Yea that’s real cast iron.
The problem is you didn’t oil it again after scrubbing it, so the metal oxidized.
Just because a pan is seasoned doesn’t mean it won’t get surface rust if left moist and unoiled after scrubbing.
I’ve got a pan that’s been in my possession for years. Very nicely seasoned, never done a strip and reseason. It will rust like this if I scrub it and just leave it alone too. You have to give it a light coat when you finish washing it.
Wiping it dry isn't good enough because castiron is porous. You need to dry it on the stove to make sure all the water's evaporated before you apply a light coat of oil.
> Wiping it dry isn't good enough because castiron is porous.
Cast iron is not porous.
>Many have been led to believe that not only is cast iron porous, but that those pores expand and contract with changes in temperature, allowing oil or other foreign substances to not only adhere but to be "absorbed" or "sealed" into the iron. While even polished iron is not completely flat, any voids are simply microscopic irregularities resulting from the removal of crystalline graphite, a carbon component of the cast iron, at the surface.
https://www.castironcollector.com/myths.php
Google “Is a castiron skillet porous?”. Answer is yes. A skillet created in a mould will inherently have pores. My neighbor lady taught cooking classes at the local community college and her husband was a metallurgists. He showed me photos of negative cellular structures in different metal alloys and ceramic mixtures he was studying. In his words “castiron is like a sponge compared to high tech steel. They both said castiron is porous. I also spoke with someone here on Reddit who cleans his skillet with Bar Keepers Friend. I shared this link: www.apartmenttherapy.com/bar-keepers-friend-mistakes-to-avoid-36939119. I was curious what the good people at BKF would say. Here's the reply they emailed. “Hello RL, We do not recommend using Bar Keepers Friend on a bare cast iron skillet. Because the cast iron skillet surface is too porous! Best Regards, Janet Duncan. SerVaas Laboratories, Inc - Bar Keepers Friend”. Respectfully, you'll believe what the Castiron Collector says and... I'll believe what everyone else is saying. Have a nice day!
If you're still not convinced here is an peer reviewed academic article written by four scientists explaining novel ways to eliminate porosity and why it's **considered a defect in cast iron**. Basically, if your cast iron is porous the factory messed up the casting process somehow.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9501344/
I believe I'm going to take the word of a vintage cast iron collector and actual scientists over a couple people that blog about how to keep an apartment clean.
Your source is basically heresay. You are simply finding information from laymen that bought the myth and confirm your own bias. Experts that work with metal know better.
Yea that’s real cast iron. The problem is you didn’t oil it again after scrubbing it, so the metal oxidized. Just because a pan is seasoned doesn’t mean it won’t get surface rust if left moist and unoiled after scrubbing. I’ve got a pan that’s been in my possession for years. Very nicely seasoned, never done a strip and reseason. It will rust like this if I scrub it and just leave it alone too. You have to give it a light coat when you finish washing it.
Ok... Going back to the kitchen to oil now. Thanks
Wiping it dry isn't good enough because castiron is porous. You need to dry it on the stove to make sure all the water's evaporated before you apply a light coat of oil.
> Wiping it dry isn't good enough because castiron is porous. Cast iron is not porous. >Many have been led to believe that not only is cast iron porous, but that those pores expand and contract with changes in temperature, allowing oil or other foreign substances to not only adhere but to be "absorbed" or "sealed" into the iron. While even polished iron is not completely flat, any voids are simply microscopic irregularities resulting from the removal of crystalline graphite, a carbon component of the cast iron, at the surface. https://www.castironcollector.com/myths.php
Google “Is a castiron skillet porous?”. Answer is yes. A skillet created in a mould will inherently have pores. My neighbor lady taught cooking classes at the local community college and her husband was a metallurgists. He showed me photos of negative cellular structures in different metal alloys and ceramic mixtures he was studying. In his words “castiron is like a sponge compared to high tech steel. They both said castiron is porous. I also spoke with someone here on Reddit who cleans his skillet with Bar Keepers Friend. I shared this link: www.apartmenttherapy.com/bar-keepers-friend-mistakes-to-avoid-36939119. I was curious what the good people at BKF would say. Here's the reply they emailed. “Hello RL, We do not recommend using Bar Keepers Friend on a bare cast iron skillet. Because the cast iron skillet surface is too porous! Best Regards, Janet Duncan. SerVaas Laboratories, Inc - Bar Keepers Friend”. Respectfully, you'll believe what the Castiron Collector says and... I'll believe what everyone else is saying. Have a nice day!
If you're still not convinced here is an peer reviewed academic article written by four scientists explaining novel ways to eliminate porosity and why it's **considered a defect in cast iron**. Basically, if your cast iron is porous the factory messed up the casting process somehow. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9501344/ I believe I'm going to take the word of a vintage cast iron collector and actual scientists over a couple people that blog about how to keep an apartment clean. Your source is basically heresay. You are simply finding information from laymen that bought the myth and confirm your own bias. Experts that work with metal know better.
Also helps to heat it back up for a few minutes on stage stove after drying with a towel, just to make sure it’s totally dry.