Best cooking oil for cast iron skillet? Update OP

[liz]

I usually use canola or olive oil, but I am finding the pan a bit "sticky" when I bring it out to use. Am I using the wrong oil??


******After reading all the replies, I think I need to season my pan. I have never done this :bag. I received the pan from my FIL who was cleaning house and gave it to me. Not sure if it was ever seasoned properly. I will admit to being occasionally lazy and using spray to coat the pan (oops). I usually dry the pan with a kitchen towel...is it really better to dry it in an oven or stovetop?

[psimpson3-5]

It's not the healthiest - but vegetable oil works best. (per america's test kitchen)

[AngelaS]

I've heard that animal fats work best. I use bacon grease in ours.

[alirebco]

Tallow, duck fat, bacon grease, coconut oil

[legaleagle]

Are you talking about seasoning it, or just cooking with it? Is your pan fully seasoned? My pans are old and very well seasoned, so unless it's something super simple like pancakes, I often wash out with water and soap, then heat to dry on the stove and give it a very thin coat with a vegetable based oil. Tackiness on an underseasoned pan usually means you just have too much oil left, period.

[BunnyBee]

Another bacon grease fan. I cook bacon strips in the oven, then drain the grease into a recycled glass jar. Otherwise I've used butter, coconut oil, peanut oil, and sunflower oil.

Are you using a canola spray? The stuff in the spray will leave a sticky film. You can scrub with salt and warm water, cook some bacon in it, drain, rinse and swipe, then dry on the stove and it will be good as new. Well, good as old. ;)

[citymama]

We use canola oil and olive oil for cooking with cast irons. Been doing so for 20 years and it's worked well.

[eagle]

its expensive and can only be found in certain stores, but i have personally had good luck with this method: http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/

[crayonblue]

Are you talking about seasoning it, or just cooking with it? Is your pan fully seasoned? My pans are old and very well seasoned, so unless it's something super simple like pancakes, I often wash out with water and soap, then heat to dry on the stove and give it a very thin coat with a vegetable based oil. Tackiness on an underseasoned pan usually means you just have too much oil left, period.

I do the same except no soap. I always store mine with a thin coating of oil.

[ladysoapmaker]

Are you talking about seasoning it, or just cooking with it? Is your pan fully seasoned? My pans are old and very well seasoned, so unless it's something super simple like pancakes, I often wash out with water and soap, then heat to dry on the stove and give it a very thin coat with a vegetable based oil. Tackiness on an underseasoned pan usually means you just have too much oil left, period.


I do the same except no soap. I always store mine with a thin coating of oil.

:yeahthat:

This is what I do. I've been using lard recently, but I've used canola, shortening, vegetable oil to season. (DS is allergic to soy so I try to stay away from regular shortening & veggie oil)

For regular cooking, I'll use canola, butter or olive oil. I personally make sure I wash the pan out immediately after dinner with hot water & a scrubby, no soap. I then let dry in a warm oven and coat with a little bit of oil/grease on a paper towel and leave in the oven as it cools down.

Jen

[Kindra178]

I almost never use water on skillet. I just pour the oil, warm it up and wipe it out. I use either olive or coconut.

[liz]

bumping for update in OP

[legaleagle]

Is the pan black and smooth or gray and bumpy? If it's black already, it should need just a little TLC to get in nice non-stick shape. If it's still gray, you'll need full on seasoning plus use to get it nice and smooth.

[div_0305]

I've been watching this thread. I tried to use cast iron a couple years ago, and finally had to give up. I bought Lodge Logic pre-seasoned pans, used vegetable oil, and still ended up with rust and sticky pans. We are vegetarian, so the only fat I could put on it was vegetable oil or butter. It just didn't take. I did the re-season steps in the oven with vegetable oil, and still, no success. I ended up throwing the nice pans away as they were always rusting. I have one brand new pan sitting in my pantry since then, thinking one day I might try again.

[psimpson3-5]

How to clean per America's Test Kitchen/Cooks Illustrated: http://www.cooksillustrated.com/howto/detail.asp?docid=26318&frtk=PY7na0P7VG3Sh0mBlq450y15pk81F6r3

How to season: http://www.cooksillustrated.com/howto/detail.asp?docid=26897&frtk=8F7eHNa67fGcpQN50JXoexkxuAJI5bsi

HOW TO CLEAN AND SEASON NEGLECTED CAST-IRON COOKWARE: http://www.cooksillustrated.com/howto/detail.asp?docid=19634&frtk=1C1N4TOD6nNq5bQrCRv42JRmp53a2H7j

I hope this works! I have a membership and tried emailing the links to myself. Please let me know if it doesn't work.....

[dylansnan]

Drying on a burner or in the oven is key to avoiding rust. Also, I have never found the pre-seasoned pans to function like an actual properly seasoned one.
(my favorite one I got off freecycle- black, shiny, awesome)

Edited, to say that stickyness may be coming from the spray- I'm really finding that that stuff seems to gum everythIng up.

[legaleagle]

There's a flax seed oil method that's supposed to work really well - I haven't tried it personally. Really, the biggest thing is thin, thin coats of oil (wipe it on with a paper towel, and then wipe it out again so it's almost dry) and heated enough to oxidize it. If it's too thick, it just goops up into the sticky gunk - you need to gradually fill in the pores of the iron with the oxidized oil.

Another option is to buy vintage cast iron on ebay - it's lighter than lodge because it's cast in a different method and you can get cleaned up pans that are as smooth as glass, with fairly reasonable prices. I believe Wagner and Griswold are supposed to be the nicest brands.

[ladysoapmaker]

I usually dry the pan with a kitchen towel...is it really better to dry it in an oven or stovetop?

I find it dries better in my humid climate and the thin layer of oil I place on it soaks in better.

I do need to reseason my skillet. My kids keep using it to cook spaghetti sauce in and then washing it out with soapy water.

Jen

[liz]

Is the pan black and smooth or gray and bumpy? If it's black already, it should need just a little TLC to get in nice non-stick shape. If it's still gray, you'll need full on seasoning plus use to get it nice and smooth.

I just looked at my pan. Overall it is dark black, but I do have a thin layer of oil on it. I know that before I put oil on it, it does appear to look really dry and a light-ish brown in the middle of the pan. Also, I can see that it is not super smooth, almost like their is some old residue on the edges, giving it a slightly bumpy appearance.

I am intrigued by the flaxseed oil method, but honestly the cost of the oil plus the amount of time it takes to properly seal it is making me very hestitant. I will look into using a different oil I think.

[AnnieW625]

Lard is easy to find it is also known as Manteca and is available in most markets. Now if you don't eat meat then this is an issue, but it works quite well. It will be a hell of a lot cheaper than seasoning with flax seed oil.

[legaleagle]

If its black underneath the pan is seasoned it just needs some re seasoning, which is way easier than starting from scratch. There are various ways of getting the gunk off, I've read of baking at high temps for a while, spraying with oven cleaner then leaving it in a plastic garbage bag for a week, haven't tried either myself. If its just on the bottom of the pan, you can just heat on the stove for a while and see if you can burn the extra off. You may want to wait until you'll be able to open the windows though. For people looking for a new pan, you may want to consider carbon steel instead, de buyer is the most common brand. Still needs seasoning but easier to do.