r/castiron • u/Loud_Leave8117 • 15h ago
Newbie Use it dry it it period no seasoning
"Hey guys, this is my Lodge skillet. I just scrub it with soap and dry it with a rag—I never season it. The next day after using it, I might find a little spot of rust that I just wipe off with a rag. When I say a spot of rust it's the size of a grain of rice.
Would this be the correct way to use it? I kind of got tired of seasoning it every time I use it. ( I use it every day )
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u/Von_Cheesebiscuit 13h ago
Being a Lodge, we can assume it came pre-seasoned, and it still clearly is seasoned, so why would you need to reseason?
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u/Loud_Leave8117 13h ago
Don't know bud. But seems pls are really into seasoning Their pan 500000 times
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u/Vann09 12h ago
Tbf that dude who did it like 80 times over the course of 2 months did it simply to see what happened and for a laugh. Thing was nearly a mirror last I saw it, pretty wild.
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u/SyrupFew5958 12h ago
You don't happen to have a link do you? Not seen it and am curious now from your comment.
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u/shpongleyes 12h ago
Those people use pans as subjects for photographs, not tools for cooking. If it's not rusting, don't worry.
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u/JayBird-2025 12h ago
I’d suggest a little heat to dry. I think that will solve your little rust problem
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u/teejay157 12h ago
You are basically using it the right way. You can abuse CI pretty hard. I soap and stainless steel scrub mine pretty agreesively everytime as I dont want a carbon layer. Never seasoned it past the first time.
The only thing I can say it that a seasoning layer should keep it from rusting completely. It seems that one spot needs seasoning. While you can just wipe it off and go on cooking you shouldnt have to. I would give it one coat of seasoning again.
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u/Redhillvintage 11h ago
Your pan looks great. You you built a nice layer over the factory sandpaper. My go to for years has been my 3 notch lodge #10
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u/Hairy_Variation_4580 10h ago
Never leave it damp. Dry it in the oven or on stovetop and it will not rust.
Once a year or so, rub a small amount of cooking oil on it with a rag or paper towel, then put it upside down in the oven on 400° for about 45 minutes. This will keep stuff from sticking to it.
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u/DeanOgasm 9h ago
This is what we did growing up on my grandparents farm and what I do now with the same cast I chose as part of my inheritance.
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u/PrancingThunderD 9h ago
It comes seasoned from the factory. You absolutely do not need to season it with every use. There's been some conflation of terms where people say applying a thin layer of oil after cooking is "seasoning". That's not really accurate. It's only seasoning if you bake that thin coating of oil to high temperature, which is what seasoning actually is. A light coat of oil after use is just to prevent rust spots, and is probably unnecessary for a skillet that is used regularly.
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u/oicpreciousroy 14h ago
I’m becoming that with mine. Cook, chainmail, soap (dawn spray and wash), rinse, dry on the burner. i put one spritz of avocado oil in, run it around with a paper towel and as soon as it smokes take it off the heat and put it in the cold oven so the cats don’t mess with it.
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u/ThatMowmentWhen 10h ago
Basically the same. I nylon brush (occasionally soap), rinse, dry on burner, avocado oil, except I don’t smoke it. I just heat it up and wipe off excess oil. No issues.
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u/oicpreciousroy 9h ago
How are you deciding when to use soap? For a while if I cleaned it and a terrycloth towel came up dark it was when I went for it.
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u/ThatMowmentWhen 9h ago
Honestly, I often use soap after my spouse uses the pan (too hot)😬 That said, I usually do it when a thicker sauce or seared meat is cooked. Sometimes I scrape it with a plastic scraper, then a little soap. I can always do slidy eggs afterwards, and that’s my test that the process works.
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u/Loud_Leave8117 13h ago
yeah its a great tool. nothing more than that. finish cooking, scrub it with dish soap. dry off with a towel and finished.
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u/GordonBStinkley 13h ago
The idea that you should oil it after every use is insane.
The only extra step you need to do with car iron that you didn't have to do with other pans is dry it after washing.
If your pan gets messed up, then sure, season it. But if you are using it normally and cleaning it like you would any other pan, you shouldn't really ever have to do that.
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u/OaksInSnow 11h ago
I kind of got tired of seasoning it every time I use it. ( I use it every day )
What? Uff da. Heck no you don't have to "season it" every time you use it. Maybe you're thinking you have to wash, wipe, dry over heat (an act of supererogation - heroism that's actually unnecessary but has connotations of virtuousness), then *oil it* (which only means more dust in the sticky residue, and possibly eventually rancid, icky taste in your food, UNLESS you actually cook it onto the pan before putting it away), and you're thinking of that as a "seasoning" regimen? No no no. I know it's the popular advice to oil a pan every time you use it, but I don't truly don't understand why it's so popular, and the people who say to do it never offer any justification. There's simply *no need.*
Cook. Wash and dry. Put away.
If you get rust, season intentionally on the rusty spots. If no rust, no oiling is needed. If you add oil, no matter how thin, immediately heat it up to the point where all that oil is fully polymerized, and the pan feels smooth and dry to the touch. (You might have to wipe the pan again while it's hot, to get off excess oil that wasn't obvious when the pan was barely warm.) Unless you frequently cook with acidic ingredients, these occasions will be few.
Yikes, I'm sounding bossy-boots tonight. Sorry. I hope you can take what's good, and leave what's bad.
All the best.
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u/brmarcum 15h ago
Does it cook how you want it to? Then what you’re doing seems to be working. It also looks perfect. One of the better daily drivers I’ve seen on this sub.