Seasoning a Dutch Oven (2024)

I purchased a pre seasoned duch oven,I washed it as per instructions, and after I removed it with my first use with the food still in it. it was rusted on the inside of the lid and some around the inside top. What do I do??

I just bought a dutch oven and was wondering if I could season it on a charcoal grill? I don't own a gas grill and don't really want to do it in the house. Thanks, Jerry.

@Jerry - Sure, lots of people do it outside in their grills. Gas grills work a lot better, but charcoal is ok.

Hello I recently bought a 10 inch deep camping lodge Dutch oven. I just noticed a 1 mm wide by 1 mm deep pockmark on the outside wall of the kettle. I can insert the tip of a toothpick into the hole. In your experience is this normal and will this blemish affect the lifespan of my dutch oven?

@Liz - I wouldn't worry about a pinprick blemish.

It is helpful to pick up an IR thermometer like you would use to check engine temp. These are available at tool stores for around $30. This lets you directly measure the temperature of the wall of the DO.

This is what I use when I teach boys how to season DO's during Boy Scout campouts. It also helps on the backyard grill since temperature is hard to control there and when it gets too hot all the seasoning can turn to dust ...

Is there another way to season the pot? I have no grill and my oven does not work - which is one reason why I just bought a dutch over for the stove top. The over needs seasoning only on the lip of both the lid and bowl; perhaps I can oil them before and after every use? Thank you for your help!

@Linda - As a dutch oven gets used, it naturally develops a seasoning. "Seasoning" specifically just speeds up the process. If you keep your dutch oven clean, use it often, oil it, and don't way overheat it so the developed coating burns off, it should be just fine.

Can we use coconut shortening to season? Or avocado oil? I see you say not to use butter.

I have been told to season with lard, which is rendered pork fat. Is this acceptable or should I stick to strictly vegetable shortening?

@Matthew and @Dawn - Use lard or coconut or avocado if you want. The simple vegetable oils work fine and I don't see any extra benefit to using something else.

I was seasoning a Dutch oven on a grate over an open fire outdoors using bacon grease. After an hour or more I decided to add a second helping of bacon grease in the pot to give another layer of seasoning. It looked like the first layer was good and baked on. This was an antique oven that had been found outdoors after many years so it had a lot of rust and I had sanded it down completely to scratch. I was trying to do two layers at once as I need the pot for a Scout outing this weekend. I think I added too much grease (super hot so I just dropped a spoonful in and shook the pot around as much as I could. The grate was uneven and I wound up with a nice coat on one side and the other side had a blackened skin of ick. I broke that up and removed it as best as I could with a stick. It is still sitting on the fire. How can I smoothe it out when it is cool without removing all the fresh seasoning?

Got the DO off the fire. Seasoning failed. DO is coated with black ash that wipes away with paper towel. It does not appear that much, if any of the bacon grease melded with the cast iron. Was the fire too hot?

@Lissa - That's what it sounds like to me. And that's probably the best way to start over.
I'd use steel wool to rub out the ash that's left, rinse it out with hot water, and dry it. Then, rub a little oil (or grease if you really want to use that) all over and wipe off as much as possible - no blobs or puddles or runs anywhere. Then, heat it up for AT LEAST 30 minutes, cool it off, and repeat.

I bought one did the steps and then cooked in it and my food stuck at the bottom. How do I get it not to stick. Can you use olive oil

@Lori - You can use olive oil to season your cast iron, but canola oil or flax oil is considered a better choice.
A newly seasoned dutch oven isn't stick-free. Rubbing a little oil in the dutch oven before cooking will help food not stick, and help make a smoother surface over time.
Going through the seasoning steps more times to gradually enhance the surface could also help.

I just flipped 2 eggs over easy-at the same time! without breaking either yolk! Thanks for the seasoning tips, dutchovendude!

Hi
Just bought a new cast iron DO and am preparing to season it. I've washed it a few times but the white paper towels i dry it with are coming up brown. The DO is black in colour. Is this normal?

Thanks for the great tips! I don't know why I've never thought to do the seasoning in the BBQ Grill, I always dread smoking up my house.
When you cook over the fire, do you do anything special to clean the soot from the outside? I used to work at a camp where we cooked over the fire, and the cook always rubbed a bar of soap on the bottom of the outside after washing the pan. Good or no?

@ Heather - I mostly use coals to cook with, but if its used over an open fire I use sea salt to remove heavy soot and to clean the outside of my dutch ovens (I have seen some use salt and a potato), then I will apply a light coat of oil after each use. Liquid soap applied before cooking does make it a little easier to clean. However, I do not apply soap unless I plan to re-season.

I'm anxious to use my Dutch oven at our campsite! My camper oven isn't large enough, nor do we have a BBQ grill there. We use the fire to cook on mostly. Can I, and how can I season my Dutch oven over the fire? I do have a tripod for the fire, could I hang it to season? Is it better to season upside down?

@Stephanie - That's the way it was done before ovens. Just cooking fatty food like bacon, sausage, ... will season a DO.
If I just had a fire, I would wipe a thin layer over the interior as described above and then heat it with the lid on and coals on the lid so it is about 400 degrees for 30-45 minutes. Then, repeat that and see how it looks.
Cook some bacon and see how it works.

Hey there DODude! I'm stoked to have just bought a well used DO from a guy who used to teach BSA classes in DO cooking. It's got a good season going on, but some of it is flaking off. Should I reset it and re-season, or keep on keeping on with the season it has?

One more question. He said this DO had never had onions in it... that's a tall order for me, I love me some onions, but does it ruin the oven for desert dishes?

Thanks a bunch

@Jeff - I'd redo the seasoning. When it's flaking off, it gets in the food.
Onions are fine. I make all kinds of dishes in the same DO, just cleaning it out between each one.

Can you still season it after one use? Ended up in bind cooking a gumbo and had to use our large Dutch oven that hadn’t been seasoned yet...

@Laura - Sure, you can reseason your DO whenever you want. And, just using it to fry occasionally is all that is usually needed since the oil does a good job of seasoning the iron. Make doughnuts or sausage once in awhile.

I have a Majestic Aluminum Dutch Oven I purchased from a thrift store. It looked like it had been cooked in for many years so I scrubbed it down with steel wool and now anything I cook in it sticks. How do I restore the protective coating so I can enjoy cooking in my Dutch Oven?

@Connie - Just read the content above and do the initial seasoning or cook greasy, fatty meat in it a few times.

I like to heat my DO's with a rose bud torch till they glow a dull red to bring them to a as cast condition then season them as described here. This works well with old or rusted DO's of pans from yard sales with beans or what ever from the last camp out they were used on.This works for me YMMV. If you use this method heat them slowly and evenly to avoid cracking the cast iron.Cool and clean with SOS pad with hot! H2O dry then season as above.Thanks for the site DO Dude, I've been DO cooking for over 30 years and still gleaned good info here.
Ed

Ah! I am supposed to keep C/I Dutch Ovens where air can circulate. I've had them in plastic crate with material to absorb water. As for my aluminum Dutch Oven, you say just wash normally, but how do I season Aluminum? Also, do you know of any cookbooks for the Aluminum Dutch Ovens?

@DOnald - Aluminum dutch ovens don't need to be seasoned. My cookbook works for aluminum as well as cast iron.

Good advise thanks for the info

Hi - I have just bought a Lodge DO. I Know it is ‘pre-seasoned’ but would you recommend seasoning again before first cook.

@Doug - I'd just wash it and go. Lodge does a good job of preseasoning, but cooking a bunch of bacon, sausage, or other greasy food first is a good way to prep it for other foods.

Can I safely boil a combination of apple juice apple cider and sugar??

@Trent - Sure. It's not going to explode, or give off toxic fumes, or ruin your dutch oven.

Dude,
I have found that vinegar is by far the easiest and best way to remove stubborn rust on old cast iron skillets and dutch ovens. However they will rust even before i can get them dry. Any ideas on how to quickly get them dry and ready to oil before the flash rust sets in?
Thanks
Lefty

I just bought a Lodge Dutch Oven just to bake bread in.
It’s pre seasoned supposedly. The bread recipe call for cooking bread dough on parchment paper. Do I need to season pot?

@Clementina - A preseasoned Lodge should be washed well and then used.