Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

bought this on amazon. for what you pay, you get a tiny, tiny bottle. when you season cast iron, you apple a very, very thin coat (just enough to be wet), and wipe off excess oil/fat. you can use shortening, vegetable oil, canola oil, peanut oil, bacon grease, lard, shortening, or this. when heated/dried, the fat polymerizes and creates a barrier between food and the cast iron itself. i found the polymerization to be poor with this product. after multiple applications and a poor non-stick surface from this product, i ended up just using good 'ol crisco in my pans. this is what you do: if this is new, pre-seasoned cast iron from the store, i wash it with soap and water, and dry completely with a towel. there may be some "flash" rusting, but it will rub off with the application of a fat. take some crisco, and rub it all over the pan, inside, outside, and the handle. apply a very thin layer, as thin as possible. now take a paper towel, and lightly wipe off the excess. pop it in your oven. face down, face up, doesn't matter, because if you're worried about "drip" you put too much on. wipe it off. close your oven and set it to 500 degrees. again, don't stick the pan in a 500 degree oven, let the pan come to temp with the oven. once it reaches 500 degrees, let it bake for an hour. there will be smoke. warn any family members or roommates that there will be smoke. turn on the range fan, open some windows, doors, turn on ceiling fans...you get the gist. after an hour of 500 degrees, turn off the oven and let the pan come to room temp slowly in the oven. repeat this for a minimum of four times. after you have done this at least four times, you will have created a fantastic non-stick (almost as good as teflon, but much healthier) surface. whenever i cook with cast iron, i put the heat on low to heat the metal slowly (it can crack if its cold and you put it on high heat), and warm it up before ripping it to high heat. add a little fat (oil or butter) and cook whatever you want! after youre done cooking, you can wash your cast iron with soap and water. dry the pan, apply a light coating of oil and heat it on the stove again to "dry" the oil and create another layer of polymerized oil. once it's polymerized, it shouldn't go rancid. "wet" oil will go rancid, so don't wipe with oil and just put it away.