Seasoning failures #1 and #2

M

MEValery

Member
I know and have read repeatedly that the number of pre-seasonings before cooking in a pan is less important than just frying fatty foods. Just use the pans and it will become non-stick over time. Well I'm impatient.

I had 4 pans (7-10) all the same make (Wagner arc, nickle plated) and I wanted them to get all non-stick at the same time. That way I would not have to trust my brain to remember which ones I had seasoned the most. I wanted to get them like the 2 pans I use the most (an old erie and a bsr) where after rinsing, the water jumps out of the pan. There is almost no need for wiping them dry.

#1: Heat the pans to 250, wipe with shortening, wipe as dry as possible, heat to 550, cook for 1.5 hours, let cool. After each 2 rounds I would test with water and see if it would bead up. Over and over. I got to 14 separate seasonings on all pans (7 rounds of testing) and never got close to my 2 users.

#2: Filled all the pans with about 1/4" of oil. Heated to 350 in the stove (360 was the smoke temp of the oil) for 2 hours. Let cool, remove all the oil and wipe dry. Then I heated at 550 for 1.5 hours.
No real improvement.

I'm now frying up some raw ground meat and organs with added oil for my dogs in the No. 10. Bacon later for me.
 
Is the moral of this story don't waste the electricity (or gas) on repeated seasonings and just start using after one or two? Or am I missing the point?

FWIW, I season once, very rarely twice, and start using the pan.
 
That is at least what I'm going to do in the future. I just didn't want to say that I think it is the only correct way. In still have no idea.
 
This tells me that the importance of learning about the complexity of good seasoning with its multiple polymerized oils, fats, carbons and impurities, as well as it’s process is very important. This needs to be understood before attempting to shortcut a process that may take hundreds of cycles based on technique. Getting the desired results is hampered by impatience, but enhanced by experience and homework if one is not willing to accept the proven, but lengthly process to success.

Hilditch
 
I took my No. 10 today and cooked up 2 2# batches of ground meat, organs, and oil for my dogs. Quick clean and a small amount of bacon, another quick clean, and I cooked 6 over easy eggs. They slid around the pan ( I still broke most the yokes, but thats me using the spatula wrong).
Just gave the pan a good cleaning and rinse. There was hardly any water left in the pan after rinsing.

I've got a No. 12 in the lye bath now. Its not the same type of pan (its a wapak from around the same period 1903-1910) so its not an exact comparison, but I'm going to do 2 seasonings in the oven, a few fatty cooks, and then try some eggs and see what happens. At least this time I'll have food each time I try something.
 
MEValery said:
That is at least what I'm going to do in the future. I just didn't want to say that I think it is the only correct way. In still have no idea.
Click to expand...

Gotcha. Didn't mean to imply by seasoning just once or twice and then using is the "right" way. It's just what I do. I'm not sure there is a "right" or "correct" way.
 
Just did a #12 early wapak. 2 coats of seasoning in the oven, then 2 2# batches of raw meat and organs, then 1# bacon, and then I was able to fry some eggs. Not perfect, but good enough.
 
There you go. Use extra lubricant with the eggs for now and it will get better over time. You can decrease the lube as you build the seasoning and technique. Patience.

Hilditch
 
W. Hilditch said:
There you go. Use extra lubricant with the eggs for now and it will get better over time. You can decrease the lube as you build the seasoning and technique. Patience.

Hilditch
Click to expand...

^this^

Yes That is something I have noticed since I've been using CI. and one other odd thing is, it seems like when I use the same amount of salt I always had. my food seems over salted. But that could just be my imagination? But I do keep a extra eye on salt at the beginning. I can always add a touch more later.

Steve,
 
Steven, I don’t think it’s your imagination. Food cooked in a CI pan seems to take all the salt with it. Or maybe the seasoning releases stored salt??????? Or the seasoning/CI transforms the salt to be more potent????? I don’t know. But I have learned to go easy on the salt on the front end.

Hilditch
 
If you get in the habit of eating and cooking with less salt, you will start to be even more sensitive (taste wise) to it. I have a hard time eating out because I've cut down on salt intake over the decades cooking at home. Even got into an argument with a chef at a cooking class who kept yelling at me to add more salt while cooking.
 
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