The Easy Guide On Seasoning and Restoring Cast Iron

[00:00] Whether you're new to cast iron or you have an old rusty one that you're

[00:02] about to throw away, like this sad, sad thing right here, then let me just

[00:06] stop you right there. Look, it's time to treat your cast iron right. Because when

[00:09] you do, you can turn this into, well, this.

[00:23] so look I get it cast iron can be super duper frustrating okay food can

[00:28] stick to it it gets rusty who wants to deal with that and you can

[00:30] just get a normal nonstick or whatever well first off nonstick's not the healthiest thing

[00:35] even though I use them all the time so the whole reason I did this

[00:38] video was because I left the cast iron pan outside for a week in the

[00:42] rain like for a week in the rain like you saw just a second ago

[00:48] it went from a rusty disgusting mess to like it was brand new all over

[00:52] again when you know how to treat cast iron it will last you pretty much

[00:56] forever assuming that it doesn't crack or break in half and when it's seasoned properly

[01:00] it's damn near non -stick let's just stick to the whole point here which is

[01:03] how to maintain season and even fix your cast iron now let's just do this

[01:08] damn thing shall we all right so let's start with this sad story right here

[01:11] now if you're not needing to de -rust or restore a rusty cast iron then

[01:14] you could totally skip ahead but I If you're not needing to de -rust or

[01:17] restore a rusty cast iron, then you can totally skip ahead, but I would really

[01:20] recommend watching this if you plan on keeping cast iron for a long time. Moving

[01:24] on. In case you didn't notice, this is a rusty -ass hoe. Now before we

[01:27] can season this, we need to get all this rust off. The stripping process can

[01:31] be done in a bunch of different ways, including an electrical current, but let me

[01:34] just say that I'm not going to purchase a car battery to clean my cast

[01:37] iron, alright? I found that soaking the cast iron in 50 -50 water and vinegar

[01:41] for an hour worked perfectly for my needs. You can also soak up to five

[01:44] hours if necessary. Now once this had a nice little acid - needs. You can

[01:47] also soak up to five hours if necessary. Now once it's had a nice little

[01:50] acid bubble bath nap, immediately sprinkle your pan generously with baking soda to neutralize the

[01:55] acid, then aggressively scrub this thing down every single square inch with a metal scouring

[02:00] pad, then optionally finish with some steel wool, you know, rinsing with water intermittently, until

[02:05] all of the rust is gone. As my mom would say, you need to put

[02:08] some damn elbow grease into it. Except she wouldn't say damn because she's a class

[02:12] act. Now once all your rust is gone, and I mean gone, which should take

[02:15] about five to ten minutes, immediately rinse

[02:22] again and dry well with a paper towel. It's okay if there's some black stuff

[02:25] on your towel, it'll stop doing that soon. Then place it over a high flame

[02:28] for a minute or until completely dry. Now if you don't have a gas stove,

[02:32] I had to go buy this thing, you can totally put it in an oven

[02:35] set to 350 for about five to ten minutes and that should help dry it

[02:38] out nicely. Okay, so now we're ready to season using oil, but you might be

[02:41] noticing something here. Your cast iron is dry, but now there's a thin veneer of

[02:44] rust after you're stripping and drying. It looks like it might not be a good

[02:48] spot. Just after you're stripping and drying, it looks like it might not be a

[02:52] good spot. Totally normal, and that is going to wipe right off with oil and

[02:55] stay off. But first thing you need is the right kind of oil. Now, out

[02:59] of all the oils, you know, you can use pretty much any oil. A lot

[03:02] of people like to use canola. I believe pure 100 % flaxseed oil works the

[03:06] best. Just make sure that it's not diluted with any other oils, and then it's

[03:09] the real kind, you know, the kind that's refrigerated. I know that it's a low

[03:12] smoke point oil, but that's kind of the point. Plus, it's a drying oil, and

[03:16] you need the fat to polymerize in order to create that nice, hard, and...

[03:23] glassy patina links in the description anyway so back to the cast iron that has

[03:27] a thin veneer of rust after drying it so we're gonna get that off right

[03:29] now squirt about a tablespoon of your flax oil onto either side of the cast

[03:33] iron doesn't matter and then wipe your entire cast iron using a paper towel and

[03:36] that oil you can apply more if needed and make sure to even get the

[03:39] handle and all that good stuff the walls the sides of your cast iron get

[03:43] everything now that it's wiped down and coated in oil get a fresh paper towel

[03:46] and wipe everything off really well and now it should be totally rust free and

[03:50] wipe everything off really well and now it should be totally rust -free. Now we're

[03:55] ready for the easiest part. We're ready to season it. This is the procedure you'll

[03:59] now use every time that you season a cast iron that is fully ready to

[04:02] season. Start off by applying a generous tablespoon or so of flaxseed oil and rub

[04:06] down every square inch of your cast iron using a paper towel. You know, applying

[04:10] more as needed. It's okay to have a little bit of a thick coating here

[04:12] and like I said before, ensure you're coating everything including the handles and the walls

[04:17] and the sides. Don't skimp here. Trust me. So now you've got an oil coated

[04:21] Besides, don't skimp here, trust me. So now you've got an oil -coated piece of

[04:25] cast iron. Now you're gonna take a fresh paper towel and wipe it all off.

[04:29] Yes, again, even if you just wiped off the rust, I know it seems redundant,

[04:33] you only want an extremely thin layer of oil. So legit, wipe it all off.

[04:37] There's still a nice thin layer of oil there, I promise you, don't worry. Then

[04:40] just place your cast iron in your oven on a rack upside down with foil

[04:44] laid underneath to catch any drippings, although I might mention that it should not have

[04:48] any drippings at all if you wiped it out correctly. Then just turn your oven

[04:52] on. any drippings at all if you wiped it out correctly then just turn your

[04:56] oven to 500 degrees fahrenheit or 260 degrees celsius or you know as high as

[05:00] your oven goes and once it reaches that temperature then set a timer for one

[05:04] hour now once that time is up turn off the heat and let the pan

[05:07] cool down with the oven until you can handle it with your bare hands you

[05:10] know probably about an hour and a half or so now you have a nice

[05:12] seasoning coat on your cast iron now if you want a good seasoning then you

[05:16] should really repeat this one more time and if you want an absolutely impeccable seasoning

[05:20] you can repeat this up to five or six times a good c impeccable seasoning

[05:24] you can repeat this up to five or six times. A good seasoning not only

[05:28] keeps your cast iron in amazing condition but it should almost have nonstick like qualities

[05:32] to it and it should have a nice glossy glass finish and now you have

[05:35] a beautifully seasoned piece or pieces of cast iron but first let's season our eyes

[05:41] with some b -roll

[05:58] all right guys and that is it so cast iron it's it's pretty it's really

[06:03] easy doesn't take that much hands -on time you know it's I know people don't

[06:07] want to spend the time but the reality is 99 % of that time is

[06:10] literally just sitting in the oven you just got to rub some oil on it

[06:13] super easy unless you're restoring it in which case that's gonna take a little elbow

[06:16] grease you know oh fun fact my new editing bay came in I don't know

[06:20] why I'm calling it an editing bay it's mostly just a kind of like a

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[06:36] know PC people are gonna come in here and be like PC is better well

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[06:44] guys and I just want to say thank you so so so so so much

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[07:02] me being thankful. It's right over there. I don't know. I don't even know if

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[07:12] saying? But anyway, if you enjoyed this video or you learned something, leave a like,

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[07:37] Laters, dudes. It's not, alright, we're done.