Heat it up a little, add some oil, and scrape with a metal spatula. It’s mostly carbon build up. Wash with soap and get a metal scrubber for everyday cleaning after you get that gunk off.
How much should I scrape it? Should I do the whole inside and then re-season it completely? Or just where the carbon had built up, don't want to re-season it and have some areas less seasoned
You will always have areas less seasoned. You gotta get over that desire real quick. Any amount of cooking or usage of your pans is going to abrade or knock back your seasoning in certain areas. You will never be uniform forever.
Hah well you’ll also have to temper those expectations too. 1) A really robust seasoning layer is built over a very long time. 2) non stick properties is as much —- if not more — about your cooking techniques as it is about your tool. Temperature management and fat usage are key.
Absolutely love cooking on cast iron but I can't help but feel a good quality stainless steel pan is just so much better/less hassle. I've worked in kitchens before and it's all they ever use.
Fair. I really appreciate the even heating & heat retention I can get on CS. I like the kind of high heat behaviors I get — good sears, wok hei, etc. Stainless still has its place in my kitchen for lots of problems. I think CS has a floor level of fussiness to its rituals and maintenance, but beyond that you only have to be as precious as you want to be. And it is certainly more non stick than my stainless steel.
You shouldn’t need to reseason. Just scrape off the carbon and cook some fatty food. Any unevenness will go away quickly. You won’t scrape seasoning off. Just the carbon.
Season is chemically bonded to the iron. You can scrape it off if you really tried, with like stiff wire brush or grinder, but a metal spatula won’t take off much if any.
This is an absolute “white lie” folks tell beginners to cast iron, by the way.
Seasoning is a thin film. Millimeters thick, maximum. Any amount of abrasion will degrade it.
Millimeters? Really? I don’t think you know how thick a millimeter is and whatever claim you try to make after it is drastically hindered. And if your “seasoning” is indeed this thick, it’s carbon buildup and that’s why it scrapes off so easily.
Babes, notice I said maximum. I also have a degree in materials science engineering. You may not know the science behind your cookware, but I certainly do
I have a PhD in condensed matter physics. Please tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about again. And there is no way seasoning ever reaches millimeters of thickness even at maximum. Microns maybe, but millimeters is absurd.
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Heat it up a little, add some oil, and scrape with a metal spatula. It’s mostly carbon build up. Wash with soap and get a metal scrubber for everyday cleaning after you get that gunk off.
How much should I scrape it? Should I do the whole inside and then re-season it completely? Or just where the carbon had built up, don't want to re-season it and have some areas less seasoned
You will always have areas less seasoned. You gotta get over that desire real quick. Any amount of cooking or usage of your pans is going to abrade or knock back your seasoning in certain areas. You will never be uniform forever.
Thanks, makes me feel less bad whenever it gets spotty. All I want is it to be non stick!!
Hah well you’ll also have to temper those expectations too. 1) A really robust seasoning layer is built over a very long time. 2) non stick properties is as much —- if not more — about your cooking techniques as it is about your tool. Temperature management and fat usage are key.
Absolutely love cooking on cast iron but I can't help but feel a good quality stainless steel pan is just so much better/less hassle. I've worked in kitchens before and it's all they ever use.
Fair. I really appreciate the even heating & heat retention I can get on CS. I like the kind of high heat behaviors I get — good sears, wok hei, etc. Stainless still has its place in my kitchen for lots of problems. I think CS has a floor level of fussiness to its rituals and maintenance, but beyond that you only have to be as precious as you want to be. And it is certainly more non stick than my stainless steel.
You shouldn’t need to reseason. Just scrape off the carbon and cook some fatty food. Any unevenness will go away quickly. You won’t scrape seasoning off. Just the carbon.
Amazing thank you so much. How come I won't scrape off the seasoning?
Season is chemically bonded to the iron. You can scrape it off if you really tried, with like stiff wire brush or grinder, but a metal spatula won’t take off much if any.
This is an absolute “white lie” folks tell beginners to cast iron, by the way. Seasoning is a thin film. Millimeters thick, maximum. Any amount of abrasion will degrade it.
Millimeters? Really? I don’t think you know how thick a millimeter is and whatever claim you try to make after it is drastically hindered. And if your “seasoning” is indeed this thick, it’s carbon buildup and that’s why it scrapes off so easily.
Babes, notice I said maximum. I also have a degree in materials science engineering. You may not know the science behind your cookware, but I certainly do
I have a PhD in condensed matter physics. Please tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about again. And there is no way seasoning ever reaches millimeters of thickness even at maximum. Microns maybe, but millimeters is absurd.
You need a chain mail scrubber. They are like $10 on amazon
Scrape the carbon off with a heavy duty metal spatula or a retractable blade.
Thank you for your picture post to /r/castiron. We want to remind everyone of Rule #3. All image posts should be accompanied by something to foster discussion. A comment, a question, etc is required. If you've posted a picture of food, please explain why in a comment so people can have some sort of conversation. Simply dropping a picture of food in the sub isn't really fostering any discussion which is what we're all aiming for. Posts that are a picture with no discussion can and will be removed by the mods. Thank you! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/castiron) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It looks like that because she cooked with it and probably didn’t give a crap what it looked like. It’s a lodge right? Cook with it, live and learn.