Several years ago I decided to move away from nonstick skillets. After some research, I went out and hunted down a couple old cast iron pieces. The one that I use most is a 1950’s or 1960’s Wagner Ware skillet that someone (I am not making this up) was using at a camp as a wall decoration. It took me a couple days of scrubbing with steel wool and baking soda to remove every speck of dirt and rust. After that I gave it a few rounds of seasoning in the oven using grapeseed oil (you can read about this online). Those old skillets were hand polished, so they have a very smooth surface. Get one properly seasoned like mine, use it regularly, and the cooking surface will look like black glass. Maybe it’s my imagination, but I am convinced that food just tastes better now. And it’s great to be able to use any old utensil without worrying about damaging a pan. My standard procedure after I use a cast iron skillet is to wash it, dry it carefully, and hit it with Crisbee. I put the skillet on the stove over a low flame, let it heat up (the heat actually opens the pores of the cast iron) and apply the Crisbee. Then I just let it cool down before I put it away. I’ve been doing that for a few years now, and from what I can see, the stuff works pretty well. The Crisbee has maintained my cast iron nicely and I’ve never had to take a pot back through the initial seasoning process. One other note: there’s a lot of stuff out there about “you should never wash cast iron.” That probably dates back to when detergents contained lye and were harsh enough to remove the seasoning from a well-prepped cast iron pot. Today’s detergents are much milder and you can wash cast iron without damaging or removing seasoning. If you wash a cast iron pan, just be sure to dry it thoroughly since the real issue is making sure to prevent rust. This is another advantage of using a post-cooking treatment like Crisbee — heating the pan to apply Crisbee pretty much ensures that the pan is properly dried. Read more
I like this better than using food oils for seasoning cast iron because it doesn’t smoke or smell up the kitchen. I restore cast iron and will put on 3-4 layers of seasoning after stripping. After seasoning all I have to do is wash the pan with soap and water and it looks like new. My daily user has been seasoned for a couple years now and looks great. Easy to use, rub it in, then try to rub it all off before putting it in the oven so it doesn’t run or pool. I like this better than the pastes because it’s easy to spread on the pan. Read more
We love this. Just clean the pan coat with this while warm and it leaves them looking great and inhibits rusting. Great product. Got a second one for a buddy to use on his outdoor flat iron griddle too. Read more
I got this to try out after I killed my Crisbee push-pop. The upshot is that it's very easy to apply just a drop or two, which is all you need most of the time, whereas the solid can be a little trickier. It spreads easily even on a cold pan (though I recommend heating first to drive off any moisture!) and seems to do its job well. On the other hand, as can happen with any liquid oil, sometimes it just doesn't seem to adhere as well. No issues with the seasoning flaking or anything, but it simply doesn't apply as evenly as the solid; it sometimes seems to "miss" certain areas. It's no worse than other oils, and it generally isn't a problem, but the contrast with solid Crisbee - which eagerly spreads anywhere I want it to, and stays there - is enough to be noticeable. That said, it isn't anywhere near enough of a problem that I'm considering replacing it with solid Crisbee, and I think the convenient application more than offsets it. Read more
Perfect for keeping you Blackstone conditioned Read more
I was struggling to get my cast iron properly seasoned. I works either wind up with sticky spots, or it would cook off with whatever I was cooking in them. I'd had them for 10 years, surely they should have been seasoned by now? I found Crisbee Cream and decided to give it a try. I wish I had found this from the get-go! A few rounds in the oven with this, and my pans were perfectly seasoned. They just get better the more I use them, as long as I follow up cleaning with a tiny bit of this cream. Read more
This is just much easier to handle and apply. It does not seem like it will get tacky/stale like the puck form of crisbee, and performs very similarly. I sanded my Lodge skillet with a dremel tool to a shiny, smooth surface, and gave it 3 coats of crisbee. Wish I'd done 6 to get it really deep bronze and speed up the process of it getting to slick black. But even 3-4 coats is fine. Just follow the directions on the tube -- no need to make changes. Read more
Surprised. I have meticulously avoided blends for seasoning Cast Iron. We had two restoration pieces that were "problem" pieces. We had tried the Larbee Swipe and we were really pleased with the results. I bought my mom the Crisbee Cream to have in our restoration workshop to prevent flash rust if we weren't going to season right away. I need a tube for our restoration shop! LOL! She fell in love with it for conditioning her iron after use and for polishing restored pieces before they go to their new home! It only takes a couple of drops to polish or condition an average size Cast Iron skillet. Read more
