I Seasoned My Cast Iron Pan with Flaxseed Oil, and Here's What Happened — Cast Iron Cooking

A few years ago I heard that flaxseed oil — not vegetable oil or shortening — was the best oil for seasoning cast iron. I'd always wanted to put that theory to the test, but decided to wait until I'd sufficiently neglected my own cast iron skillets to warrant a full re-seasoning. (It was bound to happen at some point.)

That day came eventually: Thanks to my lazy maintenance, the seasoning on my 12-inch Lodge skillet had become patchy, rough, and sticky. But this time around, instead of coating it in vegetable oil and heating the pan in the oven for an hour, as is the norm, I decided to spend 18 hours baking six coats of flaxseed oil into it.

Here's how it went.

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