Double, Double, Toil and Trouble

We don't celebrate Halloween and don't like talk of death, magic, witches and spirits, but William Shakespeare, in Macbeth, had a line in which some witches said the following:

Double, double toil and trouble;
    Fire burn, and caldron bubble.

When our oldest son moved out, we gave him our old Lodge Cast Iron Dutch oven.  Cast iron pots are awesome to cook in.  We gave him the pot, but didn't give him proper instructions on how to care for cast iron.  Due to the lack of having those instructions, he brought it to us last week, and it had started to RUST!  He put it in the refrigerator with food in it, condensation formed on the cast iron, leading to rust.

So appropriately, we had "double, double toil and trouble" in order to get the dutch oven re-seasoned.  I had an old copy of an article from LOUISIANA CONSERVATIONIST MAGAZINE from 27 years ago that had instructions on how to properly season cast iron.  Louisiana Conservationist is an old magazine put out by Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries.  Clicking on the link above brings you to every issue archived dating back to 1923.  Here is a Link to Article from January-February 1992 about seasoning cast iron.

I have the old, yellowed copy shown here below that we used for guidance:

And here is the summary of how to do it.  I must have highlighted it 27 years ago, so the highlight has started to fade:

Essentially, you wash the pot, coat it with lard or shortening and put in the oven for 10 hours at 350 degrees.  I came home the other night and it smelled funny in the house.  I asked Tricia what was for supper.  She said, "Oh, I'm seasoning the cast iron.  That's not supper!"

Once Tricia finished, the dutch oven was seasoned and ready for use again.  No more rust.

So in order to keep this old pot in good shape, here are the instructions we should have given:
Don't ever put it in the refrigerator.  Not only will it rust, but to me, the taste of the iron leeches into the food, giving it a bad taste.

1. When cleaning, use hot water.
2. Don't ever, ever, ever use a scouring pad on your cast iron.
3. Dry it.
4. Oil it.

Following these steps will afford you the ability to miss out on the double, double toil and trouble with your cast iron caldron full of eye of newt and tongue of dog as it will never rust.  It will provide you delicious meals and will be an heirloom that you can pass down to your kids and they will remember the meals you cooked for them in it.  (Just be sure to pass along directions for caring for cast iron along with it!)