seasoning a dutch oven?

Cook something greasy in it... wash it out with water, wipe dry with a paper towel. Dont use anything that would act as a degreasing agent.


-DallanC

When seasoning a new dutch oven I have always wiped vegetable oil all around the inside including the lid. I then burn it in on a camp chef stove and repeat the process 2 more times. After cooking in the oven I will boil water in it to help loosen all the remaining food, then wipe it dry and apply more oil and add coarse salt to the wiping process. I use the salt to help "scrub" the oven. I leave a thin coating of oil in the oven and set a paper towel inside when I store it so it's ready for the next time. I even wipe the outside with oil to prevent rust, then store it in a brown grocery bag,

We use cast iron every day in our kitchen, on the grill, and when camping, nothing compares to the taste of food cooked in cast iron. We simply followed the instructions on the Lodge website for seasoning and still doing fine several years later, occasionally I will re-coat them with peanut oil but usually not needed. Main thing is to avoid anything acidic that will remove the coating.