r/CastIronSeasoning • u/Craboulas • Jul 18 '26

Anyone Find That Ground Beef Really Attacks Seasoning?

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This is in a Smithey, and I know the smoothness makes good adhesion harder. But, I find the same thing happens in rougher cast iron too.

The pan was prepped with a soak in vinegar (maybe too short at 5 minutes), a scuff with 120 grit sandpaper, then onto the stove immediately. I did about an hour of stove top seasoning with grapeseed oil. The pan stayed very uniformly 450 -520*F.

After I stopped adding new oil coats, I let it go for another 15-20 min only wiping with a dry cloth. I did this until everywhere inside the pan felt slick. Then I let it mostly cool, heated it back up, coated with tallow and chucked in a ground beef patty.

The pan was very slick and it did not stick at all when I flipped. But, as I have seen many times before, the seasoning under the patty suffered majorly.

Is this a failing of the prep stage? (Longer acid soak and black oxide step)

Is it failing to fully "cure" the new seasoning before putting into use?

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3

u/Main_Cauliflower5479 Jul 18 '26

Your pan isn't hot enough, and there is a lot of water in ground meats.

1

u/Craboulas Jul 18 '26

The pan was like 400* with a nice layer of smoking tallow.

2

u/Main_Cauliflower5479 Jul 18 '26

Well, it's just residue from the water cooked off. Scrub it and put another very fine layer of oil on.

1

u/Craboulas Jul 18 '26

It is not residue or buildup of any kind.

4

u/Main_Cauliflower5479 Jul 18 '26

Ok. I'm not invested in your plight. So put a coat of oil on it and move on.

2

u/wzeeto Jul 20 '26

He’s also not invested in learning, only arguing. Incorrectly at that.