Blotchiness?

E

E Weidner

New member
I believe I have the same symptom as in http://www.castironcollector.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4176 but didn't want to hijack someone else's thread.

I received a Griswold #10 in what looked to be pretty decent condition from a family member as a gift. It looked like it had some surface rust in spots, but very little seasoning. Green scrubbie and water/vinegar took it down to grey metal in all but a few spots on the pan. I then proceeded to manually season the pan with coats of canola oil and into the oven at 450 for 30 min. After the 4th cycle the pan was still pretty brown vs getting to black. I found the article here about seasoning and noted the step which was missing from the other (sites) articles on how to season. That is wiping off most of the oil before placing it in the oven.

Anyway I think I didn't wipe off enough oil. I now have blotchiness and not a totally smooth surface on the pan (and a bit tacky in spots). Will that go away with regular cooking use? Or am I looking at needing to strip the seasoning and start over?

2016-10-04 21.36.16 by Erich Weidner, on Flickr

2016-10-04 22.03.19 by Erich Weidner, on Flickr

2016-10-04 23.50.04 by Erich Weidner, on Flickr

2016-10-05 00.29.30 by Erich Weidner, on Flickr

2016-10-06 18.47.20 by Erich Weidner, on Flickr
 
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Unless it is an artifact of your photography, both pans look to be chrome plated. Trying to manually season over plating, besides being unnecessary, would tend to result in the pooling and splotchiness of baked on (or burnt on) oil. If not plated, it simply means you are not wiping enough oil off before baking. When the seasoning article says to wipe as if you are trying to totally remove that which you just applied, it means it quite literally. The barest minimum of oil remaining is all you want.

http://www.castironcollector.com/seasoning.php
 
Erich, I defer to the experts around here, but I would strip both of them down no start over. You might try washing the new one again with Dove and see if that works, but starting over is what I would do ... especially now that I have lye bucket, it's easy to remove the old seasoning.

Edit: I didn't notice that they might be plated. So ... what Doug said.
 
I don't think they were plated. It was a dull grey after scrubbing. I oiled the pan before taking the photo. I think the lighting may be what gives that impression. I'm no photographer. ;)

I read the link on seasoning. But only after I had already done two coats and 30 min bake at 450.

---------- Post added at 11:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:55 PM ----------

I need to take another photo of the second pan. I think the flash on my camera made it look all washed out. It is normally jet black. Definitely not plated. It is a pan cooked on for at least 60 years.

Many articles/posts on pan care speak of oiling the pan after cleaning and taking the pan to the point of oil smoking then letting it cool.

What I noticed this last time, (after my chicken & onion cook, soap and water cleanup, then med. heat to dry the pan, then a paper towel spread of oil, then heating till smoking) was that the non deep black portions of the pan began to look grey and "ghostlike". I've not cooked with it since.
 
Strip, preferably with lye, and start over. The myth that someone else's old, established seasoning is something to be revered and preserved is just that, a myth. You have an opportunity to build your own seasoning and gain the experience of what it means to properly create and maintain such a protective, non-stick coating.

Depending on what you cook and how you clean afterwards, the surface of the seasoning may be left with a dull, flat appearance. You can cosmetically restore the shine with just a little (think tsp.) oil wipe-down. No, this miniscule amount of oil does not soften established seasoning, as one poster here repeatedly insists. If a semi-drying oil such as canola is used, it can only result in an improvement to your seasoning. There is no need nor reason to oil and heat a pan to smoking as a post-cooking regimen.
 
Just proceed to use them. Merely scraping with a spatula after cooking and washing gently with hot water will smooth out the seasoning in the pan in post 1 and fill in between the spots in the post 2 skillet. They ain’t broke; just ready to be used and cleaned without too much scrubbing. NO soap!

Hilditch
 
I'm certainly a novice compared to others here but I also have first-hand experience with these issues. I agree with what's being said.

The blotchiness is from inadequately wiping off enough oil before the oven bake. You want it as dry as you can wipe it; it still won't be completely dry and that's enough, that's what you want.

No need to heat the pan to smoking after the post-clean oil. I spent over a year trying to force faster seasoning that way but the results just aren't that good, end up flaking, not as durable, and uneven. It's better to warm over low heat, use the oil as an extra (and optional) protectant, and let the seasoning build with regular cooking use.

With what you have, both options are viable - strip and start over or keep cooking on it regularly and let it even out over time. Depends on what's important to you.

What I've said here is my opinion based on my experiences and in no way is meant to supersede expert advice.
 
Eric, unfortunately all the experts at creating seasoning are no longer with us. The rest of us are just experimenting on a part time basis. I too found out trying to hurry seasoning is not the way to go also. Too thick of a lard coating will peel real nice.

As there are many ways and many opinions on how to and what is the perfect seasoning I doubt there are any experts on this site. Your experience is equal to any experience expressed here.

For the record, I do not find the following statement to be true; “The myth that someone else's old, established seasoning is something to be revered and preserved is just that, a myth.” It is not a myth. Established seasoning on a cast iron skillet made from hundreds of cooking sessions is right up there with family photo albums of the same era. Cooking perfection.

If there are any seasoning experts here, please step up.

Hilditch
 
There are those who use BBQ grills, if they have them, but I suppose, smelling up the house a bit aside, the oven is just more convenient.

Regarding the previous comment, whenever I see the word expert used around here it makes me cringe a little bit. I don't think there are any experts, true experts, in any facet of this hobby. There is always more to be learned, more information to be found, another unknown pan to be seen. I don't care to be referred to as an expert. But I am someone who has studied the subject more than most, and in the context of a collector and restorer of vintage cast iron cookware. The object here is to help others in that regard, through the website and this forum, with information distilled from the experience of hundreds of collectors over many decades, as well as my own.

The "experts at creating seasoning (who) are no longer with us" weren't experts, either. They just cooked in their cast iron pans a lot, and learned what worked best in that context. But, people don't come here looking to be told that all they need to do with some heavily-encrusted old pan a mouse may have nested in, the bug man may have sprayed, or that might have been used for an oil change is to just wash it with Dawn and use it. It is neither prudent, nor is there anything to be learned about how a good seasoning is established, improved, and maintained from that advice.
 
Doug D. said:
There are those who use BBQ grills, if they have them, but I suppose, smelling up the house a bit aside, the oven is just more convenient.

Regarding the previous comment, whenever I see the word expert used around here it makes me cringe a little bit. I don't think there are any experts, true experts, in any facet of this hobby. There is always more to be learned, more information to be found, another unknown pan to be seen. I don't care to be referred to as an expert. But I am someone who has studied the subject more than most, and in the context of a collector and restorer of vintage cast iron cookware. The object here is to help others in that regard, through the website and this forum, with information distilled from the experience of hundreds of collectors over many decades, as well as my own.

The "experts at creating seasoning (who) are no longer with us" weren't experts, either. They just cooked in their cast iron pans a lot, and learned what worked best in that context. But, people don't come here looking to be told that all they need to do with some heavily-encrusted old pan a mouse may have nested in, the bug man may have sprayed, or that might have been used for an oil change is to just wash it with Dawn and use it. It is neither prudent, nor is there anything to be learned about how a good seasoning is established, improved, and maintained from that advice.
Click to expand...

That's always been my philosophy too Doug. I don't know the history of a pan I buy at a flea market, garage sale, etc. I've had "old timers" tell me they've coated them in motor oil or linseed oil to keep them from rusting. Once you have an etank set up, it seems crazy to me not to strip it bare and start over.
 
Doug D. said:
But, people don't come here looking to be told that all they need to do with some heavily-encrusted old pan a mouse may have nested in, the bug man may have sprayed, or that might have been used for an oil change is to just wash it with Dawn and use it. It is neither prudent, nor is there anything to be learned about how a good seasoning is established, improved, and maintained from that advice.
Click to expand...

I got a 20 inch CI skillet that had been used as an oil change pan. I stuck it on my propane burner that came with the Turkey fryer and burnt it off. I then put a coat of vegetable oil on it. To keep it from rusting, but I still don't trust it to use. I also don't have an oven big enough to properly season it, so for now it is back in my basement waiting until I think to get some oven cleaner (I found out about the over cleaner here).
 
W. Hilditch said:
For the record, I do not find the following statement to be true; “The myth that someone else's old, established seasoning is something to be revered and preserved is just that, a myth.” It is not a myth. Established seasoning on a cast iron skillet made from hundreds of cooking sessions is right up there with family photo albums of the same era. Cooking perfection.
Hilditch
Click to expand...

Though my photo is flash saturated, Grandmother's pan is jet, jet black. My Mother and Uncle have always just washed with soap and water, towel dried and back into the cabinet they went. They don't have the blotchiness. I'm pretty sure I added that by wipeing down pan with oil and heating 'till smoking after I cleaned to pan, prior to putting away (as one of my favorite food blogs recommends). I think I'm going to start going easy to none on post cooking oiling.

I'm definitely not stripping off good solid seasoning Grandma put down. Every time I use the pan, I feel connected to her memory. :)
 
If you are confident that the seasoning already on a pan you have acquired is safe to begin using yourself and you are happy with it, there is no reason to start over. The original question was what caused blotchiness in multiple cases, and my answer and advice was based on why that sometimes occurs when manually seasoning a newly-stripped pan and what best to do about it.

I use my grandmother's #8 Griswold skillet 3-4 times a week, but when I first received it I still stripped it and initiated my own seasoning. I may be sentimental about the pan, but not about anything stuck to it. It performs well, with only an occasional need to go beyond just running hot water and a plastic scrubber to clean it. When I finish cleaning and drying it well over a low burner, I wipe it with a small amount of oil to restore the shine, removing most of the oil in the process. Years later, it has a durable, glossy, black, non-stick coating that is barely a millimeter thick, if that. I can try to scratch it with my thumbnail, but it leaves no trace. The same is true of my go-to heavy pan, a 1950s Lodge #10, as well as all my other users.

I don't see any reason whatsoever to oil an already-seasoned pan and then heat it past its smoke point, whether it be as a post-cleaning ritual or before long-term storage if is to be kept in a controlled, low-humidity environment.
 
I might also occasionally wipe the outer sidewalls with whatever's left on the paper towel. When I say small amount of oil, I mean drops, a half tsp. maybe.
 
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