r/castiron • u/martymcfly808 • 2d ago
Why can’t I keep my cast irons nice?
Am I not cleaning them well enough? Cleaning too much?(hot water and some abrasive scrubbing only). Should I be seasoning more/better? Picture cast iron was a Christmas present and have used it moderately since then. Any advice? Is it salvageable?
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u/marcnotmark925 2d ago
Looks totally fine, except maybe a bit of leftover carbon you could have scrubbed off a bit more.
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u/KL34B 2d ago
Skipping dish soap increases carbon build-up. The carbon/burnt food breaks off and flakes easier than seasoning. This results in the exposed, uneven areas you're seeing. Including soap in your cleaning routine prevents this and allows you to build up a more even layer of seasoning.
Beyond that, just keep cooking! This stuff is sturdy. Don't stress too much.
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u/raggedsweater 2d ago
I hypothesize that without using soap and sufficient scrubbing, carbon gets left behind and oil polymerizes over top that carbon. It’s fine until it isn’t and then flaking happens.
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u/SIB_Tesla 2d ago
Looks like both a mix of seasoning stripping off (lighter parts) and carbon residue (dark grainy parts sitting on the surface).
The seasoning stripping off / becoming lighter with use is somewhat normal, it can accelerate based on different types of food / heat settings you're using while cooking. On that front, just keep cooking with it, and if you start noticing flash rusting after you hand wash your CI, then go ahead and re-season
The carbon residue is again normal, it usually comes from searing meat or bacon etc., but you need to get that off, it is not a part of the seasoning. It's just bits of charr and will slowly flake off into your food / make the surface not as nice to cook on. If you can't get it off with a typical brillo / scrub pad, you may try a chainmail scrubber, or if all else fails, steel wool.
Just be ready to re-season right away if you use steel wool, because it will take the seasoning with it, and you'll for sure get flash rust.
*BTW you can use dish soap, please use it. Your post makes it sound like you're skipping it, if you are, it's probably contributing to your problem
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u/lookyloo79 2d ago
Was it preseasoned? Did the black stuff appear, or is it all that's left of a solid layer? Did you simmer liquid for a long time, or heat until the seasoning smoked off?
Regardless, I would strip with lye and oven season 3 times.
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u/Eloquent_Redneck 2d ago
You gotta scrub, hold it up to the light, check for spots like that, and then keep scrubbing. Its hard to see those marks when its wet but that's just stuck on burnt fond from whatever you cooked last and needs to be scrubbed off. it might not create a perfectly even finish but I find if you don't wanna completely reseason you can retouch just the burnt and scrubbed off parts of the seasoning, just dab some oil on just that spot, burning and scrubbing off and reseasoning your pan is just regular wear and tear for a pan, ideally you'd never ever burn anything and your pan would be perfectly smooth and even, but we're all human
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u/nwt5050 2d ago edited 2d ago
That’s how mine normally looks, and it works great every day. However, I’m always open to try new things to make it look prettier. 😀
EDIT: I didn’t see the second picture before I replied. It looks like there’s very little seasoning on the bottom surface. Do you soak it in water for too long I wonder? Let it sit a long time with acidic food in it? Or not oil it after every cleaning?
Just use it more!
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u/HaskilBiskom 2d ago
I would say that your seasoning isn’t polymerized. I’d put a thin layer, toss it in the oven on 500° for an hour for a base
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u/goobsplat 2d ago
Use soap and scrub hard with chainmail. The good seasoning will stay. Anything that comes off would have come off at some point anyway and it’s better to not season over the carbon.
The pan looks loved to me. As long as the food comes out well and doesn’t stick 100% of the time, don’t fret over some spots :)
I also love my lodge daily scrubber + soap to get 99% of the little carbon specks off and then hit it with some chainmail to knock off any weak seasoning. Then dry, heat up, spread a drop of oil over the whole thing, heat past smoke point.
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u/faylinameir 2d ago
use soap and actually get it clean. Learn how to season properly. It's totally salvageable that is what makes cast iron great. Get a chain mail scrubber off amazon or walmart or something.
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u/martymcfly808 2d ago
Moral of the story here….aesthetic =/= functionality.
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u/kniki217 2d ago
Yes! Mine isn't pretty, but the food doesn't stick. Sometimes it's just unrealistic on here. Just scrub it good and keep cooking.
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u/DonutWhole9717 2d ago
Cast iron is like the velveteen rabbit. They get a bit shittier looking the more love they get
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u/PunkPino 2d ago
It looks like you might be burning your seasoning off. How high do you set your burner when you’re cooking? Also, if you don’t already do this, after washing dry thoroughly and set it on a burner on low to evaporate any water you missed. Then apply a dab of oil and spread using a paper towel/cloth.
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u/martymcfly808 2d ago
Med/low. And typically dab with oil. Haven’t been with this one. This state came on fast. Looked like new until the most recent cook and this is what came out after a rinse and scrub
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u/Disastrous-Pound3713 2d ago
I am in the CI crowd that likes nice looking pans that have an even solid appearance and that also work well and come close to a non-stick pan.
You will see members of this sub Reddit showing their eggs sliding around their CI pans, those are my ideal pans.
If that is where you want your pans to be as well, you might find that you will need to use a drill with a flat wire brush head (safety goggles and gloves important), and lightly strip off the uneven patches of carbon on the pan.
You can also use one of the stripping methods posted at the top of this sub Reddit.
Then get a good chain male to scrub with dry salt on an ongoing basis.
Start fresh with a couple of layers of seasoning in the oven or on your outdoor gas grill if you have one.
I had a day of yard work planned so I fired up outdoor gas grill and spent 5 hours seasoning, cooling, seasoning again while I worked in yard.
Did 6 coats and pan looks like nonstick pan:)
No smoke or stink in the house (which seems to last for days😣), and the seasoning has held up much longer and stronger than doing the stove top seasoning method. More work and effort but lasts a much longer time.
Also I use different CI for different types of cooking. I reverse sear all of my steaks and sear them hot and fast in a lot of butter outside on grill.
But I don’t use that pan for my eggs, French Toast, Pancakes or corn bread as the bottom of the pan and inside doesn’t work well inside on either the gas or induction stoves. And I don’t use either of those pans for my wood fire cooking pan.
Just my experience on 3 different CI pans over 56 years of 🥘 cooking:)
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u/-Tisbury- 2d ago
It looks like that until you use it more. Cut up a couple yellow onions and cook them in your cast iron on low heat for a couple hours with a little bit of oil. Don't pull them off until they are light brown and creamy. When you're done, make some onion dip, wipe out the pan with a paper towel and see what it looks like. Once it's cooled a little bit, do a super thin coating of avocado oil and put it in the oven upside down at 500 for an hour and then let it cool overnight.
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u/PhilosophyBulky522 2d ago
It’s definitely not ruined. I’m guessing you are scrubbing a little too much. The reason people back in the day didn’t scrub their pans was they were taking care of the seasoning. Not worried about ruining their pans. You can bake some new seasoning on or just keep cooking in it and stop scrubbing it so hard after use. Keep it oiled because you don’t have much seasoning left.
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u/kniki217 2d ago
Uh no, it's not being scrubbed enough. You can see caked on carbon. She needs a chainmail scrubber.
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u/PhilosophyBulky522 2d ago
I disagree. That caked on carbon is what’s left of the seasoning. You can get a buildup of seasoning or caked on carbon or food bits. But that’s not it. OP even says they wash and scrub the pan.
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u/marcnotmark925 2d ago
Never read any seasoning advice remotely like that before. Got anything to back it up?
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u/LaCreatura25 2d ago
This is relatively standard for a pan being used. Add soap to your cleaning regimen and don't be afraid to scrub hard to get any flaking bits of. Other than that, keep on cooking