Cleaning but waiting to season; dry only or a little oil?

[Tina Marie Rudolics]

Hi all,

I have been cleaning a few pieces here and there and have been building up to have one big season session.  I have been completely drying items after cleaning and scrubbing is completed.  Dry with towel completely and in oven at 250 degrees for about an hour.   Some pieces have stayed nice and clean, a couple have just a small amount of light rust showing up on the backside, doesn't appear to be flash rust because they don't come out of oven with rust.   My question for those who don't season right away; should I be oiling items after drying in oven?   Can you share your process if you wait to season?  Thank you!  Tina

[C. Perry Rapier]

Hello Tina. If you strip them down to naked, by that I mean just like the day they were made, then if you do not season them right away they will start to rust right away. So you need something on them to hold them until you can get to them and start seasoning them. If it was me I'd just put something on them like you are going to season with. Like if you are going to use Crisco then put Crisco on the piece to hold it until you can get to it to season it. Sign me 'been there and done that'.

[Cheryl Watson]

I think that applying oil cold, will leave too much on the surface and cause problems when you heat to 'season'.

I'd just stick them back in the lye bath.

or

I just dry mine thru oven, and set aside (indoors).  I have one sitting on the kitchen table for about a week now.  A bit of flash rust developed, but I know that it will slough off with the first coat of oil. 

If properly and completely derusted before drying, serious rust should not be a problem in the first week or two.

Then I just heat it up in oven and start my seasoning process.

[C. Perry Rapier]

When you get ready to season the pieces after putting on Crisco or something else at that time you can wash them off and then start your seasoning. Until then they will be good to go, even if you don't get around to them for a month or two, or three. Thats what I do. And I realize everyone has their own particular way, so whatever you like and it works for you, go for it.  :)

[Tina Marie Rudolics]

Awesome tips!  Thank you both Perry and Cheryl.   I have a feeling I will be a month or 2 or 3 kind of gal, lol.........I do keep them indoors and for the ones that are showing a bit of rust already (mostly the outside), I will scrub again, dry and put a little oil and see what happens as they sit again.  (I am guessing that if rust still shows, I need to do more electrolysis or 50% vinegar soak?)   But if all is good, perhaps when ready to season do a quick scrub, dry, then crank up temp to start to the real seasoning!  Thanks again :)

[Jeff Friend]

Another thing to consider is what oil you are going to use.  Some oils will begin to turn sticky or gummy after a while.  Corn oil will do this.  Have you noticed that the little drips of corn oil make the outside of the bottle sticky?  If that happens on your pan, it will be difficult to remove.

You might try coconut oil, which is very saturated, so it shouldn't get sticky like corn oil.

[Tina Marie Rudolics]

Thanks Jeff, I actually use coconut oil on my CI after I cook and clean.  I will try this on the CI cleaned but not seasoned.   I just actually looked at a little griddle I recently cleaned (non seasoned) and after drying used a little canola oil, and while not sticky, it did smell a little bit, but no rust!   All of the CI waiting for seasoning will be rewashed well before hand.  [smiley=dankk2.gif]