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That moment when a new line cook tried to season a cast iron with olive oil

Had a guy last Saturday who grabbed the cheap olive oil to season our cast iron pans and I had to stop him mid-pour because he was about to make a sticky mess. I learned the hard way at a diner in Tulsa 3 years ago when I did the same thing and the manager made me scrub all 12 pans for an hour. Anyone else have to train people on the high smoke point oil rule for cast iron?

2 comments

2 Comments

faithjones16d ago

I learned the hard way at a diner in Tulsa 3 years ago" - but see, I actually don't mind olive oil for cast iron. Works fine if you just cook with it after, that whole smoke point thing is kinda overblown for everyday use. My grandma seasoned her pans with bacon grease and olive oil her whole life and they were smooth as glass.

dakota_rivera16d ago

Gotta push back a little on the olive oil thing though. The smoke point matters if you're doing high heat searing, like for steaks or burgers. Olive oil starts smoking at around 375-400F, and once it does that, it breaks down and gets sticky. Bacon grease is fine because it has a higher smoke point around 375-400F too, but the combo of olive oil and bacon grease your grandma used was probably more about the bacon fat doing the heavy lifting. I ruined my first skillet trying to season it with just olive oil on a hot campfire, had to start over with crisco.