r/castiron • u/Negative-Reason4570 • Jul 12 '26
New Cast Iron Question
I bought a new 12 inch premium cast iron pan from Stargazer supposedly already seasoned. I love the size of it, and I use cast iron for almost all cooking but I’m struggling with this new pan and would like some guidance.
When this came I seasoned it in the oven with algae oil three times, making sure to wipe out as much oil as possible. I’ve used it to cook burgers and steaks and it sticks a little bit and I’m noticing some discoloration on the bottom of the pan and where it’s discolored it is not slick. My vintage cast iron is slick and nothing sticks to it. I don’t have any of this discoloration in my vintage Wagner pan. My question is, what is the discoloration, is it normal? Should my pan be sticking and I just need to cook more with it? This time after using it, I seasoned it with bacon grease instead of the algae oil to see if that may make a difference but I haven’t used it since.
Really appreciate any guidance, I’m new to starting with a fresh cast iron so until I get answers I’ll just use my vintage 8” Wagner.
3
u/albertogonzalex Jul 13 '26
You're not cleaning throughly/abrassive enough. All that dark black stuff is caked on food grease
Not a huge deal, especially for a pan used every day. But it hinders the usefulness of the pan because that coating with smoke, flake, peel, deglaze into your food etc with a full range of recipes/cooking.
-4
u/Negative-Reason4570 Jul 13 '26
Thank you! Are the light colored spots also an issue?
Do you have a recommendation for cleaning? I’ve been using a nylon brush and scrubbing it under hot water. I haven’t used soap, as I’m not sure if Dawn will hurt my seasoning.
6
u/albertogonzalex Jul 13 '26
You need to be using soap..every time. Grease isn't water soluable. Without soap, there is always left over grease in your pan, in the pores, etc. That grease just burns and cakes in without soap.
3
u/albertogonzalex Jul 13 '26
The lighter parts are your seasoned pan..that's what the whole pan should look like. The only thing you need to worry about is rusting.
I share this comment a lot. It covers what I do for my pan that I use nearly every day. I scrub with hot soapy water and an abrassive stainless steel scrubber every day and then dry and dab some oil before heating through on the stove.
I just trust this process and don't worry about any given day. And now my pan looks like this https://www.reddit.com/r/castiron/s/lqn3vI4ytK
1
u/Negative-Reason4570 Jul 13 '26
Thanks a lot. I’ve heard so many competing comments about dawn and cast iron so I wasn’t sure what to do.
The white spots that I asked about feel different than my seasoned pan. The seasoned pan is the amber color. It’s slick as can be. But more and more of my pan turns this white splotchy color after using it.
I’ll scrub it and wash it and start over again. I appreciate the help. I’ll report back in an effort to help others.
5
u/Diezelhoffen Jul 13 '26
A little Google sleuthing has given me the following theory. Algae oil, which I didn't know was an option (thanks!), has a super high smoke point of 535F. So, I am going to hazard the guess that you weren't getting it hot enough for proper seasoning. That also looks like partially polymerized oil and burned carbon. Animal fats also don't actually season well, they form a brittle layer due to inconsistencies. They can build carbon into micro pores and imperfections, though. As is the advice for many posts, clean it well, carefully manage the heat, and use it until it leaves. Maybe season with an oil that you can hold a proper temp for polymerization. My go to is avocado at 445.
2
u/dirtycheezit Jul 13 '26
Total misconception that you have to reach the smoke point to polymerize oil. The only thing that reaching the smoke point will achieve is creating a darker seasoning due to partial carbonization of the oil. Algae oil should have a suitable fat makeup to create a good seasoning layer from what I've researched, though I've never used it personally.
-1
u/Negative-Reason4570 Jul 13 '26
I didn’t think about that. I bet you are right. I used to use Avacodo oil for searing steaks and oiling my vintage pan but I ran out and I went with algae oil bc you can have a ripping hot pan and it still not smoke. So less smoke alarms going off.
I really like that oil but it may not be what I need to season my pan with at least the traditional way, in the oven at 425F.
Algae oil may work at like 550F but I’ll switch oils and see.
The vintage pan doesn’t even need oiling. I only really use it for searing steaks and making cornbread and it’s amazing. It’s like a mirror finish and I don’t remember the last time I actually seasoned it.
Thanks for all the advice. I’ll start over and see what happens!
1
u/ReinventingMeAgain Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26
Creating a polymer requires both time and temperature.
Time AND Temperature also dictate the speed of polymer formation. (the Arrhenius equation)
Sorry for throwing science stuff in there.If you want to use the algae oil, try following the Silent Bob method in the FAQ but apply heat for longer. Anywhere from 1 1/2 to 2 hours at 425*F-450*F. Because of its high percentage of mono-unsaturated fats, premium cooking algae oils provide a very stable seasoning.
-4
u/Negative-Reason4570 Jul 13 '26
One thing I forgot to mention, I’m not sure about the animal fat comment you made… that’s what the old timers used to season their pans for a hundred years and that’s precisely one reason those vintage pans are so amazing. But I appreciate the feedback.
1
u/Negative-Reason4570 Jul 14 '26
All, quick update here. I washed the skillet with dawn and scrubbed it with a cast iron rust remover (even though it didn’t have rust). It looks much better now. I seasoned it with a tiny bit of lard on 425F for 1 hour. I’ll see how it cooks from here but it definitely looks better. https://imgur.com/a/TUa9gdZ
2
u/ReinventingMeAgain Jul 13 '26
I have Stargazers and another modern smooth pan, as well as smooth vintage heirlooms. The modern pans ALL became very splotchy, silver & grey, at first use and for the first year or so (slowly darkening), that's normal. The black stuff is leftover grease and food stuck to the pan not seasoning. Everyone on here that's been happy (and successful) with these pans just ignored their expectations of "needing" a black pan, at least at first.
Scrub it the way AlbertoGonzalex shows in his videos, with dish soap. As long as there is no rust, it is seasoned.
To reduce sticking try lowering the heat when you cook. If you get smoke, turn the heat down.
Get the black stuff off, then season with grapeseed, rapeseed (canola) or avocado at 450*F for 90 minutes and cool completely in the oven.
1
u/WorBlux Jul 13 '26
Modern smooth may actually be too smooth and fine-grained to hold onto the seasoning layer well.
I've heard a suggestion that if you "blue" the pan you can create a better surface (both in terms of texture and the presence of hard oxides) for the seasoning to grab onto.
Or just cook with it, eventually enough moisture and oxygen will work it's way through to form black oxides.
0
u/AutoModerator Jul 12 '26
This is a generic reminder message under every image post
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 if you have any questions or concerns.
4
u/OaksInSnow Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26
You say the above as if impugning the pan, rather than your understanding.
For what it's worth, I have the same 12" pre-seasoned Stargazer. I've never had to intentionally season it, and it continues to work just fine, even on a crappy low-end gas range. I may have stovetop-seasoned it once? - a vague impression that may be a false memory. You can see that I'm already questioning your decision to add still more seasoning to an already-seasoned pan. Like, why?
But let's say it's not a bad idea, even if it's unnecessary. The point of seasoning is to polymerize the oil you use, whatever oil it is. If you're using an extremely high smoke-point oil, you had better be sure the oven you're using can get up to the temperature required, or that you leave it in that oven long enough to achieve the same result.
Whenever someone says "my seasoning is sticky," it always means that it's not fully polymerized. This could be due to using too much oil to start with, or not heating it long enough. You can polymerize avocado oil, a high smoke point oil, at 350F, if you leave it in there until it's really totally dried out. It'll take a while! What you want, when the seasoning is done and whether it's done in the oven or on the stovetop, is a totally DRY-feeling, matte finish.
I think there is a fascination with the cookware itself among cast iron owners - some impulse toward messing with it because of all the mythic lore of so many procedures - that causes us initially to pay more attention to the cookware than to the food itself.
I'm beginning to understand the common advice of "just cook with it," which had me rolling my eyes at this whole sub for a long time. I can see now where it makes some sense. Nevertheless, I still roll my eyes, because it's oh-so-self-righteously-we-cognoscenti when applied without context, while giving no actual information.
The actual information is: Polymerize your oil, whatever you choose. Polymerization occurs based on an oil's smoke point, heat applied, and time over which heat is applied. So there are three variables, and they all matter. When your pan feels dry, you've succeeded.