Seasoning cast iron pan without an oven

[PeachBaby]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone knows.

I found an old cast iron pan.  But here in Japan, most homes do not have ovens.  Cooking is on gas stoves, at least that's the setup in our home.  All the info I have looked up on seasoning cast iron involves putting it into an oven.  One source answered a question about having no oven, but the answer was that the person had bought a new cast iron pan which should already be seasoned.  So it didn't apply to my case which involves an old pan that DOES need (re-)seasoning.

I hope someone has an idea of what I could do in this case, in which I would be grateful for an answer!

[serenbat]

can you take it to a bakery? or do an open pit oven outside?

I know of no other way-on top will not be enough heat and that would take a lot of gas, time and I wouldn't do it

other than that did you try contacting a cooking school? 

[MaJoie]

I basicly season mine by using them. Scrub it out real well if there is any rust, dry it and coat it with oil to prevent more rust. Then when you use it just wipe out the hot pan, no water, definitely no soap. If anything should happen to stick I sprinkle a little salt in the pan and use that to scour, then just wipe out the salt and wipe it with a little oil. My pans get all glossy inside. The only problem I've ever had was when someone else decided to "help" by soaking it in the sink. Then I pretty much need to start over. Acid foods (tomatoes, fruit, vinegar) can take up the seasoning and some iron from the pan so use stainless steel for those things unless you need the additional iron in your diet and don't mind the odd color (rather gray). The pan will need reseasoning if you use it for acidic foods. 

[flightgoddess]

PP forgot to mention, that you should cook some quite oily things in your pan at first, like bacon or another fatty meat, or maybe tempura/fried chicken in oil, etc.

Don't attempt things that notoriously stick (like eggs, starchy potatoes...) until you have a good seasoning started...or you will just get frustrated with scraping.

[prone_to_wander]

We season our our cooktop. We wash it out with water only, then dry it by putting it on the cooktop ( cooktop is on) then we let it cool and then rub oil on the inside.

[Wolfcat]

Cast iron hold heat throughout the pan, so I would think that you can season the pan on the stovetop just as effectively as in the oven. A light coat of oil let it heat up for about a half hour, then cook in it. The suggestion to just use it is good too. We use ours for EVERYTHING: meat, sauce, veggies... We just wipe it out, soaking it if necessary. We make tostadas a lot, and I fry the corn tortillas in bacon grease (which we get by baking our bacon on parchment paper and draining it off when it's done), and that seasons the iron nicely.