Upon reading the posts and info by Sheryl’s Blog and this post we tried the flaxseed oil (Barlean’s Flax Oil) and her heating regime. It worked quite well including stinking up the house. The iron came out evenly black. Re-seasoning made it smoother and shinier. The smell was soon gone and was worth it.

The gist of the method is:

1. Clean with electrolysis or if the outside.  [If we did not want to strip the inside we used Easy Off Oven Cleaner.] Then dry off quickly with a towel and put in a 250-degree oven for about 30 minutes to dry.
2. Then turn the oven up to 450 degrees for an hour to create the magnetite.  [see her later advice at this page.]
3. Take it out and oil it liberally the first time; let it sit for a few minutes to soak up it; then dry it off very well with a cotton towel; then put it back in the oven upside down for one hour.
4. At the end of the hour turn it off and let it stay in there for 2 hours. The iron was still very warm when we took it out. The high heat on the naked iron caused it to turn black as soon as the first oil was added–as Sheryl pointed it would.

Re-seasoning was not described in her blog so we:

1. Heated the seasoned skillet or pot to 250;
2. wiped on the flaxseed oil and wiped it dry;
3. put it back in the over and turned up the heat to 450.
4. baked it for an hour.

The above method was as of 2/24/13 so there is surely still more to learn from experiences. Given we have used this technique on only 4 or 5 pots  and only 3 or 4 seasonings we have a ways to go to get to her recommended 9 times.