MMmmm... Bacon Grease....

When we picked out our new appliances, one of the biggest reasons for picking our stove was because of the 5th burner. I was in love with it. AND it came with a griddle!

I was so excited to use it for pancakes, bacon, and was even going to use it for my lamb chops. BUT we weren't sure the griddle was seasoned. It is cast iron, which is amazing for cooking but if it isn't seasoned then the food will just stick to it. So I have yet to use the griddle.

Since being home on vacation, I was determined to get this thing ready so I could cook on it. I mean, what's the point of having the awesome 5th burner and griddle if you don't use it? The only problem.. I don't know how to season cast iron..

I had first asked Adam's mom, who uses her cast iron skillet all the time. She said she usually puts oil and salt in the pan and bakes it. With no specifics on what to do for a new pan I asked google. I got such a variety of answers ranging from "use a light layer of oil, bake upside-down at 450 for an hour" to "use lard or bacon grease, bake at 250 for 15 minutes" and Wikihow gave 11 (freaking) steps!

So I finally settled on Lodge's directions- they manufacture cast iron so I assume their directions are the most accurate. (here are the directions from the Lodge website)

Wash the cookware with hot, soapy water and a stiff brush. (It is okay to use soap this time because you are preparing to re-season the cookware).

Rinse and dry completely.

Apply a thin, even coating of MELTED solid vegetable shortening (or cooking oil of your choice) to the cookware (inside and out).

Place aluminum foil on the bottom rack of the oven to catch any dripping.

Set oven temperature to 350 – 400 degrees F.

Place cookware upside down on the top rack of the oven.

Bake the cookware for at least one hour. After the hour, turn the oven off and let the cookware cool in the oven.

Store the cookware uncovered, in a dry place when cooled.

 I followed the directions (except I used bacon grease instead of vegetable shortening) and...

It worked...I think...

I had to melt the bacon grease then applied it to the freshly washed griddle. It went on too thick with my baisting brush so I had to use a paper towel to get the excess off. Just think 'wipe-on, wipe-off.'

I also lined two pans with foil to catch any dripping grease. The large cookie sheets I have don't have raised edges/lips, and the pan I have with lips is small, so I doubled up.

Then in went the pan, upside-down, for an hour. I let the bake time run for an hour so that when time was up it would shut off the oven and the griddle could cool in there. It's funny though, that there didn't apprear to be any drips onto the foil. And when I pulled it out of the over it felt greasy.

See how shiny it is? Except for one spot that appears dry it feels like I just rubbed oil on it. I guess I'll have to cook something to see how it performs.

Do you use cast iron to cook? Have you ever seasoned a griddle (or pot or pan) ?