There are a lot of myths and legends around cast iron that are due to older circumstances that are no longer applicable. And spray on oil seems like a pretty efficient way to season given that it’ll apply a fairly light and even.
What? You want high smoke point oils for seasoning. You want to season the pans in temperatures higher than you would be normally cooking in, which means higher smoke point oils. I season all of my cast iron and carbon steel with canola, works great.
If you season with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, it’s going to burn the seasoning off under normal circumstances.
tl;dr Flax oil is best, low-smoke-point oils in general polymerize better, resulting in better and tougher non-stick coatings, but there’s more to it than just smoke point
I mean, there are a lot of types of spray cooking oil I’ve seen. Coconut, olive oil, and soybean (vegetable oil) are what I see most commonly, and none of those have particularly high smoke points.
A good seasoning should withstand some pretty brutal punishment. And even if it doesn’t, you can easily reseason the pan which you’ll have to do from time to time regardless.
I season my cookie sheets the same way. I’ve put them in the dishwasher, hit them with those steel wire soapy things, used barkeeper’s friend, not much has taken the seasoning off once it’s on there.
Except for lemon juice. Lemon juice fucks it right up.
I put mine in the dishwasher like maniac. And I don’t season it, I just spray pam on it. Works fine, purists are just being weird about it.
There are a lot of myths and legends around cast iron that are due to older circumstances that are no longer applicable. And spray on oil seems like a pretty efficient way to season given that it’ll apply a fairly light and even.
I seen a quote yesterday that I liked and it seems fitting here.
Tradition is not an excuse to not think critically.
I heard tradition is the dead telling the living what to do.
Not that all tradition is bad, but many are out dated or were never made for a good reason.
While you are technically correct, I think essentially tradition IS the excuse to not think rationally.
Most spray oils are high smoke point for frying, which is the opposite of what you want for seasoning
What? You want high smoke point oils for seasoning. You want to season the pans in temperatures higher than you would be normally cooking in, which means higher smoke point oils. I season all of my cast iron and carbon steel with canola, works great.
If you season with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, it’s going to burn the seasoning off under normal circumstances.
https://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/
tl;dr Flax oil is best, low-smoke-point oils in general polymerize better, resulting in better and tougher non-stick coatings, but there’s more to it than just smoke point
I mean, there are a lot of types of spray cooking oil I’ve seen. Coconut, olive oil, and soybean (vegetable oil) are what I see most commonly, and none of those have particularly high smoke points.
A good seasoning should withstand some pretty brutal punishment. And even if it doesn’t, you can easily reseason the pan which you’ll have to do from time to time regardless.
I season my cookie sheets the same way. I’ve put them in the dishwasher, hit them with those steel wire soapy things, used barkeeper’s friend, not much has taken the seasoning off once it’s on there.
Except for lemon juice. Lemon juice fucks it right up.
Lemon juice. Tomato sauce. That one egg that for some reason decided to be a real motherfucker.
I love my cast iron cookware, but it can be a fickle bitch.
Never really had a problem with frying eggs on cast iron, often do pancakes on it.
If the yolk directly touches the surface, the emulsifiers could potentially mess with things?
I thought the concern was rust more than anything
It is, it’s important to dry them quickly. Some dishwashers have a heated dry that could help, but I wouldn’t trust it personally.