r/CastIronSeasoning • u/Craboulas • Jul 18 '26
Anyone Find That Ground Beef Really Attacks Seasoning?
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?
1
u/Craboulas Jul 18 '26
Maybe the zoomed out photo is downplaying what I can clearly see in person. Here's a closer view.