How to season a cast iron skillet?

An outdoor grill won’t work for this because you want the oil to fill the pores of the iron, not burn.

Wash the new cast iron item thoroughly with soap and water after removing all stickers, price tags, etc. Preheat oven to hot (up to 500F).

Coat the entire surface of the skillet with lard or shortening.

Place a cookie sheet on the bottom oven rack to catch excess mess. Put the skillet on the top rack right side up. Leave for one hour. It will smoke, so turn on the fume hood or open the windows.

After one hour, take out the skillet and place on a wire rack to cool. Wipe out excess oil.

Coat the inside (cooking surface side) with lard or shortening. Place upside down on the top rack for one hour (still at high heat). Remove, let cool, wipe out excess grease. The skillet should be reasonably well seasoned. It will get even better with use.

To clean a seasoned skillet, use the same procedure as cleaning a wok. If you have to use soap and water, put it back on the burner to bake out any residual water and prevent rust. I put a light coating of shortening on the cleaned skillet as additional protection in storage

Remember that a seasoned cast skillet is not truly a nonstick surface, you should use some butter or shortening to prevent sticking, just not as much as conventional cookware..

I have done it successfully over a wood fire on a grate or sheet of 12-gauge steel plate after the fire has burned down to a hot but flameless fire. The procedure is essentially the same as described above.

The first one works, but remember that cast iron is…well…cast. Subjecting it to spontaneous temperature extremes can crack the pan. Place the pan in the cold oven, then turn on the heat.