Hey I picked up some old old castiron pots and pans. What is the best way to Season them for use while camping.

warm tehm on the stove at 200 until its hot to teh touch. Then add crisco all around inside and out and stick in the oven at 375 till oil is absorbed about 1 hour. Then it should stay seasoned as long as you dont wash it with soap.
Mink

Cool thanks matser!!!

I was told to use renderd animal lard, can that be any animal lard, as i have some bvr fat i could render?

Ya you could use it, but it seems easier just to use teh crisco( might taste funky )
Mink

If I dont use soap what shoul dI use to clean them? After they have been seasoned and used to cook with.

cook in it

preferably bacon

i have never cleaned my cast iron with anything more than heat and paper towel. I wipe it out. But then I have a belief that people worry all too much about cleanliness in the kitchen...if you cook food to safe temperature, that which survives would have survived the cleaning anyway.

I just add water and rub with a scouring pad. If its just used for camping, it wont need to be super clean.
MInk

I agrre snowman, and thanks mink and snowman for you input. I love it.

NP
Mink

I season mine with bacon grease. preferrably Apple Cinnamon Bacon from McDonalds Meats in Clear Lake. Makes everything taste mighty good..

If they are rusty you might season
with grease, then need to wash good
and do it again. As many times as
it takes to get good and clean.
Once clean, just wipe up good after
cooking. The less soap and water,
the better. If you wash off the oil
you need to season again.

Cook in it is definetely the way to season it. Like snowman said, bacon would do a good job. I usually clean mine by boiling water in it and giving it a good scraping. If it is rusty, give it a good coat of vegetable or some sort of oil, inside and out.

We season ours by frying chicken or french frys something that uses a lot of oil.

If you need to clean them, scrub them good with soap and water... then throw them in a self cleaning oven and put it on clean. DON'T DO THIS WITH WOODEN HANDLED POTS/PANS/SKILLETS. Self cleaning ovens are the best-when done, tip out the ash and season as above-we use olive oil and do 2 thin coats-will gum up if too thick. Many good suggestions above. We shy away from ALL the non stick stuff-not healthy at all, gives off gases, scapes result in toxins release etc. but big chemical company bucks behind it so no big deal :-) same as those soft-rubber-like gloves and stuff-HOW can that stuff be safe/healthy? Cast Iron and stainless is the way to go-you can pick up a skillet and a dutch oven or large pot at a flea market for like 5-10 bucks each and cook for 100 years or more with them!

When you get a dark black shiny finish inside of your cast iron cook ware , you know you have done things right in seasoning and cleaning.... this will take awhile with regular cooking in them.... Happy cooking!

It's all I and the wife cook on. I have Wagner and Griswold pans that have seen 100 years of continuous use. NOTHING beats cast iron for cooking.

For the ultimate in disgusting heavily gunked pans/pots. Boil them in lye (just like traps). This is what my friend does that is a professional cast iron collector and sales guy.

In most cases....you'll never have to do this.

For daily cleaning... just wipe out after it is warm and grease it if it needs it with shortening. Some use lard...but it tends to go rancid.
If it is heavily fried on crud....say fried chicken coating...you'll need to boil some water in it and scrape out the interior with a plastic or wooden tool. Then grease it with shortening.

MOST IMPORTANT - if cooking on an electric range....do not put a cold pan on a hot element. They will warp. Instead put the cold pan on a cold burner and then bring it to heat. I'd also recommend not going above medium or medium high heat.

You guys are great. I love TRAPPERMAN!!!!!!

The best way to clean a castiron pan is a little water in the pan ad a lot corse salt and rub the pan clean want it cleaner rinse and ad more salt.

If you don't know where they've been or what was in them, I would stick them in the wood stove or a fire till they turn a dull red to burn off all the surface crud. Then wash well and dry. Then coat with vegetable oil right away, or just cook in them.