Strip & Season Cast Iron
Strip
If you need to strip you cast iron down to bare iron and re-season it, follow these steps [2+ days]
What You’ll Need
PP-5 or HDPE-2 grade plastic tub with lid (these are resistant to lye and hot water)
To find PP / HDPE (high-density polyethylene) tub label, look for the number inside the universal recycling symbol, a triangle of three chasing arrows.
Example tub (had to personally look in store to find labels)
Safety goggles
Safety gloves
2ft PVC pipe ($3) or long stainless steel utensil - for mixing
Warm Water
Sponge (dispose of afterwards)
Optional: 5gal bucket for measuring warm water
Seasoning oil: Grapeseed (my favorite), vegetable oil or shortening, or avocado oil
Paper towels or shirt material. I like the shop paper towels
Create Lye Bath (read below before beginning)
Using a PP5/ HDPE2 grade plastic container, create a lye bath with the following ratios
Ratio: 5 gallons of water to 1lb of lye
Put on your safety gloves and goggles
ADD WARM WATER FIRST, then the lye. Bad things will happen if not in this order. (i.e. boiling and water rising / splashing)
Warm water helps dissolve lye much more quickly, not required
Mix together with PVC pipe / stainless steel utensil
Place cast iron in lye bath for a minimum of 12 hours, max a week+
Create Vinegar Bath
Should be a 1:1 solution if using distilled vinegar. i.e. 50% water 50% vinegar solution
If using 30% cleaning vinegar, should be a 6:1 ratio: 2.75 cups vinegar to 1 gallon of water
Place cast iron in vinegar bath for at least 20mins to neutralize. I have left mine in for 2-3 days.
Do not take cast iron out of vinegar bath until you are completely ready for the Wash, Dry, Season & Bake step below.
Dispose of Lye Bath
Neutralize lye bath by adding small amounts of vinegar bath into lye bath.
Do this outside if possible. This mix causes a chemical reaction. Adding entire vinegar bath at once will cause intense fumes.
Pour neutralized lye bath on a sad part of your lawn or continue to dilute and pour small amounts down drain at a time with water running.
Clean plastic tub with soap and water
Wash, Dry, Season & Bake
The following steps need to be done immediately after taking out of the vinegar bath. Once cast iron is out of the vinegar bath it begins to oxidize and rust. This is time sensitive.
Turn oven on to 500ºF. Do not begin next step until oven is at 500º.
Wash cast iron in cold water and soap.
If spots start to oxidize / turn burnt orange, add some vinegar to the cast iron to reduce rusting, then wash again with soap and water.
Dry immediately with towel
Season
Pour grapeseed oil in pan and spread with paper towel covering all of the pan inside and out, handle included.
With a new paper towel, wipe off all the oil from the entire pan extremely well, as if drying it. This should leave a very thin coat of oil, which is key to having long lasting cast iron.
Place cast iron upside down in oven and bake for 1 hour at 500ºF.
Re-season and again place in oven for 1 hour at 500ºF at least 3x. Recommended 5x.
Begin using pan! After each use:
Clean pan with water only. If needed, boil water to remove tough grime.
Dry immediately, then re-season only center of pan, not sides, and heat in oven for 20mins at 450ºF+ or stove-top on high until slight smoking ~15-30mins.
Season
Pour grapeseed oil in pan and spread with paper towel covering all of the pan inside and out, handle included.
With a new paper towel, wipe off all the oil from the entire pan extremely well, as if drying it. This should leave a very thin coat of oil, which is key to having long lasting cast iron.
Place cast iron upside down in oven and bake for 1 hour at 500ºF.
Begin using pan! After each use:
Clean pan with water only. If needed, boil water to remove tough grime.
Dry immediately, then re-season only center of pan, not sides, and heat in oven for 20mins at 450ºF+ or stove-top on high until slight smoking ~15-30mins.
Once pan has a thick coat of seasoning, you can use some soap+water to wash.