'Spot' seasoning a cast iron griddle

[DontPanic42]

I would like to pass on a tip that we have used for many years on all our cast iron that we have on our chuck wagon.
After cleaning and drying, wipe the surface with a light coating of Mineral Oil. Mineral Oil will vaporize readily when heated and leaves no residue. Most important, it does not become rancid with time as animal or vegetable oils will. Nothing worse than opening up a DO that has been stored and getting an odor that is reminiscent of dead rat.
With proper care, cast iron will last a long, long time. I have pieces that are much older then I am and I'm old.

 

[Topher Walters]

After reading all of the posts I just wanted to relay a funny story that happened to me. At one of the fire stations I worked at they had a great collection of cast iron that was used for every meal. There were probably 20 pieces from a small frying pan about 6 inches all the way up to huge frying pans that were maybe 16-18 inches. Well those pans were used for every meal 7 days a week for over 15+ years. They were better than cooking on teflon, nothing would stick, and well taken care of. Cleaning with hot water only, a light reseason and reheated to dry. One day a new firefighter with some extra time and wanting to impress and stay busy decided to "clean" all of the cast iron while we were out on a call. When we came back the firefighter proudly showed their hard work and how sparkling new the pans looked. The firefighter had "cleaned" the pans with soap, bon-ami, and heavy duty scrubby pads. The look in my face and my fellow firefighter's face was probably priceless. We cried the rest of the shift. It took 2+ months or more to get those pans back into working order. A few of the pans I feel never recovered. Good cast iron will last more than a lifetime and will cook better than anything else when taken care of correctly.