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I have had quite the learning adventure with cast iron. I am one of those learners that has to learn by doing, so I can be lectured six ways to Sunday and be told and read and I will NOT absorb it until I’ve done it myself. This is a hard learning style because I simply have to learn by trial and error or my brain just shuts down. So, we could say that I have done my due diligence with cast iron and have figured it out!

My homemade cast iron wax is available for purchase in 2oz containers from our online farm stand!

When I first started, I thought you HAD to use the popular choice grapeseed oil, flax seed oil, or a high heat vegetable oil (canola oil) because that’s what the experts would say in the cast iron groups I joined to absorb as much information as possible. It’s due to their higher smoke point. So I tried flaxseed oil. And grapeseed oil. And then avocado oil. And I hated it. High smoke point oils be danged because I was using a type of oil that I don’t consume and choose to avoid in my life. WHY.

And the results I got were just okay. Yeah, the seasoning was fine but I really didn’t like cooking with cast iron still. It was hard to clean, I wasn’t allowed to use soap and water (LIESSSSS), and I couldn’t get a good seasoning layer that kept my pan from getting surface rust or big oil spots that left me with a gunky pan. I swear I was trying so hard to subsequently have less than desirable outcomes.

I started reading. And trying things out for myself. I tried straight coconut oil on a pan I stripped to bare metal. Okaayyyyy… that worked. I also tried straight tallow… that worked too. Now… some if the experts are going to tell you not to use animal fats because they’ll go rancid. And I will call buulllllll crrapppppp on that. Why would an animal fat go rancid?!

If you properly rendered it in the first place, it ain’t gonna go rancid. And it never has for me. I’ve been using strictly this wax with animal fats in it on my cast iron pans for 6 years now. I have way more cast iron pans than I need because I’m a sucker for antique cast iron, so they all don’t get used frequently, and not a single one of them is rancid. And believe me, I’d know, because I’d smell it since I keep them all in the same cabinet. My rebuttal would be that the vegetable oils and seed oils are much MUCH more likely to go rancid than an animal fat. Especially considering I’ve had it happen in my own home with a bottle of grapeseed oil that sat right beside my jar of lard. That grapeseed oil went HOLY MOLEY rancid. That smell is ingrained into my brain. And it’s what started my research into seed oil free cast iron.

In my research travels, I came across seasoning compounds using a blend of oils AND beeswax! Fascinating. Why beeswax?? Well… beeswax gives us a nice waterproof layer and also a smooth carbonized finish once the seasoning is complete. I can’t really give you words to describe it until you’ve seen it for yourself. And when I wash my pans in SOAP AND WATER BECAUSE I’M NOT NASTY, the water just beads off the pan. I just cannot believe the difference making a compound to season and maintain my pans with beeswax has done. It has made cooking with cast iron so much more enjoyable and easier to maintain!

IF your personal preference is to use different oils, this recipe may not be for you, but the seasoning advice is all the same!

In This Post You'll Find...

How To Season Cast Iron

1. Clean Pan: If you are starting from bare metal cast iron skillet (restoration or stripped down new cast iron), wash and dry the pan really, really well. If you are adding a seasoning layer over an existing polymerized seasoning, you still need to wash the pan and scour it well with soap and water. Dry it and then heat it up either on a burner or in a warm oven. Heating it does two things – the most important thing is it makes sure the pan is COMPLETELY dry and it also makes it easier to spread the cast iron wax since it’s somewhat of a solid at room temperature.

2. Apply the Wax: to the hot pans apply a small amount of wax to a lint free cloth and wipe it all over the pan, even the handle. I take my fingernail and get a chunk and flick it like a booger onto the cooking surface of the pan to melt and then take my cloth and work it around to the entire surface. Make sure every single part of the pan has been greased. Then, with a new and clean lint free cloth, wipe that pan down like you didn’t mean to put the wax on it in the first place. If you don’t do this, you run a chance of having too much seasoning compound on the pan and that excess oil with collect and form a sticky, goopy seasoning layer when you’re looking for that shiny smooth finish. I promise you can wipe the heck outta that pan and some oil will remain to season your pan! This was the goof I did when I first started; I assumed you wanted that skillet looking GREASY when that’s actually the opposite

3. Season: To a preheated 400F oven, add the pans in. You can stack the pans, put them in upside down, right side up, it doesn’t matter. Fill ‘er up. Let them bake for 1 hour. Preferable do this at the time of year where you can open all the windows and leave the house for an hour. I actually set a cook timer for my stove so it automatically shuts off and the kids and I can just go outside for 3-4 hours. If you’re not using this cast iron wax recipe for seasoning, bake your pan at a temperature that is above the smoke point of the oil you are using. You have to be above the smoke point of your oil to cause a good carbonized and polymerized seasoning layer. Once the hour of baking is complete, shut the oven off and let the pans sit in there to completely cool. Several hours at least or overnight if you can. I make sure to plan a slow cooker or stove top meal for that day so I can leave the pans in.

4. Re-season: repeat steps 2&3 at least 1 more time for existing seasoning or 2-4 more times for a pan you’re seasoning from bare metal. The seasoning process is extremely important to your success with cast iron and if you have a properly carbonized base seasoning layer, you’ll be golden!

5. Properly Clean & Store: Once your cast iron is seasoned and you’ve used it to cook, clean those pans with a little soap and hot water. A cast iron pan that isn’t cleaned properly can get cruddy and gunky and that’s just not ideal. You can absolutely wash your cast iron pan with soap or detergent that we like to label as “soap.” I actually make my own dish soap with LYE and use that and it doesn’t eat my cast iron seasoning off. I don’t know where that came from other than maybe soap from way back in the day where they dumped it from wood ash may have been super caustic buttttttt… all soap is made with lye, and if it isn’t, it’s not soap. So WASH YOUR PANS. Once I’ve washed my pan, I dry it well with a towel, and then place it on my stove top on high heat to finish drying it. I wait until I start seeing some smoke come off the pan and then wipe the inside down with some of the cast iron wax compound. I leave it on the burner and let the compound smoke for about 30 seconds before removing it from the heat to cool down. This is known as oiling your pan. It’s not really stove top seasoning because I don’t leave it on the heat that long. But what it does is it protects your pan after cleaning from any surface rust and keeps your seasoning layer protected. You should always oil your pan after washing but if I said I do every time, I’d be a big fat liar. But this cast iron wax compound has created such lovely layers of seasoning that it’s forgiving to my neglect!

Now, let’s make the cast iron wax!

Equipment You Might Want:

quarter pint jar
spoon
stainless steel sauce pan

Ingredients:

1 Tbs beeswax
2 Tbs unfractionated coconut oil
2 Tbs lard or tallow

Step 1: Measure

Measure out beeswax, coconut oil, and tallow straight into a quart pint mason jar.

Step 2: Mix

Melt ingredients using a double boiler method by place the quart pint jar into a small sauce pan filled with water about half way up the jar. Heat on a low heat, not boiling, until all ingredients are melted and blend together. Stir occasionally.

Step 3: Cool

Remove melted wax, stir well, and allow to cool and harden.

Add an air tight lid and store at room temperature. I store mine in my kitchen cabinet with my cast iron pans.

Step 4: Season Cast Iron Cookware

Wash and warm cookware you want to season.

Add a thin layer of the wax over the entire surface of the pan with a lint free cloth or paper towel.

Wipe off the surface thoroughly with a new cloth.

Bake at 400F for 1 hour. Shut off heat and allow pans to completely cool in oven before removing.

For new seasoning layer: repeat seasoning 2-4 more times.

For existing seasoning layer: repeat 1-2 more times.

Step 5: Maintenance

After cooking, wash your cast-iron skillet with soap and water. Dry thoroughly. Heat your pan up until it starts smoking on the stove top and then add a small amount of the cast iron wax to the inside cooking surface. Allow the wax to smoke for about 15-30 seconds and then remove from the heat. This is known as oiling your pan and should be done after cleaning to maintain a good seasoning layer (but I’d be lying if I said I did it every time!)

If this is your first time seasoning cast iron pans, but know the first layer usually looks busted but the second and any more consecutive layers start coming out shiny and beautiful. Every time!

I have to mention that my blog post writing tool is recommending I use the phrase “smart burglar alarms” in this post and I am chuckling. A cast iron pan ain’t an alarm, but I’m sure I could teach a burglar a lesson or two with my trusty old Wagner LOL.

Homemade Cast Iron Seasoning Wax and How To Use It

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 10

Servings: quarter pint jar

Author: Ruby – Red Feather Farm

Equipment

1 quarter-pint jar
spoon
Sauce pan

Ingredients

1 Tbs beeswax
2 Tbs unfractionated coconut oil
2 Tbs lard or tallow

Instructions

Measure out beeswax, coconut oil, and tallow straight into a quart pint mason jar.
Melt ingredients using a double boiler method by place the quart pint jar into a small sauce pan filled with water about half way up the jar. Heat on a low heat, not boiling, until all ingredients are melted and blend together. Stir occasionally.
Remove melted wax, stir well, and allow to cool and harden.
Add an air tight lid and store at room temperature.

Seasoning Cast Iron

Wash and warm cookware you want to season.
Add a thin layer of the wax over the entire surface of the pan with a lint free cloth or paper towel.
Wipe off the surface thoroughly with a new cloth.
Bake at 400F for 1 hour. Shut off heat and allow pans to completely cool in oven before removing.
For new seasoning layer: repeat seasoning 2-4 more times.
For existing seasoning layer: repeat 1-2 more times.

Maintenance (Oiling Pan)

After cooking, wash your cast-iron skillet with soap and water. Dry thoroughly.
Heat your pan up until it starts smoking on the stove top and then add a small amount of the cast iron wax to the inside cooking surface.
Allow the wax to smoke for about 15-30 seconds and then remove from the heat.

Notes