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I have an induction hob but no oven, how do I season a new cast iron pan I'm thinking of getting?

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You don't.

I've tried to do this. It doesn't work.

The problem is that the induction hob heats a cast iron pan to very hot temperatures, even on the lowest setting. And when it doesn this, it doesn't heat evenly, you get a coil-shaped hot spot.

We have had a question about seasoning cast iron on stovetop, and somebody reported good results provided that it is done "low and slow". I can imagine this working. But on the induction, there is no way to go low and slow. The pan gets too hot after half an hour at the latest, the oil burns on the hot spot and stays liquid outside of it.

The easiest version might be to season it at somebody else's place (parents, friends) and then use it normally at home. Once the seasoning is done, there is no problem with that. I haven't done that; I started seasoning in my toaster oven. Even when the pan is too large to close it, the results are still better than on the induction hob.

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  • I am confused... if the induction method creates such hotspots while trying to season, would it not have the exact same problem when trying to cook with the griddle, making the griddle very unsuitable for induction cooking in any case?
    – SAJ14SAJ
    Feb 15, 2013 at 16:12
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    @SAJ14SAJ of course you get the coil-shaped hotspot during cooking too. It just doesn't make so much problems as during seasoning, because 1) you can stir and 2) you don't hit burning temperatures.
    – rumtscho
    Feb 15, 2013 at 16:18
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    another option would be to season it in a gas grill.
    – Cos Callis
    Feb 15, 2013 at 16:37
  • that's interesting, i've never heard of this uneven heating before on induction cooktops. I wonder if a diffuser plate would make this more viable.
    – Brendan
    Feb 16, 2013 at 5:09
  • @Brendan a diffuser plate counters the advantages of induction. The hot spot is not worse than the hot spot on a gas stove. It is probably less of a problem with bigger coils, mine is rather small.
    – rumtscho
    Feb 16, 2013 at 17:18

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