I'm getting a shipment in about 10 days of new screens from Lloyd's and have to go through the seasoning process - YUK !!!
A manufacturere here in Australia told me not to season te screens with oil as the oil builds up in the holes and this eventually leads to sticking of bases. He said the oil eventually hardens to a crabon and when reheated (when you are cooking) softens up as a gum and this causes sticking. He said it is best just to wipe down the screens and put through the oven a couple of times to season them and maybe once a month just lightly spray some oil over the screens when laying the bass.
We have always wiped the screens with oil and put through the oven (choking on the oily smoke given out) and repeated it 3 - 4 times, Yes we do get a build up of carbon in the holes but it takes years to do so. The last screens we seasoned this way are still realatively "clean - no build up" . We lightly spray oil over the bases about once per month (from a spray can)
Has anyone seasoned screens without oil or do you all oil the bases for seasoning?
Just not wanting to do the oiled seasoning - I HATE IT !!!!!

Dave

Heating a plain old piece of metal does not seem to me to be "seasoning" it. Heating it up, yes. Seasoning with oil is what I do to all my screens, woks, camping tent stakes, cast iron skillets, pounded boneless chicken honkers. Skip that last one, that's salt and pepper. Properly seasoned, the polymerized oils should not "soften up as a gum and cause sticking." Maybe once if you don't get a complete breakdown of the oil . . . but you are in the hands of people using Lloyd's discs as to whether they need seasoning.

Do you rub yourself down with oil and bake off every summer so that the pizzas don't stick to you?

Are you sure you'll need to season them? My hex discs from Lloyd didn't need to be seasoned. Do their screens come with the same coating?

No. Like you I have too much hair so everything sticks, oiled or not !!

No idea. This is my first purchase from them

Dave

No seasoning required...they won't stick @ all...been using mine 4 many, many years...never a stick....

You talking about screens or discs?

Dave

If they are the black discs, like the "Hearth Bake" disc etc. then there should be a little instruction paper in your shipment notifying you that they are "pre-seasoned" by nature and you will most likely not have to do anything further. We use that disc and added nothing to them. I did run them through the oven a couple of times with no pies on them just for the heck of it I suppose. We've had zero issues with the ones we're using.

thanks for sharing

If you're buying them from Lloyds, if they're black in color, you're pretty well "set to go" without any further seasoning. Even with their non-stick finish, I always wash to remove any unwanted traces of oil, or whatever from the manufacturing process, then I dry them with a short pass through the oven, and apply a light coating of oil from an oily towel, for the first use, after that, no more oil unless I wash the pans. Even then, if I can see a shine on the pan, that is evidence that there is sufficient oil to begin using the pan. If your screens, disks, or pans are bright, without a non-stick finish, you need to season the pans before their first use, unless you want the dough and pan/disk/screen to become as one. Remember: If you wash your seasoned pans/disks/screens, here is a procedure that works well.
1) Have sinks filled with soapy water; rinse water; and sanitizer.
2) Grasp item to be washed in one hand, and a soft bristle nylon brush in the other. Dip item in soapy water and lightly scrub with brush.
3) Dip item in rinse water.
4) Dip item in Sanitizer solution.
5) Immediately wipe dry with a clean towel.
6) Run item(s) through the oven (normal temperature) to thoroughly dry.
7) Put away for storage.
Please note that at no time did the "item" ever leave the hand until it went into the oven. If you are in the habit of soaking things in the sink (hot soapy water), you will just create more work. The seasoning that you worked so hard to put on will begin to come off in large flakes, like a bad sunburn. This will stick to the pizzas and probably come back to you from your customers (not a good thing). Then, you will need to chemically remove all of the old seasoning and start all over again, or just buy new ones and start all over again. In either case, it is not a good experience.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Thanks Tom and all the others.
Yes they are bright screens so I guess I ahve to smoke the store out for a few hours ... I HATE DOING THIS
On a side note got the screens from Lloyds yesterday only a week after ordering. This is around the same time it would take to get them here so kudous to Lloyds.
Now to get myself motivated for this messy smokey job.
Dave

Dave;
Make sure you set your oven temperature at something under 430F/221C for seasoning your pans. The reason for this is due to the flash point (temperature of combustion) of most oils, which is at or just above 430F/221C. By keeping your temperature below this, you will diminish the possibility of some unwanted excitement in your life.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Thanks for the heads up on that Tom. I put through some 12" today that we bought in specifically for Gluten Free bases. I forgot to lower the temp but thankfully everything was OK.
Anyway what's wrong with a little excitement ?

Dave

Dave;
I agree, it can be fun to live on the dangerous edge once in a while, but living there full time is a bit like stacking the deck against you. Seldom wil you have a problem when seasoning pans, even at temperatures above the flash point of oil, but when things go wrong, they go terribly wrong, in a big hurry. Think of a flash, like that from the ignition of gasoline, now put that into the middle of your oven, exciting...huh? Not over yet, the best part is still to come. Now, the Ansil system goes off. BINGO!! Party time! Generally little or no damage to the oven, hopefully it didn't start a fire, but the clean up from the Ansil system can be a real mess. In case you're wondering, I can relate to this from the voice of experience.
Have a great day, and play safe!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

Thanks Tom
I'm doing 55 screens tomorrow so I will heed your words. After 2 years on a month to month lease and a new long lease in my hand I can't afford party time antics.
Tom, do you think if what you described happened, my MMPS360 would be unscathed? I liken it to one of those great heavy tanks you see on th WWII movies where nothing stops them ... just like a cockroach after the nuclear bomb - the only thing to survive.

Dave