New Guy in Nevada

Joshua Thompson

New member
Well I work at a thrift store so I have seen a lot of "bad" cast iron recycled and I started buying a few, seasoning them and donating them back just for resale but now I'm getting greedy. I now have a few irons that I'll fix up and use with my modern Lodge's. I'll be posting pics and my newest find is a cast iron kettle with no markings so far, I just wish I had it's lid but beggers can't be choosers.

Anyways I'm still learning so I'll be taking all of my iron and reseasoning them on my gas grill outside, the wife doesn't enjoy the smell and neither does the smoke detector lol
 
Welcome, Joshua! Would love to see pictures of your kettle!

As for the smell, you might try seasoning with a different oil. Maybe coconut oil? Or you could try using Crisbee.
 
I am pretty new to this but it is my understanding that you should not heat your skillet to the point of smoking. When you heat oil to the point of smoking it will leave a bitter taste in the seasoning from the burnt oil. I have found that using an oil smoke point chart has given me better seasons and less smoke in the house lol.
 
Don't know where you got that from but it's not true. You can season either above or below the smoke point, they're both valid techniques, just a matter of personal preference. Seasoning above the smoke point does not leave a bitter taste but the increased carbonization does leave darker results.

The word "seasoning" has several definitions. In regards to cast iron, it should be taken in the context of aged or experienced, such as seasoned firewood is firewood that's been left out for seasons (drying it longer so it burns better) or a seasoned professional is someone well experienced in their field. Seasoning on cast iron is polymerized oil that's built up over time from use; it fits that context.

But it provides protective and non-stick qualities, not flavor. If you hear references to cast iron seasoning in the context of how it affects flavor, raise a skeptical eyebrow.
 
EricC.
great points and I would agree it comes down to preference. However I would also say that a simple read through the seasoning section of this website would at the least indicate exceeding the smoking point is not really required. As for the bittering effects of taking oils beyond their smoke points, this is something that is more widely discussed in culinary applications then seasoning however to me it would be the same issues for both. I understand the basic process of polymers and carbons forming the coating ect but again one should look at all the events taking place in this process.

The excerpt below speaks to this issue, as referenced in an article, by Niki Achitoff-Gray, "Cooking Fats 101: What's a Smoke Point and Why Does it Matter?" found on the seriouseats . com website. Alton Brown also has a fairly good explanation of this issue on the good eats page.

"Now, when it comes to actually cooking with fats, smoking oil isn't always a bad thing—oftentimes, you'll want that wok or skillet ripping hot. But when a flavorful, raw oil or pool of butter starts sending up smoke, you're headed into a danger zone. Sure, smoke is pesky, but that's not why you should be concerned. Heated past its smoke point, that fat starts to break down, releasing free radicals and a substance called acrolein, the chemical that gives burnt foods their acrid flavor and aroma. Think watering eyes, a stinky kitchen, and bitter, scorched food" .
 
Right, exceeding the smoke point is not required, you can successfully season CI without exceeding the smoke point. The point of contention is whether exceeding the smoke point while doing a round of manual seasoning will result in bitter flavors when cooking on it later.

Your quote from seriouseats is not talking about flavors coming from established seasoning on CI, it's talking about cooking with oil. Yes, as the quote elaborates, heating oil past its smoke point while cooking with it is usually a bad idea, not just because of the flavor issues but also because of increased fire hazard. But oil polymerized into seasoning is different than cooking with that oil before it is polymerized.

Once it has been polymerized into seasoning it is no longer an ingredient, it is a cooking surface. It's not going to flavor your cooking. And that's what I was getting to earlier - the fact that CI seasoning is called seasoning can give one the impression that it influences flavor but that's a misassociation.

The factors that drive people to use different fats/oils and temps for CI seasoning are (aside from odor while seasoning) primarily durability and appearance, not flavor influence.

---------- Post added at 10:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:28 PM ----------

Anyway this is an intro thread and not really the appropriate place for this debate. Sorry Doug and OP.
 
I don't mind the debate, it's all good info that I need. And once I figure out how to post pics should I post them here or in the other sections?

As for the smell I think it was the oven since there is a lot of junk on the bottom and not been cleaned very often. It's normally too hot here in Nevada to clean ovens in the summer time......and it's still in the 80's here hehe.
 
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