Animal or Vegitable fat for seasoning?

[caseydog]

I am a diehard believer in using animal fat, like lard, to season cast iron. But a lot of web sites say to use Crisco and other vegitable fats.

I find that vegitable fats leave my CI sticky. I hate that.

Am I starting a Ford vs. Chevy kind of argument?

Let's hear form the rest of the CI folks here.

CD

[halfdome, Danny]

Olive Oil is the healthiest and I use it in the spray can, it's great Lard isn't allowed in this house. Danny

[doug hodder]

Caseydog...I use Crisco on mine, and they aren't sticky, meaning gummy from oil, at all...you just need to season them off hot/long enough so that any stickiness is gone....I think the big thing is...no salt in the oil used. I have a Cabelas 12" DO that isn't as smooth of a casting as some of the older vintage iron, but it still comes clean like it's non-stick...the one I got with the custom made lid however....I'm afraid it's going to be tough to cook in without much clean up...it's a rough casting, and I've done a bunch of seasoning on it. Kevin and Dean have access to a bead blaster, so can blast the face on a waffle iron without tearing it up...I've cooked with their iron and it's killer for non stick, when well seasoned...Doug

[pgwilli]

My 10th grade Biology teacher taught us in '68 that hydrogenated vegetable oil was worse for you than animal fat…
That said, I use Crisco on my DO’s. By the time you bond it on to the C.I. surface in the seasoning process, you r cholesterol won’t notice the difference…
And Danny you're right about cooking oil, but I hate to think about trying to use olive oil for any high heat applications.

[Eunice]

Olive Oil is the healthiest and I use it in the spray can, it's great Lard isn't allowed in this house. Danny

I had the same thought as Paul. Danny when you season/reseason your DO doesnt it smoke at high temps using the olive oil?
Eunice

[Dean in Eureka, CA]

After I do an initial seasoning of Crisco, all I use after that is olive oil...
Whether it be wiped on or sprayed on...
I pretty much lube up the inside of the oven with olive oil before cooking and if it's wet or tacky after washing with hot water, I throw it in the oven when I get home.
I don't like storing my iron with wet or tacky oil on it...
When I first started my stack, I did just what manufacturers advised... Wiped them down with oil, inside and out.
My stack glistened for about ten minutes, then I noticed something...
Wet oil on the outside of a DO is a great magnet for cat hair...

[doug hodder]

Dean....shave the cat...that's what I did to Daisy!!! doug

[Joanne]

I am a diehard believer in using animal fat, like lard, to season cast iron. But a lot of web sites say to use Crisco and other vegitable fats.

I find that vegitable fats leave my CI sticky. I hate that.

Am I starting a Ford vs. Chevy kind of argument?

Let's hear form the rest of the CI folks here.

CD

Hey CD,

I user Crisco for the initial seasoning (high temp 500 degrees or so). I use Pam or veggie oil after washing.

A lot of my recipes call for precooked hamburger or sausage, so that adds to the seasoning. In a sense we are all seasoning our ovens with animal fat every time we fry or sear meat.

The only criticism I've heard about using animal fat is the possibility that the oven could go rancid if you don't use it regularly.

Joanne

[asianflava]

My stack glistened for about ten minutes, then I noticed something...
Wet oil on the outside of a DO is a great magnet for cat hair...

Not if you have them in bags. Our cat climbs all over them but no hair stuck to the ovens.

I prefer vegtable oil. Used on my iron and it isn't sticky. I've heard that the bad thing about using animal fat is that it can turn rancid. Though, I don't know what kind of time frame they are talking about.

[caseydog]

I am not talking about using lard to lube my pan for cooking, or for a wipe-down after washing. I just use it to do the actual seasoning of the cast iron.

When cooking meats, I let the fat in the meat do the lubing, if there is enough fat in the meat. I try to use butter, in very small amounts, if I need a little extra fat while cooking in my seasoned cast iron.

When I cook in my All Clad try-ply cookware, I use olive oil as the fat. Same with my coated cast iron. I can wash those with soap, so the residue doesn't matter, anyway.

I just have found that using a vegetable fat for the actual seasoning always leaves my cast iron sticky. And when I had two dogs in the same house as the sticky cast iron, things got nasty in a hurry.

As for health concerns, I wouldn't think it would matter what you SEASON a pan with. I would never, ever COOK with lard. And, I only cook in my seasoned cast iron when I go camping, for the most part. I don't consider the healthiness of foods when I camp cook. My philosophy is to TRY to eat healthy every day, but when on teardrop time, bring on the red meat, bacon and eggs, and fry 'em up in butter.

CD

[halfdome, Danny]

Olive Oil is the healthiest and I use it in the spray can, it's great Lard isn't allowed in this house. Danny

I had the same thought as Paul. Danny when you season/reseason your DO doesn't it smoke at high temps using the olive oil?
Eunice

I haven't had to re-season my 2 D.O.'s they are fairly new. I think the Griswold waffle iron I just won I'm going to strip it and re-season it but maybe with Crisco as so many here have suggested and then cook with the olive oil. My meats are always the leanest available so I can't rely on them for seasoning too much. Danny

[jeepr]

I seasoned mine with Crisco. It seems to have left a good coating, not sticky. I know my Grandmother used good old lard for seasoning and cooking.. But I don't think her cast iron cooked any better than mine.