INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Continued from previous recipe.  Use unsalted lard or shortening to
completely coat the inside and  outside of the dry pot or skillet and
then bake it in a 350-degree  oven for a total of 10 hours.  This can
be accomplished a few hours  at a time while baking other items if you
make sure the old grease is  wiped clean and a fresh coating is applied
each time the pot goes  into the oven.  After 10 hours of baking, test
the pot by using a little vegetable  oil to fry an egg.  If the egg
sticks, wash the pot lightly with  soapy water and a cloth or brush,
re-coat it, and bake it for an  additional three hours or so.  Then
test it again.  The sweetening  process allows the porous cast iron to
absorb as much grease as  possible. When completed, the pot will take
on a deep, shiny black  finish.  Once the pot has been properly
seasoned, never scour it or let the  pot sit in soapy water.  Never
place it in a dishwasher.  Old time  camp cooks would break your arm
for washing a black iron pot at all.  They simply wiped it clean and
used it frequently to keep it in top  condition.  When boiling foods in
a newly seasoned pot, keep the water content  low and be sure to remove
the lid from hot foods to avoid steaming  the seasoning off the lid.
Once the pot is conditioned, store it in a dry place without the lid
on between uses.  A paper towel in the pot will absorb moisture. Most
folks who use black iron regularly like to apply a light film of
cooking oil or grease to the insides during storage.  Finally, when
you get ready to pass along that treasured old pot or skillet, be  sure
the new owner also gets these instructions.  There are other methods
for sweetening black iron cookware, but none  has ever worked as well
for me as the old Cherokee recipe.  Some would say black magic occurs
in many forms throughout Bayou  Country. For good cooks, in camp and at
home, across Louisiana some  of the very best black magic takes form
when well seasoned black iron  bubbles and sizzles up some of the
finest grub in the land. Posted to  bbq-digest by Jim Anderson
<anderson@magicnet.net> on May 02, 1998

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