How to Season a Cast Iron Pan — The Right Way | Skeppshult
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# How to Season a Cast Iron Pan — The Right Way
Seasoning is the most misunderstood part of owning cast iron. People either overthink it or ignore it entirely, and both approaches cause problems.
Here's the straightforward version: seasoning is just oil that's been baked onto the surface of the iron. It builds up over time, protects the pan from rust, and gives cast iron its natural non-stick properties. The more you cook with your pan, the better the seasoning gets.
This guide covers how to season a new pan, how to re-season one that's lost its coating, and how to maintain it day to day so you rarely need to do either.
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## Does a new Skeppshult pan need seasoning?
No — not immediately. Every Skeppshult pan leaves the foundry pre-seasoned with rapeseed oil from Österlen. It's ready to cook with straight out of the box.
That said, the initial seasoning is thin. The pan will perform better after a few months of regular use, and the first few times you cook with it, using a bit more fat than usual helps the seasoning develop faster.
If you want to add an extra layer of seasoning before the first use, follow the oven method below. It's not strictly necessary, but it doesn't hurt.
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## The two ways to season cast iron
### 1. Oven seasoning (the thorough method)
This is the method to use when you're starting from scratch — with a new pan, or one that's been stripped back due to rust or heavy cleaning.
**What you need:**
- Your cast iron pan
- A neutral oil with a high smoke point — rapeseed oil, vegetable oil, or flaxseed oil work well. Avoid olive oil and butter for this.
- An oven
- An old cloth or paper towels
**Steps:**
1. Preheat your oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Wash the pan with warm soapy water and dry it completely. For a new pan, this removes any residue from production. For an old pan, it gives you a clean base to work from.
3. Put the pan on a low heat on the stove for a few minutes to make sure it's completely dry. Any moisture left will cause rust.
4. Apply a very thin layer of oil to the entire pan — inside, outside, and the handle. Use a cloth to rub it in, then use a clean part of the cloth to wipe off as much as you can. The layer should look almost dry. Too much oil leads to a sticky, uneven result.
5. Place the pan upside down in the oven with a baking tray or foil on the shelf below to catch any drips.
6. Bake for one hour.
7. Turn off the oven and leave the pan inside to cool completely before touching it.
One round of oven seasoning gives you a good base. For a pan that's been completely stripped, two or three rounds produces a more durable result — just repeat steps 4–7.
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### 2. Stovetop seasoning (day-to-day maintenance)
This is what you do after every wash, and it's much simpler than it sounds.
After washing and drying the pan, put it on a low heat on the stove for a minute or two. Once it's warm and completely dry, rub a very thin layer of oil over the surface with a cloth or folded paper towel. That's it.
Over time, this builds up the seasoning naturally just through regular use. Most people who cook with cast iron regularly never need to do a full oven seasoning more than once or twice — the stovetop method handles everything else.
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## Why the oil layer needs to be thin
This is the most common mistake. People assume more oil means better seasoning. It doesn't.
When you apply too much oil and heat it, the oil polymerises unevenly. Instead of a smooth, hard layer, you get a sticky, patchy surface that makes food stick and is difficult to cook on. It also takes much longer to fix than if you'd used less oil in the first place.
The goal is a layer so thin it looks like you've barely applied anything. If the pan looks greasy, wipe off more.
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## What oil to use
Most neutral oils with a high smoke point work well — rapeseed oil, vegetable oil, sunflower oil or flaxseed oil are often recommended because it polymerises very hard, though some people find it flakes over time.
Avoid:
- Olive oil — lower smoke point, can go rancid
- Butter — too much milk protein, burns unevenly
- Coconut oil — works but leaves a stronger smell
At Skeppshult, we use rapeseed oil from Österlen for the factory seasoning. It's a good all-round choice.
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## How to tell if your seasoning needs attention
A well-seasoned pan has a dark, even surface that feels smooth rather than rough or sticky. Food releases cleanly after cooking.
Signs your seasoning needs work:
- **Food is sticking more than usual** — the seasoning may be uneven or thin in places
- **Grey or dull patches** — areas where the seasoning has worn away
- **Orange or reddish spots** — early rust, usually from the pan being stored wet or in a damp environment
- **Sticky or gummy surface** — too much oil was applied at some point; needs to be baked off and re-done
None of these are serious problems. The pan isn't ruined — it just needs some attention.
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## Dealing with rust
Light rust — orange spots on the surface — is common and easy to fix.
Scrub the affected area with a stiff brush or steel wool and a little warm water until the rust is gone. Wash the pan, dry it thoroughly on the stove, then do one round of oven seasoning. The pan will be back to normal.
More severe rust — where the surface is heavily pitted or the pan has been neglected for a long time — takes more scrubbing but the same basic process applies. Cast iron is very difficult to ruin permanently. If the iron itself is intact, the seasoning can always be rebuilt.
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## What about soap?
There's a persistent myth that you should never use soap on cast iron. It comes from the days when soap was made with lye, which would strip the seasoning.
Modern dish soap is much milder and won't damage a well-established seasoning. A small amount used occasionally is fine. What you want to avoid is soaking the pan in soapy water for extended periods, or using harsh abrasive cleaners.
If you're cautious, use hot water and a stiff brush for day-to-day cleaning, and save the soap for when the pan genuinely needs it.
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## Storing cast iron
Store it somewhere dry. If you stack pans, put a cloth or paper towel between them to protect the surface and allow any moisture to escape.
If you're not going to use the pan for a while, give it a light coat of oil before storing it. This prevents rust from developing during storage.
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## The short version
- New Skeppshult pans come pre-seasoned and are ready to use
- After washing, dry the pan completely and apply a thin layer of oil
- If seasoning needs rebuilding, bake the pan at 200°C for one hour with a thin oil coating
- Use more fat when cooking until the seasoning is well established
- Light rust is easy to fix — scrub, dry, re-season
The seasoning gets better the more you cook. The best thing you can do for a cast iron pan is use it regularly.