Why lard carbonized the oil??

[chueh]

In the past, I used plant based oil to season my cast iron pan. This time, I used pork lard at 375 F for an hour.

It looked ok, so I let it cool down. Then, I made omelet. The bottom was not completely stick free. Anyway, I used water to wash and clean it. I normally use my fingernails to scrap anything stuck. With water, it all came off pretty easily. This time though, my fingernails got all blackened with soft tar!!!

Maybe I forgot what the proper temperature needed to be for cast iron seasoning, and perhaps I seasoned it before with much higher temperature. What's wrong???

Thanks

 

[dcSaute]

there is this "theory of procedure" that one has a magic moment with a cast iron pan and it is suddenly "seasoned" . . . one uses a magic oil grown on the eastern slope, harvested by virgins during a full moon . . .

if you would like to season your cast iron 'the old fashioned way' - a way that actually does work . . . .

just cook fatty meats - the first couple go 'rounds things will tend to stick - good time to use something like chuck roast for stew - you'll not notice OMG something stuck....

went done cooking the fatty stuff - cool, wipe out the pan with a paper towel, that's it.

in relatively short order the cast iron will l build a carbon layer that is very non-stick.