Please help

S

SNPisonero

New member
I am a cast iron beginner and am running into a lot of frustration with maintaining my patina.

I always have an uneven finish. It seems as though I always have caked on food on my skillets. As soon as I clean them, my seasoning fades where I am cleaning it.

I typically use beef tallow to season, but have also used avocado oil and bacon grease with the same results.

This last time, I completely stripped my lodge 15". I seasoned it with tallow @ 400 degrees for 4 hours and repeated the process 6 times over 3 days. It had a perfect finish.

I sauteed some onions, and when I was finished, I washed the pan out with water and saw a familiar scene, there was some stuck on onion. Just like every other time, I cleaned it again with a soft sponge, which got most of it up, except some black charcoal looking spots. They were raised up so I assume they were burnt on food. By the time I got it off, I ruined the finish again.

Two things.

1) What are these charcoal looking spots and why do I always have them? maybe I am cooking at too high a temp and it is burnt food. It is a bear to clean them, so I imagine I am doing something wrong. Most people say they just rinse theirs out.

2) IF I get them how do I clean them. I bought this chainmail thing that is supposed to work well, but I think I am stripping the finish using it.

Thanks for the help!
 
If you're burning onions, it sounds like you may be cooking with your heat too high. Try backing that down. If you're still burning stuff and having stuck on/burnt on carbon bits, you need to back it down even more. And move stuff around in the skillet while it's cooking.

When cleaning, have you tried simmering some water in the skillet before scrubbing? Works wonders for stuck on bits and pieces. Can't say if your chain mail scrubber is at fault. I've never used one, but you may be too aggressive with it. Most aggressive I've ever been with cleaning is gently using the edge of my spatula while simmering the water and a Scotch Brite afterwards.

FWIW, I think you're wasting a lot of electricity, time, and money in your seasoning method, but if it works for you and you're happy with it, then don't change it.
 
I think the hardest thing to get past is over cleaning when your so used to washing pot, pans and such so they are squeaky clean like we were taught from childhood. You know can't leave any germs and use hot! Water.

I don't wash out my skillets very often, most of the time I can just wipe it out with a paper towel. But I don't let it sit to long after using it.
 
You can not maintain the look of your original seasoning if you use it to cook.

2) Before washing, scrape the bottom of the skillet smooth with a straight edge metal spatula.

3) Be more gentle washing. A chain scrubber will remove the original seasoning.

4) Cooking an acidic food like onions will remove 3 layers of seasoning, so wait until you have 10 layers.

5) Black is good. The black burnt food is good. It is just carbon left that will absorb oil and is part of seasoning. Think graphite.

6) All the dark spots will fill in the light spots evenly with more cooking. It is supposed to be that way.

Hilditch
 
I only bring out a metal spatula when something gets burnt on that just hot water and a plastic scrubber won't take off. Most times, simmering 1/4" of water for a minute or so will even eliminate the need for that. I would agree that the "repeat x 6" regimens for manual seasoning are more about looks and less about establishing a good foundation for a durable long-term seasoning; cooking is what does that best.
 
Also make sure your pan is up to temp before cooking. Starting with a cold pan will lead to sticking 100% of the time
 
JustinR said:
Also make sure your pan is up to temp before cooking. Starting with a cold pan will lead to sticking 100% of the time
Click to expand...

I agree with that nearly 100% except that I always start bacon in a cold pan after I give it a shot of PAM or a teaspoon of canola oil spread around.
 
Thanks for all of the feedback!! Correct me if I am wrong, but it sounds like

1) I am being too aggressive with my heat
2) Ditch the chainmail
3) Chill with the aggressive cleaning
4) Don't worry about a consistent patina, it is not practical


Two questions.

1) Is there a consensus on cooking not onions in a newer skillet?
2) Does everyone leave the charcoaled bits in their pan as seasoning? I have heard people say that before, but then again, I see people going to great lengths to get rid of it.

---------- Post added at 01:40 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:39 AM ----------

I have heard boiling water removes the seasoning. Is that not true?

---------- Post added at 01:44 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:40 AM ----------

Also, you say that I am wasting electricity with my seasoning method. I don't particularly enjoy that method, but I am just trying to get my pan well seasoned. Are you saying there is a better way, or that I am overdoing the seasoning?
 
1) Yes, acidic foods will eat some seasoning. Mixed in with alkaline foods is OK.

2) No.

3) A quick boil to soften food particles will not hurt your seasoning. It does have a deglazing effect. I prefer to leave the glaze in place to become the next layer of seasoning after scraping the chunks smooth.

Less aggressive is more better.

Hilditch
 
SNPisonero said:
So are you saying that if there are burnt charcoaled food particles in your pan, you leave them after scraping them smooth?
Click to expand...

Not to speak for anyone but no. A brief heat of a small amount of water in the pan will deglaze the food particles and then you wipe out with a plastic scrubber or paper towel. You are on the verge of perfection. Look up the seasoning directions on this site. My bet is you are over doing it so go with the site recommend for the first dose of seasoning. Repeated cooking of bacon,and other meats will add to your seasoning layer. Clean and repeat. Often.
 
I love big skillets,the only bad thing about it is,the bigger the skillet is,the bigger the burner has to be,I imagine you are increasing the temp.to try maintain the skillet hot,and is when you get hot spots where the food is sticking, pre heating the skillet in the oven will help a lot,is not an easy task with that big and heavy skillet,what I recommend is get a smaller skillet or bigger burner as big as the skillet
 
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