So I got a 12" cast iron pan in a gift swap this Christmas

[Blackened]

I've had Calphalon anodized aluminum forever and my set has a giant omelette pan that I use for eggs. I love that pan. Just a little butter and I can make a paper-thin omelette using 2 eggs that slides right out. I'm curious to try the iron.

do you have to use a lot of oil in that though? once you get your CI seasoned, it'll be baller.. you'll love it

[DrivenByDemons]

do you have to use a lot of oil in that though? once you get your CI seasoned, it'll be baller.. you'll love it

yea, that's why I'm so stoked about this new pan. You got me even more stoked. I need things to cook, stat!

[deidler]

Alton Brown once wrote a fanifesto. So douchy. But, congrats on the pan! Pic thread in the works?

[HeinousMark]

I didn't watch the video, but after fucking up several cast iron pots and pans using different methods of "seasoning", here's what works for me:

Clean the fuck out of it, soap and water, steel wool if needed, to get all the "preseasoned" crap off, or any other fucked up attempts at seasoning. Get a pound or so of fatback or bacon scraps, it's much cheaper than bacon. Fry maybe a half-pound or so up, medium heat, and keep it moving around, all over the inside of the pan, sides too. Do that for maybe 20 or 30 minutes, then dispose of that grease; it potentially has soap or metal residue, and it's cheap anyway. Then use about half a stick of butter, and do the same thing. Wipe it out thoroughly and do it all again with the other half of the hog fat and then butter.

At that point I'd rinse it with hot water, paper towel it dry, and start cooking. Never use soap unless you're stripping it completely, and as B also said, get you a good old skool metal spatula, with a thin, flat edge, and don't be afraid to dig in when you use it. I bought a really nice spatula that's long, thick, and solid (unlike my cock), and slightly curved (like my cock), and it ain't worth a shit for use with cast iron. Aside from general frying (peanut oil ftw) at least once a week I fry up some bacon, leave the bacon grease in (there may be some bacon residue stuck to the pan), then throw in a half stick of butter, and as its melting, swish it around over the residue and scrape the fuck out of it, spatula upside down, until the butter is melted and the residue is all unstuck.

I like to quickly and carefully lay a few slices of bread in it (one at a time) put those in the toaster, and then cook my eggs. All that bacon crud makes your toast and eggs look nasty, and taste fucking extraordinary. Yes, I am a fat bastard; this ain't Lean Cuisine. Let it cool down and save the bacon/butter stuff for cooking. And again, hot water and paper towels. The seasoning will get better and better as time goes by.....

PS: you shouldn't need to do the first part again, if you periodically fry the bacon and then melt butter for toast and eggs. The iron is porous, so the bacon grease gets down in there, and the butter helps it penetrate and seal even better....I think.