I accidentally left my first cast iron skillet in the oven when I ran the cleaning cycle. Thought it was ruined and tossed it. Such a huge mistake. That was before TH-cam. I started using flaxseed oil and noticed it flaked off a couple weeks ago. Guess I’ll move onto grape seed oil now. Now I know that if I mess up again it’ll always bee salvageable.
kinda like saying "found a stone outside, works great" By that I mean ofcourse it works, it's a cast iron pan, try doing that to a "high end pan with Teflon or dimon coated copper etched triple laminated carbon steel vacuum NASA pan" nothing cleans out like a cast iron and all it needs is a couple rounds of oil on it to become close to perfect again. It's not like you're ever going to "bend it", or "scratch it".
My moms been out of town for a bit and I’ve been cooking all my own meals using her trusty cast iron, I love it and i will never use a Teflon, I’ve also been watching you for years and Ian ever so grateful for your advice, blessings from Florida
When I broke down several cast iron pots and skillets and started fresh with them, that was the most efficient way. Use the oven, open the windows, and turn on tbe vent fans. I knocked out 3 large skillets and a camp pot in a single afternoon.
Got a Lodge cast iron skillet some years ago as a holiday gift. It's one of two pans I use to cook in. Other one's a stainless steel when I WANT food to stick so I got something to deglaze and turn into sauce afterward. The cast iron's absolutely my workhorse pan. Everything from breakfast eggs, fried chicken, kimchi pancakes, pizza and cornbread goes into that sucker. Hope some day to pass it on to children, mine or my brother's, so your advice and insight is well-cherished. Thank you kindly, Mr. Rollins.
Cowboy you and your videos may have just saved my cast iron pan from being a plinking target. I bought one a year ago and struggled. I am so glad I found your channel. Some 80 grit hand sanding and avocado oil, I now have a shiny golden bottom skillet to start over with.
I appreciate y’all posting your the cast iron videos. They helped me save a cast iron skillet I nearly ruined that my wife and I have had for over 20 years. I love cooking with grape seed and Avocado oils. They give food a nice flavor without being too heavy like vegetable oil. Thank you so much!
I season my cast iron with either bacon grease or Crisco, just like my mother, her mother and HER did. I have more than 50 pieces of cast iron, all of it well seasoned. I am 76 and two of my skillets belonged to my great grandmother! Each of my kids will get one when I am gone. Another great video, Kent!
Cowboy Kent, you got me started on cast iron, starting with an 8” skillet I use at home and keep on my motorcycle while road tripping/motocamping. After 500-600 miles on the road, it’s nice to get a small campfire started and pull out the cast iron skillet and fry up some sausage or a small filet if I find a nice looking cut while on the road. I’ll never use Teflon again.
I took a 80 grit sandpaper wheel on cordless drill, I smoothed out the insides of my lodge pans sides and bottom, I washed them afterwards and liberally applied grape seed oil , put them in the oven and baked em for about an hour at 400 . I let em cool down and did it again ... first observation is my cast iron turned a cool purple color and I went to cook with them they are so smooth and clean up is so easy it’s a joy to use now and usually I only have to wipe em out with paper towels to clean them mostly instead of long soaks to loosen up the crusty build up from my cooking... best thing I’ve ever had done to make them user friendly!!!
After many years of cooking exclusively with cast iron I've come to this very same conclusion of using Grapeseed oil to start and Avocado/Olive oil for regular care. Wise advice Cowboy, thank you for confirming for me what I have been preaching. They all tell me to use shortening... and I personally have never had good results with shortening.
Love this channel you guys have filled my family's belly many times they absolutely love your biscuits and gravy recipe I do too .. I made for my mother and stepfather one night and there was no leftovers and I made a double batch so yes many things you have taught me how to make are greatest hits with my family .. Thanks it helps bring us together ...
Mr Kent, hello and happy new year! Sir, I've not steered you wrong before and I won't start, now! 😀 I've been working with, cleaning, fully stripping (electrolysis) and reconditioning and maintaining cast iron since the 70s. The two best things for seasoning and maintaining are beef tallow (no, it doesn't go rancid, ever, if it's done properly, as with avocado oil) and the white, "solid" coconut cooking oil that comesin a jar, especially for cooking and a post-cook wipe down. It's great and doesn't spoil or get tacky. It converts all the way, like tallow. YES, I understand why pork lard is not good, it's not as pure and fine or full of "invisible goodness" (unless you're making biscuits) which is why it's also not used for candles. It doesn't render down as fine as beef. Beef tallow is by far the *best* as it renders to a very pure, fine fat, which melts instantly to clear nothingness when you touch it (lard just gets goopy) and it polymerizes very well, which is why it's used in candles and, it lasts *forever* in the pan without peeling, chipping, flaking... Or rotting, as long as it's properly maintained and cleaned after cooking. And talk about deep-frying, do your French fries in tallow and you'll swear you just took the way-back machine to a 1973 McDonald's! (That's how they did their fries until the vegans got mad). 😉 Beef tallow renders 100% pure and keeps forever in fridge or freezer and is great for frying anything in your pan and bonds better than even oils a d just adds to the seasoning of the pan (and especially flaxseed oil, it WILL come off, eventually). After I've cooked and then cleaned my still warm pan, wiping down with a half teaspoon or so of coconut oil (will be just below melting at room temp) and giving it just a very thin coating is sufficient. If those aren't available I use avocado oil. For actual seasoning in the heat and depending on existing level of seasoning, if any, two to three, maybe even four very fine coats of tallow, placed upside-down on a rack and run at 400°-425°f. for 1hr minimum, preferably 1.5 hrs and allowed to cool to room temp slowly, *without* opening the door, gives a bullet proof seasoning. Vegetable oils (avocado is a vegetable) and anything that I'd applied too thickly will smoke, a lot. That's how to tell you used too much! But very fine coats of tallow will not smoke very much at all. I promise, dad! 😉 The pioneers did it, grammar did it, everyone did it with tallow (if you cook beef and cool it, the white, hard layer of fat is tallow) and bear grease works even better 😆 All of the things that rot are rendered out of the fat so no rotting. I have pans seasoned in tallow that hang or sit on my wire storage rack for *years* and never has any issues, looking like the day it was done. Those pans are black as coal and dry to the touch. My grandmother used tallow, not lard for that very reason. Lard can't do that, you're right. After you've cooked enough steaks and burgers, there will be a slick, polymerization layer of "plastic" feeling material on the bottom of the pan that you could skate on, it's so non-stick. If you burn something, use a wooden tool and scrape any stuck bits loose from the hot pan. If it's stubborn, add a teaspoon of regular salt and scrub with it, it will loosen anything stuck on and you can just wipe the pan clean. if you do have to wash the pan, using hot water and soap is just fine, just be sure to rinse well and dry on a warm stove for a few until the pan is completely dry. That's all you ever have to do. Don't over think it! I know you advise against it but, you *can* use something like safflower (Wesson) oil to season *IF* you use veery thin coats and do it in the oven as I describe above. It won't smoke too badly at all, if thin because there just isn't that much in there. And it will stick without getting goopy until you start cooking your steaks! I've got a couple of Dutch ovens I did with oil, lasted forever. It's just tricky and has to be oven "cured."
I have several cast iron skillets. BSR, Wagner, Wapak, even a pre-1924 Griswold. All have been seasoned with Avacado oil and are so slick that nothing sticks. Thanks much sir for helping me to get my pans as good as gold!
Switched over to cast iron recently and your videos made it so easy to clean up and season my new lodge cast iron. I sanded it down, got it seasoned, and the wife is astonished how nonstick it is, even for scrambled eggs!
Saw this quote somewhere and immediately though of you and Shannon - "The warmth from their hearths is matched only by the warmth of their hearts." Thanks for being there for us all.
You sir are a gift to us all! Thank you for taking your time out of the day to explain cast iron treatment and maintenance along with your many, many delicious recipes. God Bless the Cowboy!
OUTSTANDING! I’m drooling like crazy. That looks fantastic. I’d add a little shredded lettuce, some shredded cheese, and a little more white onion. Guess that’s Sunday dinner here! WOW!
Yep, grapeseed oil worked great for me on my Stargazer skillets. I use all the oils you recommend for cooking except for the grapeseed. Thanks for getting me back into cast iron!
I grew up watching my grandmother and my mother cook with the cast iron skillets that sit on my stove today. I use them constantly and wouldn't have anything else. You have some good videos on taking care of cast iron and I love your cooking videos. That was where I found out how to cook the best prime rib ever. Happy New Year to you and Shannon.
🙏thank you brother, god bless you!! you just helped a u.s veteran in a big way!! i oiled my pans and thought it was enough, but my cornbread kept tasting metallicky and nasty..ohhh lord, i sure am glad i ran into your videos, you sure taught me alot sir!! thank you for your service and god bless you and your family. hugs from jessie in texas. u.s army veteran. 61 years old.
Just bought a DutchOven for my Nefue made him watch a real cowboy show how to season the Cast Iron while I got the fire started Now he watches your videos all the time ❤
I have cast iron handed down through 3 generations. It is as slick as teflon. I rarely use anything else. I recently bought a new skillet so this video (and playlist) are right on time. Thank you!
With avocado oil, it can put off a strong odor when you season with it. Knowing from experience. Works good but I prefer to use it for only cooking, plus it’s a bit expensive lol
I Love You! I Love You! I Love 💘You Shannon and the Pups! Watching you be yourself and teaching us to be better cooks! Thank you from me and All the Other Friends I Keep in touch with of mine in the USMC! Your Family Makes our Wednesday!
I've been using Grape seed oil for years, after it's good and seasoned, a little bit goes a long way. I've never used avocado oil, but I may have to give it a try. I cook with butter when I fix eggs and taters I think it tastes better. Take care everyone and stay safe.
I just love you & Miss Shannon! I also love all of your cast iron videos. I've learned so much from you! I used to season with Crisco exclusively. Then came canola oil for a long time. Had a brief stint with flaxseed oil, but didn't care lots for it. Now I'm all about the avocado oil! I have better luck with it. Plus, Sam's Club has a big bottle for $8. I wasn't lucky enough to get any of my mom's or grandmas' cast iron. But I've been buying new & old pans for my collection. Love them!! My favorite way to cook. God Bless you, Kent & Shannon. Thanks so much for all of the great videos. Have a wonderful new year!!
Thanks Kent as former chef for a decade, I was always curious but rarely used cast iron, now in my non professional cooking life I appreciate knowing the ways we did things and why we did them i.e. bacon grease etc. I used grape-seed oil (for high temp frying) normally due to its high smoke point if I remember right 475 degrees Fahrenheit, or darn close to that, good to know that other things are possible, and Ill continue to use grapeseed oil on my cast iron pots and pans! Awesome tips :) God bless and keep on keeping on!
Since I took over cooking duties from my wife I have started using cast iron more and more. Heck I make all kinds of sauces in my cast iron pan all the time. These pans are well seasoned my mom and dad used to use. Love them. Now to throw most all of the teflon crap out. Thanks for the video series.
As someone without a father figure or any present parents , sir i thank you for everything youve taught me through your videos as well as your great joyous attitude . God bless you .
I use the original Larbee Stick which is lard and beeswax. I use it for seasoning and after every time I cook. I avoid all seed (veggie) oils for health reasons. Second choice would be Avocado oil.
I like avocado oil as grapeseed is hard to find where I live. I make my own Ghee from Kerrygold butter and use it for my cast iron. It has a very high smoke point as well. I use my cast iron everyday. I can flip eggs in my skillets.
We have an old Griswold dutch oven that was my wife's grandmothers. We use it both for baking bread and making beef stews. Yesterday I went to an old farm estate sale near where we live anf found a 12" large logo Griswold Skillet for $2. Yes, that's correct. It was dry and dirty but no rust or other damage. I cleaned it and seasoned it similar to your instructions, and it's perfect. $2.
Thank you, Cowboy Kent. I have to say, you got me back into small cast iron pots and pans in my kitchen again, after all these years of watching your videos. I might never be an outdoor master cooker, like yourself, but it's a start. And I'm going to start buying some grapeseed oil, ASAP. Seems I have too much vegetable oil laying around. Happy New Year to you and your family.
I have really struggled with my cast iron they were handed down to me and they weren't very well taken care of I'm slowly getting them better now that I've been watching your cast iron videos
Happy new year Mr.Rollins. All the best for the hounds, the misses and the Cowboy in these trying times. Many more great recipes to be expected, The Cowboy is in his Prime :D............................The cast iron I am used to seasoning are those Small block chevy's
What a great video thanks!!! 👌🙏🙏🧿🧿🧿 I use avocado oil to season my cast iron and I think it comes out to perfection! Chef's kiss! 👌😄I really love it and use it for the initial seasoning and do the seasoning process 4x and its great I'm loving it
Tip I learned the hard way. Don't put food in your cast iron until the skillet is up to temperature. Keeps things from sticking. Stay with it and learn how to cook in it and it will be the best cookware you will own.
@@darthtripedacus1 thanks yes IV always wanted to use cast iron grandad swore by it and I just would burn everything in one but I now have better knowledge of how to use and will do better now thanks for the tip that is probably why every time I cooked in cast iron the food stuck and would burn
Coincidence I have been watching your cast iron videos alot lately after getting a new Lodge dutch oven, hands down the best advice for cast iron maintenance on the internet right here on this channel.
21+ year service member here and THANK YOU!! I use these 2 exclusively and now I feel validated. I'm SO glad to have someone everyone respects (you) to point to and say "this is the way to do it" and to do it a little bit every time you wash and dry your pans after cooking. Okies gotta stick together and now we see eye to eye at last. That flax seed is brittle and I don't like the little black bits in my food. Love your channel, brother. Keep the faith. Maybe next time I get home I can come and see you work in person. I rarely need oil for cooking because my pans are nice and slick but I use it after cooking faithfully.
I found your channel after trying to restore some cast iron a week ago. I know your whole channel and love the way you talk. Thank you for all your wisdom. Please try some native recipes from me and my brothers
I like carbon steel pans too. Not as heavy and react faster to heat change. You still have to season them just like cast iron. I bought a matfer bourgeat pan made in France years ago and it’s been a great pan.
Wow this is my first video from this creator and I thought it was a little adorable wholesome channel. Went to the page. Over 2M subs 😳. Wow. Love it. Nope to binge your older vids. Thank you for the knowledge!
If you can't get Grapeseed Oil or Avocado Oil, Canola Oil is also excellent. It has a high smoke point and easy to find in your local grocery store. I makes an polymer bond with the iron, then, as additional layers are added, the oil bonds with those as well. Flaxseed Oil is not so great; as the layers build up and age, they crack, allowing water to seep through to the iron to rust it. sidebar: glad you mentioned the temp at 250-255 degrees. A digital thermometer is essential, and very cheap, when cooking.
Thank you for this info. I have a new Blackstone griddle I’m going to season for the first time this weekend. I’m going to do a few coats of grape seed oil first and then a few coats of avocado oil to finish.
Thanks Kent and Shannon! Always used olive oil. Have my grandma's circa 1890 Wagner Sydney , my Mom's circa 1950 BSR and a bunch of Lodge. I fill them with your recipes every chance I get.
I like the extra video in the week and the extra changes like adding music, not crazy about the location. I think of you as more of an outside cooking in the fields or by water. Thanks for the tips!
I would like to say thank you to all veterans as well! My 98-year-old grandma seasoned her cast iron skillet with lard and bacon grease and it never let her down she got it from her mother so it had to be near 90 years old and it was slicker than a hog's ass.
@@tomr3074 yeah he’s wrong to a point. I use lard or duck fat. I guess if you only use the cast iron only for camping in the summer it would get rancid sitting around all winter but I use my pans(8 inch and 10 inch) and Dutch oven pot quite a bit 🥴. I even use mine for eggs
I always use clarified butter to season my cast iron every day. It has a high burning point 485 degrees and it's got a two year shelf life so it does not get rancid. After using pan and it's clean, I warm it a little put the clarified butter on and use a paper towel to wipe it off.
Thank you Cowboy Kent for caring Enough to share what you think is the best way to care for your. cast iron and when you make a change you are not scared to say it’s going to be a great year that area you are in would make a great kitchen love the bricks
My mom cooked on cast iron when I was a kid. She never seasoned the pan and everything came out black and too chewy. This is why I can eat anything. Black was a food group.
Hi Jean 👋 I hope my comment didn't sound as a form of privacy invasion your comment tells of a wonderful woman with a beautiful heart which led me to comment I don't normally write in the comment section but I think you deserve this complement. If you don’t mind can we be friends? Thanks God bless you….
I use a mix of Avocado oil and bee's 🐝 wax right out of the hive. Mixing wax and lard or bacon greece is something my great grandfather taught my father and he taught me. I switched to Avocado oil because you showed me years ago and i really like the way I comes out. I only have 1 cast-iron skillet but i use it every time i cook. I hope to one day get a few nice ones like you showed in a video but I'm disabled and there are usually more important to buy with my limited income. I am the 3rd male born so i will not be getting the old skillets when they are passed down.
I love your videos. Watching how to cook using simple techniques and equipment gives my courage to try without relying on expensive kitchen appliances that can be somewhat intimidating to this beginner.
I heard someone mention something about preparing a cast iron pan, Didn't know what they were referring too, but I do remember one rusting on me...I appreciate this video today and understand why it's necessary to oil and prepare cast iron...Thanks for the video..
I'm w/you, Cowboy Kent. EVO is great as a seasoning 'ole'. Clean yer skillet with salt, a little water and either a chain mail (if not too dirty) or a metal scrubby if it's a real mess. Then on medium heat till the pan's old seasoning juuust starts to smoke. Kill the heat, use EVO. Works great and does not turn rancid even if the pan's hung up for years.
Haha! I found the same thing with Flaxseed oil and then my wife always started coughing when I cooked with olive oil but she REFUSED to buy anything else. I started buying Avocado oil and she stopped coughing and noticed that my seasoning is getting better and better. The only other thing I use is the Solidteknics seasoning bar for initial seasoning.
I've always used Crisco, Pans are great. The downside is vegetable oil and Crisco are not oils from vegetables as the name suggests, they are seed oils and studies have proven seed oils are not healthy for humans. Many people claim there is nothing wrong with consuming seed oils, I'm sorry they must not be up to date on what the latest studies reveal. Google Seed Oils, nothing more, just the two words, I recommend seeking out articles with study-backed factual information as opposed to what someone thinks.
I agree with your methods and especially the frying. If my wife scrubs the pan a bit too clean, I find and excuse to fry something. From what I know about the expansion of metal, this really should work best.
Been a big fan of the avocado oil. That's what I use every day for my reseasoning/cleaning regiment. Olive oil/vegetable oil for cooking, but at the end of the night I always reseason with avocado oil.
Folks, we tried something different on this video and added some ambient background music- did you like it?
Love the new set and the ambient background music! Merry Christmas and happy new year from Pittsburgh!
No I do not want to hear anything other than you or Shannon 🥰
I like it! Just as long as it doesn't get too loud as to distract from your commentary
Feels like Pro status Kent 👍
Like it a lot, but maybe like a click lower in the background.
I've found a tall cast iron pan buried in a yard. Cleaned the dirt and rust out, seasoned it, and it works perfect.
Buried treasure! 🙌🏻
I accidentally left my first cast iron skillet in the oven when I ran the cleaning cycle. Thought it was ruined and tossed it. Such a huge mistake. That was before TH-cam. I started using flaxseed oil and noticed it flaked off a couple weeks ago. Guess I’ll move onto grape seed oil now. Now I know that if I mess up again it’ll always bee salvageable.
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure ! Great find enjoy
Who buries a good cast-iron skillet?
kinda like saying "found a stone outside, works great"
By that I mean ofcourse it works, it's a cast iron pan, try doing that to a "high end pan with Teflon or dimon coated copper etched triple laminated carbon steel vacuum NASA pan"
nothing cleans out like a cast iron and all it needs is a couple rounds of oil on it to become close to perfect again.
It's not like you're ever going to "bend it", or "scratch it".
My moms been out of town for a bit and I’ve been cooking all my own meals using her trusty cast iron, I love it and i will never use a Teflon, I’ve also been watching you for years and Ian ever so grateful for your advice, blessings from Florida
Thanks so much and it is the best thing to cook with
@@ghostsamongus3370 bruh I’m 19
@@ghostsamongus3370 yeah I’ve been watching him since I was 16, you sound weird as hell, stop projecting.
Good job son
@@VinelandVinny he is a weirdo bro
Thank you! Been telling my kids this. They don't need to smoke up the house putting cast iron in the oven! I always season stove top. Easy!
When I broke down several cast iron pots and skillets and started fresh with them, that was the most efficient way. Use the oven, open the windows, and turn on tbe vent fans. I knocked out 3 large skillets and a camp pot in a single afternoon.
Got a Lodge cast iron skillet some years ago as a holiday gift. It's one of two pans I use to cook in. Other one's a stainless steel when I WANT food to stick so I got something to deglaze and turn into sauce afterward. The cast iron's absolutely my workhorse pan. Everything from breakfast eggs, fried chicken, kimchi pancakes, pizza and cornbread goes into that sucker. Hope some day to pass it on to children, mine or my brother's, so your advice and insight is well-cherished. Thank you kindly, Mr. Rollins.
Cowboy you and your videos may have just saved my cast iron pan from being a plinking target. I bought one a year ago and struggled. I am so glad I found your channel. Some 80 grit hand sanding and avocado oil, I now have a shiny golden bottom skillet to start over with.
I appreciate y’all posting your the cast iron videos. They helped me save a cast iron skillet I nearly ruined that my wife and I have had for over 20 years. I love cooking with grape seed and Avocado oils. They give food a nice flavor without being too heavy like vegetable oil. Thank you so much!
Our pleasure!
Please research harm of seed oils
I season my cast iron with either bacon grease or Crisco, just like my mother, her mother and HER did. I have more than 50 pieces of cast iron, all of it well seasoned. I am 76 and two of my skillets belonged to my great grandmother! Each of my kids will get one when I am gone. Another great video, Kent!
Crisco bad
@@MazenAtieh I have several pans almost 100 years old that were seasoned with Crisco.
I have by far the best luck with bacon grease, most of the vegetable oils either get sticky or bead up.
crisco is the worst stuff
@mrniusi11 My 100 year old skillet seasoned with Crisco respectfully begs to differ.
I love how thorough you are. So many sites suggest lard, but you answered my concern. Thank you!
Skillets I use crisco season 475 in oven. Dutch ovens crisco do 350 for longer time. Best cooking with butter to build seasoning.
Cowboy Kent, you got me started on cast iron, starting with an 8” skillet I use at home and keep on my motorcycle while road tripping/motocamping. After 500-600 miles on the road, it’s nice to get a small campfire started and pull out the cast iron skillet and fry up some sausage or a small filet if I find a nice looking cut while on the road. I’ll never use Teflon again.
And u get your extra iron in there too!
I took a 80 grit sandpaper wheel on cordless drill, I smoothed out the insides of my lodge pans sides and bottom, I washed them afterwards and liberally applied grape seed oil , put them in the oven and baked em for about an hour at 400 . I let em cool down and did it again ... first observation is my cast iron turned a cool purple color and I went to cook with them they are so smooth and clean up is so easy it’s a joy to use now and usually I only have to wipe em out with paper towels to clean them mostly instead of long soaks to loosen up the crusty build up from my cooking... best thing I’ve ever had done to make them user friendly!!!
After many years of cooking exclusively with cast iron I've come to this very same conclusion of using Grapeseed oil to start and Avocado/Olive oil for regular care. Wise advice Cowboy, thank you for confirming for me what I have been preaching. They all tell me to use shortening... and I personally have never had good results with shortening.
Love this channel you guys have filled my family's belly many times they absolutely love your biscuits and gravy recipe I do too .. I made for my mother and stepfather one night and there was no leftovers and I made a double batch so yes many things you have taught me how to make are greatest hits with my family .. Thanks it helps bring us together ...
Our pleasure!
Mr Kent, hello and happy new year!
Sir, I've not steered you wrong before and I won't start, now! 😀
I've been working with, cleaning, fully stripping (electrolysis) and reconditioning and maintaining cast iron since the 70s.
The two best things for seasoning and maintaining are beef tallow (no, it doesn't go rancid, ever, if it's done properly, as with avocado oil) and the white, "solid" coconut cooking oil that comesin a jar, especially for cooking and a post-cook wipe down. It's great and doesn't spoil or get tacky. It converts all the way, like tallow.
YES, I understand why pork lard is not good, it's not as pure and fine or full of "invisible goodness" (unless you're making biscuits) which is why it's also not used for candles. It doesn't render down as fine as beef.
Beef tallow is by far the *best* as it renders to a very pure, fine fat, which melts instantly to clear nothingness when you touch it (lard just gets goopy) and it polymerizes very well,
which is why it's used in candles and, it lasts *forever* in the pan without peeling, chipping, flaking... Or rotting, as long as it's properly maintained and cleaned after cooking.
And talk about deep-frying, do your French fries in tallow and you'll swear you just took the way-back machine to a 1973 McDonald's! (That's how they did their fries until the vegans got mad). 😉
Beef tallow renders 100% pure and keeps forever in fridge or freezer and is great for frying anything in your pan and bonds better than even oils a d just adds to the seasoning of the pan (and especially flaxseed oil, it WILL come off, eventually).
After I've cooked and then cleaned my still warm pan, wiping down with a half teaspoon or so of coconut oil (will be just below melting at room temp) and giving it just a very thin coating is sufficient. If those aren't available I use avocado oil.
For actual seasoning in the heat and depending on existing level of seasoning, if any, two to three, maybe even four very fine coats of tallow, placed upside-down on a rack and run at 400°-425°f. for 1hr minimum, preferably 1.5 hrs and allowed to cool to room temp slowly, *without* opening the door, gives a bullet proof seasoning.
Vegetable oils (avocado is a vegetable) and anything that I'd applied too thickly will smoke, a lot. That's how to tell you used too much! But very fine coats of tallow will not smoke very much at all. I promise, dad! 😉
The pioneers did it, grammar did it, everyone did it with tallow (if you cook beef and cool it, the white, hard layer of fat is tallow) and bear grease works even better 😆
All of the things that rot are rendered out of the fat so no rotting.
I have pans seasoned in tallow that hang or sit on my wire storage rack for *years* and never has any issues, looking like the day it was done. Those pans are black as coal and dry to the touch. My grandmother used tallow, not lard for that very reason. Lard can't do that, you're right.
After you've cooked enough steaks and burgers, there will be a slick, polymerization layer of "plastic" feeling material on the bottom of the pan that you could skate on, it's so non-stick. If you burn something, use a wooden tool and scrape any stuck bits loose from the hot pan. If it's stubborn, add a teaspoon of regular salt and scrub with it, it will loosen anything stuck on and you can just wipe the pan clean. if you do have to wash the pan, using hot water and soap is just fine, just be sure to rinse well and dry on a warm stove for a few until the pan is completely dry. That's all you ever have to do. Don't over think it!
I know you advise against it but, you *can* use something like safflower (Wesson) oil to season *IF* you use veery thin coats and do it in the oven as I describe above. It won't smoke too badly at all, if thin because there just isn't that much in there. And it will stick without getting goopy until you start cooking your steaks!
I've got a couple of Dutch ovens I did with oil, lasted forever. It's just tricky and has to be oven "cured."
I have several cast iron skillets. BSR, Wagner, Wapak, even a pre-1924 Griswold. All have been seasoned with Avacado oil and are so slick that nothing sticks. Thanks much sir for helping me to get my pans as good as gold!
Switched over to cast iron recently and your videos made it so easy to clean up and season my new lodge cast iron. I sanded it down, got it seasoned, and the wife is astonished how nonstick it is, even for scrambled eggs!
Saw this quote somewhere and immediately though of you and Shannon - "The warmth from their hearths is matched only by the warmth of their hearts." Thanks for being there for us all.
Happy Sunday!
Thanks for the visit
These are the best CI videos on the internet...hands down. Thank you Sir!
You sir are a gift to us all! Thank you for taking your time out of the day to explain cast iron treatment and maintenance along with your many, many delicious recipes. God Bless the Cowboy!
OUTSTANDING! I’m drooling like crazy. That looks fantastic. I’d add a little shredded lettuce, some shredded cheese, and a little more white onion. Guess that’s Sunday dinner here! WOW!
Yep, grapeseed oil worked great for me on my Stargazer skillets. I use all the oils you recommend for cooking except for the grapeseed. Thanks for getting me back into cast iron!
I use lard. Works awesome.
I grew up watching my grandmother and my mother cook with the cast iron skillets that sit on my stove today. I use them constantly and wouldn't have anything else. You have some good videos on taking care of cast iron and I love your cooking videos. That was where I found out how to cook the best prime rib ever. Happy New Year to you and Shannon.
🙏thank you brother, god bless you!! you just helped a u.s veteran in a big way!! i oiled my pans and thought it was enough, but my cornbread kept tasting metallicky and nasty..ohhh lord, i sure am glad i ran into your videos, you sure taught me alot sir!! thank you for your service and god bless you and your family. hugs from jessie in texas. u.s army veteran. 61 years old.
Thank you for your service
I absolutely love cast iron cooking. I wish I still had a space for a grill but we had to give that away. Thank you Kent.
What a wonderful surprise. I just got a cast iron last week and I was thinking about how to best season it. Thanks a lot!
Hope you enjoy it! and glad to help
Just bought a DutchOven for my Nefue made him watch a real cowboy show how to season the Cast Iron while I got the fire started Now he watches your videos all the time ❤
Be sure and tell him thanks
I have cast iron handed down through 3 generations. It is as slick as teflon. I rarely use anything else. I recently bought a new skillet so this video (and playlist) are right on time. Thank you!
With avocado oil, it can put off a strong odor when you season with it. Knowing from experience. Works good but I prefer to use it for only cooking, plus it’s a bit expensive lol
I Love You! I Love You! I Love 💘You Shannon and the Pups! Watching you be yourself and teaching us to be better cooks! Thank you from me and All the Other Friends I Keep in touch with of mine in the USMC! Your Family Makes our Wednesday!
Thanks for this, I just got a cast iron Dutch oven for Christmas and I’m looking forward to seasoning it.
Hope you enjoy
Me as well and a good skillet
The music is great, just don't let it get too loud to drown out your great commentary. Happy New Year from Arlington, Texas!
I've been using Grape seed oil for years, after it's good and seasoned, a little bit goes a long way. I've never used avocado oil, but I may have to give it a try. I cook with butter when I fix eggs and taters I think it tastes better.
Take care everyone and stay safe.
Thanks for watching
Since we do our own animal processing, I use lard. Yes, if it sits for too long, you need to give it a hot bath, and a new seasoning.🤗
I just love you & Miss Shannon! I also love all of your cast iron videos. I've learned so much from you! I used to season with Crisco exclusively. Then came canola oil for a long time. Had a brief stint with flaxseed oil, but didn't care lots for it. Now I'm all about the avocado oil! I have better luck with it. Plus, Sam's Club has a big bottle for $8. I wasn't lucky enough to get any of my mom's or grandmas' cast iron. But I've been buying new & old pans for my collection. Love them!! My favorite way to cook. God Bless you, Kent & Shannon. Thanks so much for all of the great videos. Have a wonderful new year!!
I used olive oil in my cast irons pans.... works great!!!
Thanks Kent as former chef for a decade, I was always curious but rarely used cast iron, now in my non professional cooking life I appreciate knowing the ways we did things and why we did them i.e. bacon grease etc. I used grape-seed oil (for high temp frying) normally due to its high smoke point if I remember right 475 degrees Fahrenheit, or darn close to that, good to know that other things are possible, and Ill continue to use grapeseed oil on my cast iron pots and pans! Awesome tips :) God bless and keep on keeping on!
Since I took over cooking duties from my wife I have started using cast iron more and more. Heck I make all kinds of sauces in my cast iron pan all the time. These pans are well seasoned my mom and dad used to use. Love them. Now to throw most all of the teflon crap out. Thanks for the video series.
As someone without a father figure or any present parents , sir i thank you for everything youve taught me through your videos as well as your great joyous attitude . God bless you .
I love this guy's personality! I'd hang out with this dude. Plus, he's absolutely right
I use the original Larbee Stick which is lard and beeswax. I use it for seasoning and after every time I cook. I avoid all seed (veggie) oils for health reasons. Second choice would be Avocado oil.
Just got my Cookbook and seasonings! Along with my Cowboy Happy Dance coffee mug! Best gifts of the year!!!
I like avocado oil as grapeseed is hard to find where I live. I make my own Ghee from Kerrygold butter and use it for my cast iron. It has a very high smoke point as well. I use my cast iron everyday. I can flip eggs in my skillets.
We have an old Griswold dutch oven that was my wife's grandmothers. We use it both for baking bread and making beef stews. Yesterday I went to an old farm estate sale near where we live anf found a 12" large logo Griswold Skillet for $2. Yes, that's correct. It was dry and dirty but no rust or other damage. I cleaned it and seasoned it similar to your instructions, and it's perfect. $2.
Thank you, Cowboy Kent. I have to say, you got me back into small cast iron pots and pans in my kitchen again, after all these years of watching your videos. I might never be an outdoor master cooker, like yourself, but it's a start. And I'm going to start buying some grapeseed oil, ASAP. Seems I have too much vegetable oil laying around.
Happy New Year to you and your family.
Absolutely loved the background music. Thank you for your knowledge, God Bless You!
Thanks! Happy New Year!
Happy new year!
I have really struggled with my cast iron they were handed down to me and they weren't very well taken care of I'm slowly getting them better now that I've been watching your cast iron videos
Happy new year Mr.Rollins. All the best for the hounds, the misses and the Cowboy in these trying times. Many more great recipes to be expected, The Cowboy is in his Prime :D............................The cast iron I am used to seasoning are those Small block chevy's
Love your dogs, Kent! They are so cute and such an added pleasure to your videos. 😁
My personal favorite is peanut oil especially for brand new cast iron but I will definitely try your suggestions.
Makes sense because it, too, has a high smoking point. 👍🏻
I’m with you on the peanut oil. Cheap and effective.
Peanut oil has a definite taste to it, unlike avocado oil which is pretty neutral. Does using peanut oil give off any noticeable taste?
Never noticed any flavor from the peanut oil.
Yes sir, I like using grapeseed oil. I restored some very damaged cast iron and it works very well.
Hello from South Carolina.👋
Howdy James
What a great video thanks!!! 👌🙏🙏🧿🧿🧿 I use avocado oil to season my cast iron and I think it comes out to perfection! Chef's kiss! 👌😄I really love it and use it for the initial seasoning and do the seasoning process 4x and its great I'm loving it
I have been wanting to get into cast iron but a bit scared to use because they get so hot but I now will buy one and try it out !!
They hold heat well, so once they are hot, you can reduce the heat if you need to
@@CowboyKentRollins Thanks for the advice I definitely will try it out!!
Tip I learned the hard way. Don't put food in your cast iron until the skillet is up to temperature. Keeps things from sticking.
Stay with it and learn how to cook in it and it will be the best cookware you will own.
@@darthtripedacus1 thanks yes IV always wanted to use cast iron grandad swore by it and I just would burn everything in one but I now have better knowledge of how to use and will do better now thanks for the tip that is probably why every time I cooked in cast iron the food stuck and would burn
Coincidence I have been watching your cast iron videos alot lately after getting a new Lodge dutch oven, hands down the best advice for cast iron maintenance on the internet right here on this channel.
21+ year service member here and THANK YOU!! I use these 2 exclusively and now I feel validated. I'm SO glad to have someone everyone respects (you) to point to and say "this is the way to do it" and to do it a little bit every time you wash and dry your pans after cooking. Okies gotta stick together and now we see eye to eye at last. That flax seed is brittle and I don't like the little black bits in my food. Love your channel, brother. Keep the faith. Maybe next time I get home I can come and see you work in person. I rarely need oil for cooking because my pans are nice and slick but I use it after cooking faithfully.
I found your channel after trying to restore some cast iron a week ago. I know your whole channel and love the way you talk. Thank you for all your wisdom. Please try some native recipes from me and my brothers
I like carbon steel pans too. Not as heavy and react faster to heat change. You still have to season them just like cast iron. I bought a matfer bourgeat pan made in France years ago and it’s been a great pan.
How’s the heat retention?
@@signaturerush Not as good as cast iron but better than most other pans.
Wow this is my first video from this creator and I thought it was a little adorable wholesome channel. Went to the page. Over 2M subs 😳. Wow. Love it. Nope to binge your older vids. Thank you for the knowledge!
Love your videos Mr Rollins.. Happy New Year to you and your family.
Thanks so much Robert and Happy New Year to you
Merry Christmas Kent and Shannon, thanks for the tips!
Merry Christmas to you too!
Happy new year’s
Happy New Year to you
If you can't get Grapeseed Oil or Avocado Oil, Canola Oil is also excellent. It has a high smoke point and easy to find in your local grocery store. I makes an polymer bond with the iron, then, as additional layers are added, the oil bonds with those as well. Flaxseed Oil is not so great; as the layers build up and age, they crack, allowing water to seep through to the iron to rust it.
sidebar: glad you mentioned the temp at 250-255 degrees. A digital thermometer is essential, and very cheap, when cooking.
God bless you and Happy New Year, Kent! Love your content and down-home wisdom.
Thanks and God bless you
Thank you for this info. I have a new Blackstone griddle I’m going to season for the first time this weekend. I’m going to do a few coats of grape seed oil first and then a few coats of avocado oil to finish.
Thanks Kent and Shannon! Always used olive oil. Have my grandma's circa 1890 Wagner Sydney , my Mom's circa 1950 BSR and a bunch of Lodge. I fill them with your recipes every chance I get.
Thank u for great advice
Always welcome
GREAT ADVICE! YOU SIR ARE AN AMERICAN TREASURE!
Second comment love you guys thank you for all you do happy holidays
Thanks Spencer
I like the extra video in the week and the extra changes like adding music, not crazy about the location. I think of you as more of an outside cooking in the fields or by water. Thanks for the tips!
I would like to say thank you to all veterans as well! My 98-year-old grandma seasoned her cast iron skillet with lard and bacon grease and it never let her down she got it from her mother so it had to be near 90 years old and it was slicker than a hog's ass.
I use lard everyday my pans way darker/slicker than anythingelse,I appreciate Kent's knowledge but olive oil has a taste I can't stand.
@@tomr3074 yeah he’s wrong to a point. I use lard or duck fat. I guess if you only use the cast iron only for camping in the summer it would get rancid sitting around all winter but I use my pans(8 inch and 10 inch) and Dutch oven pot quite a bit 🥴. I even use mine for eggs
@@tritontransport tbh he did say that if you use it regularly there be no issue. The only issue is if the seasoning goes rancid on you.
I'm now using this - slicker than a hogs ass 😂
The old folks knew what they were doing! Live and learn my brother!
I always use clarified butter to season my cast iron every day. It has a high burning point 485 degrees and it's got a two year shelf life so it does not get rancid. After using pan and it's clean, I warm it a little put the clarified butter on and use a paper towel to wipe it off.
Cooking onions in cast iron seems help too to make it extra slick.
Thank you Cowboy Kent for caring
Enough to share what you think is the best way to care for your. cast iron and when you make a change you are not scared to say it’s going to be a great year that area you are in would make a great kitchen love the bricks
My mom cooked on cast iron when I was a kid. She never seasoned the pan and everything came out black and too chewy. This is why I can eat anything. Black was a food group.
I bet you had to keep re-writing that because the joke was so bad. I'm guessing like what, fifteen edits?
Love you guys so much! Many blessings to your family in the new year!
Thanks Matt
What was good enough for my great great grandmama my great grandmama my grandmama and my mama is good enough for me
Great videos! You are a natural in front of the camera.
Just remember... cast is FOREVER if you care for it ! It can be passed down through generations!!
Thank you Kent GOD Bless you both too
Coconut oil never goes rancid
It doesn’t go rancid as fast as some other oils, but it will go rancid.
Happy New Years!!
Boooom!
Thanks for going over this process again. We all need reminders 👍🏻
Hi Jean 👋 I hope my comment didn't sound as a form of privacy invasion your comment tells of a wonderful woman with a beautiful heart which led me to comment I don't normally write in the comment section but I think you deserve this complement. If you don’t mind can we be friends? Thanks God bless you….
I use a mix of Avocado oil and bee's 🐝 wax right out of the hive. Mixing wax and lard or bacon greece is something my great grandfather taught my father and he taught me. I switched to Avocado oil because you showed me years ago and i really like the way I comes out. I only have 1 cast-iron skillet but i use it every time i cook. I hope to one day get a few nice ones like you showed in a video but I'm disabled and there are usually more important to buy with my limited income. I am the 3rd male born so i will not be getting the old skillets when they are passed down.
I love your videos. Watching how to cook using simple techniques and equipment gives my courage to try without relying on expensive kitchen appliances that can be somewhat intimidating to this beginner.
I heard someone mention something about preparing a cast iron pan, Didn't know what they were referring too, but I do remember one rusting on me...I appreciate this video today and understand why it's necessary to oil and prepare cast iron...Thanks for the video..
Perfect info and happy new year!
This Soldier loves your content and appreciates you as an individual
I'm w/you, Cowboy Kent. EVO is great as a seasoning 'ole'. Clean yer skillet with salt, a little water and either a chain mail (if not too dirty) or a metal scrubby if it's a real mess. Then on medium heat till the pan's old seasoning juuust starts to smoke. Kill the heat, use EVO. Works great and does not turn rancid even if the pan's hung up for years.
Haha! I found the same thing with Flaxseed oil and then my wife always started coughing when I cooked with olive oil but she REFUSED to buy anything else. I started buying Avocado oil and she stopped coughing and noticed that my seasoning is getting better and better. The only other thing I use is the Solidteknics seasoning bar for initial seasoning.
I’ve always used vegetable oil or Crisco… never have had a problem using either.My pans look and perform great
I've always used Crisco, Pans are great. The downside is vegetable oil and Crisco are not oils from vegetables as the name suggests, they are seed oils and studies have proven seed oils are not healthy for humans. Many people claim there is nothing wrong with consuming seed oils, I'm sorry they must not be up to date on what the latest studies reveal.
Google Seed Oils, nothing more, just the two words, I recommend seeking out articles with study-backed factual information as opposed to what someone thinks.
I agree with your methods and especially the frying. If my wife scrubs the pan a bit too clean, I find and excuse to fry something. From what I know about the expansion of metal, this really should work best.
This is perfect timing!
I literally was looking online AGAIN because I just can't seem to get my cast iron right
Been a big fan of the avocado oil. That's what I use every day for my reseasoning/cleaning regiment. Olive oil/vegetable oil for cooking, but at the end of the night I always reseason with avocado oil.
I only fry in animal fat for the most part, but I do use avocado oil for seasoning, and post cook/clean wipe down. Great stuff.
Thanks for going into detail in the intro about what to use - i had a can of aerosol olive oil i was about to use lol