment my 12" same brand Skillet....I cooked in it with Olive Oil, with the Skillet's factory seasoning, and food came out really good, and didn't stick. Yes, I always do the Egg test first.
I was like “wife left cast iron full of water in the sink... how do season..” saw you made a video and went “YUP. IM WATCHING THIS ONE” lol Thanks man. Love your content.
Thanks for this! I recently discovered that my housemate let my cast iron rust while I was out of town on a trip for work (it was a long project). This will come in handy when I attempt this over the weekend!!
I found a skillet in the grass a while back, super rusted. Took some time to clean it, and thanks to your help, it’s currently on its first coat of season.
Man, can I just say that I really appreciate the heart and quality in your videos? This is the first time I’ve actually watched you in depth, and it feels so personal 🤣 The natural lighting and sound is spot on. it might be a change of pace for most but it will catch on and I think it’s great; for the greater good! You’re making a movement here, Joshua! Keep on keepin on and thank you very much for changing the world 😬
Hey Josh, recently subbed your channel when I started making my own sourdough bread. Just wanted to chime in here... I've been cooking for nearly 30 years, and regularly cook on cast iron. I verge on being a collector of old Griswold pieces, and my prized cookers are a #8 slant, a #9 2nd Series "ERIE," and a pair of #10 small block logos. I've tried a number of refinishing methods over the years, and read a number of articles on the internet and elsewhere on what the "best" refinishing method is. I've got very mixed feelings about flaxseed. There is no doubt that flaxseed creates a beautiful and hard polymer layer, but I have personally had a lot of issues with flaxseed layers flaking off (I've also seen and heard this complaint expressed a lot from other people). I know that flaxseed became an incredibly popular way of refinishing cast-iron in the internet era, and there are a number of articles that come back as hits if you search the internet for how to refinish cast iron. My personal theory is that flaxseed became as popular as it did because of ebay-- not because it is actually the single best way to refinish cast iron pieces, but because it gives you what appears to be a beautiful finish very quickly, and that makes it easy for sellers to have a quick method of refinishing collector/museum pieces that may not ever be cooked on. Now... this theory could easily be wrong, but there are a number of ebay sellers who tout the flaxseed method. One of the earliest articles I remember reading about the flaxseed method was written by someone who had heard of someone else using a carpentry-quality Linseed oil to refinish cast iron with spectacular results; since Linseed and Flaxseed oils are the "same," except an organic flaxseed is edible, the thought process makes sense. Both are high volatilty drying oils- that is, they form hard, strongly bonded polymer chains by losing water molecules from their CHO chains just by exposure to air. This is why linseed is so great for carpentry, and why, by extension, flaxseed makes a nice, shiny polymer coating on cast-iron. That original article was on sheryl canter's blog, and has since been republished by America's Test Kitchen, bringing even more attention to the flaxseed process. (and just for clarity's sake, I used a 100% flaxseed -- I've tried barlean (as you pictured in your video) and a whole foods brand. Some sites say that using the "wrong" flaxseed can cause it to flake. Maybe, but I used the right one and had flaking in some cases.) I've read other articles, written by collectors and cooks, who swear by grapeseed, olive oil, canola, or bacon grease. The panhandler is a website that sells cast iron, and they use some sort of coconut/crisco/beeswax blend or something. Everybody has some "best method," but Cheryl's blog puts forth an incredibly well written "best" recommendation based upon, as she puts it, logical deduction. That well-written article, and the additional recommendation from ATK, has put the Flaxseed method out there as the "best." Perhaps it helps that Flaxseed is a very expensive oil. I think it's likely people "feel" like they will get better results with something expensive, even if that's not true. Emotions are weird. Best or not, when you get an incredibly hard surface, there is a downside. If acid manages to damage a portion of it, it opens it up to additional flaking. If a utensil damages it, same thing. Everyone knows that hardness and brittleness go together. See, I can do it too- nonsense statements based upon "logical deduction" and common sense. Alright, sarcasm aside- that's what does in fact happen. Well.... collector or not, I cook on one Griswold or another between 4 times a week and every day. All of them have really nice polymer coats at this point, but only one of those is still a flaxseed coat that never chipped off. The polymer layers are formed of bacon grease, canola oil, olive oil, vegetable oil, peanut oil, butter- the stuff I mostly cook with- and whatever else stayed bonded to the pan's surface. The best coated pan I have, I have no clue what all went into building the polymer layers. The most recently refinished pan I've got used alternating layers of flax and bacon grease (conserved from Low Sodium bacon). No chipping there. Another was Canola. It's fine, too. I'm not saying that Flaxseed is bad. Lots of people get good results with it. What I'm suggesting (in this incredibly long post) is that the way cast iron is cleaned and treated after it is cooked with and how it is cooked in, is probably a bigger deal in the long run. In fact, I'd recommend using all sorts of oils, because every time you cook with cast iron, something new gets bonded to the initial polymer layer. Anyway... regarding care, there are probably just as many articles on the internet on what best care practices are as best refinish. Use a chain mail cast iron cleaner or not. Use Kosher salt or not. I do both. Use a small amount of water and soap, or don't. Sometimes I do that, too. Dry your pans over heat and rub a tiny bit of oil into them or not. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. What I don't do is soak my pans in the sink or run them through the dishwasher- ever. Alright.... now that the textwall is out of the way....I look forward to your next video. Keep up the good work!
I agree with gimme. These types of comments are far and few in between and much appreciated, as they show considerable effort aimed at collective progress. Thanks for the information.
This lines up with what I have read about seasoning cast iron with edible flaxseed oil. I have used Crisco, and have been reviewing the process. This year I am planning to season with olive oil and a 300/300/325 degree oven (3 times) for 40 minutes each time. The rest of the prep is pretty much the same. I have some old Griswold and Wagner pieces--they season well with the slow method.
@@user-mv9tt4st9k I always recommend just seasoning with what you cook with. I cook primarily with avocado oil because of its high smoke point, and fairly neutral, but still delicious, flavor. So, I just used that for most of them. Some pans I use other oils, though, so I used those. I used the organic flaxseed oil method before, and it was a terrible idea! For one, it smells absolutely horrendous when it smokes, which it does very easily! Another, is it flaked constantly. I kept trying to add another seasoning layer once a week to build a strong coat over time, but pieces would flake and then cause a ton more to flake. Then foods would stick there and it made it where I could never really use the pan. Since then, I season with whatever types of oils I tend to use in that pan in particular, and I never have any problems.
I love this video. I've seen some videos that use canola oil and other oils. Today, I used the Canola oil and after that, I used my favorite, which is Flax Oil. To me, I think it's the best one to use.
My initial cast iron is a set of 4 skillets I inherited from my grandmother, who learned to cook on it. Well over 100 years old, still going strong and still as indestructible as ever 🖤
Daric Singingwind Be careful not to cool it down too quickly (like putting cold water in the pan right after cooking) or it could just crack.
@@lehmanbrothers6938 I treat them as carefully and lovingly as I did my grandmother.
I have inherited my grandmother's cast iron pans too but I'm afraid to use them with my flat top glass stove.
@@Justme77400 We purchased our cast iron pans new, but don't be afraid to use them on your flat top glass stove. We have a flat top glass stove and use them all the time on it. And, like someone else said, let the pan cool down before cleaning it with either hot or cold water (and a touch of Dawn dishwashing liquid). Then what I do is 1) use a paper towel to dry the pan 2) heat up the stove top 3) Place the pan on the stove to completely dry the pan (approx 2 minutes) 4) Turn off the stove and 5) Pour a small (small) amount of vegetable oil in the pan and work it around with a paper towel until the pan has a thin layer of oil left on it. 6) Let the pan cool and put it away until the next time you need it.
Daric Singingwind WOW! That’s great! Wish I had my great grandmas! It was the best food to eat!!!
I'm moving soon from a home that's been in the family since 1953. Obviously the basement is full of family treasures (family treasures means that only your own family thinks of them as treasures). Cleaning out my basement, I found my great grand ma's 12 inch covered cast iron skillet. Last saw the light of day probably 50 years ago. Beautiful and completely rusted. I did almost exactly as Joshua recommends, it looks perfect, and have begun using it to cook the best crispy bacon ever. My great grand ma would be proud.
The pan, and so good.
Bacon is best BAKED on a jelly roll pan *(nordic ware) 350° for 20 minutes on one side, flip and 20 more minutes. Use foil and line tge pan with parchement paper. No.mess and you can save the bac9n drippings for peas, beans and other cooking. Happy baking and no splatters.
Omg yeah your great grandma would be so proud!
I wanna know more about how you seasoned them forearms my dude
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂seriously I got to stop reading the coments my face hurts from laughing
Carla Wilson right!!!??!!
It's a joke calm down I'm 5 foot nothing and 110 lb . I use only cast iron . I work out 😂😂😂
Lmaooo
That's from playing pocket pool a little too often.
A little tip for those who have pans that have a rough texture: Paper towels can get shredded on that rough surface so get some 100% cotton kitchen towels. The ones you see in restaurants. They will work much better and won't leave behind a bunch of material like paper towels do.
But how should you properly clean them for reuse?
@@imdefinitelynotparkermeek7923 In my opinion, skip buying towels and just cut a square out of an old ragged cotton clothing instead. Dispose when you're done by wetting with water and throwing it in your compost, if you've got it.
Cloth diapers are cheap and work great
Bandannas work well as well.
The blue towels you get at auto parts stores work awesome. They’re like $5 a roll and so worth it. Think they’re “Scott Shop Towels”
Thank you so much for this tutorial! I restored my grandma's old cast iron pans and they've never looked better! I just wanted to say thanks because your tutorial gave me a piece of my grandmother back and it just means a lot to me.
i did something similar with a pan that belonged to my mom which belonged to her mom. it was sitting around in her shed rusted up. pulled it out and asked her if i could have it and now its sitting in my kitchen with my lodge pan.
i dont use flax oil though like the video. i use safflower which is almost like using peanut. it is very high smoke point. i figure if it requires such a high temp before it breaks down (the smoke point) then normal cooking temps are not going to bother my seasoned coating at all. seems to be working pretty well.
Amazing ❤️
It's really not working I tried it
exactly why I came to this video!
My roomate put my cast Iron in the dishwasher yesterday... I needed this
😂 OMG , clueless is priceless
😂😂 that’s funny
Ow,not good
Is your roommate still alive???😮😮😮
Same! But it was my BF, more awkward 😂
WOW this saved me after leaving my entire cast iron skillet collection in my boat, which came untied from my dock and floated downriver! We couldn't find it for 6 months, but when the Coast Guard called us after finding it offshore in the Gulf of Mexico they said all 26 of my prized cast iron skillets were STILL THERE! However they had completely rusted to shit after being exposed to saltwater and sunlight for several months :( I was seconds from throwing them away but they were so heavy my trash bag ripped and they all fell out on the ground. Seeing them all lying there in the grass near my trash can made me really rethink a lot of things, and fortunately for me I ended up finding this video!! Anyways, thanks again. Subbed!
Did this method work for you & make it look like the new pr-eseasoned cast iron?
nice story
I'm more interested in the runaway boat... any video on that?
26?? Why would you need 26?
@@FixerFour Collections aren't about need
Thank you so much!!! I just got these two cast iron skillets a couple months ago as a wedding present; husband and I used them a few times, but noticed brown stuff (we assumed grease) accumulating; decided to soak in hot water and soap, but the brown stuff kept growing and started to smell like rust; every day I was scrubbing with a sponge, but it wouldn’t come off; gave up, but then saw your video and gave it a try today; they’re like new!!! Couldn’t find flaxseed oil at my grocery store, so used olive oil in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 min., very nice glossy finish, can definitely tell it’ll be nonstick now!!! 👍🏻😊
I use lard, some people use bacon grease, crisco, it's really whatever you prefer. I've found with mine that lard or something similar, doesn't leave a sticky residue like oil does. I don't know why I have this problem with oil, as long as you wipe most back off and leave it in the oven long enough on a high enough temperature that's really not supposed to happen. With me though I find that animal fat is really foolproof. Perfect and beautiful every single time.
I know what you mean. Awesome. He said 500 degrees for an hour though and let cool down naturally in the oven after you turn it off. Just remember, the higher temperature and length of time in gives you a harder, almost indestructible finish that's easy to build on without sticky buildup over time and food seems to float on a layer of air,doesn't seem like it even touches the pan. Love it. ❤️
Yes! Totally loved the video. May I suggest a follow up episode? Cleaning the cast iron after a messy cooking session. Maybe something stuck to the pan. What is the best method to get it clean and how do you know when it is time to re-season the pan? Again I loved how well you you explained the restoration and care of the cast iron pans.
I put the pan under the hottest running water I can for a minute, then pour the water out and cover the bottom with salt. Then I scrub with a metal scouring sponge and it gets anything stuck on off. I can usually get away with doing this for a few months before I have to reseason. I've had my pans for 2 years and they've held up well
I read up on this on Serious Eats - they say to clean it with a scrubber and a little soap even (debunking the myth that soap will ruin your season), and then heat the pan on the stovetop until dry, hit it with a smidgen of oil, and voilà. I've been doing that for months now, and it's beautiful. Haven't needed to re-season at all.
@@AdamKayce Thanks so much. I will give it a try! Love cast iron pizza and want to be able to do it at home. Great tip and greatly appreciated.
@@AdamKayce This is one of the things that has kept me from trying cast iron- I've heard that you need to give it a light coat of oil after you're done using it and that sounds very messy to me. How do you store it when it's not in use so you don't get oil on whatever it's stored on?
Adam Kayce Same!
Bro you didn't have to flex on us so hard with that bicep in the thumbnail lol damn
Shayan Givehchian I was like 🤤😋
Have you held a cast iron. Those things are heavy!
@@superresistant0 cooking properly done meals every day .no, really, that shit will give you iron biceps and the streng of a thousand suns
Corrin Gromley I was literally about to say lol
You didnt have to repost a comment
Mmm this looks tasty, gonna make this later for dinner.
Do you like to eat cast iron?
When copy and paste failed.
@@WarpedCyan *wins
Remember to season it lol
@@esla1885 I like mine with Frank's redhot
My guy!!!!!
My great great great aunt has passed down our cast iron pans from the 1800s. They’ve lasted wars, famine, plagues, terrorism, sexual revolutions and pandemics for over hundreds of years now, but for some reason they couldn’t withstand dawn dish soap.
Thanks for the video, now my pans are restored and I will be able to give it to my children for their wedding gift and preserve the rich history of our family’s lineage and crowning accomplishments 🎉
never noticed how SHREDDED my dude is omg!!!!
Steph. either way dude he’s pretty built
I just followed this tutorial for restoring a thought to be “too far gone” cast iron pan and I can’t believe the results! After just the second seasoning! Wish I could show you the pics! Thank you very much for this easy how-to!!
Don’t lie, you just wanted to show those sweet biceps in the thumbnail lol
@@immahater5964 No one :/
Hot
My man Josh THICC
my man josh was fat you know. that typical fat depressed fat kid but got over it and did a great job
adfghufgk I was just about to comment that
I found Josh from this video 5 years ago. Our family's meals have forever been changed. Also have his first cook book. Amazing!
I purchased my first cast iron skillet about six months ago. I read the instructions on how to use it and I was confused. I came across this video and was like let’s season this thing. I cooked some bacon, eggs, and pancakes on it and it worked! I then remembered we had some cast iron skillets that came with the house we rented. I restored all three skillets and they went from grey to black! I have used them and they did great. Thank you for your tutorial because now I love cast iron!
I've cast iron that is over 120 years old and I can pull one out, fry an egg and it will not stick. Love cast iron.
Awesome to have such a piece of history. Make sure you hold on to it. The mold used on the newer Lodge cast irons is very pitted in comparison and some go as far as grinding/sanding the pans to smooth them out before seasoning.
@@MrNidhog yeah them newer ones are very textured. They supposedly have a break in routine...ill stick to ol cast iron lol. They are my favorite cookware and I enjoy using them
@@MrNidhog the performance of the newer cast iron is just as good though. I love old pans too, I have a bsr, and a couple wagners, but the modern lodge performs just as well and food comes off just as easily as the smoothed out stuff. I also have stargazer cast iron which is modern and smooth and beautiful.. But the lodge performs the same.
you fry eggs in cast iron? that must take forever
@@ulasonal not at all.
Please don’t ever delete this video! I will be back to watch it again and again lol
Why?
Me too, if I can find it. Lol once you figure out the pan and what it needs, you won't forget, and you can look at it and tell if there's something else you need to do
To speed up the rust cleaning process on the back of my skillet, I covered it with paper towels and sprayed full strength vinegar until saturated, waited for about 15 min, wiped off rust (I had to repeat this step once) then scrubbed with baking soda and followed the rest of the steps here. Sharing my method in case you don't have the space or the patience to soak your item, it'll work well if you're dealing with a mild case
Mine has wooden handles so this tip is much appreciated!
I did this for 3 old cast irons my father-in-law found. (Old family cast irons).
IT WORKED. It took about a day and a half per pan because I didnt rush the process. Thank-you!
I inherited a rusty set and didn't know what to do with them.
I tried cleaning them and gave up but didn't want to throw them out.
I'm so happy I found your channel.
💪I'm getting ready to grease up these ole' elbows and get to work!
Thank you!
4 months later, mind giving an update?
@@befer Yes! I've only cleaned up & seasoned 3 pans out of my set of 6 plus 1 rusty dutch oven.
My set is really old. It could be 50 years old, easy.
The inside cleaned up beautifully! Nice & smooth. The outer part probably needs to be sanded down smooth. There's a lot of rust damage.
It still cleaned up good but it's very rough.
The best part is they are useable again!
I forgot to add that before I started the steps from this video, I put my pans in the oven & set it to the highest CLEAN setting, which was 4 hours for my oven.
It burned off all the thick gunk & turned it to ash.
After I cleaned it off, then I put it in the vinegar solutions, etc.
@@cmcd9213 I’m going to try this out. I THOUGHT I was being smart by seasoning my pans and self cleaning my oven at the same time. I read somewhere to use sesame oil. My house was so smoky and when I woke in the morning to check the pans, all three were completely covered in rust inside and out SMH! I tried to wash one but it didn’t do much. I’m definitely going to try. Thanks for letting me know that I basically burned off the extra. This is definitely seems to be an all day marathon event, but it must be done.
@@sekiethiadove1793 what the fuck, you left your oven on overnight?? no wonder houses burn down
I've use cast iron for 35 years. I use Crisco in can. Lard.
My Lodge cast iron .... Beautifully cared for!
I use lard,lard,from a box. Awesome flavored seasoning
Thanks so much, my new cooktop came with a skillet for bread, pancakes, or tortillas. Noticed some rust appear below when I was cleaning it.
Used your method and it came out looking as good as yours. Much appreciated!
Cast iron is great. I remember in the 1970s, we were used to cast iron skillets. My mother bought a new-fangled aluminum, Teflon coated non-stick frying pan. Later, my grandmother became anemic. Thinking there was a link, my grandmother went back to using the cast iron skillets and was then no longer anemic! True story.
There is a link to Teflon coated cook wear. The name of the movie is called Dark Waters, starring. Mark Ruffalo and tells about how bad Teflon actually is especially at high heat. Du Pont was sued millions of dollars for the damage it caused. It caused birth defects in children born whose parents worked in the factory.
If your mom was not getting enough iron from her diet, it’s possible that the trace amounts absorbed from cooking in iron skillets was enough to keep her from having iron-deficiency anemia. Switching to aluminum would have meant no more iron absorbed while cooking, therefore causing an iron deficiency.
@@joseph_p they actually have a cooking tool called an iron fish they give out in poorer countries help fight anemia.
It's literally just a fish shaped chunk of iron that you add to the pot when cooking. The trace amounts of iron are enough
@@dianadavis1546 teflon pans are generally harmless to use
@@sigmaproverbs2018 for short term health yes but teflon isn't good for the environment BECAUSE of how inert it is
To everyone unsure how to use cast iron:
- after every use, rinse it in warm water and scrub with a stiff brush or steel scrubber. That's generally enough.
- yes, you can use a drop of detergent when washing. I only do this if there's goopy brown hard to rinse off grease.
- after the wash, dry the pan with a towel, wipe it with oil and place it over a high flame for a minute.
- if you have cooked something moist and are worried you cannot scrub off some of the stuck on residue, you can heat the pan on the stove, turn off the heat and add a tablespoon of salt. Rub the salt all over the pan to lift the residue then wash per above.
I haven't had to re-season my pan in years and it is non-stick without the addition of oil when cooking.
Thank you I took a screenshot of this!
Thank you!!
Sorry for my ignorance.. doesn't scrubbing with a stiff brush or steel scrubber and salt remove the seasoning?
I just cooked on it and part of my food must have rub off rust because I tasted metallic as I chewed instead of spitting it out I accidentally swallowed it. I need to re season it. But for now I am wondering is swallowing some rust toxic for my health ? Please reply thank you .
@@deegold3791 if it's only a little bit, you should be fine. Just try to eat as little as possible and make sure you dont cook with it again until you have seasoned it properly
Family here in Texas has passed down and always used cast iron pans. I moved away from them as a younger man with a family for more new exotic whatever pans and now I'm 54. The cast iron pans in our family are like freaking GOLD! family is already fighting over them because they cooked literally hundreds of meals they remember as kids, and now these are so special and work better than modern cookware. The other thing....they hold heat and distribute and retain it better than ANY and I mean ANY modern cookware available - yes please prove me wrong. HA!! So have been seasoning new cast iron to make sure the kids in the family don't get crazy over seasoned cookware. Every kid will have a special pan or comal that Dad seasoned, LOVED, and poured some of his 'spirit' into. And that is what family really cares about.
Wonderful idea, cause I'm gonna have the same problem! Lol. Thank you!
Never thought a pan would be more high maintenance than me.
Lol
Right😂
ua-cam.com/video/x5dsp7poBmY/v-deo.html
yes. cast iron is. use carbon steel wok, need seasoning much lesser, can season while cooking on it.
😂
We got our first pair of cast iron skillets as wedding gifts, completely unseasoned. We seasoned them immediately to a kind-of golden-bronze, and over years of use they're a rich, shiny black. I LOVE cooking in them, they're wonderfully non-stick and take little maintenance aside from just being heavy.
We just got a cast-iron dutch oven, and I'm looking forward to using it.
Oh lord,the first time I made spaghetti sauce in mine, I caught myself stomping my feet it was so good lolol
God, I love ya, Man!!! You are so very helpful to an old retired First Sergeant who loves to cook!!! Many thanks.
thank you for your service sir
@@handsomechris5814 It should be thank you for your service first sergeant.
@@JH-ec9sm my mistakr
Awesome,right to the point video of how to . I worked in industrial and restaurants and never knew how to take care of a cast iron pan. My grandmother was from down south ( north Carolina) and would wash hers then heat it and rub lard or crisco on it as reheat it then put it away after it cooled.
Me: does not own a cast iron, has 0 intention of buying a cast iron
Also me: watches all 7 minutes of this
Because 7 minutes is such a commitment. Proud of you.
Saaaaame
Get one! They're cheap, they kick ass for cooking many different ways! Best indoor burgers ever (either flat skillet or ridged griddle)! Vent fan helps of course :-)
OBS Nordica sells a lightweight cast iron line of pans with ergonomic handles and ceramic bottom so it won't scratch modern glass stove tops.
Good way to get iron in your diet. And less likely to get cancer like teflon
Was about to throw mine out after leaving it in the woods for over a week. You saved me! Thank you!
Wh- what were you doing with your cast iron out in the woods?
@@franziskahuber9664 LOL we use it when we camp but forgot to put it in the dry bin and it rained
@@DarkPassenger47 I thought it was a joke😆
Never throw out Cast Iron.
@@franziskahuber9664 haha
I've never seen someone who gives off the smug hipster vibe and the 'steal yo girl' vibe at the same type
Ben Stott someone’s angry
Leon Lawson suck out
@@benstott9294 agreed mush
@Vanda Dy not even
😂 he isn't stealing anyone's girl! 😂
There's an entire reddit on cast iron. Worth a read. Big take aways from it are 1) use Crisco or similar as flax seed oil can flake off after not much use, 2) cook with it! That'll help it stay non stick and finally 3) 2-5 seasoning passes are good but one guy went all the way to 100. Excessive but wow is that thing mirror finish!
Do you cook with it before the first seasoning pass?
What about cleaning it after cooking? I guess no dish soap? Just hot water and wipe it off?
@@DonQuixotec You can also use kosher salt + a damp sponge to scrub if you have stuck-on stuff left in the pan. Otherwise, yeah, just rinse + wipe it and then dry it in the oven before storing. A bit of dish soap apparently won't hurt it if it's properly seasoned but I don't think it's really necessary usually.
Wow!Alot of time and work, but now I gotta try it on my favorite one, and maybe my lodge, cause that thing is so rough you can grate cheese on it. Lol. I know everyone says Griswold is the Cadillac of iron, but I found out accidentally, that bsr is a little lighter and always has the mirror finish without all the work. Something about the way its ground down at the factory I was told. I love me some bsr. If you try one, let me know if you have the same results with only a couple of seasonings compared to other brands. the best ones are old ones from a yard sale or one someone has restored and selling.
Everybody has their own way. If I cook something that isn't greasy, like hamburger helper for instance (don't tell anybody I make hamburger helper in my cast iron)lol. Then I need to have it warm and a little hot water and a dash of dawn. Clean,rinse good, and dry. Then dry on the stove a couple of minutes, and while still a little warm, rub a little lard on it, then wipe it back off or,alternately same result if you Clean with a little oil and coarse salt, finish the same way. If I fry something, just wipe while still warm with a cloth or paper towel, if nothing stuck, that's all I do. Since I didn't use water, I don't have to do the drying step. Since I fried something fatty, I don't have to add oil and wipe off, it's already there. Just make sure you wipe almost all off, or the next time you cook you'll notice a little sticky spot, where the oil settled and dried on its own. I hope this helps, enjoy!
FINALLY someone covers the simplicity of vinegar for this process. Well done sir. I recommend going with the outro “See you next week”..... and then do another video the next week.... Until the end of UA-cam or until you’re picked up by the Food Channel. 👍🏼
One day, I'll have my own vineyard so I can supply my own vinegar operation. Then I'll be able to clean, pickle and brighten up anything AT LITTLE TO NO COST!
When I first got my cast iron I took a weekend and did 5 or so seasoning cycles. And now once a week when I have an off day I give it an oven seasoning while I sharpen my knives and oil the cutting board. Good ritual I highly recommend.
After regular cooking it's just a salt rub down and cooking surface oiling and stove seasoning. I've got a glass top so can't crank the heat and takes a little longer
graefx Am reading everyone’s posts - learning a lot - then come to this one ..... and, What? Oil the cutting boards... i think the thought might have gone thru my brain at some point as i looked at them. But never took the thought seriously. U mean people do that. OK - need to know more.....🌸🌳🌸🌳🌸🙋♀️
Josh I’ve been watching your videos for about a year now, and whenever I question what to do, I know you won’t let me down! Thanks for being awesome!
Just purchased old Wagner Ware 13 1/2 pan. Used your method and Great results - soaked in 50/50 Vinegar/Water for 4 hours and could tell the difference. Just after 1st seasoning, pan was 100% better. Now in for 2nd seasoning and may do a third. Thanks :)
“As my mom would say, put some damn elbow grease into it. Except she wouldn’t say damn cause she’s a class act.” *punched subscribe button.
Perfect!! Somebody finally showed the ENTIRE process! Thank you Joshua! 🙌🏾😩💯
Thanks so much for these tips!!! I’m young and never knew that these pans required this much work BUT I followed these steps and my pan is perfect
After you do this once, they really don't require much work after that. After Im done using mine, i just wipe it out, wipe a tiny amount of oil onto a paper towel to coat it. And done. easier than washing a regular pan. THis is only if you have a pan thats shot with rust you need to restore.
Got a small one from my grandmothers brother (decades old thing) and last christmas I got a brand new one! Haven't used any other pan since I got that one. Cast iron is the best
How to season a cast iron:
Salt(to taste)
Pepper(to taste)
Bake 10 min 240C°
you're gonna need to skip the pepper and bake it for quite a while longer than that.
amv master and garlic powder
Made this for my family and they loved it
Just dumb...just...well..just dumb.
Instructions unclear, cat was overcooked and too salty.
I named my cast iron pan "Tina", short for "patina" (of course). I took her from the bare metal about 4 months ago to black and glassy now. I use sunflower oil (just because it's cheap and it's a neutral oil that I cook with anyway), and I clean it using cheap dollar store table salt, oil, and my bamboo spatula. Every once in a while, outside of cooking anything, I'll give her an extra fresh coat and an hour at 450F. I've had this pan since college, but I've been disabled and pretty sick for many years with chronic pain/fatigue, so she was neglected. I'm just starting to get a bit better and get back into the kitchen to cook for myself, in recent months.
Get some extra iron from your cast iron might help with your fatigue a bit if your iron levels are low, plus a minor workout by using it.. feel better
shift to keto diet and chronic pain will goooooooo !
Warmest wishes from Egypt!
I hope you are doing better now and can enjoy cooking again!
@@davelawson2564 keto isn't a cure all???
I don't even need to restore my cast iron. I just clicked for the biceps.
This.
Facts!
😂
😂😂
Thanks for this video. I have my grandfather’s cast iron frying pan that he bought before he and my grandmother were married, sometime in the early 1920’s so, it’s over 100 years old, or if not, very close. Everything sticks to it, so, I’ve been wanting to re season it. Thanks for the tips!! Going to give it a shot.
I just found the nastiest rusty cast iron pan in my grandparents garage and I’m so excited to try fix it up!
How did you get on gal?
You can’t really ever mess up a cast iron! I’ve restored a bunch. Just takes a little time and TLC, and you will have one back to good as new!
Did it clean up nice?
I want an answer lol
@@rebel8440 I don't think she has notifications on ha
I don’t even have a cast iron but nice arms dude😌
lilliana's thoughts y’all wildin
Oh you THIRSTY thirsty
Right?!
😂😂😂
lilliana's thoughts 🤣🤣🤣
I've never used vinegar and baking soda to clean my skillets. I tried it and really like the way it cleaned the six I have. I use my skillets for everything. From baking cakes, baking cornbread to making cobbler and all that's in between. All of my skillets but three, were handed down from my mom and my husband's grandmother. The rest I bought with S&H Green Stamps.
Shout out to S&H Green Stamps and the Clock Weather Station combo
You are so blessed. You can't get a new pan to cook like one another generation has been cooking in for many years. Sometimes never, because the old ones were made with sand molds and had a much smoother grain to begin with. The newer ones you could grate cheese on are made with metal molds.
This was the first video to come up in my search and did NOT disappoint 😂😂😂😂sad boi!! I have two I need to fix!!
I was about to throw mine out thought it was badddd. Glad this popped up.
Dude I just watched 3-4 videos yesterday on how to do it and they were a bit confusing, was really hoping to see one here, thanks for the tutorial!
Most helpful guide I've seen on youtube. Thanks a ton. I'll be doing this to an old rusty Dutch-oven soon
Organic lard is the best. My great-grandma taught me that, like she did all of the family. I try to remember to put my various pans through a seasoning every few years or so. After cooking with my cast-iron, I clean the pan with a soap-less non-scratch pad, dry over a flame on the stove, then I wipe a very thin layer of coconut oil (it does not rot or go rancid the way seed oils do) in the inside of the pan. That has worked for me for 45+ years of cooking.
Thank you for timing this right after I got back from a camping trip with the gnarliest dutch oven I've seen
You know what’s worse, having roommates who all share the same cookware and don’t clean the pans after using them destroying the cast iron. Thanks for this I was curious how to fix it, I figured it would be a bit different than restoring old rusty tools
I'd be keeping all my cookware in my bedroom and only take it out when I need to use it lmao they can buy their own >_>
I have a milwaukee pack out toolbox for my cast iron set and some kaizen foam inserts for padding and storing of additional knives. I also have a moisture absorber in the box to keep them from rusting.
Don't share the good tools with people who can't use them. They deserve cheap play things.
protip when living with other people, stainless steel, the collective can afford it (my tefal ones was like 20quid), i only bought a cast iron after getting my own place
Or when your roommates are fucking stupid and they leave your cast-iron soaking in the sink with soap💀
@@natecole3222 Jesus agrees with you! He had a story about using (serving) wine properly, it is the same moral as "do not give pearls to swine!". No harm or sin in being wise with the things precious to you and modest cookware is a noble thing to maintain! All that and I'm not even Christian. Imagine that!
All about the cast iron... biceps were a bonus! Thanks for helping me restore my mom's CI!
I just want to thank this guy personally since I've not used my cast iron for a while and it got rust on the cooking side. I dont want to throw it away since I love cooking steaks on it or any kind of meat. love that thing so much I don't have the heart to throw it away.
Video starts at 1:16
Thank you
Jesus Christ yap yap thanks brooo
The Hero we needed
This is great! Thank you for the conciseness! Watched a much longer vid prior to this and the only thing I liked better was that he sprayed the pan with the vinegar mixture (and made sure to spray every 20 min or so to keep it moist) and that saved me having to go out and buy another gallon of vinegar as what I have on hand wouldn't be enough for soaking.
I do both, according to how thick the rust is, but yeah, it sav
Sorry about that, lol. Saved me alot of vinegar. Sometimes I add some lemon juice like you get at the grocery store, the little plastic yellow container shaped like a lemon
Thank you. I was literally about to throw out my “ruined” cast iron pans, and your video saves them!!!!
Thank you! I had no clue where to start with getting my cast iron restored. I have three and they look a mess. Thank you again!!
SIR! You knew EXACTLY what you were doing, when you chose that thumbnail!
Also, thank you for this! It was very helpful!!
Why I seasoned my cast iron and not my steak
vliotr
Wrong channel
This isnt Adam
Eeeyyyy
Oh you know how to make a good steak!!!!! Mmmmmmmm
This video was a revelation for me! I've been collecting old thrifted rusty cast iron for years, believing I'll rehab it someday but always being scared to because there's so much conflicting advice about how to do it. Today I followed this video and re-seasoned three old skillets and they turned out GORGEOUS. I'll definitely be continuing the process tomorrow!! Thanks so much for this! :D
K
I just purchased 2 beautiful cast iron pots at the flee Market and Ill be soaking them tomorrow till they are beautiful again. Thanks for the video!
You're an absolute pleasure to learn from! I'm inspired! I'm gonna go clean off my old neglected, rusty skillet right now. Great video!
I’m so glad someone showed a CI pan as rusty as mine were. Thanks, I’m finally on the right track because of your information 🤓
Did you get yours clean and looking new again?
Love using cast iron. Got into it just as the pandemic was starting up and it was great to make stuff that tasted like restaurant quality food instead of bland "I guess it's edible" food. It may take a bit to clean and re-season after cooking with it but I usually do that while cleaning the other stuff. Heat it up on the stove, walk away, scrape it clean under running HOT water, back on the burner and wipe dry with paper towel, add oil and wipe excess and walk away again for a bit, coming back to turn off the burner and let it sit and cool before putting it back. Pretty much takes care of itself other than minimal interaction with it
I had pretty much this same experience for almost two years and then i used a pan that was properly seasoned and found out that i shouldn't need to do that, it was quite the process to get to the point where it was seasoned but i think you might want to give it another shot, because once you get it, it's nearly effortless and just as nonstick as a new nonstick pan.
I had no idea vinegar could derust it!!! Im going to try this weekend😊!
Thank you so much for making this video. My boyfriend surprised me with doing the dishes and (bless his tender heart) washed my cast iron skillet and put it in the dishwasher to get it extra clean lol!
Mine too lol 😆
boys reading this: write that down, write that down!
my mother taught me everything, including this thankfully. god knows how much money i would've wasted if she didn't teach me to to care for a cast iron.
When I was a kid my mom threw out a cast iron set of pans because they were "too heavy" and she didn't know how to use them without sticking. It was tragic
Her loss is a lot of peoples gains. I used to pick up cast iron skillets at the Goodwill store for literally 50 cents a skillet. Not so much anymore once people caught on.
Yes, my sister done the same way.. it was not one, the whole set
man i hate cast iron because it takes SO much time and i basically just make pasta and chicken thigh and teh sauce for the chicken thigh sticks all lthe time the sauce is soy sauce,honey and butter
Cast iron is used in alot of Indian food.. im Indian btw .. so we have so many iron stuff here.. but it worth it.. slow cooking is what makes the food tasty here... once you figure out how it works.. u'll love it
@@retro2712 just cook the sauce on low heat and keep stirring. it shouldn't be sticking. maybe add a little hot water or some broth to thin it out, and let it thicken while it cools. I make sauces in my cast iron all the time with no issues.
Dude! So good and so easy! My skillet hasn't been taken care of in 9 years! In the garage, rusted to the point where the Titanic was envious! This process worked brilliantly! Thanks man! Two ridiculous meals in now!
Wow! I thought for sure my wife was crazy to try and restore the skillet, but I had a go at it, and Im floored how well it worked. I later apologized to my wife for doubting her and will continue to work on that... Anyway, thank you for sharing that.
Rapunzel really appreciates this video so she can spiff up her weaponry
I was literally just watching that part of Tangled and read your comment. Eeeeeerie.
Rapunzel must have has some wicked muscle to whip that cast iron pan around like that
Who knew right???
@@valeriemitchell9112 may be enchanted to weigh less ^_^
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂and now need that also in pubg, I always use throw pan to the enemy and makes me feel dying laughing a lot so satisfying to watch the pan flying into the enemies head 😂😂😂
Man, just found out this amazing channel. Nice recipes and you really make it look pretty easy, Greetings from Brazil
Thank you, I needed this, I was so sad thought I ruined my cast iron pan.
I’m glad I came across this video my daughter let water get in my new cast iron an it started to rust I didn’t wanna throw it away because it was just bought an my first one ever
I pretty much use cast iron exclusively when I cook. I do have some stainless steel pots for boiling and making more acidic sauces and what not. I really haven't had the need to ever use the couple of non-stick or teflon pans i have. Also... Grapeseed oil is a really good oil to use for seasoning your cast iron! Its right in the middle between canola and flaxseed when it comes to pricing at my local grocery store (King Soopers.. or any other Kroger chain store).
You have "mad" photography skills. Those shots of the finished pan are boy-tea-full.
And Yes,. A well seasoned cast iron pan if a beautiful thing to cook with.
(or...with which to cook.)
...nice grammar, but you can end with a preposition. Always could, despite what we were taught. :)
You're so helpful. I just love your channel. Thank you.
Thank you! I saved 2 beloved cast iron skillets!
"Let's season our eyes"
*puts paprika in eyes*
"with b-roll"
... now you tell me
That's why I season my pan, not my eyes.
What are you doing in here Kirino, r u gonna start cooking for Kyosuke ? :p
Ew u season your eyes with paprika,i season them with salt and pepper, keep it classic
ua-cam.com/video/x5dsp7poBmY/v-deo.html
Watch for true remedy
@@Pip-Boy-Broadcast I belong to the church of Kiririn... her cuteness knows know bounds, and her imouto power is high. She opened up freedom for wincest through out the world and her tsundere love is just...
But her cooking... her cooking... is crap...
Just thrifted my first cast iron skillet. So ready for this
Great guide! I also think knowing how to remode old seasoning is important. This can be done with a lye based cleaner like easy-off oven cleaner.
Gotta love a well seasoned CI! I season mine with frying Bacon that I will need, take cooked bacon out, drain rendered fat into a jar, then take paper towel and coat the inside very well, and the outside, too.
Wow, my previous comment was this time last year, and I recently invest in a 10"(#3) LODGE Skillet to compliment my 12" same brand Skillet....I cooked in it with Olive Oil, with the Skillet's factory seasoning, and food came out really good, and didn't stick. Yes, I always do the Egg test first.
Who knew a b-roll of cast iron pans would look so good
I didn’t notice his biceps at first, but I’m so glad three thousand of you pointed it out 🤤
whoa keep it down lola
Mats Gilon I’m dead 🤣🤣
Thirsty lol but hey i aint judging, have u seen him
I finally got rid of my tethlon coated pans! p-fasts can go to L! Now my cooking tastes like mom used to make! ☺️
I was like “wife left cast iron full of water in the sink... how do season..” saw you made a video and went “YUP. IM WATCHING THIS ONE” lol
Thanks man. Love your content.
ua-cam.com/video/x5dsp7poBmY/v-deo.html
Watch for true remedy
Thanks for this! I recently discovered that my housemate let my cast iron rust while I was out of town on a trip for work (it was a long project). This will come in handy when I attempt this over the weekend!!
I found a skillet in the grass a while back, super rusted. Took some time to clean it, and thanks to your help, it’s currently on its first coat of season.
I swear this is the only video I’ve seen that is done right!! ❤️❤️
Man, can I just say that I really appreciate the heart and quality in your videos? This is the first time I’ve actually watched you in depth, and it feels so personal 🤣 The natural lighting and sound is spot on. it might be a change of pace for most but it will catch on and I think it’s great; for the greater good! You’re making a movement here, Joshua! Keep on keepin on and thank you very much for changing the world 😬
Hey Josh, recently subbed your channel when I started making my own sourdough bread.
Just wanted to chime in here... I've been cooking for nearly 30 years, and regularly cook on cast iron. I verge on being a collector of old Griswold pieces, and my prized cookers are a #8 slant, a #9 2nd Series "ERIE," and a pair of #10 small block logos. I've tried a number of refinishing methods over the years, and read a number of articles on the internet and elsewhere on what the "best" refinishing method is. I've got very mixed feelings about flaxseed.
There is no doubt that flaxseed creates a beautiful and hard polymer layer, but I have personally had a lot of issues with flaxseed layers flaking off (I've also seen and heard this complaint expressed a lot from other people). I know that flaxseed became an incredibly popular way of refinishing cast-iron in the internet era, and there are a number of articles that come back as hits if you search the internet for how to refinish cast iron. My personal theory is that flaxseed became as popular as it did because of ebay-- not because it is actually the single best way to refinish cast iron pieces, but because it gives you what appears to be a beautiful finish very quickly, and that makes it easy for sellers to have a quick method of refinishing collector/museum pieces that may not ever be cooked on.
Now... this theory could easily be wrong, but there are a number of ebay sellers who tout the flaxseed method. One of the earliest articles I remember reading about the flaxseed method was written by someone who had heard of someone else using a carpentry-quality Linseed oil to refinish cast iron with spectacular results; since Linseed and Flaxseed oils are the "same," except an organic flaxseed is edible, the thought process makes sense. Both are high volatilty drying oils- that is, they form hard, strongly bonded polymer chains by losing water molecules from their CHO chains just by exposure to air. This is why linseed is so great for carpentry, and why, by extension, flaxseed makes a nice, shiny polymer coating on cast-iron. That original article was on sheryl canter's blog, and has since been republished by America's Test Kitchen, bringing even more attention to the flaxseed process.
(and just for clarity's sake, I used a 100% flaxseed -- I've tried barlean (as you pictured in your video) and a whole foods brand. Some sites say that using the "wrong" flaxseed can cause it to flake. Maybe, but I used the right one and had flaking in some cases.)
I've read other articles, written by collectors and cooks, who swear by grapeseed, olive oil, canola, or bacon grease. The panhandler is a website that sells cast iron, and they use some sort of coconut/crisco/beeswax blend or something. Everybody has some "best method," but Cheryl's blog puts forth an incredibly well written "best" recommendation based upon, as she puts it, logical deduction. That well-written article, and the additional recommendation from ATK, has put the Flaxseed method out there as the "best." Perhaps it helps that Flaxseed is a very expensive oil. I think it's likely people "feel" like they will get better results with something expensive, even if that's not true. Emotions are weird.
Best or not, when you get an incredibly hard surface, there is a downside. If acid manages to damage a portion of it, it opens it up to additional flaking. If a utensil damages it, same thing. Everyone knows that hardness and brittleness go together. See, I can do it too- nonsense statements based upon "logical deduction" and common sense. Alright, sarcasm aside- that's what does in fact happen.
Well.... collector or not, I cook on one Griswold or another between 4 times a week and every day. All of them have really nice polymer coats at this point, but only one of those is still a flaxseed coat that never chipped off. The polymer layers are formed of bacon grease, canola oil, olive oil, vegetable oil, peanut oil, butter- the stuff I mostly cook with- and whatever else stayed bonded to the pan's surface. The best coated pan I have, I have no clue what all went into building the polymer layers. The most recently refinished pan I've got used alternating layers of flax and bacon grease (conserved from Low Sodium bacon). No chipping there. Another was Canola. It's fine, too.
I'm not saying that Flaxseed is bad. Lots of people get good results with it. What I'm suggesting (in this incredibly long post) is that the way cast iron is cleaned and treated after it is cooked with and how it is cooked in, is probably a bigger deal in the long run. In fact, I'd recommend using all sorts of oils, because every time you cook with cast iron, something new gets bonded to the initial polymer layer.
Anyway... regarding care, there are probably just as many articles on the internet on what best care practices are as best refinish. Use a chain mail cast iron cleaner or not. Use Kosher salt or not. I do both. Use a small amount of water and soap, or don't. Sometimes I do that, too. Dry your pans over heat and rub a tiny bit of oil into them or not. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.
What I don't do is soak my pans in the sink or run them through the dishwasher- ever.
Alright.... now that the textwall is out of the way....I look forward to your next video. Keep up the good work!
ErichPryde Great comment dude, didn’t think there’d actually be an interesting and informative wall of text in a UA-cam video
I agree with gimme. These types of comments are far and few in between and much appreciated, as they show considerable effort aimed at collective progress. Thanks for the information.
This lines up with what I have read about seasoning cast iron with edible flaxseed oil. I have used Crisco, and have been reviewing the process. This year I am planning to season with olive oil and a 300/300/325 degree oven (3 times) for 40 minutes each time. The rest of the prep is pretty much the same. I have some old Griswold and Wagner pieces--they season well with the slow method.
@@user-mv9tt4st9k I always recommend just seasoning with what you cook with. I cook primarily with avocado oil because of its high smoke point, and fairly neutral, but still delicious, flavor. So, I just used that for most of them. Some pans I use other oils, though, so I used those.
I used the organic flaxseed oil method before, and it was a terrible idea! For one, it smells absolutely horrendous when it smokes, which it does very easily! Another, is it flaked constantly. I kept trying to add another seasoning layer once a week to build a strong coat over time, but pieces would flake and then cause a ton more to flake. Then foods would stick there and it made it where I could never really use the pan.
Since then, I season with whatever types of oils I tend to use in that pan in particular, and I never have any problems.
Thanks for not beating around the bush. Jeezus loueezus. Good info and funny too.
I love this video. I've seen some videos that use canola oil and other oils. Today, I used the Canola oil and after that, I used my favorite, which is Flax Oil. To me, I think it's the best one to use.
Beautiful cast-iron! Very informative, very thorough. Thanks for sharing!
I still have my grandmas’ cast iron griddle that 110 years old. Nothing better than cast iron. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Same. I've been using inherited cast cookware for 30years.