How to Season Your Cast Iron Dutch Oven

This is how you season your cast iron dutch oven. In this case a challenger bread pan.

The recipe for the dough I was making in the end:
- 350g of bread flour
- 50g of whole wheat flour
- 300g of water
- 80g of sourdough starter
- 8g of salt

Instructions:
1. For the overnight dough mix all together right away.
2. It's crucial to add a lot of dough strength to the dough at the start, as we don't do any stretch and folds in between.
3. The fermentation at around 22°C will take approximately 12 hours.
4. Once the sample reached a 50% size increase, proceed and shape the bread.
5. Proof at room temperature until the finger poke test passes, or, place in the fridge for 12-24 hours.
6. Bake in your dutch oven at 230°C for 25 minutes lid covered, 20 minutes without

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Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:13 Why you have to season your cast iron
2:46 Cleaning your dutch oven
5:55 Seasoning your dutch oven with oil
8:57 Applying the second seasoning
10:37 Putting the dutch oven to the test
12:00 Closing words

#dutchoven #breadyt

[DavId-qzej]

I never had to season mine again. After every use I would clean it with warm water then heat it slightly again and rub oil in the open pores. Works perfect so far

[TheChefLadyJC]

The old school, quality cast iron was always ground smooth post casting. That smooth surface made for a nearly nonstick surface by which oil could more readily bond to the metal.

In that vein, I had my husband take a grinding wheel to mine to smooth out the surface. Yes, I had to rebuild the layers of oil about 3 times in my oven but OMHeavens, has it made a WORLD of DIFFERENCE!!

[kymmiejohnston]

I always use coarse salt and hot oil with a large wad of paper towel or a wash cloth and scrub away any rust or debris. I then brush out all the salt and put a small amount of oil and heat the pan, rubbing the oil in and then let it cool. My cast iron is so pretty all the time, and I do wipe it clean after each use. I usually only use cast iron for all my cooking. I love it. I don't like to use soap. If I had to though I would try your way then use the salt to work the oil onto the pores real good. I've found some real good deals on sad pots and pans that just need to be loved back to life. 🌹🌸🌼🌺❤️🦋 I love your videos. I tried some other sourdough videos and have been so disappointed. Thank you.

[TheBluefandango]

Makes a lot more sense that the manufacturer instructions and easy to follow. Nice one, thanks👍

[the_bread_code]

Gluuuuten Tag. So the temperature at which you season depends on the oil that you use to season your cast iron. I shared the link to a table with smoke points per oil in the description.

[ThatGuy-djqr]

Hi Hendrick. Thanks for your many great videos and for your unabashed enthusiasm. You have mentioned on several videos that you are always looking for new ideas for videos. Well, I have one possibility. Last summer I had Ethiopian sourdough flat bread for the first time. It is called Injera. It is easy to make, but the process takes about three days for the real sourness to develop. I have never tasted anything like it. It is flat, spongy, delicate in its own way (something between a crepe and a pancake) and has formed the basis of the Ethiopian diet for millennia. The bread itself goes back over 4000 years. It is traditionally made of teff, but modern versions use more common grains as well. I think you would find it interesting to read up on Injera, and maybe make some as well.

[jamestheodorou]

There are videos on cast iron pans that are altered somewhat by sanding smooth the surface of the pan. That process is thought to increase the stick-free properties of the seasoned iron. Looks great too. Could be a project worth doing.

[kirstenholder]

This is so awesome, thank you for posting this, also - the grow boxes on your balcony look really cool.

[Gokukakarot-onYoutube]

Brilliant! Now I know how to keep my Challenger Breadpan in great shape. I have seen other youtubers cure their cast iron cookware, but they went about it in a totally different way. The way you showed works fine for me. Thanks!

[JT-]

I use grapeseed instead of sunflower. I also have different tiers of seasoning. 1.) stove top. This is after every use and its just getting the cast iron hot and adding a small layer of oil. 2.) Oven This is done monthly to pick up extra layers. 3.) Inside the smoker. This is done when im trying to infuse flavors from the cast iron in future bakes.

[dedecolwell]

WOW! I never knew this before! Thanks for sharing! Love your Germ-lish!

[schnuu]

Thank you! I have a Challenger pan and it is discoloring and looking rusty mostly on the bottom. I once seasoned it and it made a lot of smoke and didn't think that was good for the bread. But, now I have a better understanding.

[angelikaradominska]

This clip is on time👍. My dutch oven starts to be rusty on the edges.

[WolframFiedler]

Very nice - I, too, had rust issues and this is very helpful.
BTW, Metallschwamm is "stainless steel (or copper) scrubbing pad" here in the US

[robohippy]

Well, my Grandma would have said, "it will take some elbow grease to fix that."

I am curious about the polymerizing. I am a wood worker by trade, and mostly a wood bowl maker. The preferred finish for most of us on wood bowls and any wood food use products is walnut oil, similar to the walnut oils used in salads, which is heated to break down any allergy causing proteins. The reason we use it is because nut oils will cure and harden, which I think is what polymerization is. They also talk about molecules cross linking. The reason we don't use vegetable oils is because they never cure, though they do offer minimal protection. Can you add anything to what I know???

[madisbacks]

Thanks for the reminder! I'll season my dutch oven first thing tomorrow morning. And thank you for the hint to open up your doors and windows. If you overheat too much, because you were using the wrong oil (Check the table, guys!), you'll end up in a toxic and highly carcinogenic cloud in your kitchen. You wouldn't want that.

[deadshrub]

Have you thought about seasoning it every time you pre-heat it? For example, put it in the oven like you were preheating, after the cast iron reaches approximately 200 degrees F, take it out and put a very thin layer of oil on the inside of the lid and base, then put it back in the oven with both sides facing down and let it preheat like normal when baking bread. After an hour you have put a layer of seasoning on and it's preheated ready to bake bread.

[uzeyourillusion]

If you use “steel wire wool” it will remove more rust and also remove it faster

[barrychambers]

See, you're not a lazy German! That was hard menial work.
I've used soybean oil as it is recommended by Lodge. It will stand up to a smoke point of 255C, or 490F.

[BrianLagerstrom]

Hey dude, fellow youtuber here. Love your content. I noticed your thumbnails have really changed a lot recently. They are very cool. Is someone making them for you or is that all you? Very curious to hear about CTR.