Cast Iron Skillet Needs Help

JWheel

JWheel

Joined
Jun 18, 2015
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518
I have a Lodge cast iron skillet that is not very old, but hasn't been treated very well. The result is that it is sticky, more brown than black, and not at all smooth (issues it didn't have before). Should I just reseason? Or do I need to strip some of the stickiness away first? I believe there may also be some old char beneath some of the fat layers as well.

Pre-thanks for any advice.
 
JWheel said:
I have a Lodge cast iron skillet that is not very old, but hasn't been treated very well. The result is that it is sticky, more brown than black, and not at all smooth (issues it didn't have before). Should I just reseason? Or do I need to strip some of the stickiness away first? I believe there may also be some old char beneath some of the fat layers as well.

Pre-thanks for any advice.
Click to expand...
Cook the shit out of it and re-season.
 
This is a great question! I inherited a family pan that's been in my mom's family for almost a century and it was pretty rough on the inside. On a side note, it's interesting to see the pitch and char that's accumulated on the outside from being used atop a wood burning stove for many of those years. Here's what I did: Heat up with a couple of tablespoons vegetable oil in it. Spread the oil evenly and wait for it to smoke. At this point, you should notice that some of the sticky areas are sizzling. Take a thin metal spatula and scrape that crud off and toss it. Keep this up until the inside of the pan is of a uniform sheen and smoothness. With the pan still on heat, wipe it dry and add some more oil and spread evenly. Once the fresh oil starts to smoke, turn off the heat and allow pan to cool completely. If you season correctly, the oils actually form polymers on the surface of the iron that are fairly resilient. Despite the myths, you can use soap and a light scrub to get stubborn food out of your pan. There is a gread article on the Serious Eats website by a chef named Kenji Lopez about cast iron care. I suggest reading that.

Use it in good health, friend. Cast iron is fun and delicious! Now, off to pan sear some meat.
 
You might be able to clean it up some with coarse salt and re-season it, but not knowing the care history I would start from scratch and is how I would season it after it has been cleaned/stripped. Heat the pan to 200 degrees which will open up the pores allowing for better oil penetration. Pour a little organic flaxseed oil on a paper towel and rub it in good. Then remove as much as the oil you can with a clean paper towel. Put it in the oven upside down at high temp (450-500 degrees) for an hour. Let it cool down and do it again and again (at least 3-4 times in my experience) until it is nice and smooth. Not exactly quick and easy but you will end up with a much better skillet to use. Clean it with coarse kosher salt and a paper towel after each use and re-season as needed.
 
Stripping... put your oven on the clean cycle. The surface of the pan should turn gray with ash... burned carbon and polymerized oil. Then wash the crap out of it with good dish washing liquid. Rinse thoroughly in very hot water. Set it on the stovetop on low until completely dry. Then season it. Some interior roughness can be sanded out before the seasoning. Most modern makers do not finely finish the interior like the old timers did with my Griswold.
 
The oven is the root of my problems here. Crappy oven in old apartment. But when I do get it to a decent temp, the wired-in smoke alarms go off. So to avoid that, I have to kill the power in most of the unit.

So stripping or seasoning requires me to sit in a quite apartment with no light or AC for hours. It's less than ideal. :)

That's the whole reason I got into this mess. The original seasoning hasn't been touched up in a few years thanks to that mess.
 
I really prefer to soak the abused piece in some lye solution. Then wash it with Vinegar, dry it, and then wash with soap and water. After drying, reseason.
 
I had a very badly cared for pan ,so I put that in a larger pan , added water and washing soda.Boiled it for at least an hour or till it was clean. Then re-oiled it .You' never guess it was so bad.
There's no problem with using an abrasive wheel to smooth any roughness.
 
I did a couple rounds of heating over fire, adding oil, and scraping with a metal spatula. It seems to have helped immensely. I'll give it a week of cooking duty and see how it does. If it still needs some love, I'll scrub or strip then reseason.
 
johansont57 said:
Cook the shit out of it and re-season.
Click to expand...

This. I used to put a 1cm layer of kosher salt with the burner screamin'. The salt helps leach all the oils and gunk, re-season and good to go!

Gets smoky so if only recommend if you have good ventilation or do it outside
 
JWheel said:
The oven is the root of my problems here. Crappy oven in old apartment. But when I do get it to a decent temp, the wired-in smoke alarms go off. So to avoid that, I have to kill the power in most of the unit.

So stripping or seasoning requires me to sit in a quite apartment with no light or AC for hours. It's less than ideal. :)

That's the whole reason I got into this mess. The original seasoning hasn't been touched up in a few years thanks to that mess.
Click to expand...

Not to change the subject.
Remove smoke detectors without unplugging, cover with plastic cling wrap, reinstall. (All at your own risk of course)
I couldn't even microwave popcorn. Ridiculous.
 
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