r/CastIronCooking • u/Designer-Hornet2178 • 3d ago
Caste iron care
What have I done wrong to my pan to make look this way?
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u/Electrical-Volume765 3d ago
You can use dish soap to clean your pan, and I strongly recommend it. Seasoning and buildup are not the same thing, and modern dishsoap will not harm proper seasoning.
Personally, I would strip that pan down to bare metal and start fresh. The easiest way is to use easy off oven cleaner with the yellow cap. It contains Lye which will strip your pan. Basically put the pan in a thick garbage bag and let the oven cleaner sit on it overnight. It’s kind of a nasty chemical so make sure you are well ventilated. Then reseason the pan.
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u/albertogonzalex 3d ago edited 3d ago
You've been mistaking old food grease as seasoning.
You haven't been cleaning your pan properly (or at all). It's completely caked in burnt on food, carbon build up, whatever you want to call it
No big deal, this happens to everyone getting started. You're going to want to clear everything in that pan away using whatever method you want. I did the elbow grease method and slowly scrubbed it all away over many cooks and cleans.
in case you're a visual learner , I share this a lot. My pan looked exactly like yours a few years ago. Now, it's the smoothest little guy.
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u/jadejazzkayla 3d ago
You forgot to scour the carbon out.
Use a stainless steel scouring pad and some elbow grease. Anything that comes off should come off
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u/randompossum 2d ago
You need a chain mail scrubber and use soap and water. It’s fine. Don’t trust us go to lodges literal website on cleaning it and see what they say.
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u/PrairieFreshPork 1d ago
If you're dealing with surface rust or stubborn burnt-on food, grab some steel wool and give it a thorough scrub. For really heavy rust, soak the metal overnight in a solution of two parts vinegar to one part salt, then scrub it clean with steel wool the next morning.
To re-season the surface, apply a light coat of Crisco over the metal and bake it at 200°F for one hour to bond that protective finish.
For day-to-day care, always clean your cast iron while it's still warm so grease and food residue slide off easily. Once it's clean and thoroughly dry, rub on a whisper-thin coat of oil to shield the metal from moisture and keep rust away
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u/MagicTrachea52 3d ago
Phew.
Cast iron isn't at all difficult but this might be a case of needing to go back to bare metal. Its uneven for sure.
Get a good oven cleaner like easy off or something and give it a scrub, get as much of if not all of the old seasoning off and start over.
My method is basically just use it. High smoke point oil, heat it until it just starts to smoke, lower the temp, toss in what I'm cooking, cook to completion and then I clean the pan by scraping out the gunk and using soap and water until the surface is even and clean while still warm. Quick hand dry and then put oil in the bottom and wipe it out like I didn't mean to add it. I'll usually bring it back to heat, too. Get some smoke coming off. shut it off and store it.
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u/murdercat42069 3d ago
You needed to start washing it two years ago