How to Season a Dutch Oven
With a tight fitting lid, a Dutch oven is a thick-walled cooking pot usually made of cast iron. They are being used for centuries in many parts of the world as cooking vessels. Having bought a Dutch oven, you need to remember that it is not ready to be used as yet. In order to prevent it from getting rusted before use, the cast iron is usually coated with wax. For appropriate cooking you will have to season the iron so that it does not create a sticky surface. The cast iron of the Dutch oven is likely to rust and the food will give a bad taste if you have not properly seasoned the Dutch oven.
Things Required:
– Home oven
– Dutch oven
– Aluminium foil
– Paper towel
– Shortening
Instructions
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1
Place the oven rack at the bottom
The oven rack needs to be brought to the bottom of the oven. In order to protect the oven from melting the shortening, it is recommended that you place some aluminium foil at the bottom rack. -
2
Create space for Dutch oven
You can create room in the home oven for the Dutch oven by removing or moving the oven racks. -
3
Preheat the oven
You can now preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. According to most instructions that come with a Dutch oven, the recommended temperature is less than 500 degrees. However, you will be able to season the Dutch oven more efficiently at this temperature. -
4
Coat the Dutch oven
You can coat the whole Dutch oven with a layer of shortening using a paper towel. Both inside and outside of the Dutch oven need to be coated. -
5
Set the lid
The lid of the Dutch oven needs to be set up at the bottom rack in the oven, ensure that the handle is facing upwards. -
6
Put the oven on the lid
Place the Dutch oven on the lid and close the home oven. You should allow the Dutch oven to bake for 30 minutes. As the Dutch oven is baking, you need to remember that it will create a lot of smoke. Therefore, it is highly recommended that the exhaust fan is turned on and that you open the door in the room to make sure that smoke is appropriately cleared. Your Dutch oven will not have a shiny coating and it can now be used.
